Faith and Transformation

January 28, 2024 Background Scripture: Romans 12:3 - 8 Lesson Passage: Romans 12:3 - 8 The word of God states very plainly that every Christian has a spiritual gift. These gifts are available for the benefit of the body of Christ in this world. However, spiritual gifts are not likely to be evident—or perhaps not even available to a person who has not been mentally transformed. The first three verses of this chapter are needed to properly understand our lesson. Salvation in Jesus Christ causes a spiritual birth within a person. It is an obvious change to the person who has been born again. One important aspect of spiritual growth for a saved person is the renewing of the mind. This renewal causes Christians to be different from unsaved people. Christians begin to think, talk, and act differently than non-Christians. We are motivated to do so by the word of God. The renewal of the mind helps us to learn more about Christ and God. Consequently, we become more comfortable with who we are in Christ. In other words, we don't mind being different from others when we understand how salvation has made us different. Christians who fail to make this transition struggle between backsliding and repentance without ever being useful to the body of Christ. This struggle can happen when we want to be like unsaved people. Peer pressure causes us to want to fit in with the world. Peer pressure is not limited to children and youth. Mental transformation makes us more comfortable being different than the world. This happens when our minds are renewed with the word of God. Comfortable Christians want to do God's will. When we act on that desire, then spiritual gifts become apparent. We see a capacity to do something we could not do before. We see the power of God released when we do some things under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts are evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. What was once considered ordinary, becomes extraordinary. Giving liberally, serving others who cannot return the favor, or delighting in showing mercy stirs up an indescribable joy within. Who knew that liberal giving could do such a thing? The Holy Spirit works all these things within believers as we submit ourselves to worship and serve God. Spiritual gifts are not so much to be counted as they are to be appreciated. Through the power of God, ordinary things can become powerful gifts to the body of Christ. Sadly, too many Christians look for the "shock and awe" of being saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. Sometimes, it requires the power of God for one to show mercy to an undeserving person. Sometimes, it requires the power of God to overcome personal greed and give liberally to others. Serving, liberal giving, and showing mercy are just as powerful as leading, prophesying, teaching, and speaking a word of exhortation when the Holy Spirit is the motivation for doing so. Christians could miss the joy of these ministries if we fail to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Actions tend to be more difficult than words. That is because our flesh, our worldly mindset and affections, cause us to be very selfish. We must humble ourselves before God and pray that He will lead us as He desires. It requires faith to release that which is comfortable and "normal" for us and to embrace unfamiliar godliness. We must really trust God to do things His way when His way goes against all we understand. Showing mercy can be easy when the person has not offended us. Giving liberally can be easy when we have more than enough left over. What if giving liberally requires having nothing left over? Serving others can be easy when they show appreciation for our service. We need faith to embrace the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has equipped us with. Through spiritual transformation, we can witness the power of God flowing through us as we submit ourselves to Him in faith. Robert C. Hudson January 17, 2024

Faith and Encouragement

January 21, 2024 Background Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:5 - 20 Lesson Passage: 2 Chronicles 20:13 - 20 The nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms after the death of King Solomon. Two tribes composed the southern kingdom of Judah, and ten tribes composed the northern kingdom of Israeli Israel was ruled by a line of wicked kings and Judah was ruled primarily by a line of God-fearing kings. Today's lesson begins and ends with King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Jehoshaphat was one of the God-fearing kings of Judah. Israel was once a formidable force in Palestine. However, the people of God became more vulnerable after the nation was divided. This lesson reveals some of that vulnerability. The Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites united in a confederacy and went up to Judah to make war. The three groups were kinsmen of Israel because they descended from Lot and Esau. As a result of their kinship, God would not allow Israel to fight them or take possession of their land after God delivered Israel out of Egypt. God had given their land to them as a blessing because of Lot and Esau. Because those three nations were afraid of Israel, God forbade Israel from traveling through their land. Now that Israel was divided as a people, those nations no longer feared fighting them. When that confederacy of nations marched towards Judah, King Jehoshaphat was warned of their approach. Jehoshaphat became afraid and immediately prayed to God and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. Jews from throughout Judah gathered in Jerusalem at the temple to seek God. Their leader, Jehoshaphat was there to lead them in petitioning God through prayer. King Jehoshaphat prayed aloud to God in the presence of the people, He cried out to God concerning the history of Israel's relationship with God that began with Abraham. Abraham was known as the friend of God. That history included Israel not being allowed to destroy those nations when they were afraid of Israel. The king acknowledged to God that Judah could not fight that confederacy and prevail on their own strength, but rather, they were looking to God for help. Then the Spirit of the Lord anointed one of the Levites and he spoke a word of prophecy to them. God ensured them that this would be His fight. However, God told them to go to the place where their enemy would advance on them tomorrow. They were encouraged twice to not be afraid to go out against them. David had written that the Lord prepares a table before His people in the presence of their enemy. Therefore, the people of God are required to show up for the battle so the enemy would be in their presence. God prepares the table which is the blessing they will receive in that setting. With that prophecy, King Jehoshaphat humbled himself and bowed his head in submission to God. The others followed suit by bowing and worshiping God. The Levitical singers began to praise God in advance of the battle through loud singing. God told them to go out tomorrow against that multitude. The people rose early the next morning and went as the Lord had instructed them. The early departure is an indication that they did not procrastinate in being obedient to God's instructions. King Jehoshaphat set a great example and the people followed his leadership. As they were going out, King Jehoshaphat continued to encourage the people to believe in the Lord and to believe the Lord's prophets. God could speak to all the people Himself if He chose to, but He had demonstrated to their ancestors in the days of Moses that most people of God cannot bear to hear His voice. By believing in the Lord, they could remain steadfast. By believing God's prophets, they acknowledged that God used prophets to speak on His behalf. As a result, God would cause them to prosper. Jehoshaphat was a man of faith and because of it, he encouraged the people. Robert C Hudson December 29, 2023

