Contemplative Bible Reading

Jude 1:23 (New Living Translation)

23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.

The writer is encouraging followers of God to show mercy while hating. Whoa. I guess that is possible, but there is a fine line here and a chasm the depth of the Grand Canyon on both sides of that line.

One one side of the line I am H A T I N G the actions of a person. Those actions are contaminating their lives. Not smudging a little dust on their lives; contaminating them. (contaminate: verb, make (something) impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance.) A poisonous substance has entered their life. P O I S O N.

Nevertheless, on the other side of the line, we show mercy. (mercy:noun, compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.) God can punish the person, but God doesn’t. I can punish the other person, but I don’t.

Gosh, it seems someone needs to punish the person, why can’t I do that? Why do I “have to” forgive? I don’t “have to” forgive; I am given the gift that “allows” me to forgive. I am given the gift where I don’t “have to” punish. The gift allows me to act as if the contamination never occurred.

God gave me the ability and the circumstance to show mercy. What wonderful gifts. “All I have to do” is accept them. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 61:1-3 (New Living Translation)

¹ O God, listen to my cry!
    Hear my prayer!
² From the ends of the earth,
    I cry to you for help
    when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
³     for you are my safe refuge,
    a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.

At the end of verse 2, we have the key to David’s safety in a time of distress:

• High ground
• Rock

When you shoot an arrow from a bow, throw a rock from a hand or a sling, throw a spear…all those things are more effective with the aid of gravity. I can throw harder downhill than uphill. Perhaps that isn’t exactly correct in theory, but it seems to work in practice.

A big rock is more stable than a big pile of sand. Again, this may not be correct in theory, but it seems to work in practice.

Combine the two—high ground and rock—and you have the destination David wants to reach. Please God, he prays, lead me to high ground and rock. Lead me to a place where enemies cannot harm me as easily.

Me? I have it. I have the grace of God. I have bad days; I have downright awful days. When in the right frame of mind, I do not despair in these awful days. The high rock of God’s grace protects me from despair.

“All I have to do” (easier written than practiced on some days) is remember where I am: on a towering rock of safety.

Luke 22:63-64 (New Living Translation)

63 The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?”

This is part of the (hi)story of the crucifixion of Jesus. This incident of mocking Jesus tells us much about prophets and prophesying and what a few soldiers believed.

They blocked Jesus’ vision with a rag. Jesus couldn’t “see” with his natural physical sense of sight. “Tell us who hit you?” they said. In other words, “You are a prophet. You can see things beyond physical eyesight. Well, do it.”

That is the definition of a prophet: a person who could see beyond what the natural eyesight allowed. A person who received news directly from God and relayed that to everyone else.

Notice, these Roman guards knew the definitions of prophets and prophesying. This was common knowledge among common folks. These guards were religious men in that they understood and believed in things that were supernatural or beyond the laws of nature.

The Roman guards, however, believed in the wrong gods. Easy for me to write that. I don’t know anything about these men other than these few sentences. Perhaps … well, perhaps all sorts of things that I don’t know.

I see folks all around me who don’t believe in any gods. Well, at least it seems that way to me. I don’t know anything about these folks. Well, now I know where to begin the conversation. Please God, help me to begin humbly.

Psalm 20:7 (New Living Translation)

Some nations boast of their chariots and horses,
but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.

This Psalm is attributed to King David. David is speaking for the people of Jehovah God, the Creator. The topic is national identity, national culture, and pride.

David’s people boast in the name of Jehovah their God. Jehovah is their identity; this speaks of something like the flags that nations use today. Think of America? Think of the Stars and Stripes and what they represent (they do represent somethings).

Think of David and his people, think of Jehovah.

Think of Christians, you think of … uh, well, er, what do people think when they think of Christians and churches and such? Is “Jesus Christ” the number 1 answer in the poll? Is some political issue the number 1 answer?

It is easy to believe that popular polls lean the way that popular media pushes them. It is easy to believe that willful ignorance pushes the polls. “Those people just don’t understand!” Well, is it their fault or is it my fault? Or is it just the way it is because that is the way it has always been?

I can’t change world history. I can’t change overall public opinion. I can choose how I act, what I do, what I say, how I appear. Please God, help me to start with me and show others Jesus Christ.

