How I Found God

Why do I believe in God? Why do I believe in Christ? There are plenty of historical prophecies in the Bible, but something has to make you pick it up in the first place. The truth is, the initial steps to belief are always an invitation from the Holy Spirit. Let me testify about how the Holy Spirit invited me to bow before God.

Season 1 Episode 12

¹⁷And it will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all people;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸I will even pour out my Spirit
on my servants in those days, both men and women
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹I will display wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below:
blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.
²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
²¹Then everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.”Acts 2:17-21 CSB

00:01:40	Hey guys welcome back to the PSALMS to God podcast! So, last Friday I turned 11; it marked 11 years since I joined my sorority. Yeah, I know. What does that have to do with me finding God? Well, I don't know how old I am in Christ. I cannot tell you. Am I 31? No, I'm definitely not 31—I'm not even 31 in real life, what am I talking about? I’m only 30. 😂 My math is bad today guys, but I'm not 30 in Christ, that's for certain, because I didn't know anything as a child. But I've been a believer my whole life. There's never been a point in my life where I did not believe in God, where if you asked me if I believed in God I would say “No, I don't believe in God,” and there was never a point where I was quote-unquote turning away from God. There are points where I was less obedient, but that also has to do with my interpretation of scripture at the time versus my interpretation of scripture now. We won’t dive too deep into that, but in general, I've been a believer my whole life, which kind of poses the problem of how I define when I became a believer and how I identify a quote-unquote birthday or born again day that I would start counting from.
00:03:19	But, you know, in general, most people would probably considered their date of baptism, I guess. And when you think about that, and I think about the amount of friends I have that are in sororities and fraternities that post year after year that it's their anniversary of joining their organization, I've never really seen people post like that about being baptized. I have seen people post that they were baptized—and to be honest only recently have I ever seen that—but I've never really seen people come back and be like “Yo it's been a year since I got baptized! I'm a year in Christ!” or you know, “Hey, it's been 5 years” or “10 years ago, on this day I joined the body of Christ and I'm loving it!” You know, like I never seen those same kinds of posts about joining Christ’s family, and I thought that was interesting—because I'm I'm talking about myself as well. And the Holy Spirit kind of put a lot on my heart to speak about as I was thinking about this and realizing what was happening.
00:04:37	So, there are 3 things that I want to share with you guys and I think it's going to take 3 podcast episodes to do it, because sometimes I get along a little long-winded, and also because I think that they are heavy topics or topics that I want to go all the way in detail with. I want to let the Holy Spirit stay what the Holy Spirit wants to say, and I also don't want you guys to have a 3 hour podcast episode! So, I'm going to break it down into 3 different episodes.
00:05:12	So the first episode is going to be on my testimony of how I came to be a believer and how I ended up where I am, I guess. The second episode is going to be on baptism, because believe it or not I am actually not baptized, and I want to talk about why I'm not baptized and how that kind of happened, and where I am in the journey of getting baptized and all of that stuff. So I went to do an episode on that. The third episode is actually going to come back to this concept of being in a sorority in Greek life, and what I've learned from being in my sorority that I feel like I should have learned from The Church, and as it pertains to how I walk in Christ and how I show my faith in Christ—and don't worry, that’ll make a lot more sense when I actually get to that episode. So those are the three topics that I want to talk about, and I would really like to get all three of those episodes out this week, as opposed to cutting into the other scheduled episodes that I was planning to do, but I know that time doesn't always permit that. So it may be, you know, 3 Monday episodes—but stay tuned, because there will definitely be 3 of them and I am going to do them back to back.
00:06:46	So without further ado, let's jump into how I became a believer.
00:06:53	Like I said in the beginning, I’ve been a believer basically my whole life, and I really cannot explain to you why that is or how that came to be. When I look back, I am actually pretty shocked that I am where I am or that I believe the way that I do, considering my upbringing and how God was presented to me. I don't... Only the Holy Spirit could have brought me to the point that I am now is what I'm trying to say. So, I grew up in a quote-unquote divided household. My mother's family is Methodist and my dad's family is Baptist. Growing up we kind of ping-ponged between the AME Church, which is an African Methodist Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, and the Baptist Church or a Baptist Church, I should say.