Faith and Trust

January 14, 2024 Background Scripture: Proverbs 3:1-23 Lesson Passage: Proverbs 3:1 - 8 Familiar scriptures can be difficult to study because we believe we already know them. Such is the case with today's Background Scripture. Some Study Bibles label this passage of scripture as "Advice for the Young". However, the advice contained in this passage is good for people of all ages—some of us don't understand it until we become senior citizens. This advice challenges us to forsake our own abilities and depend entirely on the Lord. Both of those are difficult to do. We are taught from an early age that maturing should lead us to become independent of others. We learn to walk on our own, to feed ourselves, to dress ourselves, and eventually to provide our own resources. As adults, we are expected to depend on our own strength, resolve, and wits. The advice contained in today's scripture says we should forsake all of that and depend on God. It goes on to say that in every aspect of our lives, we are to acknowledge God as Lord of everything. It promises that having a reverent fear of God and avoiding evil will lead to physical wellness for us. We are reminded that we never truly own anything in this world. At best, we become stewards of worldly goods. Our stewardship of earthly possessions begins with accepting God as the owner of all that we receive. Things are temporary, but God is eternal. We should esteem God above earthly possessions. We are admonished to acknowledge God as the giver of earthly possessions, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights." We demonstrate that we are not attached to things by bringing a portion of our increase as an offering to God. What we bring as an offering to God should be the firstfruits of the increase; we should not wait to see if anything is left over after we spend, or use, what we want. God' s offering should be removed from the increase of possessions first, and then we are free to use what remains as stewards of it. In exchange for our obedience in this matter, God's word promises that we will have plenty to the point of overflowing beyond our needs. The more we demonstrate our trustworthiness as stewards of what God gives us, then the more God entrusts us with. God rewards us for good stewardship. Likewise, we are to view personal punishment and correction by God as acts of His love towards us. We grow to understand the relationship between punishment and love within human families. If children of God were allowed to do whatever we choose to do, then that would suggest that God doesn't possess the love of human parents. Certainly, God's love for His children exceeds anything that humans could ever provide. God's correction of us is indicative of His delight in us. When we examine the advice in this lesson, it is evident that we need an unusual amount of trust in an invisible God for us to put ourselves in such a situation without any proof of the outcome other than that which is accepted by faith in God's word. This advice promises great outcomes. But these outcomes must be preceded by trusting God without any other proof than belief in His worthiness of such trust. We offer a submissive heart in obedience and worship of God, and we align our actions to demonstrate such obedience. Abandoning our own abilities precede receiving directions from God, A reverent fear of God and righteous living precede physical wellbeing. Offering the firstfruits of our increase to God precedes barns being filled to the point of overflowing. Chastisement and correction precede understanding the nature and extent of God's love towards us. As we accept these conclusions, then we appreciate the benefits of being members of God's divine family. People of faith must first be people of trust. Robert C. Hudson December 29, 2023

