Walking in the Light

God's Prophets Demand Justice
God' Prophets Demand Justice

Advocates of Justice for All


Our Redeemer Comes

Psalm 89:11-18  The Message

^5-18 God! Let the cosmos praise your wonderful ways,
    the choir of holy angels sing anthems to your faithful ways!
Search high and low, scan skies and land,
    you’ll find nothing and no one quite like God.
The holy angels are in awe before him;
    he looms immense and august over everyone around him.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who is like you,
    powerful and faithful from every angle?
You put the arrogant ocean in its place
    and calm its waves when they turn unruly.
You gave that old hag Egypt the back of your hand,
    you brushed off your enemies with a flick of your wrist.
You own the cosmos—you made everything in it,
    everything from atom to archangel.
You positioned the North and South Poles;
    the mountains Tabor and Hermon sing duets to you.
With your well-muscled arm and your grip of steel—
    nobody trifles with you!
The Right and Justice are the roots of your rule;
    Love and Truth are its fruits.
Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise,
    who shout on parade in the bright presence of God.
Delighted, they dance all day long; they know
    who you are, what you do—they can’t keep it quiet!
Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us—
    you’ve been so good to us! We’re walking on air!
All we are and have we owe to God,
    Holy God of Israel, our King!

For Reflection 

Search high and low, you will never find a god like our  God.  God is mysterious.  God's ways are not human ways.  But, God is powerful.  God is compassionate.  God is just.  God is forgiving.  God is always reaching out to comfort, guide and help.  God is steadfast.  God will never abandon you.  God resides in you.   God is the essence of love and beauty.  What we are and  what we have we owe to God's grace.  Praise God!

Pray

Sing, dance an praise God.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving to the living God.

Our Redeemer is Strong

God's Prophets Demand Justice
God' Prophets Demand Justice

Advocates of Justice for All


Our Redeemer Comes

Jeremiah 50:28-34  The Message

^25-28 “I, God, opened my arsenal.
    I brought out my weapons of wrath.
The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    has a job to do in Babylon.
Come at her from all sides!
    Break into her granaries!
Shovel her into piles and burn her up.
    Leave nothing! Leave no one!
Kill all her young turks.
    Send them to their doom!
Doom to them! Yes, Doomsday!
    The clock has finally run out on them.
And here’s a surprise:
    Runaways and escapees from Babylon
Show up in Zion reporting the news of God’s vengeance,
    taking vengeance for my own Temple.

^29-30 “Call in the troops against Babylon,
    anyone who can shoot straight!
Tighten the noose!
    Leave no loopholes!
Give her back as good as she gave,
    a dose of her own medicine!
Her brazen insolence is an outrage
    against God, The Holy of Israel.
And now she pays: her young strewn dead in the streets,
    her soldiers dead, silent forever.” God’s Decree.

^31-32 “Do you get it, Mister Pride? I’m your enemy!”
    Decree of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“Time’s run out on you:
    That’s right: It’s Doomsday.
Mister Pride will fall flat on his face.
    No one will offer him a hand.
I’ll set his towns on fire.
    The fire will spread wild through the country.”

^33-34 And here’s more from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“The people of Israel are beaten down,
    the people of Judah along with them.
Their oppressors have them in a grip of steel.
    They won’t let go.
But the Rescuer is strong:
    God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Yes, I will take their side,
    I’ll come to their rescue.
I’ll soothe their land,
    but rough up the people of Babylon.

For Reflection 

Yeah, I know!  Vengeance is the Lord's.  But, I always have trouble with the war language in the Bible. I suppose that I shouldn't, but, in the light of the New Testament, I can't help understanding these passages metaphorically.

Babylon is the seat of Godlessness.  Her destruction may be literal. However, taken metaphorically, Babylon is the seat of prideful self-determination and, as such, Babylon is the master of its own defeat.  Pride has been her executioner.

To what extent are you proud of your Christianity?  Does your pride color your thoughts and action?  Does your pride get in the way of your holy commission to love, forgive and compassionately work for justice?  Does your pride overpower your humility?  God does not offer Pride a hand.

