Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. 117 Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees. Psalm 119:116-117
Next week begins the new series, “Lessons from Cherith.” For those of you unfamiliar with Cherith (also spelled Kerith) here’s a brief look into 1 Kings 17:2-6. The Lord God had called Elijah out of his home and to the throne of Ahab. While there he had the audacity to speak God’s words to the king telling him there would be neither dew nor rain for the next few years because of the kingdom’s fall into paganism. Then the Lord told Elijah to leave the king, head eastward, and hide in Cherith Ravine. And he obeyed.
He obeyed in spite of the fact that the drought meant the brook in the ravine was almost devoid of water. And the desert-like landscape meant no food was available. His trust meant God could continue to work miracles into Elijah’s life.
The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.1 King 17:6
It’s estimated Elijah stayed in this barren, dry place for almost 2 years. And during that time, he learned some valuable lessons before his journey continued. For one, the Jews listed ravens among the despised birds (Leviticus 11:13-16). They were greedy yet tenacious. Of course, God used the most unlikely of sources to bring Elijah food! They were unclean and repulsive. Yet Elijah had to rely on them – foreshadowing his next God-directed move to rely on an unclean and unworthy widow.
Elijah’s lessons learned may not all be ones you or I need to learn. And during my own trip to Cherith this year, when I too was separated from my quiet, comfortable life, I learned lessons you may or may not need to hear. But the one lesson we all can learn from Elijah is unequivocal trust in the Lord. No matter what the Lord is trying to weed out, burn out, destroy from our thoughts and hearts He needs us first to trust in Him. And like Elijah and his ravens He will do more than just sustain us, He will surprise us. He will work to heal our hearts in ways we can’t even imagine.
I hope you will join me starting next week as I go back on a journey of remembrance from my time deep in my dry ravine. And watch to see how God surprises us, heals us, and love us.
After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Luke 2:46
“The teacher encourages the student morphs – moth to beauteous butterfly soars”
Mala Naidoo, author
When God directed me to start the Emboldened blog He also led me to a few simple quotes to put on the homepage. I didn’t know at the time one day I’d be using those quotes for this week’s study on Jesus and His teaching nature! Of the few quotes He led me to, I included this one by Joyce Meyer:
“If you leave church and are not convicted, asking questions, or emboldened then either you are at the wrong church or you weren’t paying attention.”
Joyce Meyer
How many times have you left church and within an hour couldn’t remember what the sermon was about? You couldn’t even pull up the general topic in your memory?
I recently heard someone say that we don’t go to church to sit and put in our “dues” to God. It’s where we should 1) be rejuvenated for the mission and 2) get more training for the mission. And the second we leave the doors of our “God classroom” we should be at the ready to embark on the commission which Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:19. When church becomes a place where we leave just feeling like that was a “nice” experience, at best, or an obligation, at worst, we owe it to our personal faith progression to re-evaluate the situation.
When I started going to church my family ended up at a large Presbyterian church nearby. The pastor was just what I needed at the time. He was more counselor than teacher. And when I left each Sunday I felt he had really spoken to the problems I was having and reminded me that God loved me. The sermons were light on scripture, maybe one or two mentioned, and heavy on personal stories. But I soon found that sole message to be not quite enough. I wanted to know more. And the “teaching” sermons were what I gobbled up. As my husband can attest, I’m very curious. He constantly reminds me that I like to ask questions that seem to have no answers.
As a developing Christian, we should all be asking questions about God. If this “almighty being” is to be the center of our universe, the touchstone for how we live our lives, and the message we herald, shouldn’t we know everything we can know so we are prepared when sin enters our sphere? So we can be prepared when a seeking, fellow man starts asking us questions?
From learner to teacher. That’s exactly the path Jesus took. Here’s the rest of the scene when Jesus’ parents found him, as a boy, in the temple courts.
"Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers." Luke 2:47
And so, I constantly seek to learn more about this awesome God. At the beginning of this year my husband and I were directed to a new church. My son-in-law and his friend host a Christian men’s podcast called “Supplement the Faith.” They heard on a local St. Louis radio station a show called “Core Christianity.” The main host is Pastor Adriel Sanchez, who unbeknownst to me at the time, is a pastor in my town. They raved about his sound, Christian doctrine and told us we had to go check him out.
