June 21, 2008 – 10:50 pm by Dale Pilgrim
Bible reading: 1 Samuel, chapters 26 and 27
Focus verses: chapter 26, verse 10 and 19; chapter 27, verse 1.
Circumstances can lead to action not ordained by God. There is nothing easier and more tempting than taking matters into our own hands. However, the opportunity to vindicate ourselves is not usually God’s provision. We must insist with our own spirits that God’s created order must be honored and allowed to play its course. What we need to realize in this decision is that we can ask God for His justice and defence in working through the challenge, knowing He will reward faithfulness and a pure heart. In the meantime, we should take those practical steps we can to work toward our own protection, as long as doing so we do not set up another who would be harmed.
Tags:Samuel
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June 10, 2008 – 12:03 am by Dale Pilgrim
Bible reading: 1 Samuel chapters 24-25
One moment of weakness can lead to a decision or action that cannot be undone and feeds the regret that leads to other destructive, emotional experiences. God however, transforms the human weakness into spiritual power, especially when we come to Him in confession and truth.
One moment of passionate anger can also bear the same effect. It calls forth blind passion and careless response. Many people have been swayed from regretful error by a wise woman!
When tempted to human response and reaction, a recollection of previous victorious under God’s leadership is a healthy reminder for present realities and needs. The LORD will vindicate Himself and His faithful followers in His good time. What we haven’t figured out is, He doesn’t really need us — He includes us. So leave it with Him.
Dale_Pilgrim@can.salvationarmy.org
Tags:weakness
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June 1, 2008 – 11:13 am by Dale Pilgrim
Scripture: 1 Samuel 21-23 (especially verses 9, 12, 15)
When facing opposition and discouragement, the Lord may remind us of past victories where faith in him was enough to encourage us forward. Still, the nagging presence of fear encourages us too — to take matters into our own hands. Having occasionally listened to fear, we change the outcome from what it could have been, should have been, to something of lesser significance. When we envision defeat and destruction and try to take control of situations, we may learn that God had something far more glorious in mind. Instead of sitting at a king’s table, we live in the mountains and caves of fear and circumstance.
Tags:confrontation, Discouragement
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May 27, 2008 – 10:59 am by Dale Pilgrim
Bible reading: 1 Samuel chapters 18-20
Living with regret often results in never living at all. One can become so consumed with the failings of the past that we are robbed of an effectiveness in the moment. Regret leads to insecurities so that jealousy, fear and rage consume the heart. Finally, the thing feared becomes the reality — lack of effectiveness and purposeful direction until someone else rises up and fulfills the task. The solution to disobedience is not regret — it is reconciliation. Never allow regret accommodation in God’s house — your heart.
Tags:Guilt, regret
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May 16, 2008 – 9:12 pm by Dale Pilgrim
Bible reading: 1 Samuel 17:10, 11, 28, 36, 37, 40, 47
The Enemy defies God in the presence of the godly. Such bold action plants fear in the LORD’s followers. Who can withstand an Enemy who does not fear even God? That fear can be so deeply rooted that there are those even within the camp who criticize others that God raises up to lead the church to victory. They highlight the apparent weaknesses and inadequacy of faith. The end result could be one of incapacitating the courageous to fear, just like everyone else. The only way to overcome this cowardly coaxing is to embrace faith and see God and His faithfulness, facing the Enemy with the resources God provides. That, with His blessing, is enough.
Dale_Pilgrim@can.salvationarmy.org
Tags:fear, loyalty
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May 11, 2008 – 7:45 am by Dale Pilgrim
Bible reading: 1 Samuel chapter 15 - verses 22, 24, 35
Our low opinions of ourselves may be a strong force that adversely affects our performance. Those opinions present may present insecurity that leads to self-disillusionment and ultimately disobedience to God. As a result, God may have regrets for positioning us where we find ourselves because the people he needs us to be are not the people we are. Our low opinions of ourselves could lead to compromising our faith and position in God. At the end of the day, we create the life that we believed to be the truth.