00:07:57	Basically in South Carolina when I was born, the churches were basically all segregated—they're still pretty segregated but less so than they were then. So basically Black people did not attend the United Methodist Church, which is why my family attended the AME church, and I was christened[1] at an AME Church. My grandparents on my mother's side were actually pretty instrumental in forming a interracial United Methodist Church. So as I got older we would attend that church sometimes. And my dad's family would attend this Baptist Church and the Baptist Church was actually across the street from my house—like literally across the street, like I used to walk to church.
00:08:47	And so, as I got older, I mean like 5ish, I actually started to attend church on my own. So my parents did not attend church regularly, they were kind of just went whenever they felt like going. And you know, when they went, I went to whichever church they went to, but if I wanted to go to church on my own, I pretty much always went to the Baptist church, because it was across the street and it was easy for me to get to. So what my childhood pretty much looks like was me going to Sunday school pretty much every week,[8] maybe missing once a month or so, but you know, I went to Sunday school pretty much on a regular basis by myself. My mom or dad would walk me across the street and drop me off at the church, and somebody from the church would walk me back across the street and make sure I got home safely.
00:09:51	And I really cannot explain why I used to go to church by myself, what prompted me to go, because my parents were not the parents to make me do it. One of the things that I am extremely grateful for is that they didn't force me to go to church, they didn't force me to believe. There was no ultimatum. It wasn't like, “Get up. Get dressed. Go to church.” It was more like, “Hey, do you want breakfast? Are you going to church?” You know, “What's going on today?” It was pretty much up to me whether I was going to go to church each Sunday or not. And so at some point, when I was 5 or 6, the Baptist church asked me if I wanted to join the Sunday school. I really don't—to this day I don't really understand how you join the Sunday school without joining the church or I don't understand how those are separate entities or whatever, but that was a thing apparently, and I said yes. And I joined the youth choir, and I just kind of became involved in the church in that manner. And from then out, I was basically, a Baptist. So if you talk to me in person, you will hear me say that I grew up as a Baptist, even though technically I attended a Methodist church, as well off and on. This is why I guess I claim Baptist as what I grew up as.
00:11:30	Anyway, I kept attending church all the way throughout Elementary School, and why I was going on my own, and what was motivating me, I really cannot say. I can only speculate that that was the Holy Spirit drawing me to God. So when I was like 8 or 9, I was sitting in church—and I'm pretty sure it was one of the Sunday's that the youth choir performed, and I was sitting with all of the youth—and I distinctly heard a voice say “I am here.” And this was not the preacher, it was not anyone sitting beside me, it was nobody that I could see, saying that they were there. And I came to the conclusion that that was God speaking to me, and God telling me that He was there. And you know, 8-year-old me or 9-year-old me, however old I was, I was like “OK, if You're here, I'm here. I’m trying to be wherever You are.”
00:12:40	And I think is that is probably the moment where I became an outright believer on my own. You know, as kids we typically believe what those around us are telling us. And so our parents tell us, you know, this, that, and the other. The adults in our lives—our grandparents, our aunts, uncles, the people who are teaching at the church, whatever—they're telling you what they believe and you just believe them, because you believe the adults. That was the moment where I was like, “Yeah, God is real. I heard Him! He told me He was here!” And I think that's the moment that I became a believer in God in my own right.
00:13:24	However, I was still a child and so I still had a child’s mind. You know, kids these days learn things a little faster than we did back then. So for those who are younger than me listening, you might think I'm a little slow, but at that age, for instance, explaining Jesus... I could not process that, because when someone is saying, you know, “the virgin Mary gave birth to a child,” I don't know what the word “virgin” means when I’m 8. I don't understand this. This does not compute, because I don't understand the whole process of what this means, what it means for Mary to have a baby as a virgin. That doesn't mean anything to 8-year-old me. Like, I'm hearing people say this is a the miracle, and the reason I think this is a miracle, is because people don't have babies until they're married or not supposed to have babies until they're married, and she wasn't married. But I don't understand the miraculousness of this, because I don't understand how things work, right?
