PENTECOST • 23

Can God’s Word breakthrough barriers to reach you?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

reading for: Tuesday Night, 31 october

Matthew 23:1-12

Receiving the Word as coming from God, not from man

  • READ

    Matthew 23:1-12

    23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[a] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi[b] by others. 

    8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.[c] 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

    Jesus’ continuing conflict with the Pharisees comes to a climax in chapter 23, where he denounces these leaders, along with the scribes, in harsh terms. That’s why perhaps, it is surprising to hear Jesus instruct the crowds and the disciples to do whatever the Pharisees teach (v. 3). While recognizing the source of their teachings as from God, Jesus is at the same time criticizing their motivation - their desire to draw undue attention to their outwardly pretense of holiness.

    The title “father” (v. 9) could refer to an elder, a teacher, a benefactor, or a revered figure from the past. While the love of titles is an extension of the love of glory, true godly leadership, is humble and willing to become a servant (v. 11-12).

    Was Jesus trying to dismantle or destroy the social institution of rabbi and disciple? Certainly not. Such hierarchies develop, to naturally help keep social institutions healthy and alive. However, they all too frequently undermine the ideal of the church as a community of brothers and sisters (v. 8). And when they do, correctives like what Jesus brings is necessary for healthy kampongs.

  • REFLECT

When you listen to a sermon preached, are you able to look beyond the preacher’s delivery or sermon style and receive the substance and content of what God wants to say to you? Or are you stumbled by the preacher? His/her choice of words? Dressing? Mannerisms? What does this say about where your attention is? How might you desire to grow in this area of your life? Pray and ask the Lord to show you how you can better love Him and others.

Are we learning to hear the voice of Christ through delegated leaders, till ultimately we can hear the voice of God through Christ for ourselves? Do we submit to with right heart posture to Christ’s delegate authority as siblings of our spiritual family? 

reading for: Wednesday Night, 1 november

Joshua 3:7-17

Trusting the Lord as a people

  • READ

    Moses, the servant of the Lord, is dead and Joshua is the new leader of the people of Israel. Joshua led the people of Israel to the Jordan and camped them for three days. At the end of three days, the people were commanded to set out from their place as soon as they see the ark of the covenant being carried by the priests. They were to stay at a distance and not come near the ark of the covenant. The priests were commanded to pass on before the people after they had consecrated themselves.

    Joshua 3:7–17 (ESV)

    7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ” 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” 14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

    The Lord commanded Joshua that today he will know that the Lord is with him. He was told to command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant that when they come to the brink they were to stand still in the Jordan. The people were then told to listen to the words of God that this was how they will know that the Lord was among them and will drive out the inhabitants of the land as they will see the ark of the covenant pass before them into the Jordan. When the soles of the priests touch the Jordan, the waters from the Jordan shall be cut off and the waters will stand in one heap.

    This was precisely what came to pass for when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were dipped in the water, the waters were cut off and there was dry ground. The people passed over the Jordan on dry ground, stepping foot in the promise land that the Lord had promised to give them.

  • REFLECT

    Joshua had to trust the Lord, else he would not have given the commands to the priests and the people. The priests had to trust the Lord, otherwise they would not have dipped their feet into the Jordan. The people also had to trust the Lord to walk on the dry ground. The entire nation of Israel had to walk in faith, trusting the Lord that he will bring them across the Jordan.

    What is the Lord challenging and calling us to obey him in today? Perhaps we see a huge obstacle in front of us and following him does not make sense. May God give us the courage and the faith to obey him and cross the Jordan of our lives. Pray that he will guide us and give us the faith to trust and obey him. Pray that as we obey him, he will lead us into the promise land that he has called us to be in.

    Obeying God is not a journey that we undertake alone, and it requires friends and family who know the Lord to walk the journey together with us. May we encourage and pray for each other that we will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and learn to trust and obey him.

reading for: Thursday Night, 2 november

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Human’s or God’s Word?

  • READ

    Scripture Reading:

    “9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

    13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe (1 Thess 2:9-13).”

    Commentary:

    In today’s reading, Paul exhorts the Thessalonian church for how they received and accepted the Word of God from them (v13). This word of God that they received was both in the message they preached and also the testimony of their lives that reflects that of Jesus Christ (v9-12).

    Paul’s exhortation calls to attention the importance of evaluating our hearts’ posture and expectations towards the Word of God that we read from the bible and hear from our pastors and teachers at church. The key question we need to ask is whether we truly believe that the word we are receiving each day in our personal devotions or from the pulpit on our Sabbath day is merely a human word or God’s word to us.