Pray

pray for humility.   Pray that your pride will not lead to the defense of a God who needs no defense.  Pray for humility that leads us away from destructive action and toward creating peace.  Pray that your humility will set the enemies of God afire.

God's Everlasting Love

God's Prophets Demand Justice
God' Prophets Demand Justice

Advocates of Justice for All


Our Redeemer Comes

Isaiah 54:14-17  The Message

^11-17 “Afflicted city, storm-battered, unpitied:
    I’m about to rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
Lay your foundations with sapphires,
    construct your towers with rubies,
Your gates with jewels,
    and all your walls with precious stones.
All your children will have God for their teacher—
    what a mentor for your children!
You’ll be built solid, grounded in righteousness,
    far from any trouble—nothing to fear!
    far from terror—it won’t even come close!
If anyone attacks you,
    don’t for a moment suppose that I sent them,
And if any should attack,
    nothing will come of it.
I create the blacksmith
    who fires up his forge
    and makes a weapon designed to kill.
I also create the destroyer—
    but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.
Any accuser who takes you to court
    will be dismissed as a liar.
This is what God’s servants can expect.
    I’ll see to it that everything works out for the best.”
        God’s Decree.

For Reflection 

We sometimes forget that God's time is not our time; that God's intentions are not our intentions.  We are not gods.  Yet, we behave as though we were.  We insist, destructively, that our personal definition of God and the path to reconciliation is the only one worth understanding.

To what extend have we, as Christians, embraced God's promise of victory?  Have we adopted God's hope which is based upon God's long range view (since the beginning of time until its end, or beyond!)?  As Christians we are pledged to and participate in God's plan for humanity.  We ebb and flow in the Spirit as we face the squabbles of our time.  However, in the end, in spite of our human endeavors to the contrary, the Spirit dwells within us and God's plan for reconciliation and the Kingdom of God will be realized because we played our part.

Acting alone, we lift the rock of religious fervor only to drop it on our toes.  Let us not forget to whom and to what we are pledged.  Let us not forget family to whom we belong. Let us not forget that we are not alone responsible.  We live in the household of the Lord.  We are God's heirs. We are Christians.

Pray

for the reconciliation of all people to God.  Pray that we will remember the long term and be comforted by God's hope.  Pray for humility in God's adopted family.  Pray for the wisdom to walk along side Jesus.

Taught for Our Own Good

God's Prophets Demand Justice
God' Prophets Demand Justice

Advocates of Justice for All


Our Redeemer Comes

Isaiah 48:12-19  The Message

Your Progeny, Like Grains of Sand

^16-19 And now, the Master, God, sends me and his Spirit
    with this Message from God,
    your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:
“I am God, your God,
    who teaches you how to live right and well.
    I show you what to do, where to go.
If you had listened all along to what I told you,
    your life would have flowed full like a river,
    blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.
Children and grandchildren are like sand,
    your progeny like grains of sand.
There would be no end of them,
    no danger of losing touch with me.”

For Reflection 

Only God through those who preach authentically can teach us to become a righteous people.  It is our responsibility to ensure that our children are taught well.  In children taught well, we are in no danger of abandoning God.

Pray

Pray for those who teach. Pray for those who learn.  Pray that the Spirit will guide each of them into righteousness.