And so we went. The music was not my favorite – very simple and traditional hymns. The style of service was more formal than I was used to. But when Pastor Adriel gave his sermon I realized I was listening to a teaching pastor. That day, my church “program” was scribbled all over with notes!
In a brief period of time, I’ve learned a lot from and about Pastor Adriel. He and his beautiful wife have four little children with another on the way. This young pastor, who has led his fairly recently planted church for only about seven years, can be heard on the radio and podcast throughout the world via Core Christianity – which is a question and answer format. His youthfulness stands in contrast to his calm, confident poise. I recently asked Pastor Adriel if he’d be willing, in his busy schedule, to talk about his pastoral style.
And if you are on your faith journey toward learning more about His Word, I encourage you to tune in to either Pastor Adriel’s sermons at North Park Presbyterian (PCA) or the Core Christianity podcast. The questions asked on the podcast might just be something you get asked one day!
Kris: You seem to be drawn toward being more of a “teaching” type pastor than say a “counselor” type. How do you think you developed that style?
Pastor Adriel: I have a firm conviction that from the pulpit my job is to communicate God’s word clearly, and seek to apply it to the folks that God has entrusted to my care. Teaching or explaining the Bible is really important to me because I know that God’s word is the source of life. I do seek to provide biblical wisdom or counsel at times – but often that happens in the context of one on one conversations within the church.
K: Who are your favorite Christian authors/pastors?
PA: I love reading the Christian classics. St. Augustine’s Confessions, Martin Luther’s Commentary on Galatians, Calvin’s Institutes, C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. I nerd out on church history, so I really enjoy reading the early church fathers. As far as living authors are concerned, I like books by theologians like Michael Horton, and pastors like Tim Keller.
K: What got you involved in doing Core Christianity and the podcast?
PA: One of my seminary professors invited me to be on a podcast he had hosted for decades called the White Horse Inn. Over time, we started thinking about a new project that would reach a broader audience helping them to understand the core doctrines of Christianity. A lot of research has come out recently highlighting how little Christians know about their faith – so this was a huge need. Our goal has been to answer basic listener questions about the Bible and the Christian life, and in the process to point folks to Jesus and his gospel. As we grow in our understanding of God’s word, we’re enabled to love and serve God better.
K: What do you like most about doing the podcast?
PA: I love the live element. I think it makes the show exciting, because we can’t really anticipate what kind of call we’re going to get. As a pastor, I also love it when I’m able to answer a question for someone and I can tell audibly that they’re encouraged by God’s word.
K: What are the most frequent topics you get asked?
PA: Questions related to marriage, assurance of salvation, finding a good church, and how to properly apply God’s law are common from our audience. Depending on what’s going on in our broader society, we also will get questions on current events.
K: What question have you gotten that “stumped” you? And what was the funniest question?
PA: Never been stumped! Just kidding. Actually, sometimes we get very obscure Bible questions, or questions for which there is no clear biblical answer. I find those questions to be the most difficult to handle. As far as the funniest question we’ve received… not long ago someone asked if there were fish on the ark too. That one made me chuckle.
K: Which book of the Bible do you enjoy teaching the most and why?
PA: I find that whichever book I am preaching through tends to become my favorite book for that season. Believe it or not, I had a ton of fun preaching through Leviticus a couple of years back. I also really enjoy preaching through the Gospels. I preached through Mark early in my ministry, and like to revisit the Gospels from time to time in-between other books.
K: Which book seems to be the most misunderstood?
PA: As I field questions about the Bible, I think one book that’s frequently misunderstood is Galatians. Many believers don’t have a proper understanding of the distinction between the law, and the gospel, and they struggle to understand how God’s law (and various OT commandments) are to be applied today. Galatians is helpful because it speaks to this kind of problem.
K: Do you see value in studying the entire Bible — not just the New Testament — and why?
PA: Absolutely. Jesus said in John 5 that Moses wrote of him, and in Luke 24 that the entire Bible was about him. The entire Bible gives us a glorious picture of redemptive history, and each story in that history is meant to instruct us in one way or another (1 Cor. 10:11). If you don’t study the Old Testament, you’ll miss out on so many of the riches in the New Testament, and you’ll miss out on Jesus as he’s revealed in the types and shadows of the Old Covenant.
K: What are your overall personal goals as a pastor for say the next 5 years? 10 years?