00:14:35	And I also didn't understand the resurrection, the death and resurrection of Christ, because I didn't understand death. I had never experienced death. I didn't really process like, “Oh, people die and it's permanent,” and all of these things. You know, I knew but I didn't know, right? Because you're a child, you don't really think about these things. So my understanding of what it meant to be a believer in Christ, to be a believer in God and to follow God, was still very, very weak—or incomplete, I guess is a better word—at that age because I was so young, and I think this is where it comes in with the age of accountability, and what not. This, I think, was God's first tap on the shoulder, where he was like “Yo, I'm here. This is the time for you to start searching and start understanding what I'm calling you for.”
00:15:30	The second point, I think. The second turning point in my relationship with Christ came when I was in middle school, and I think I was about 12. I had this dream... Y’all this dream! I can still see this dream in my head right now as I'm talking to you. It was a powerful dream, and it's only gotten more powerful over time and as I fully understand what exactly happened in this dream. So in the dream, I was looking for my mother. It was about sunrise, and I was running through the house looking for my mom, couldn't find her. Eventually found her outside on this screen porch that we had. In my dream, my mom kind of disappears into the background. Like, it's like I was looking for her, but once I get to the screen porch she’s basically non-existent, and the focal point becomes what's going on outside in the yard. And in my yard there is a white, lattice cross— so instead of the general plain symbol of the cross that you normally see that just looks like a lowercase T, it was actually made with like lattice. So there were like slats and stuff in it. And it was decorated with these purple flowers, and they were just kind of like draped over the sides of the cross. And there was singing. And the stinging was coming from angels —and I don't know how I knew it was angels, but I knew it was angels, possibly because I couldn't see anybody, but I could hear the singing. And they were singing “Were You There.” I don't know if I already knew the song or not; I don't particularly remember knowing the song at the time but I may have heard it once or twice in church—I mean it's a pretty popular song, so I'm not fully convinced that I didn't know the song, but that's what they were singing in the dream. And then I looked up, and above this cross was a lightning bolt frozen in the sky, and the lighting bolt ended in a ball of fire. And this fire was just kind of hanging over the cross, but instead of it being like a menacing ball of fire, it actually looked like a child had drawn it with like colored pencils. It was very non-threatening, but it was there.
00:18:10	And so I woke up, and I was completely freaked out. I was anxious. I was nervous. I was scared. I was sad. I was happy. I was mad. I was upset. I don't know what I was, but I was freaking out. I could not take this dream. I told my parents. I told friends. I told family, and everybody thought I was pretty crazy. And the only thing that people thought was the least bit, you know, disturbing about the dream, was this lightning bolt/fireball thing, that of course became significantly less disturbing when I said it looked like colored pencil and that it's hanging above a cross. And so it really seemed like oh this was just a dream, you know, forget about it.
00:19:00	So about a month went by, and then we went to my grandparents’ church—the Methodist church—and they were having an Easter play. And when we walked in they had done the stage in the shape of a cross. So they took this cardboard, this white cardboard, and created a cross on top of the choir’s risers. And so the choir came out, in their white robes, and stood in this cross shaped structure, and it looked like a lattice, because you have the different bodies forming the cross. Then they decorated the cross with purple flowers draping over the sides of the cross, and they sang “Were You There.” So, of course you can see how this parallels to the dream that I had had, but this was also the moment that I came to understand what it meant for Christ to die for us, to suffer, and to take on the weight of our sins. So they did a reenactment or a retelling of the crucifixion and the resurrection, and it was at that moment that I really understood that He was beaten and abused and spat upon and separated from God and put in this pain, in this torture for me. For you. For everyone. That my sins and when I do wrong, that is why He was beaten that is why He took that spear to the side. That's why He had to die like that, so that I don't have to die permanently.