Our Redeemer Comes

God's Prophets Demand Justice
God' Prophets Demand Justice

Advocates of Justice for All


Our Redeemer Comes

Isaiah 59:1-15  The Message

We Long for Light but Sink into Darkness

59 ^1-8 Look! Listen!
    God’s arm is not amputated—he can still save.
    God’s ears are not stopped up—he can still hear.
There’s nothing wrong with God; the wrong is in you.
    Your wrongheaded lives caused the split between you and God.
    Your sins got between you so that he doesn’t hear.
Your hands are drenched in blood,
    your fingers dripping with guilt,
Your lips smeared with lies,
    your tongue swollen from muttering obscenities.
No one speaks up for the right,
    no one deals fairly.
They trust in illusion, they tell lies,
    they get pregnant with mischief and have sin-babies.
They hatch snake eggs and weave spider webs.
    Eat an egg and die; break an egg and get a snake!
The spider webs are no good for shirts or shawls.
    No one can wear these weavings!
They weave wickedness,
    they hatch violence.
They compete in the race to do evil
    and run to be the first to murder.
They plan and plot evil, think and breathe evil,
    and leave a trail of wrecked lives behind them.
They know nothing about peace
    and less than nothing about justice.
They make tortuously twisted roads.
    No peace for the wretch who walks down those roads!

^9-11 Which means that we’re a far cry from fair dealing,
    and we’re not even close to right living.
We long for light but sink into darkness,
    long for brightness but stumble through the night.
Like the blind, we inch along a wall,
    groping eyeless in the dark.
We shuffle our way in broad daylight,
    like the dead, but somehow walking.
We’re no better off than bears, groaning,
    and no worse off than doves, moaning.
We look for justice—not a sign of it;
    for salvation—not so much as a hint.

^12-15 Our wrongdoings pile up before you, God,
    our sins stand up and accuse us.
Our wrongdoings stare us down;
    we know in detail what we’ve done:
Mocking and denying God,
    not following our God,
Spreading false rumors, inciting sedition,
    pregnant with lies, muttering malice.
Justice is beaten back,
    Righteousness is banished to the sidelines,
Truth staggers down the street,
    Honesty is nowhere to be found,
Good is missing in action.
    Anyone renouncing evil is beaten and robbed.

 

For Reflection 

We all long for something fulfilling.  We search for anything which will make us feel complete.  Some search in mind altering states, some in food, some in material things, some in wealth.   Well, you get the idea.  Our recent popular topic is happiness.  "Just follow these five easy steps and you can find happiness.  Just buy the book or sign up for the workshop!"

We all search for a meaningful life. But as rational people, we sometimes deny our spiritual side and reject the only path to becoming complete.  The paradox of living is that one must temper the rationality of independence with the irrationality of dependence.  A life lived outside the Spirit is a life shackled to fear, a death spiral into destruction.

Pray

for those who deny God. Pray for those who speak up for justice.  Pray for those whose compassion creates peace.  Pray for those whose forgiveness wipes out fear.  Pray for those who enlighten the paths to salvation.  Pray that you will look through God's eyes for the truth in the midst of the chaos of our lives.

I Will Look to the Lord

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


God Shows Clemency

Micah 7:7-13  The Message

⁷ But me, I’m not giving up.
    I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
    I’m counting on God to listen to me.

Spreading Your Wings

^8-10 Don’t, enemy, crow over me.
    I’m down, but I’m not out.
I’m sitting in the dark right now,
    but God is my light.
I can take God’s punishing rage.
    I deserve it—I sinned.
But it’s not forever. He’s on my side
    and is going to get me out of this.
He’ll turn on the lights and show me his ways.
    I’ll see the whole picture and how right he is.
And my enemy will see it, too,
    and be discredited—yes, disgraced!
This enemy who kept taunting,
    “So where is this God of yours?”
I’m going to see it with these, my own eyes—
    my enemy disgraced, trash in the gutter.

^11-13 Oh, that will be a day! A day for rebuilding your city,
    a day for stretching your arms, spreading your wings!
All your dispersed and scattered people will come back,
    old friends and family from faraway places,
From Assyria in the east to Egypt in the west,
    from across the seas and out of the mountains.
But there’ll be a reversal for everyone else—massive depopulation—
    because of the way they lived, the things they did.

For Reflection 

So this is how it will be.  A day of triumph!  A day of rebuilding!  A day of unity in God!  A day when Hope rules.  A day when the Godless will drown in their own Godlessness!  Have confidence in the promise of God.  It is a promise in which you can participate today.  It is a promise of righteous living.  It is a promise of salvation, a salvation of the here and now and in eternal life.

