Contemplative Bible Reading

Leviticus 19:31 (New Living Translation)

31 “Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the Lord your God.

This is part of the law given to the people from God through Moses. It instructs people how to live. The instruction here is simple: stay away from those who consult the spirits of the dead. Well, that’s cute, and I guess it applied to folks thousands of years ago who weren’t nearly as smart as I am today, and …

Wrong. Look it up on your personal Google machine or whatever. There are plenty of mediums, palm readers, and those who consult the spirits of the dead within a half hour of my 21st century educated neighborhood.

Note, the verse doesn’t say, “Those who claim to consult the spirits of the dead.” It is, “Those who consult the spirits of the dead.” They actually consult the spirits of the dead. Maybe I am not reading this correctly. Maybe I am reading this correctly. Some people can consult some dead people some of the time. Stay away from those people. Stay away from those practices. Plain and simple.

John 6:63 (New Living Translation)

63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Jesus said the above words. The topic is eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. Hey, wait a minute. I mean, I try to be good and do good and avoid bad behavior. That has to be worth something, right? Yes, it is worth something in some respects, but concerning the topic of eternal life, well, nothing.

I don’t like that idea.

Only the Spirit of God gives eternal life. Hmm. Let’s think about that a while. I mean, that’s a deep subject and it sort of gives me a headache when I think too long.

One thing: being kind, loving, and forgiving with other persons is a good thing to be doing. Those actions bring blessings to others. Practice those daily.

Other thing: those actions bring me no closer to eternal life. God brings me eternal life. That is a gift from God.

We live down here on earth with one another. Our actions down here on earth help others down here on earth. Those actions don’t move us “up” to heaven. God pulls us up when we believe in God.

It seems like there should be a stronger connection in all this. That’s my way of thinking. I’m not God. That’s tough to accept on some days. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Leviticus 20: 2b-5 (New Living Translation)

“If any of them offer their children as a sacrifice to Molech, they must be put to death. The people of the community must stone them to death. 3 I myself will turn against them and cut them off from the community, because they have defiled my sanctuary and brought shame on my holy name by offering their children to Molech. 4 And if the people of the community ignore those who offer their children to Molech and refuse to execute them, 5 I myself will turn against them and their families and will cut them off from the community. This will happen to all who commit spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.

God is talking to the people through Moses. God is talking about idolatry, the worship or adoration of anything or anyone other than God Himself, including images, created beings, or even worldly possessions. (Google’s Gemini provided this definition)

The worshiper of Molech says, “I believe that the god Molech will provide good things for me. To earn these blessings from Molech, I must kill my children. I will sacrifice my children in exchange for blessings from Molech.” The worshiper of Molech does as promised.

This is real idolatry. I often hear well-meaning people speak of the worship of money or a job or something as idolatry. I don’t see people killing their children at the altar of money or the altar of the job. No offense folks, but I don’t consider those things idolatry. I see them as terribly misguided priorities, but not worship and sacrifice.

John 6:29 (New Living Translation)

29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

This is Jesus speaking. Jesus tells everyone that there is only one work God wants from mankind. Pay attention to this one, folks.

Believe in the one God has sent. Believe that this Jesus fellow who came from Nazareth is the Christ, the one anointed to take away the sins of mankind.

That is the only work or action God wants from us, from me. Surely, there must be more, right? Wrong. Surely, this is just a little thing, right? Wrong. Believing that this poor fellow from a poor town is the Son of God is a huge thing. It is so big that many fail to grasp it. Many of us who do grasp it have our days when we just sort of mess up badly. Still, this is the only work God wants from me.

Please God, help me to do this one thing.

Numbers 6: (New Living Translation)

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:

24 ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you.
25 May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
26 May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’

27 Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”

Verses 24 through 26 are something we can surely repeat on almost any occasion. Perhaps if we say these words, God will bless the recipients. It is worth the time.

Ephesians 2:7 (New Living Translation)

7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

I am an example. I am an example of the incredible wealth of God’s grace and kindness. I am an example of all God has done for me as a person united with others by Christ Jesus.

Whoa! Look at me! I’m so special. NOT.

Grace is unmerited favor shown to a person who has done not-so-good stuff and needs a big helping hand. That’s a pretty good description of me. In all my failings, God is still kind to me.

A kid walks into Starbucks and spills their hot chocolate all over the floor right next to the door. A stranger walks over with a hand full of napkins and cleans the mess and hugs the child. That stranger is so kind to the kid and the kid’s embarrassed parent.