PA: Honestly, I just want to be a good husband, a good dad, and a faithful pastor. My goal is to grow in that for the next 5-10 years.
Thank you to Pastor Adriel for his time! Whether it be through a teaching pastor, Bible study groups/individual, Christian authors, a radio show or Christian podcast, these days we have so many resources at our fingertips to get to know God. As Christians, we must make it a priority to place this knowledge of His ways firmly at the forefront of our lives.
I wanted to leave you today with this quote about being a learning and then teaching Christian:
He who asks will have; what more did he ask for? But he who seeks will go further; he will find, will enjoy, will grasp, and will know that he has obtained. He who knocks will go further still, for he will understand, and to him will the precious thing be opened. He will not merely have the blessing and enjoy it, but he will comprehend it.
Season all your grain offerings
with salt.Leviticus 2:13
About a year ago my husband and I decided to combine our plans of getting fit at the gym with changing what we ate for dinner. We decided to try out a couple meal delivery services. Now, let me first say my husband is an incredible cook – creative and eager to try new dishes. So whatever plan we chose would have to meet his high standards.
As we made the various meals we discovered some of the “tricks of the trade” of how to make meals have that extra “pop” of flavor. And the most basic trick was seasoning with salt and pepper throughout the cooking process. It was amazing how much better our food tasted when we seasoned at the beginning, middle and end. Salt is so simple yet it somehow releases the intricate flavors of whatever dish it’s added to.
Do not leave the salt of the covenant
of your God out of your grain offerings;
add salt to all your offerings.Leviticus 2:13
And throughout the Bible we are encouraged, or as in Leviticus, admonished, to add salt to our offerings to God and to our work for God.
Let your conversation be always full
of grace, seasoned with salt, so that
you may know how to answer everyone.Colossians 4:6
But what does this mean in our daily faith lives? Adding salt to our conversations means making sure our work of sharing the gospel is pure and properly seasoned – with grace and love. In other places in the Bible we see salt as something added to make our lives more pleasing to God.
My BSGs had a conversation once about memorizing scripture and prayers – an admirable activity for sure. But when our faith life becomes a series of memorized verse or monotonous prayers we can lose our saltiness. We lose the passion and uniqueness of our special relationship with God.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness,
how can it be made salty again?"Luke 14:34
So how do we regain that beautiful flavor in our relationship with Him? Ask. It’s funny how so often when we struggle with faith issues we forget to do the one thing that works the best – ask Him. “Show me, Lord, how to reignite and bring passion to my relationship with you!” He might show you a new way to pray, a new book to read, a new song to sing, a new Christian friend, or a new place in your home to mediate.
The Holy Spirit is waiting to be tapped for answers. It’s like He is jumping up and down with His hand up going, “Oooooo! Ask Me! Ask Me!”
Average is very acceptable in our society but I don’t think the angels are applauding. If you are determined to be excellent, to not back out of it, you will reap a harvest in your life.
Joyce Meyer
Let’s start flavoring our faith life at the beginning, middle and end of our day with salt, with passion, with grace, and with intentionality. Let’s dine with our Savior and feast on the grace He gives us.
If only there were someone to
mediate between us, someone to
bring us together, someone to
remove God’s rod from me, so
that his terror would frighten
me no more.Job 9:33-34
When we read Paul’s letter to Philemon yesterday it’s clear that he is acting as an intercessor or in Biblical terms a “daysman.” That’s what Job is asking for in this verse because he knows God is not a man to face directly.
As a Christian we can be thankful that Jesus is our “daysman.” We lift our prayers and requests for forgiveness up “In Jesus’ Name.” But that task isn’t just on the burden of Jesus.
If anyone sins because they do
not speak up when they hear a
public charge to testify regarding
something they have seen or learned
about, they will be held responsible.Leviticus 5:1
In other words God holds us to account not just for things we’ve said or done but for those we should but haven’t said or done. So, when a friend, colleague or family member is seeking forgiveness or to forgive and we can be a “daysman” for them we need to step up like Paul.
How do we do that? Pray. We pray that the right words and right time are placed before us. We follow the guidelines of the Bible and don’t play favorites (James 2:1) and we don’t seek punishment or shame. We seek to be peacemakers, not for our glory but for the glory of God’s kingdom. And we pray that hearts are softened and opened to healing.