Pray

prayers of praise for the living God.  Pray for the confidence in God's promise of Hope.  Pray for the Spirit of God to guide you into Grace.

You Are My Sheep

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


God Shows Clemency

Ezekiel 34:23-31  The Message

^23-24 “‘I’ll appoint one shepherd over them all: my servant David. He’ll feed them. He’ll be their shepherd. And I, God, will be their God. My servant David will be their prince. I, God, have spoken.
^25-27 “‘I’ll make a covenant of peace with them. I’ll banish fierce animals from the country so the sheep can live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. I’ll make them and everything around my hill a blessing. I’ll send down plenty of rain in season—showers of blessing! The trees in the orchards will bear fruit, the ground will produce, they’ll feel content and safe on their land, and they’ll realize that I am God when I break them out of their slavery and rescue them from their slave masters.
^28-29 “‘No longer will they be exploited by outsiders and ravaged by fierce beasts. They’ll live safe and sound, fearless and free. I’ll give them rich gardens, lavish in vegetables—no more living half-starved, no longer taunted by outsiders.
^30-31 “‘They’ll know, beyond doubting, that I, God, am their God, that I’m with them and that they, the people Israel, are my people. Decree of God, the Master:

You are my dear flock,
    the flock of my pasture, my human flock,
And I am your God.
    Decree of God, the Master.’”

 

For Reflection 

God has sent one of God's own heart, one who's spirit is God's Spirit;  David, servant of God.  God pledges his protection for God's people.  God pledges salvation for all human fears.  God does not underestimate the power of spiritual engrossment.  And neither should we!  What we seek, we shall find in God.  What we long for we shall find in the presence of God's faithful community.  Giving your living moments to God, will free you from a corrupting sense of self-fulfillment.

Pray

that you will give into God's call for your life.  Pray for the aiding trust in God.  Pray that you will know the comfort of a life in God's flock.

The Lord Will Shepard His Sheep

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


God Shows Clemency

Ezekiel 34:7-16  The Message

^7-9 “‘Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of God: As sure as I am the living God—Decree of God, the Master—because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, listen to what God has to say:
¹⁰ “‘Watch out! I’m coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They’re fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I’ll rescue my sheep from their greed. They’re not going to feed off my sheep any longer!
^11-16 “‘God, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I’m going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered to in the storms. I’ll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. I’ll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost, I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they’re not exploited.

 

For Reflection 

The Promise of God!  You can count on it!

If you are floundering in the Spirit, God will find you.  If you are facing troublesome times, God will find you.  If your faith is in doubt, God will find you.   Weak or strong, imprisoned by the common place or embedded in an inauthentic community, God will rescue you.  Give up on self-sufficiency and embrace God's promise.  God will always find you, comfort you and give you peace.

Pray

for the healing power of God to revitalize you.  Pray that you will turn to God in troubled times.  Pray that you will graze in God's pastures.  Pray for the comfort only God can deliver.

My Sheep Were Scattered

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


God Shows Clemency

Ezekiel 34:1-6  The Message

When the Sheep Get Scattered

34 ^1-6 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, ‘God, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren’t shepherds supposed to feed sheep? You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don’t feed the sheep. You don’t build up the weak ones, don’t heal the sick, don’t doctor the injured, don’t go after the strays, don’t look for the lost. You bully and badger them. And now they’re scattered every which way because there was no shepherd—scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes. Scattered—my sheep!—exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills. My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one out looking for them!

 

For Reflection 

Ezekiel called the established religious leaders of Israel to account.  Charged with shepherding God's people, the religious leaders were exploiting their sheep.  Because of this corruption and abuse of power the people fled to avoid the abuse.

Because the leaders did not focus on supporting the community of believers, God will step in.  God will never abandon God's people.

Who are the Christian leaders today who exploit their followers?  How do you determine who is misleading and who is authentic?  Who is the modern time Ezekiel?  Who is fostering prophetic ministry?  How do you determine the prophet's authenticity?

