Tag Archives: the church

July 6

1 Reply

2 Chronicles 31:2-21; Isaiah 18:1-21:17

I wonder what the Jews thought when they heard that Egyptians and Assyrians would worship God, that he would accept them as his own and bless them for their obedience. I can’t think it made them happy.

But as a non-Jew, it makes me happy. God, through the prophet Isaiah, is laying the groundwork for the church. Egyptians and Assyrians, non-Jews, will worship God together. They will make vows to God and keep them. God will protect them and call them his people right along with Jewish believers. No longer a matter of circumcision, but a matter of acknowledging God.

I thank God for his church today. For Jewish believers, American believers, German, Chinese, Iraqi, Russian believers. And I am burdened for those saints in countries where their lives are threatened because of their belief.

We in America don’t know what many Christians around the world know. It’s easy for us to sit in our comfortable pews and forget that there are brothers and sisters who live in real danger today, who suffer unspeakable torture for the Name. And our news agencies have made it easy for us to ignore it by their lack of coverage.

Let’s pray for the worldwide church. Let’s ask God what he would have us do on behalf of those believers who have no voice in their countries. Isaiah tells us Christianity is no longer just a Jewish religion and it is certainly not just an American religion. May we have a heart for our brothers and sisters all over the world.

God, I thank you that your kingdom is spiritual, that I don’t have to have Jewish blood in my veins to be your child. I thank you for Jesus whom you sent to save the world. Forgive us if we live in this little bubble and enjoy our freedom in the USA without remembering there are millions of your people in this world today who don’t have what we have, who fear for their lives because of their decision to follow you. Have mercy, Father. What would you have us do, Lord? May you find us faithful. May you find us willing to obey.

June 6

3 Replies

Proverbs 31; I Kings 4:20-28, 10:14-21, 23-29; 2 Chronicles 9:13-20, 22-28, 1:14-17

Years ago the pastor of our church shared a message from Proverbs 31 I’ll never forget. It was one of those ah-ha moments for me because before that I had dismissed Lemuel’s proverb as being unattainable. I always thought the answer to the question in verse 10 – A wife of noble character, who can find?- to be “no one”.

There isn’t anyone I know who can live up to the list Lemuel’s mother gave him. I doubt even she could have passed the test.

But what this pastor reminded us that Sunday morning is that the church is the Bride of Christ. If we read these verses in that light we will see the recipe – God’s plan- for a healthy church.

Does your church have a reputation such that the people (you) who worship there have noble character? Are you a church hard at work sewing seeds of the Gospel in your neighborhoods? Do you open your arms to the poor? Is your God respected in the city because your church exists?

There is so much here to challenge the Bride of Christ. But, dear friend, we individuals aren’t left off the hook. We are the church. 

As you read Proverbs 31 do you recognize yourself anywhere? Are you one in your church family who works with eager hands? Do you provide food for your church family in the form of teaching? Do you represent Christ 24/7? Do you speak with wisdom? Do you watch over the affairs of the church by being on one of the boards or volunteer in the kitchen?

As part of the church (and I hope you are an active member in a Bible-believing fellowship), no one is expected to do it all. But all of us are expected to do something.

Read this proverb again and ask God to nudge you toward service. Your church, the Bride of Christ, you as an individual are called to get an important job done. How are you doing?