Faith and Righteousness

January 7, 2023 Background Scripture: Hebrews 1:1 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 11:1 - 4a, 7a, 8, 17, 18, 20 -23, 32, 39, 40 It can be difficult to discuss simple religious terminology that has been overly spiritualized in the past. Faith and righteousness are basic religious terms that are important in any area considered to be a religion. Faith speaks of trusting whomever or whatever one submits to as a deity. Faith simply says: If you consider something to be your "god", then you will trust it as such. Righteousness prescribes the necessary steps that lead one to being in good standing, or right standing, with that deity. The Law of Moses is a good example of a religion that specifies the steps necessary to achieve righteousness via the Law. Righteousness should be a naturally desired outcome in any form of religion. For Christians, righteousness is not descriptive of some innate human quality that one can achieve through some effort or personal sacrifice. Put another way, biblical righteousness is not about moral decisions and behavior. Historical sketches in the Bible present examples of persons who found favor in God's eyes. It is clear from those passages of scripture that God was pleased with those individuals, It pleases God when a person is in right standing with Him. The Background Scripture for today's lesson states that it is impossible to please God without faith in Him. Therefore, if we are to be in right standing with God, it can only occur because of our faith in Him. For Jews, they were required to follow the precepts outlined in the Law. But what does faith in God look like for Christians? Or how does one become a person of faith? Look at the examples presented in our lesson. We call them heroes of faith, but that may be over spiritualizing it. The Bible presents them as ordinary people with fears and passions common to the human experience, Most of them were Jews, yet they were not slavishly following the Law. They became exceptional individuals because they chose to believe what God had spoken or revealed to them. They acted, or responded, based on what they believed about what God had revealed. In other words, their actions demonstrated what they believed about God. This happened even when God's directions for them defied common sense—or went against what people had experienced while interacting with nature! Aside from the Law, our physical experiences become rules, or standards, in our minds as we mature. We believe we know how nature works because we have experienced it. We trust God and therefore believe what He said about creating everything. So, by faith we understand that God created nature and therefore He can change how it behaves. But faith is more than what we choose to believe about God. Faith is demonstrated when we act, or react, according to those beliefs. Faith begins and ends with what cannot be seen or experienced yet. Indeed, it is our belief in God that allows us to see His handiwork. Faith is not wishful thinking. We don't achieve results by wishing for them. We submit ourselves to God, we follow the directions He gives us to follow, then we see the results that please God. The outcome of faith is always according to the will of God and not the "want" of the person. It is best when we want the same thing that God wants, then we will pray according to His will, and He will answer our prayers accordingly. When we don't know what God wants, then we pray for His will to be done. By faith we accept the outcome after we have submitted ourselves to God in prayer. The individuals in our lesson went through this in their lives. They pleased God because they acted according to His word, and God counted their faith as righteousness. Robert C. Hudson December 28, 2023

The Faith of the Wise Men

December 31, 2023 Background Scripture: Micah 5:2 - 4; Matthew 2:1 - 12 Lesson Passage: Matthew 2:1 -12 Our lesson presents men who traveled from the East to Palestine seeking a baby who was born to reign over the Jews. Who were these men referred to by Matthew? The Gospel of Matthew, written in Greek, uses the word "magi" to describe them. The English phrase "wise men" is translated from the Greek word "magi". In the first century, magi were recognized variously as astrologers, Oriental scientists, and magicians. Two men in the book of Acts are referred to using this word or a variation of it: Simon and Elymas. It seems that the use of this word was very broad in the first century considering its use in the New Testament. The magi referred to by Matthew describe their inspiration in a way that would lead one to think of them as either astrologers or astrological scientists. As astrological scientists, they would have been familiar with the "normal" appearance of the night sky. The alignment of the stars has long been used for navigation at night. Anything unusual about the night sky would have stood out to them. However, their interpretation of the "unusual" change is worth noting. They interpreted the presence of a new star in the night sky as the sign of a king being born in the location indicated by the star. We don't know how they would have come to interpret the presence of the star with the birth of a ruler of that land. Nevertheless, God used them to alert the Jewish leaders (spiritual and political) to the birth of Israel's Messiah. Since God did warn the magi later and gave them directions for leaving Israel, it is quite possible that God directed them to Israel at the start of their journey. Whatever their inspiration was for going to Israel, they went seeking the child to show humility and submission to him as a ruler. It was reasonable for them to go to the political leader of the land supposing that the newborn was a descendant of the current ruler. They went to the capital city of the Jews, Jerusalem, and asked about the child born to rule them. Being dumbfounded, and threatened, by their question, Herod sent for the spiritual leaders of the Jews. He asked them about the Jewish prophetic writings concerning the birth of a Messiah. The Jewish spiritual leaders cited Micah's prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem in Judea. Herod sent the magi to Bethlehem in their quest for the child. I-le gave them instructions to bring back the location of the child to him. Herod was not going to allow a child to grow up to replace him as ruler of the Jews. When the magi started out for Bethlehem, the star that led them to Israel reappeared and led them to the house where the child was located. When they arrived at the location indicated by the star, they saw the child, Jesus, and presented gifts to Him. They gave Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Those were gifts worthy of royalty. The Bible does not reveal how many magi traveled to Jerusalem. We know there was more than one and that's all. The assumption is made based on the different types of gifts that there were three of them. Again, we don't know how many—it could have been two or it could have been hundreds based on the reference to them. After they had acknowledged the child and presented their gifts, God warned them in a vision to not return to Herod. They returned home using a different route to avoid Herod. If they had not heard from God previously, they certainly heard from Him after visiting the child. The faith of the wise men could very well be ascribed to them obeying God's words of warning. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. The wise men followed God's warning which indicates they believed God's word when He revealed His presence to them in that vision. Robert C. Hudson December 3, 2023