00:20:59	And that's a very solemn and bittersweet understanding of what it means for Christ to have risen, to have died and risen, because I feel like the way people celebrate... So, they’re celebrating Easter and Easter is a pagan holiday. I don’t have time to get into all the details about it; I do have a post on the blog about it,[2] and there are plenty of sources online that you can check out, but Easter itself is a pagan holiday. And we see this in how churches celebrate the resurrection, because they're actually celebrating Easter. And so you can see the spring dresses, the colorful, floral dresses and arrangements, and the colorful ties, and people spend a lot of time with Easter egg hunts and all these joyous things. Yes. I am so happy that Christ rose from the dead, and yes that is a joyous occasion, but it's also very bittersweet and solemn because He did suffer for us, and I think that aspects kind of gets lost when you look at how the church celebrates Easter, even though some of them are calling it Resurrection Sunday, or whatever have you. The focus is not really on what it should be—we're going to put it like that.[3]
00:22:31	And so it makes it hard as a youth, as a child, to fully understand what it is that you're claiming to believe in. And that moment was the moment that I fully understood what it meant for Jesus to die for me, and I think that is the moment that I fully came into becoming a believer.
00:22:54	But the dream doesn't stop there. That's not the end of it. Like I said, I became a believer. I, you know, understood what I believed at that point, but you know you still have to grow in your relationship with Christ. And it wasn't until much later that I started to really pursue my relationship with Christ, and really started to dig into the Word of God. And it was during that time that I made the connection of why there was a lightning bolt in my dream and why there was a fireball hanging over the cross.
00:23:39	If you look back, if you want to think about examples in the Bible. When Moses meets God, when God called out to Moses, He called out from the burning bush.[4] When they're going from Egypt to Israel, when He's taking them to the promised land, God leads them as a pillar of smoke in the day, and a pillar of fire at night.[5] And there are several other passages where God reveals himself to his people as fire, and I realized that this ball of fire, this lightning bolt that was in my dream was God. God's presence was in that dream. I was thinking that I was looking for my mother, but really I was looking for my Creator, and because I was young and I didn't have a full understanding of God and of what it was that I believe in, I was thinking of Creator as Mother, my mother is my Earthly creator. But what I was really searching for, I was seeking for who I am, who I'm supposed to be, and God was revealing Himself. He was reiterating what He had already told me, that He was there—”I am here.” And He was there. He showed up in the dream to say, “I'm here. I'm ready to teach you, for you to accept and to come into the body of Christ.” And that is when I realized that that was such a powerful moment. It was like being born again all over again, because I was starting to realize that God took the time to call me personally. It's back to the He knew me before I was formed in the womb.[6] He knows us. He knows what we're going to think. He's calling out for us, and you know, we love Him because He loved us first.[7] And I realize that, I had no idea what was going on, but He was calling out to me, and He showed up in my dream to specifically call me out and say “I am here. Here I am.”
00:25:59	And that was like such a powerful revelation in my mind, to realize that He would want that relationship with me. And I think that is why I have such a strong faith in God today, because I realize that He is real and He's calling me. And I may not known exactly what it is that He's calling me to do, but I know that that call is there, and I know that I have to answer it. And that is how I got to where I am now. Basically just trying to answer that call, and to, you know, remember that He is here, and to follow His word wherever He may be.
00:26:49	So, that is my testimony of how I became a believer and why I'm a believer. Obviously there are more details, but we don't really have time to go into all of that. In any case, in the next episode I'm going to talk about baptism, and why despite everything that I just said I'm not baptized—I know, that’s confusing, so that's why you should listen to the next episode. Hopefully I will put it out this week, but you never know, it might be Monday. I don't really know what's going to happen, because I don't know what my work schedule is going to look like. That's why you should *tongue-tied*—😂sorry—that's why you should subscribe, so you can get notified as soon as the episode comes out. So go ahead and subscribe. In the meantime you can check out the blog. You can also find a transcript for this particular episode at www.psalmstogod.com/howifoundgod. Thank you for tuning in, and I hope this has been a blessing for you. And I will see you in the next episode. See ya.