Lesson #1: Show hospitality to strangers, they may be God’s heaven-sent angels
Dear friend, you are faithful in
what you are doing for the brothers
and sisters, even though they are
strangers to you.3 John 5
The saying goes, “A man’s home is his castle.” And we might add to that, “surrounded by a deep moat, protected by a closed drawbridge.” At least that’s how it seems so many have come to treat their abodes. But the concept of hospitality has a long history for us Christians.
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.Genesis 19: 1-3
In Leviticus we are admonished to treat the traveler as one of our own family. And throughout the New Testament we see the kindness of various townsfolk welcoming Jesus and the disciples along the way. Without these strangers’ help they would’ve found themselves hungry and without a bed on which to lie their head.
And in our smallest Bible book, 3 John, we see the work of a church elder named Gaius. The news of his hospitality and kindness toward fellow Christians reached John who noted how it brought him “great joy.”
But why is hospitality a life lesson? The Greek word for hospitality is philoxenos from the two words philos (friend) and xenos (stranger) and it means to show proper warmth or friendliness to strangers. It also means to have the readiness to share our home and other treasures. So often when we think of hospitality in our home it means inviting friends and family for dinners and parties. But strangers? Pull up the drawbridge and release the piranhas into the moat!
So what is Christian hospitality?
Answering calls from the church to hosts missionaries and guests
Inviting church elders over for meals
Hosting church activities such as Bible study in our homes
Reaching out to our unfamiliar neighbors and inviting them over for coffee
Being a welcoming face at church – not just a smile but showing a genuine interest in a new face
I wonder how many of us (I raise my hand) have read in the church bulletin about a visiting missionary needing a place to stay for a week or a car to borrow and we thought at best “Yea, I don’t feel comfortable with that” and at worst didn’t think about it at all?
I have a friend who has always held her Catholic priests in very high honor. It borders on being afraid of them. And when a friend of hers invited her to have a private gathering with a local priest she was aghast that it was all so, well, normal. It reminds me of when my kids were in elementary school and they thought the teacher didn’t have a life outside the classroom. But church leaders are people in addition to their divinely appointed roles. They enjoy fellowship just like you and me!
What hospitality is not.
Allowing situations in our home where guests openly sin
Inviting guests out of a sense of obligation, not love
Feeling the need to have our homes be perfect before inviting guests
Let’s look at number 1. Many years ago, my husband and I invited his brother and his brother’s girlfriend out for a visit. They couldn’t afford to travel so we let them stay at our home. Under one condition. They’d have to sleep in separate rooms. As a fairly new Christian, this was the first time I really stood my ground as the “new me.” Initially, my brother-in-law took issue with this. He commented that my husband and I had lived together before marriage so why should we now place this restriction on him – wasn’t that hypocritical? Friends, let’s be honest. Before we were made new in Christ, we did a lot of stupid, dangerous, sinful things. It’s ok to now say those things were wrong. And being that our house is our castle, you can make any rule you want. We didn’t place judgement on what he did outside our home, we just drew a line as to what was going to happen in our home, around our children. Our hospitality included the use of our home but not the erasure of our morals. The result? They both came and had a great time plus we were able to witness to my brother in law the changes Christ had made in our lives.
Number two seems obvious but when people take action out of a sense of obligation rather than love, the road can get bumpy. I read the story of a pastor who was invited to speak at a church. The host family welcomed him in, showed him his room and then preceded to tell him they didn’t feel it was their responsibility to feed him. They also worked very hard to completely ignore him over the course of five days. They did their “Christian duty” in their eyes. But can we really call that true Christian hospitality? I hope not.
The key to good hospitality isn’t found in the externals, like linen tablecloths and exquisitely furnished guest bedrooms, but in qualities like servanthood, a listening ear, and an encouraging word.
Max Lucado
When I was involved in PTA there was a chair position called “hospitality.” What that entitled was setting up a beautifully appointed table of yummy food at various events. Shouldn’t a church body’s goal be more of the philoxenos version? How many times does your church have to beg people to be greeters or to host a home Bible study? Our church volunteer coordinators should be overwhelmed by the requests to be able to say “hello!” and shake hands with new people. We should have too many homes (large and tiny) from which to choose for Bible study. We may not be the Hospitality Chair but we should all be committee members!
