Month: November 2022

Deuteronomy 31:7 – Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him, “Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them. You are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land. ⁸Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

⁹ So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, ¹¹ you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the Lord your God at the place he chooses. ¹² Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. ¹³ Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.” (NLT)

In this passage, Moses is handing over the reins of leadership to Joshua.  These people had never had any other leader than Moses. How could they come to trust another leader? They trusted God, and so they trusted God to provide leadership.  This should be a lesson for us. If the people of God are seeking God in truth and in spirit, God will provide godly leadership. Moses makes this clear in the verse which comes before our reading: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Because of our ‘modern sensibilities’ we might question how the Israelites dealt with the  people of the promised land. However, for us in our day and time, we, too, must deal with people – daily!  Because we have the whole story of God, we deal with people differently, but certainly we must trust God so that we can deal with all people as God desires.

Notice in verse 8, Moses charges Joshua not to be afraid or discouraged.  These two go hand in hand.  Discouragement always follows fear, for fear holds us back from being all that God desires.  When we live life being less than God desires, discouragement soon sets in.  Fear of facing today causes our discouragement of tomorrow.  Let us trust God for today and not be fearful! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

1 Timothy 6:17 – Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (NIV)

The story is told of two friends who happened to meet by chance while walking through their city.  One man was visibly shaken, so the other man asked him what was wrong.  He replied: “Three weeks ago I received notice from the bank that there was an error in my savings, and they credited me $10,000.  Then, two weeks ago my uncle died and left me $250,000.  Last week I won a million dollars in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.” His friend asked him, “That’s unbelievable!  So, why are you so downcast today?”  He answered, “Because this week – nothing!” 

Isn’t that how we are sometimes?  Perhaps not with those amounts, but sometimes we do get spoiled by the relative ease in which we live. 

In the scripture reading for today, the Apostle Paul was telling young Timothy to tell the rich people in his church not to live in such a way that their hope was tied to their wealth, but instead put their hope in God.  As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, it is good for us to reflect upon this passage.  Yes, we are very fortunate to be rich in this present world, but how much better to be rich in good deeds! 

Don’t mistake being generous with somehow earning one’s salvation. The point Paul is making is that our generosity is a response to our salvation, and it models the love of God. 

Because we have lived our lives in this culture of wealth, we more often than not do not realize just how wealthy we are.  Below is a link to an interesting website.  It compares your wealth to the rest of the world.  Give it a try, you may be surprised! 

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this week, give thanks to God for the hope of eternal life, and then be generous! 

Happy Thanksgiving. 

https://howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org/how-rich-am-i?income=14000&countryCode=USA&household%5Badults%5D=1&household%5Bchildren%5D=0

Posted by Ramón Torres

1 Peter 3:8 – 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. ⁹ Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it. ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

“If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
¹¹ Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
¹² The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.” (NLT)

Mark Twain once wrote: “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” To that, I say Amen!  This passage from 1 Peter is certainly one of those passages that I understand!  Perhaps, that is why passages such as this one are so challenging.

If we were to use these simple rules for our daily lives, how different would our days be?  How differently might others think of us?  What if we truly sympathized with others, loved others as a brother or sister, were tenderhearted and humble?  What if we made it our aim to go around doing good for those who did evil to us?  If Christians made this one passage their aim, how quickly would the world change?

This idea was nothing new to Peter, as he quotes from Psalm 34.  The idea is not new, but the application of this passage can be something new in our lives.  How radical a passage, yet how simple.  I believe that the lives of many would change if we sought peace, lived humbly, and turned from doing evil.

Today, let us seek to live by this simple yet powerful passage! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 93

 ¹ The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty.
      Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.
   The world stands firm
      and cannot be shaken.

 ² Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial.
      You yourself are from the everlasting past.
 ³ The floods have risen up, O Lord.
      The floods have roared like thunder;
      the floods have lifted their pounding waves.
 ⁴ But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,
      mightier than the breakers on the shore—
      the Lord above is mightier than these!
 ⁵ Your royal laws cannot be changed.
      Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever. (NLT)       

The Lord is king!  Sometimes, I need that reminder.  When life confronts us with challenges, and we’re not sure what the future holds, this Psalm reminds us that no matter what we have going on in our lives, the Lord is still king!  There are times when we believe that the world is hopeless.  There are times when we feel as if our world is shaken and about to fall apart.  It’s then we return to this Psalm and remind ourselves, The Lord is king! 

God is not only mightier than the raging of seas, God is mightier than anything we face in our lives!  As I mentioned from the pulpit several weeks ago, perhaps there are things in our lives that we focus on more than God.  There may even be things in our lives that we believe to be more important than God, but nothing in our lives is mightier than God. 

Today, let us place God first, remembering that God is with us in all that we face.  God is mightier, God is greater, than anything in this world!  

Posted by Ramón Torres