Footnotes and References

1. A lot of people (denominations) consider Christenings to be Baptisms but you cannot be Baptized if you cannot make the decision to believe and to follow Christ. I basically consider mine a dedication.
2. Posts on Easter can be found under Christian Walk > Holidays > Easter
3. It would be so much better to relate Jesus’ death and resurrection to fulfillment of prophecies and fulfillment of the Old Testament feast days, but I digress.
4. Exodus 3:1-17
5. Actually it’s a pillar of cloud, I don’t know why I said smoke. See Exodus 13:21–22
6. Jeremiah 1:5
7. 1 John 4:19
8. Obviously, this was before I began keeping the Sabbath.

Isaiah 28: Don't Drink and Preach

In Isaiah 28, God describes the dangers of trying to teach when you're drunk or hungover. It sounds pretty obvious, but you know what, I think this is more of a spiritual message than a literal message—especially since He goes on to reveal the promise of salvation through the Cornerstone (aka Jesus the Messiah). Let's dig into it.

Introduction

Isaiah 28 gives us a reminder not to be drunk, that God is the ultimate authority, and by His ultimate authority, He has given us a way to redeem us from death. One of the most beautiful things about the Bible is that even when God is telling us about our sin and wickedness, He gives us hope.

Drunkenness

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Thom Masat

I don't think anyone will argue about the Bible condemning drunkenness—how we carry that into our daily lives might be another topic. The first part of Isaiah 28 is evidence of God's stance against drunkenness. In His judgements against the drunkards of Ephraim, God points out their inability to do what is needed because of their drunken stupor. The reason it is illegal to drink and drive is because alcohol impairs our reaction time as well as our decision making. Have you ever seen videos of people after getting their wisdom teeth removed or other surgeries? The drugs used to put them to sleep leave them in a confused but often heightened stupor. Some are extremely emotional,[1] some are rambunctious,[2], and some are forgetful.[3]

Now imagine your pastor standing in the pulpit trying to explain the word of God in that condition. His words would be slurred, his interpretation probably wouldn't make sense. He would struggle to hold his composure and likely have random outbursts that you wouldn't be able to follow. His body would be fighting an internal war trying to process the alcohol, meanwhile his brain would be trying to recall the word of God. That's not an easy task.

Literal Interpretation

God describes this disaster in literal form. Isaiah 28:7-8 is exactly the image I had in my mind, complete with the after effects of a hangover. A person in this condition is in no shape to teach someone—to do anything, really.

Spiritual Interpretation

We know the literal effects of drugs and alcohol, but if we step back for a minute and realize that God is always talking to us about our salvation, we would see that there is spiritual meaning here as well. In Revelation 17:2, we see the "kings of the world" become "drunk" from sin. The specific sin mentioned is sexual immorality, but in context, we can infer that this references all sin. Why? Because, throughout the Bible God always refers to the Israelites' breach of the covenant as adultery or fornication with pagan gods. In Revelation, the woman is the false church, so the passage is referring to being a part of this false church and following her instruction instead of God's—which could be any and all types of sin.

In that light, if we are drunk with sin, we distance ourself from God. Our ability to understand His message or the visions He gives us becomes impaired. Similarly, it is hard for us to bring others into the Body of Christ or teach the gospel when we are so embroiled in our own problems.

Precept Upon Precept

Have you heard the phrase "precept upon precept, line upon line?" I've heard it a plenty. Usually it's given to mean that the interpretation gathered from a particular verse must match the rest of the Bible. It is basically a warning not to take things out of context. The actual verse is found in Isaiah 28:10 and Isaiah 28:13. Isaiah 28:10 seems to fit the use that I've heard it all my life, but Isaiah 28:13 confused me. The fact that the Word of God was given to them in this manner causes them to fall implies that this isn't a good method.

I read a few commentaries trying to figure out what was being said. Some agree with usual interpretation, concluding that in this passage, people were mocking the way Isaiah taught and wouldn't listen. The response in verse 13 is therefore God repeating their mockery to remind them why they are being punished.

Others had a slightly different take on it. They believe this is a reference to how children are taught, in simplistic terms with repetition. Reading the commentaries, I had a flash back to elementary school when we had math drills. We learned multiplication through memorization, which used repetition. 7 year old me probably couldn't tell you why 7 x 8 = 56 or 6 x 9 = 72, but I could have spat out the times table with ease. Sometimes, this is how we teach the Word of God. It's simply drilled into us with out tapping into the fact that the Word is living. It is meant to help us form a relationship with God, not robotically obey.

Regardless of which interpretation you agree with, I think there is truth in both. To understand the Word you do need to go line by line and each piece of the puzzle has to fit. It also beneficial to teach the Word through living examples as opposed to simple beating it into memory. Just as I could rapidly recite the times table as a child, but had no connection to what I was saying, the same can happen to believers who only memorize their beliefs. When we simply memorize the Word of God, it hasn't necessarily touched out hearts yet so it has no effect on us.

A Deal with Death

Isaiah 28:15 talks about mankind's covenant with death. Because we have sinned, we have chosen death over life. By sinning, we do Death's bidding and thus are marked as his instead of God's.