That’s just a little example of a tiny bit of kindness God shows to me. Just a tiny bit.

Perhaps in generations to come, someone will say, “Remember that Dwayne Phillips? He tried to be a good guy, but good grief he wasn’t. Still, God was kind to Dwayne.” Hmm.

Ephesians 1:1 (New Living Translation)

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.

This begins the letter from Paul to the Christians in Ephesus. Paul says, “I am an apostle” of Christ Jesus. This is one of those introductions of letters. It is a long form of, “Dear Ephesus,” so we can just skip over it without reading or thinking. At least, that is how I usually treat these things.

Note, Paul does not call himself a “disciple;” he calls himself an “apostle.” Disciples are students who follow after a person. Apostles are those persons sent by a person with a message to others. In many ways, an apostle is a teacher.

This is quite simple, but often misunderstood. Paul never followed after Jesus like Peter, James, John, et al did. Paul was, however, sent by God with the message of and about Jesus Christ. Paul was an apostle, not a disciple.

Now I can disagree with others about my descriptive noun. Well, I didn’t follow Jesus around as Jesus walked through Palestine some several thousand years ago. Hence, I am not a literal disciple. If I follow the teachings of Jesus, maybe I qualify as a sort of disciple. I write these little posts sending a message about Jesus. That qualifies me as an apostle, right? Maybe.

Skip the titles for now. Do what I can. Love the people that walk into my path. Look to God. Pray.

John 4:10 (New Living Translation)

10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

This is one of those sentences in scripture that puzzles me. In one case, “if you only knew the gift God has for you” shows how much greater God is than my little imagination. In another case, it shows that God has things for me that I don’t understand, so how could I ask for them if I don’t understand them? Please God, give me a break here. Let me know.

Well, God does let me know in ways that I don’t understand. I am back to “I don’t understand, so how could I understand?” Please God, give me a break here. It is sort of like back in school in the ancient days when the teachers told us, “If you don’t know how to spell a word, find it in the dictionary.” We cried about if we could find it in the dictionary we knew how to spell it and so we went around in circles with those misspelled words (then computers came along that underlined the misspelled words in red, but I digress).

Then again, maybe God is like those computers that underline misspelled words in red. I don’t type words I don’t know how to spell unless I am pushing myself beyond what I consider to be my boundaries. Maybe I grow in understanding of God when I push myself beyond what I consider to be my boundaries. Note, I grow in understanding; I don’t fully understand God, but I grow. Progress in the right direction.

This woman at the well didn’t know what God was offering. Hence, she couldn’t ask for it. A few days later, she understood more and she could ask for more so she could understand more and ask for more so she could… And on it goes.

Ask. Seek. Find. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Luke 2:15 (New Living Translation)

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

This is part of the (hi)story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Angels visited shepherds in the fields and told them of Jesus in the manger in the stable.

I gloss over the story because I have heard it so many times. These sheep herders, however, had a serious job: watch the sheep. Those sheep were the livelihood of people. Losing sheep was a big deal. You lose your sheep, your family doesn’t eat and has no place to sleep and no clothes to wear!

Still, the shepherds reacted with, “Forget the sheep, let’s go see what the Lord has told us about.”

They realized they had received a message from God. They had to react to the message from God. The human consequences may be this or that, but the message from God was certain—no may be this or that.

Faith. Believe the message from God and act on it. Faith. God, please grant me the faith I need each day.

John 1:51 (New Living Translation)

51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

Jesus is talking to Nathanael. Jesus describes Himself as the stairway between heaven and earth. Other parts of scripture describe heaven and other as separated by an impassable gulf. Yet, there are nice, clear, orderly stairs that cross that gulf. Jesus is what allows lowly folks like me to cross that gulf.

I cannot swim across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida. That is impossible for me. I believe it is impossible for every human who ever lived. It is just too far. I need a bridge across the Gulf of Mexico to travel from Texas to Florida. In a major respect, Jesus is that bridge. Jesus enables me to do what I cannot do.

Okay, heaven and earth. What else? In what other sense does Jesus enable me to do something that I cannot do? Oh gosh, what a long list. Let’s begin with something simple: Jesus is that stairway between what I think of my next door neighbor and actually loving my next door neighbor. And if my next door neighbor isn’t enough, let’s start listing the people I know and don’t really love as I should.

Gosh, these lists inside lists are pretty long. That shows where I am and what I cannot do. And it shows the grace of the great stairway that is Jesus the Christ and what Jesus did and continues to do for me. Thank you God for your gift.