Pray

for the wisdom to determine the authenticity of Christian leaders.  Pray that all Christian leaders will lead in such a way that builds community rooted in the Spirit of God.  Pray that you will lead people to a righteous life of fellowship, forgiveness, compassion, and justice.

I Trusted in Your Steadfast Love

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


God Shows Clemency

Psalm 13  The Message

A David Psalm

13 ^1-2 Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
    have looked down their noses at me.

^3-4 Take a good look at me, God, my God;
    I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
    or laugh when I fall on my face.

^5-6 I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
    I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
    I’m so full of answered prayers.

For Reflection 

I suppose there are times when each of us feels abandoned.  The despair of facing the world alone pressures us.  In the face of such pressures we sometimes falter.  David is facing such a time.  He honestly opens his feelings to God. Critical, yes, but confident that God will hear his petition, David does not bargain with God.  Rather, David praises God for God's blessings and confesses his devotion.

Pray

In times of trouble remember to God the blessings God has given.  Remember your devotion to the only one who can save you.  Remember and celebrate the relationship you have.  Pray prayers that are honest and authentic.

You Have Blessed My Enemies

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 23:1-12 The Message

23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and then prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”

² Balak did it. Then Balaam and Balak sacrificed a bull and a ram on each of the altars.
³ Balaam instructed Balak: “Stand watch here beside your Whole-Burnt-Offering while I go off by myself. Maybe God will come and meet with me. Whatever he shows or tells me, I’ll report to you.” Then he went off by himself.

⁴ God did meet with Balaam. Balaam said, “I’ve set up seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

⁵ Then God gave Balaam a message: “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
^6-10 He went back and found him stationed beside his Whole-Burnt-Offering and with him all the nobles of Moab. Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle:

Balak led me here from Aram,
    the king of Moab all the way from the eastern mountains.
“Go, curse Jacob for me;
    go, damn Israel.”
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
    How can I damn whom God has not damned?
From rock pinnacles I see them,
    from hilltops I survey them:
Look! a people camping off by themselves,
    thinking themselves outsiders among nations.
But who could ever count the dust of Jacob
    or take a census of cloud-of-dust Israel?
I want to die like these right-living people!
    I want an end just like theirs!

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, “What’s this? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and all you’ve done is bless them.”

¹² Balaam answered, “Don’t I have to be careful to say what God gives me to say?”

For Reflection 

Balak thought that he could manipulate God through Balaam. Through Balaam,  Balak thought that he could have God support his own ends.  But God allowed Balak to think his misguided design would succeed and let the natural course of events play out until God turned Balak's endeavors into failures.  Having waited until the moment of selfish satisfaction and in the midst of Balak's followers, God blesses Balak's enemies.  God's blessing now trivializes Balak's Godless endeavors.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God whose victory prevails.  Pray that you will travel with God in confidence that your role in God's plan is pivotal to the realization of the Kingdom of God.  Pray for your willful participation.

Speak Only What I Tell You

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 22:31-38  The Message

³¹ Then God helped Balaam see what was going on: He saw God’s angel blocking the way, brandishing a sword. Balaam fell to the ground, his face in the dirt.
^32-33 God’s angel said to him: “Why have you beaten your poor donkey these three times? I have come here to block your way because you’re getting way ahead of yourself. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn’t, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off.”
³⁴ Balaam said to God’s angel, “I have sinned. I had no idea you were standing in the road blocking my way. If you don’t like what I’m doing, I’ll head back.”
³⁵ But God’s angel said to Balaam, “Go ahead and go with them. But only say what I tell you to say—absolutely no other word.”
And so Balaam continued to go with Balak’s nobles.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him in the Moabite town that was on the banks of the Arnon, right on the boundary of his land.

³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I send an urgent message for help? Why didn’t you come when I called? Do you think I can’t pay you enough?”
³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, “Well, I’m here now. But I can’t tell you just anything. I can speak only words that God gives me—no others.”