John 4:13-14 (New Living Translation)

13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

Jesus is speaking to a woman sitting next to a well. Jesus mentions “this water” as the water found in the well. Basic water from a well provides a temporary relief from thirst.

Jesus contrasts our regular water with the water, the life, that Jesus gives. Jesus puts a fresh, bubbling spring within us. Note, Jesus does not just fill us with water, like a pond. If we are full of water today, we will eventually consume that water and be dry again.

The life Jesus gives us is like a bubbling spring. A spring gives water today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next, and… Refreshing life from Jesus bubbles up every moment of every day.

Good grief that sure is a wonderful gift. Thank you God. Help me to realize and utilize your precious gifts.

Psalm 19:14 (New Living Translation)

14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

I want to please God. But how? With every word that comes from my mouth. Great. An opportunity.

Please God. Let me consider the words about to come from my mouth. I may be angry. I may be frustrated. I may simply be worn out from a long day. Still, let the words of my mouth be please to you.

Ephesians 1:15-16 (English Standard Version)

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Paul is writing to a group of Christians in Ephesus. Paul thanks God for this group of Christians in Ephesus.

When was the last time I thanked God for a group of Christians in some place? Uh, well, how about, it’s been so long ago that I cannot remember. That isn’t too good, is it?

I know Christians in a lot of places. God, thank you for those Christians. And please God, please help me in my unbelief.

1 Samuel 22:1-2 (English Standard Version)

1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.

David was on the run. He escaped to a cave to “lick his wounds” as we would say today. He is raising an army so that he can move into his rightful place of power.

David recruits the best and brightest for his army. NOT! Who is in David’s elite crew of 400 hundred men? The men were in distress, debt, and bitter in soul. A big bunch of losers who failed in business, agriculture, family, and everything else. On top of their failures, they are bitter about the whole thing. It is someone else’s fault. LIFE IS UNFAIR!

Uh, well, this isn’t going too good so far, is it.

The (hi)stories that follow tell us that this all worked. This army succeeded in many situations against all odds. Huh? How? We can assume that David was an inspiring leader. These men performed above what they had done previously in life due to David.

Perhaps it was God. Who does God recruit? Me. Huh? Me? I’m supposed to fill-in-the-blank-with-all-sorts-of-things-that-you-wouldn’t-recruit-me-to-do. Really? Really. That is how it works. That is how God works. The words to that song “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform” come to mind. Can’t explain it, but folks like me get ‘er done for God sometimes. I should start believing in this army of bitter and distressed debtors.

Acts 22:16 (New Living Translation)

16 What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’

In this verse, Paul is retelling the story of how he came to follow Jesus as the Christ. Ananias is talking to Paul. He tells Paul to be immersed in water while calling on God. In that act of submission, Paul’s sins would be washed away.

This story has been told countless times over the centuries. The concept of “washing away sins” has been explained just as many times over just as many years. It is still a timeless and powerful concept.

I am filthy. I cannot approach a ruler in my state. I need to “clean up” first. But I can’t do it. No matter how hard I try, I can’t scrub enough to remove all the filth that is stained on me. I can’t wash away this crud.

God can. God does. “All I have to do” is let God wash me.

Why is it that I struggle to let someone else do something for me that I cannot do for myself? I need God.

Deuteronomy 28:9-10 (New Living Translation)

9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.

Let’s have a little background here: the people being addressed just spent 400 years in servitude in Egypt. They were L O S E R S !!!

Now, the next day, if they obey, they will be a people who are set aside for great things, i.e., “holy.”

All the nations will see with their own eyes (no mumbo jumbo here, just plain SEE IT) that these people are claimed by YHWH or Jehovah—the one god that created everything. All the nations knew there was one Creator God and none of the nations would mess with that God.

This people would be claimed by the Creator. They would be in a special relationship with the Creator. That inspires fear. That inspires respect. That inspires awe.

I find it unfortunate that over the centuries since, the people mentioned here and the Christians who followed have acted, well, not so awe inspiring. I flop on my face far too often to inspire awe. I shouldn’t be that way. In my body lives God’s Spirit. I need to move aside more often and let that Spirit show. Please God, help me in my unbelief.