    This is especially poignant in an age where words are thrown about without much care at a rampant rate. We only need to consider the amount of ‘words’ and their corresponding ideology and beliefs that grab out attention each day through social media posts, news posts, television, dramas, videos, shorts clips and etc. We all bob around in a sea of verbiage, language, words, words, and words. And what’s worst is that in our sinfulness we all tend to live within our own echo chambers gravitating towards anything that props up our own world views and beliefs and disagreeing angrily and very personally with words or ideas that differ from ours.

    On an interesting note, it is found that we tend to walk away from all of this verbal warfare often times unchanged and unfazed. Maybe once in a long while we may cause someone to reconsider their world views for a short while, but we often have little expectations out of lobbing our verbal hand grenades at one another. Moreover, we have learned to live with little expectations towards this sea of words resulting in very little follow through or change in our lives.

    It is in such a space today, the words of the apostle Paul in verse 13 reminds us that we ought to guard our hearts and the spaces we have set apart for receiving God’s word to us.  

  • REFLECT

    What is our attitude, heart posture, and expectations of God’s Word? Do we believe that the Holy Scriptures is God’s Word and holy? Do we trust our pastors and teachers that preach forth the Word of God to us?

    Personal Devotion: “Wake Up Strong”, “Don’t Go to Bed Wrong” and “Pause in Your Day to Pray”  – Do we set time in our lives for time with God that we claim as Christians to love with all our hearts, souls, strength, and minds (Matt 22:26-40; Luke 10:27); Mark 12:28-31)? How do we treat our times we have set apart for quiet time? Is it often rushed and the last thing on our to-do-list and the first thing that can be postponed?

    Reading of scripture – How do we approach our Holy Scriptures? Is it truly Holy to us or is it common and no different from other good ‘words’ and ideas that full our day? Do we treat the word of God with reverence and fight to take hold of it in our lives? Or is it like all the other ‘words’ that we allow to simply slip away with little or no application? James 1:22-25 has the following to say to us regarding this point:

    “22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

    The Word of God from God’s servants (In this category, I especially want to highlight and honour our pastors, leaders, and ministers as they have special answered God’s call to serve us in these offices of ministry) – What is our expectations and attitude towards the word of God we receive through such platforms? Are we listening attentively to what God is saying through the speaker with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that is bringing personal application to our lives? Or do we treat what we hear through these platforms like how we do with our everyday news, social media posts, ted talks and etc.? Are we looking to be entertained and impressed by eloquent preaching or is our hearts soft to what God is saying through His broken and imperfect servants?

    Do you let your honour and love for God’s servant and His word be worked out in the following ways?

    -        Support them: “The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker is worthy of his wage” (1 Tim. 5:17-18).

    -        Love and honour them: “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, and to regard them very highly in love because of their work” (1 Thess. 5:12-13).

    -        Pray for them: “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in fervent prayers to God on my behalf” (Rom. 15:30).

    -        Follow and listen to them: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17).

reading for: FRIDAY Night, 3 november

Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

Praying to the One who's Steadfast Love Endures  

  • READ

    In a world of turmoil, in times of life when the valley seems to never end and there is barely any light in the darkness, to whom do we pray to?

    Psalms 107 is a beautiful invitation for us to come and give thanks to the One who's love is steadfast, who's love is faithful and endures forever (v.1).

    Has the LORD redeemed you? So that you now have someone to turn to? By speaking we not only proclaim but also remember and acknowledge what He has done (v.2). How He gathered you like He did the Israelites of old (v.3).

    He drew us even from the corners of the earth, even when we were wandering (v.4). When we were lost, homeless and hungry, He rescued us when we cried out to Him (v. 5-6). Even the lowly, despised servant Hagar was found, rescued and seen by the Lord (Genesis 16).

    There is nothing this God can't and won't do to show His steadfast love, whether it's turning rivers to deserts (v. 33) or fruitful lands into wastelands (v.34), whether it's deserts into water (v. 35).

    He provides for the hungry (v.36) enabling them to flourish (v 37). He rescues the poor (v. 41).

    This is why we pray, give thanks and speak about the One who's Steadfast Love Endures. For in all history we will see Him if we open our hearts to Him (v. 43).

  • REFLECT

    Psalms 107 is a long Psalm detailing and telling of how God has displayed His love in history. It speaks of God's faithful and enduring love in different seasons.

    Listen to this Psalm read out audibly and allow your heart to be captured by His love in Israel's history.

    Could you try writing out how God’s steadfast love can be seen in your life?

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