For Reflection 

Just as God was in Balaam, God is in you.  God will never abandon you.  Even if you , like Balaam are caught in a seduction of selfish desire.  God will turn you into righteousness.

Pray

Pray that you will be on the alert for God Whispers.  Pray that you will follow God's plan for your life.  Praise God for saving you from the errors of your own ways.

Do Only What I Tell You

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 22:15-23  The Message

^15-17 Balak sent another group of nobles, higher ranking and more distinguished. They came to Balaam and said, “Balak son of Zippor says, ‘Please, don’t refuse to come to me. I will honor and reward you lavishly—anything you tell me to do, I’ll do; I’ll pay anything—only come and curse this people.’”
^18-19 Balaam answered Balak’s servants: “Even if Balak gave me his house stuffed with silver and gold, I wouldn’t be able to defy the orders of my God to do anything, whether big or little. But come along and stay with me tonight as the others did; I’ll see what God will say to me this time.”
²⁰ God came to Balaam that night and said, “Since these men have come all this way to see you, go ahead and go with them. But make sure you do absolutely nothing other than what I tell you.”
^21-23 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went off with the noblemen from Moab. As he was going, though, God’s anger flared. The angel of God stood in the road to block his way. Balaam was riding his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. When the donkey saw the angel blocking the road and brandishing a sword, she veered off the road into the ditch. Balaam beat the donkey and got her back on the road.

 

For Reflection 

Balaam recognized the authority of God and deferred to God's judgment.  However, Balaam was still moved by the offer of power and wealth.  God saw this and granted permission to travel.  But, as they traveled closer to Moab, God saw Balaam slipping into the grip of Balak's seduction.   The strength of Balaam's resolve to accept Balak's reward was indicated by the violent reaction to his donkey's refusal to continue.  Balaam was slipping into sin, separating himself from God. 

We all have weak spots that can lead us to choose to follow a path that would separate us from God.  What seduces you?

Pray

that you will not weaken in your resolve to obey God.  Pray that when confronted by seductive options, you will choose to follow God.

The Word of the Lord Speaks

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 22:1-14  The Message

Balaam

22 The People of Israel marched on and camped on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho.

^2-3 Balak son of Zippor learned of all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The people of Moab were in a total panic because of Israel. There were so many of them! They were terrorized.
^4-5 Moab spoke to the leaders of Midian: “Look, this mob is going to clean us out—a bunch of crows picking a carcass clean.”
Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent emissaries to get Balaam son of Beor, who lived at Pethor on the banks of the Euphrates River, his homeland.
^5-6 Balak’s emissaries said, “Look. A people has come up out of Egypt, and they’re all over the place! And they’re pressing hard on me. Come and curse them for me—they’re too much for me. Maybe then I can beat them; we’ll attack and drive them out of the country. You have a reputation: Those you bless stay blessed; those you curse stay cursed.”
^7-8 The leaders of Moab and Midian were soon on their way, with the fee for the cursing tucked safely in their wallets. When they got to Balaam, they gave him Balak’s message.
“Stay here for the night,” Balaam said. “In the morning I’ll deliver the answer that God gives me.”
The Moabite nobles stayed with him.
⁹ Then God came to Balaam. He asked, “So who are these men here with you?”
^10-11 Balaam answered, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message: ‘Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I’ll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.’”
¹² God said to Balaam, “Don’t go with them. And don’t curse the others—they are a blessed people.”
¹³ The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak’s nobles, “Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you.”
¹⁴ So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, “Balaam wouldn’t come with us.”

For Reflection 

The Moabites had resolved to ruin the Israelites.  They had forsaken the religion of their father Lot. Yet, out of the remains of the religion of Abraham, Balaam appeals to God to curse the Israelites.  God answers Balaam's appeal and advises him.  Balaam takes the advice and follows it.  Balaam seems to return to God what is God's.

God always finds the worthy in unworthy places.  God always anticipates the unanticipated solutions to result in bolstering the faith of those who are within God's sphere.  Only God knows whom is to be blessed and only God can bless.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for God's justice.  Pray that you will find love at the root of your just actions.  Pray that you will find unanticipated responses to the conflicts you face.