Cornerstone

The great news is that God has found a way to get us out of this contract with death. If you remember a few years ago, the LA Clippers owner was caught saying racist things. The players, though likely offended by his comments, could not just up and quit their jobs because they signed legally binding contracts that committed them to that team. This is what we have done with death. Luckily, God is a phenomenal lawyer, judge, and jury. He has agreed to both represent us and judge our case, ensuring that we can break that contract. All we need is to accept His cornerstone

The cornerstone discussed here is none other than God's Son, the Messiah. Other passages that speak of this cornerstone are Psalm 118:22, Zechariah 10:4, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, and 1 Peter 2:6-7. From these verses, it is evident that here God is explaining the plan of salvation, redemption, and freedom from our covenant with death.

God's Approach to Justice

The last few verses in the chapter discuss the differences that happen on a farm, since that is was that is what the people would know best. He reminds us that there are several different tasks needed to grow crops (plowing, planting, etc.), and each crop needs different things. For instance, a cactus needs very little water to grow, but some plants actually grow submerged in water. This same principle carries over to the treatment of people. God judges us on a case by case scenario, determining what is needed for our specific situation.

References

1. Jayci Underwood. " Girl Desperate to be Nicki Minaj After Wisdom Teeth Removal". Youtube. October 21, 2014
2. Dolan Twins. "Ethan Gets His Wisdom Teeth Removed !!". Youtube. Dec 13, 2016
3. CNN. "Man after surgery: 'You're my wife?'". YouTube. September 10, 2013
4. "Isaiah 28:10 Commentary". Bible Hub; visited February 2019

Isaiah 12: Praise God With Song

Let us praise God in song at every chance we get! God is our song, strength, and salvation.

Introduction

Isaiah 12 is a very short chapter, having only 6 verses (Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, with only 2 verses). All 6 of these verses discuss praising God through song. I'm not sure why the editors who divided the Bible into chapters and verses chose to separate Isaiah 12 from Isaiah 11, but it's an extension of Isaiah 12. Isaiah 11 ends talking about the remnant that God will save and Isaiah 12 picks up with this remnant singing praises to God.

Parallels with the Exodus

If you remember, Isaiah 11:12 talks about Egypt specifically and then references parting a river, which naturally takes us back to the Exodus when the Israelites escaped Egypt and God parted the Red Sea. Isaiah 12:2 goes on to quote Moses directly (Exodus 15:2) for the song that the remnant should sing. Both Moses and his sister, Miriam, led the people in song to praise God for their deliverance from Egypt.

On this re-read of the Bible I fell in love with the story of the Exodus because I realized it was about so much more than the literal Exodus. The chain of events were a foretelling of Jesus' first and second coming; they also parallel our personal journeys with Christ. During the Exodus, the Israelites were fleeing a corrupt, pagan nation (Egypt) and God delivered them to the promised land. It was difficult for the people, but they rejoiced and sung praises to God for how far He had led them. I imagine there was similar rejoicing as Jews of the southern kingdom returned to the promised land after being set free in Babylon. When the final days come, the remnant of God's people will also be provided for and praise God in song.

The Command to Praise

The whole of Isaiah 12 is telling us that the remnant will praise God. Anyone who's ever been through a trial knows that when you come out unscathed, your instinct is to praise God. This praise includes calling out to God, worshipping Him, and testifying of His great works. This form of praise is mentioned throughout the Bible.

Related Verses

• Psalms 34:3
• Psalms 71:22
• Psalms 105:1
• Psalms 118:14
• Psalms 145:4-6
• Isaiah 41:14-16

Songs

Oh magnify the Lord with me
Let us exalt His name together
For He is good oh taste and see
that His mercy endures forever.
"High Praise" by The Anointed Pace Sisters

There are lots of songs for praising God, but when I read these verses, one song in particular came to mind: "High Praise" by The Anointed Pace Sisters. The song takes it's lyrics from Psalms 34:3, but expresses the concept of praising God through song.

Strength + Song + Salvation

Isaiah 12:2 gives us 3 S's that God is for us: our strength, song, and salvation. Each of these traits represents something much greater if you think about it.