Tags:regret
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May 3, 2008 – 10:41 pm by Dale Pilgrim
The phrase beneath the surface means different things to different people.
A fisherman smells the salt sea air and imagines the wealth beneath the surface of the ocean. A surgeon will likely imagine the need to get beneath the surface of the diseased body to get to the root of the problem in an attempt to bring healing and restoration. A parent will work painstakingly to bring a child beaneath the surface to get to the real problems that cause pain and anger. A couple values the sometimes difficult exercise of getting beneath the surface in their relationship to save it from shipwreck and ruin or to simply strengthen an already wonderful relationship.
If relationship with God is to be strong, vibrant and a world-shaking relationship, it demands getting beneath the surface of routine and quick-fix answers. Life is not black and white. It is full of gray - and becomes grayer with each passing day.
I invite you to join me in a quest to get beneath the surface with the help of Samuel.
Who’s Samuel?
Some kid in the Bible whose mother gave him to God to live at the temple when he was just a boy. Samuel became a man but not just any man - he was a prophet of God. His impact was so powerful and blessed by God that we have two books in the Bible named after him - 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.
We’re going to take a journey for the next while through the writings of Samuel. In case you missed it, I’m calling it Beneath the Surface. As God shares a few thoughts with me, I’m trying to apply them to my life and then pass them along to you.
They’ll be short. Simple. Nothing deep or theological. Just simple life lessons in my own readings.
A simple read while you’re waiting for your coffee.
Blessings and thank you for taking time to check in from time to time. Hope it helps.
Dale_Pilgrim@can.salvationarmy.org
Tags:Lessons in Samuel
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April 11, 2008 – 5:48 pm by Dale Pilgrim
I’m concerned about a lot of things lately. I’m concerned about the price of gas. I’m concerned about the debt issues for my children in post-secondary and career launching. I’m concerned about having better health and a long life. I’m concerned about making a difference and what people will remember me for. I’m concerned about rhetoric, in this case empty talk.
In our Bible study group last week we talked about Jesus’ question to the people. "Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?" He was of course using the work of a shepherd tending sheep, to illustrate how critical one sheep is to the whole flock. Then it became the anology for going after people who don’t know Jesus the Messiah of God, the Saviour of the world. You see, Jesus was hanging out with some people who had doubtful reputations. They never had a glowing image around the community if you know what I mean. As usual, the religious community had problems with this charismatic, apparently sacrilegious Nazarene. He argued with them and said, "If you had a hundred sheep and lost one wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?"
Author Lesslie Newbigin wrote in "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society", something that makes us rethink our salvation box. "There can be no private salvation, no salvation which does not involves us with one another."
Or how about the story of St. Patrick? George Hunter in "The Celtic Way of Evangelism" reminds us that "the British leaders were offended and angered that Patrick was spending priority time with ‘pagans,’ ’sinners,’ and ‘barbarians,’" speaking of his work to the people of Ireland. What really troubles me is Hunter’s summary of it all. "This perspective had surfaced four centuries earlier. Jesus had been savagely criticized by the Pharisees for practicing the same kind of fraternizing priorities that Patrick now practiced. Futhermore this perspective is widespread today. Pastors and churches, today, who regard outreach to lost people as the church’s main business, and especially those who are perceived to prefer the company of lost people to the company of church people, are suspect, mariginalized, and "shot at" by establishment Christians and church leaders."
Yeah, I’m concerned about a lot of things. I concerned that Hunter is hitting the nail on the head. I’m concerned that we might be prepared to welcome people as long as they don’t mess around with the way things are. They’re welcome but stay in the back.
"Would you?…"
Do we? The answer to whether or not we do answers the question of whether or not we would.
Tags:Evangelism, Witness
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April 5, 2008 – 8:49 pm by Dale Pilgrim
Anyone who has had small children or cared for small children, knows the challenge of sticky fingers. The child’s hands have been who-knows-where and it’s at that precise moment, when all the gunk and gook is mixed together that they feel a need to grap your pants leg and tug for something. The green goo is engrained in your clothes and the timing couldn’t be worse as you’re about to head out with friends to a movie or dinner. Now you’ve got to go change and everyone’s in the car waiting for you. Aghhhh!