We ought therefore to show hospitality
to such people (the faithful) so that we
may work together for the truth.3 John 8
A Christian who lives with an active approach to philoxenos brings God a lot of joy, just like Gaius did for John. We are reminded in the Old Testament that at one point in our lives we were all strangers. Strangers hoping for someone to reach out and say “hello.” Strangers hoping someone would show us God’s love. We need to assume that person is us.
“May I continue to find favor
in your eyes, my lord,” she said.
“You have put me at ease by
speaking kindly to your servant—
though I do not have the standing
of one of your servants.”Ruth 2:13
A prayer to always speak kindly of others
Merciful God, so often when I think of sinful behavior, I rarely attribute my own tendency to gossip and tear down others. And yet throughout Jesus’ time here on earth he reminds us to love one another. Help me to remember to love not just with deeds but with my words. You speak so kindly of me, LORD, and I have many, many flaws. Not only do I need your help in not speaking unkindly, but also in being your servant to exalt your people. I know that a kind word is all that is needed to cure so many of our world’s ills. Guide me in controlling my lips so that they drip with kindness rather than bitterness. In Jesus’ name I lift this up to you. Amen
“The problem with youth sports is the parents,” my husband loves to say. And he’s not wrong. If you’ve never stood on the sidelines of a soccer, softball, baseball, football or any youth sport let me paint a picture. There’s the pacer – that parent that has so much anger or anxiety they can’t sit still. There’s the cheerleader parent and the coaching parent – yelling out to their kids instructions of how to play better. There’s the sideline referee – yelling at the refs for every call. The peek-a-boo parent stands off to the side trying to shield themselves from their anxiety, only peeking to check out the score or why everyone just cheered so loudly. And then you have little groups of parents huddled together gossiping.
I have been every single one of those at some point. And guess what, so has my husband. He may be hesitant to admit it but I have seen him be the actor in each of those roles.
During my youngest daughter’s last season of high school field hockey, I decided to take a different tack. I knew my mouth wanted to speak so I figured, why fight it. But instead of anything negative I would cheer positively for every girl at one point or another. Afterwards, I would seek out parents and pay their daughters’ compliments for a job well done. It’s amazing how much better I felt after games.
My command is this:
Love each other as I
have loved you.John 15:12
I know for some, speaking kindly comes naturally (looking at you Betsy!). But I have found that not to be the norm in society. We seem to feel the need to seek out the flaw, the screw up, the mistake. “The movie was good, but I’m not too sure about that choice of an actor.” “She’s lost a lot of weight, but she really needed it didn’t she?” “He’s a good leader but I don’t like his hair.” “She always looks so nice, but of course she likes to impress people.” And on and on. The “buts” in our sentences erase any good we intended. We just need to get that extra little dig in.
“‘Do not go about spreading
slander among your people.
“‘Do not do anything that endangers
your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.Leviticus 19:16
I was listening to a podcast by a well know Christian speaker. She told a story of how she would listen to other talented speakers and upon leaving start dissecting all they had done wrong. And yet, she hoped people wouldn’t do the same to her.
Speaking unkindly, gossiping, or even slandering others is sinful behavior. It is like an amoeba that slowly eats our heart and mind. And the cure is to offer the kind word. It’s not enough to remove something from our behavior, that’s only half the work. God wants us to actively love our friends, family, neighbors and strangers with kindness.
I realized that not only was I having problems speaking about others unkindly but also about myself. I discovered this while at the gym. When I would get tired and worried I wouldn’t perform well I found my inner “but” speaking – “Come on you lazy so and so, you showed up today but now get it in gear!” How many of us really need one more person saying something negative to us? And yet, how many of us are that one more person? I decided to flip the script and start saying, “Come on! I know you can do this! You are stronger than yesterday!” I’m thankful for a few less bruises on my soul.
Just one more! You can do it!
When I head out on my errands now, I say a little prayer asking God to help me say something that brightens someone’s day. I put a sign up in my prayer room that says, “Kindness and Grace Matter.” With His help I will remove the “buts” out of my vocabulary and rest in the compliment. I’m doing that not only for others but also for myself. I will speak kindness into my own heart so that it is full. And with fullness of heart, I will spread His fruit of love and kindness.
If you want this too, add the prayer to your daily prayer list and watch and see how God works in your life!
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