Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 5:2 (New Living Translation)

2 “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

Pharaoh, the most powerful man in this part of the world at this time, is talking to two representatives of dirt-poor slaves. That is amazing in itself that God would arrange such an unlikely meeting.

Moses and Aaron requested that Pharaoh let this huge group of slaves walk out of town to worship their god called Jehovah.

“What?” was the response of Pharaoh. “Let these people go? Are you crazy? Why I haven’t even heard of this god Jehovah. Who is this Jehovah?”

Pharaoh was educated and religious. Pharaoh had learned of many gods in the known world in addition to the dozens of gods in Egypt (the god of the sun, the god of the river, etc.). Pharaoh, however, had not heard of this Jehovah the god of this people called “children of Israel” or “children of Isaac.”

Pharaoh would soon learn of Jehovah. Pharaoh would soon see the all-powerful nature of Jehovah. Pharaoh would soon regret his ignorance.

Exodus 18:10-11 (New Living Translation)

10 “Praise the Lord,” Jethro said, “for he has rescued you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Yes, he has rescued Israel from the powerful hand of Egypt! 11 I know now that the Lord is greater than all other gods, because he rescued his people from the oppression of the proud Egyptians.”

Jethro is the father-in-law of Moses. Jethro speaks to Moses after God has brought the people of Israel from 400 years of bondage in Egypt to freedom. That is an amazing thing!

Jethro is not part of the families descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is an in-law or something. Yet Jethro has this insight: Jehovah, the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is greater than all the other gods. Jehovah whipped all those Egyptian gods by showing power over the sun god, the river god, etc. Jehovah rescued the people that Jehovah designated as his people.

Folks, this is an old story, and we know how it ends. Consider, however, what it means. 400 years in captivity in a foreign land. That was the wrong place to be and that was too long. Civilizations and people vanished in history. We have a few “ghost towns” in America. In ancient times, they had ghost peoples and ghost civilizations. The descendants of Abraham, the people chosen by the God Jehovah should have disappeared and become one of those ghost peoples that might have been written in one line in an ancient text. Instead, Jehovah rescued them, brought them to a land promised to them, and this all lives today.

That is an amazing thing from history. That is an amazing thing today.

Jehovah is greater than all other gods.

Luke 7:47-50 (New Living Translation)

47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This is the conclusion of the (hi)story of the immoral woman who knelt at the feet of Jesus and washed his dusty feet with her tears. She then dried the feet of Jesus with her hair and poured perfume on them.

By anointing the feet of Jesus, the woman was setting Jesus apart for a sacred purpose. That is what pouring expensive liquid on someone mean to the Jews. It is like us today standing when an important person walks in the room. The standing shows our respect and honor for the person. (Some of us still do those things.)

This immoral woman had faith, a belief in something not seen because it has not yet happened, that Jesus was the Christ, i.e., the one appointed to take away the sins of the world. She had an active faith in that she knelt there and did these things for and to Jesus.

At the protest of Simon the Pharisee, Jesus explained that the faith of the woman in those things spiritual brought spiritual salvation.

It is at the is point where I am supposed to conclude with a significant thought or two. How about this one? Sometimes, by faith in God, we do things that just aren’t done in a polite society (do we remember what a polite society was?). When questioned, we answer humbly and in truth. Yes, this is unusual, but I do this in the name of God. I think we can do that. Let’s have a little more faith in our lives.

Romans 12:21 (New Living Translation)

21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome. Paul spends a few paragraphs on the subject of love and loving others. He concludes with this statement. Conquer evil with love.

Recently in America, someone was killed. Some Americans found the deceased to be virtuous and commendable. Some Americans found the deceased to by vile and distasteful. Hmm,

• Those folks disagree with me.
• Those folks are evil.

The first point is objective and correct. The second point is subjective and open to question. For a moment, let’s suppose “those folks” are really evil. Hmm, Paul tells us what to do next.

Let’s ponder this for a moment. Half of America believes the other half is evil. All Americans follow Paul’s instructions. Now all Americans love all Americans and do good towards them. How about that situation?

Let’s try it.

Galatians 3:3 (New Living Translation)

3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

There are folks who study how we all change from one thing to another. These folks have noted how many ways there are we change. Paul is writing to Christians in Galatia a long time ago. His words are relevant today.

These people in Galatia had experienced a change in their lives. Well, they were in the middle of the change. They had heard about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. That’s a miracle that brings the Spirit of God into each person’s life. These people had started new lives in the Spirit of God.

Then, they became tired and confused and confounded by the weight and tangles of daily life. They started to drift back. That drifting back is normal. There is a part of changing that is chaotic. The new, even the new life in the Spirit of God, isn’t yet familiar. We try this and that and some other thing. Some things work, some don’t. We’re confused. In addition, the phone is ringing and someone needs a ride to something while the car is getting an oil change and the lawn mower needs replacing and you want to fix that squeaky front door and the boss says he needs you to work some on the weekend and … What was I talking about?