What Does the Lord Require?

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Deuteronomy 10:12-22  The Message

^12-13 So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.

^14-18 Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. But it was your ancestors who God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now. So cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hardheaded. God, your God, is the God of all gods, he’s the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing.

^19-21 You must treat foreigners with the same loving care—
        remember, you were once foreigners in Egypt.
    Reverently respect God, your God, serve him, hold tight to him,
        back up your promises with the authority of his name.
    He’s your praise! He’s your God!
    He did all these tremendous, these staggering things
        that you saw with your own eyes.

²² When your ancestors entered Egypt, they numbered a mere seventy souls. And now look at you—you look more like the stars in the night skies in number. And your God did it.

For Reflection 

Worship: 
        Step One!

Praise God.  In what ways are you blessed by God?  For that, alone, God is praise worthy.  Remember your blessings and praise God with great exuberance! Praise God in prose and poetry.  Praise God in Song.  Praise God in Dance.  Praise God in obedience to God's word.  Yes, God does staggering things.  Your have seen it with your own eyes.  You have felt it in your heart.  Praise God!

Pray

Praise God!

Woe to Those Striving with God

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Tolerance for Corrupt Leaders and People

Isaiah 45:5-13 The Message

The God Who Forms Light and Darkness

45 ^1-7 God’s Message to his anointed,
    to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand
To give the task of taming the nations,
    of terrifying their kings—
He gave him free rein,
    no restrictions:
“I’ll go ahead of you,
    clearing and paving the road.
I’ll break down bronze city gates,
    smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
I’ll lead you to buried treasures,
    secret caches of valuables—
Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God,
    the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It’s because of my dear servant Jacob,
    Israel my chosen,
That I’ve singled you out, called you by name,
    and given you this privileged work.
    And you don’t even know me!
I am God, the only God there is.
    Besides me there are no real gods.
I’m the one who armed you for this work,
    though you don’t even know me,
So that everyone, from east to west, will know
    that I have no god-rivals.
    I am God, the only God there is.
I form light and create darkness,
    I make harmonies and create discords.
    I, God, do all these things.

^8-10 “Open up, heavens, and rain.
    Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!
Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;
    sprout right living.
    I, God, generate all this.
But doom to you who fight your Maker—
    you’re a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
    ‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’
Would a sperm say to a father,
    ‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’
Or a fetus to a mother,
    ‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”

^11-13 Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says:
    “Do you question who or what I’m making?
    Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
I made earth,
    and I created man and woman to live on it.
I handcrafted the skies
    and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move.
    I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city.
    He will bring home my exiles.
I didn’t hire him to do this. I told him.
    I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”

For Reflection 

Sometimes we get the feeling that those whom we choose to lead us are worthless unless they are perfectly pure.  Does such a person exist?  Who are we, that we are so pure, that we can sit in judgement of others?  This is a humbling thought.

And yet, in today's world we have choices among the "not so perfect."  We have distaste for the taboo topics of religious and civil politics.  "Avoid talking about politics and religion." we say.  This is especially true when we talk politics in religious settings.  If we do, we open the door for all the sacred cows to escape and we are confronted with alternative beliefs.  What if "they" are right and "we" are wrong?  Are "we," like "they," hiding behind the Bible?

It takes courage to be a Christian in our times, just as it did in the early church.  The most courageous Christian act is to challenge one's self by openly thinking and discussing our political and religious beliefs.  Simply claiming the words of the Bible is not enough.  Our action needs to be faithful. Our voice needs to proclaim truth. 

Most importantly, Christians need to study, discuss, and pray about God's will.  The Christian faith is not a static thing.  What you believed as a child is not what you believe now that you are older.  As you confront the challenges of today, your faith grows.  Christians grow into the grace of God.

Pray

for those who challenge us.  Pray for the wisdom and trust in God that permits us to discuss our faith in challenging ways. Pray that you will grow in grace as you tackle the difficult questions about your belief.