The only thing worse than sticky fingers on the pants leg is having sticky fingers yourself. Especially when you’re at a public place and you pick up the utensil or whatever object and there’s something sticky on it. Now that’s gross! You rush off to the nearest washroom and scrub for ten minutes and then (in my case) ask my wife for the hand sanitizer that I hope she has plenty of in her purse!
God does not like sticky fingers. When he was leading his people, the Israelites, away from Egyptian slavery, they had a really tough time adjusting to their new way of life and keeping their hands off the things God wanted them to be cleansed from — things like foreign gods and greedy gook. The cleansing was so intense that when God gave them lands their enemies owned, wells they hadn’t dug and homes they didn’t build, he warned his people about not letting "any of the plunder devoted to holy destruction stick to your fingers." (Deuteronomy 13:17, The Message) Of course, they didn’t always do so well and when their sticky fingers couldn’t shake off the temptation to hold on to some of the stuff for themselves, well, there were always consequences.
You know where I’m going with this. Sticky fingers get us in all kinds of trouble. Think about something you know God wants from you — could be money, could be time, could be leadership for some particular cause or ministry — but we say "I can’t afford it. I don’t have time, I’m too busy. I’m not interested in the pressure and hassle of trying to work with people. After a long day I just want to go home and be a couch potato or go out and eat with my friends, or…" If you have similar type responses when God wants something from you, you have sticky fingers.
God hates sticky fingers.
There’s only two options. Continue to have sticky fingers and experience God’s unhappiness with it and be ready for the consequences or ask God to clean up your act.
What you do about your sticky fingers determines where your relationship with God is. The Bible asks an important question, followed with the answer - and with this, I finish.
" 3 Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure,
who do not worship idols
and never tell lies.
5 They will receive the Lord’s blessing
and have a right relationship with God their savior.
6 Such people may seek you
and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.
Sticky hands or clean hands and pure heart. Relationship with God or hang out with yourself? You choose.
Tags:Greed, Self focus
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March 27, 2008 – 9:10 pm by Dale Pilgrim
Many of you have had the experience of standing at the bus stop, train station or the airline terminal sending your child off for that school trip or launching them into the scary world of university campuses. Just as they were about to board you called after them with the parting words (that you kid would rather you not say because everyone’s listening!) – “Behave yourself; make me proud; don’t get into trouble; be careful who you hang around with; call me!” Things said are important for your own peace of mind.
EASTER reminds us of what mattered most to Jesus now that his work on earth was finished and he was about to hand it over to his followers. He spent the first thirty years of his life getting ready for his ultimate purpose - provide saving for people who were misbehaving and were divorced from God and bring them back into relationship again. The last three years of his life were the most critical. He was training his small team of twelve guys to take his place. The last three half-a-dozen days were filled with tears, anxiety and excruciating pain in his spirit because his ultimate responsibility was not going to be easy. Finally, the sentence of ‘death by crucifixion’ was overwhelming and the experience of it none of us can even begin to imagine.
Before he returned to God, he left them with a parting word, the burning thing on his heart which was of greatest importance. He shared what he wanted his followers as far away as the 21st century, to remember. It was up to them now and he had no other plan to make this work. The burning message was "Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all.” (St. Mark 16:15, MSG) That’s it. If a church cannot figure out its purpose it doesn’t come any simpler than this.
The Message of God’s good news?
Jesus is God in the flesh.
Jesus opened the way to God to restore us to relationship.
God loves us deeply.
EASTER
Why does it matter now that the drama is finished and the work of redemption finished? How is your day any different because of Easter? Will anyone else’s day be different because of what Easter as done in you?
Catch you later. My girls are heading out to catch a movie.
“Girls, take your time and don’t drive too fast….”
Tags:Evangelism
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