Chaos. Oh, I know of a familiar place. The Galatians knew of a familiar way to live. It involved reaching for God with human effort. If we just follow enough rules, we can climb the stairs to heaven and peace from all this and … Wrong. Human effort, no matter how diligent, isn’t enough. It is the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

But, I struggle with that Spirit-of-God thing and concept and, oh, wait a minute, the phone is ringing again and… Stop. Please. Stop. Accept God’s gift. Move ahead.

Acts 15:31 (New Living Translation)

31 And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.

The apostles and elders in Jerusalem had written a short letter to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. When received, the reaction was described above. The message was encouraging; there was great joy.

Wow. We sure could use some encouraging messages here in America right now. Gosh. There isn’t much great joy. Perhaps we have missed out on some simple things in life that are right in front of us.

Don’t have much to do today? Write an encouraging message and send it to someone. Not a post to everyone, but a message to one person. Cause some great joy. Thank you God.

James 3:15 (New Living Translation)

15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

James is writing I am writing to Jewish Christians scattered abroad. James describes the wisdom of God and how Christians show that wisdom. James contrasts the wisdom of God with the wisdom of the world.

The wisdom of the world is jealous and selfish. It is centered upon me and what I have and what I want and the rest of you get out of my way. No wonder James calls that earthly and unspiritual.

James then calls those things “demonic.” Oh, uh, wait a minute. Something wrong here with the translation? Per the dictionary, demonic means of, resembling, or characteristic of demons or evil spirits. Well, being jealous and selfish, I should avoid those things. Perhaps they are a bit immature or something, but characteristic of demons or evil spirits? Come on, that is a bit much, isn’t it?

There it is folks. In black and white or whatever colors appear on your computer or smartphone. Demonic. Yikes. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Acts 2:37a (New Living Translation)

37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts,

Peter is speaking to a large crowd on the day credited with the birth of the church (so some say). At the end of talk, there is the reaction of the crowd. They all respond to Peter’s admonitions.

But first, we have this description of the scene. Peter’s words pierced their hearts. Their hearts were not stone or did not have callouses that were like a couple inches of camel hide. Their hearts were soft enough and tender enough that they could be pierced.

I see that as a miracle. The hearts of the people were ready. The hearts of the people were receptive. I believe God had prepared the hearts of the people for Peter’s words.

I write many things. I speak on occasions. Sometimes I am quite disappointed with what I write or say. It just isn’t good or good enough. Yet, on those occasions, people come to me and say how my words helped them. Huh?

God prepares hearts. God had prepared the hearts of the thousands who listened to Peter on this occasion. Once prepared, Peter’s simple words pierced their hearts.

1 Peter 3:8 (New Living Translation)

8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.

Peter is writing to Christians in a large region. Many of those Christians are Jewish. The Jews looked back to their ancestors and tribes. Peter tells the Christians of all backgrounds to, “Love each other as brothers and sisters.”

All my life, I have heard Brother so-and-so and Sister so-and-so. I haven’t heard that as much in the last 20 years for some reason. Still, brothers and sisters in the same family.

That was a foreign concept, something radical at the time of its writing. Jews and Gentiles—brothers and sisters. Uh, well, I don’t know. Travel from Louisiana to upstate New York. On Sunday, go into a gathering of, uh, brothers and sisters? Yes. Sometimes simply crossing a little river in Louisiana and you walk into a gathering of, well, yes, brothers and sisters. Sometimes the short journey is more difficult. I mean, if those folks are family, why don’t they live on the right side of the river? Why don’t they dress like me and talk like me and watch the same TV shows as me and cheer for the same football team as me and, you know, all the important stuff in life?

Simple, love each other as brothers and sisters. Sometimes hard for someone like me to do. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

John 2:25 (New Living Translation)

25 No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.

A remarkable sentence or two here. Jesus was performing miracles in Jerusalem. People were putting their trust in Jesus. After all, this fella’ from Nazareth was healing sick people like … well, like a miracle. Trust someone who makes life better.

Jesus, however, didn’t trust the people. See verse 24 for, “But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people.”

Then we have the human nature comment. And this wasn’t just some cynical statement about lousy people. This lack of trust from Jesus was based on the knowledge of each person’s heart. Jesus knew what was in not just the “heart of the people” based on some poll. Jesus knew what was in the heart of each individual in the crowd.

This is what God knows. The inner thoughts and feelings or each person. That includes me. That includes you. We aren’t hiding anything. I trust in God. Well, some days, maybe 98.6% trust or something like that, but you know. And I put on a good outer showing to other people and…

Nope. God knows. God knows what is in the heart and mind of each one of us—one at a time. Please God, help me in my unbelief.