Strength

Strength goes hand in hand with might and power. When I say power, I don't mean worldly power which is usually corrupt and earned by doing the devil's bidding; I'm talking about Godly power. I'm talking about the power that enabled David to kill Goliath, the power that gave Sarah the ability to give birth in her old age, the power that gave Moses the strength to approach Pharaoh and declare God's people let go, the power that gave Joseph the strength to survive slavery and rise to power. We receive this power when we surrender to God and allow Him to be exalted in our lives.

Song

Songs can be used to express a variety of emotions, but in the Bible, song is almost always an expression of joy. We already know that one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy, but in Isaiah 12:2, we learn that God is our song, or our joy. Surrendering all to Him brings us peace and joy, which we express in song. I can testify to this. After I got my first speeding ticket in college, I made a playlist of gospel songs to listen to when I drove home (a 4.5 hour drive). That playlist kept me upbeat and awake, but kept me from rushing. Classical was too slow, it put me to sleep; pop and hip-hop was too hype, it made me speed, but God's music was just right.

Salvation

Salvation is our redemption; we're worthless without it. Because God gives us our salvation, He also gives us our worth and our purpose. I have a pencil that's actually an eraser on both sides, the body of the pencil says "Life with out Jesus is like this pencil, no point!" It's a great depiction of what our life is without salvation. Nothing we do can save us. With God we find purpose and hope for the future.

Interesting thought: Isaiah actually means God is salvation.[1]

Modern Worship

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Yvette de Wit

If you've spent time in the church, especially if you've attended multiple churches, you know there's controversy over how we praise God. Every church I've ever been to agreed that we should sing God's praises, just as Isaiah 12 instructs, but the genre of said song can often be an issue.

My Experiences

The church I grew up in did not allow contemporary Christian or gospel music to be sung in church. 99% of the songs we sang were from the hymnal and simply accompanied by piano. Since many of us played instruments, they would allow us to play those for special functions like Christmas or Easter plays. Still, there were never any drums and despite having a quite sophisticated keyboard, we were only allowed to use the piano and organ settings.

In college I primarily attended a church that had the worst music I've ever heard. They tried, and I'm sure God appreciated the effort; I can't sing myself so it really wasn't my place to complain, either. This church used a guitar, a keyboard, and drums for accompaniment and usually sang contemporary songs for service. Unfortunately it was often off key or in a genre that didn't sit well with the audience (most of us showed up late specifically to miss the singing). I guess the genre leaned towards Indie Rock, maybe a touch of country and an attempt at R&B, but with a predominately black congregation who grew up in more traditional churches, Indie Rock wasn't cutting it. This was basically my introduction to contemporary Christian music (CCM) and the major thing I learned was that part of the reason churches in the US are still segregated is that music tastes tend to be cultural and unfortunately a lot of people choose their church based on the music sung.

There was a mega church about 45 minutes away from the college I attended that drew a lot of people from my school. My friends and I went once or twice—some still attend that church actually. This church terrified me. Service at this church is like attending a concert for your favorite pop artist. They had strobe lights, surround sound with amps, praise dancers in the aisles, and a playlist that sounded like it was from the Billboard Top 40 list. The service reminded me so much of club life, I couldn't really focus on Godly lyrics in the songs.

The church I attend now is a mix of these things. Sometimes they play CCM but sometimes they sing hymns. I don't like every song they sing, but I enjoy most of them. Thanks to them my gospel collection has grown even larger.

Does the Genre Matter

I've written posts on this topic before, but now that we're at a Bible passage that specifically discusses singing, I want to point out a major observation. God simply says "sing." He doesn't say sing in baroque, or classical, or jazz, or traditional, etc. He doesn't prohibit any genres or reference a difference between secular songs. The difference comes from the lyrics and the spirit of the person creating the song. I've heard CCM songs that move me and I've heard CCM songs that scare me. We have to use discernment to know what is truly of God.

I can, however, agree with traditionalists that due to the focus on the music we can sometimes miss red flags in the lyric when it comes to CCM. I have two great examples:

Last Sabbath my church sang a song in which one of the lyrics was "I am constrained to follow God" (or something close to that). I was caught off guard because constrained isn't a positive word. The connotation of constrained makes it almost synonymous with trapped. Usually, when a person says they are constrained, it is because of something out of their control. I've only heard someone say "I am constrained by..." to mean "I would do that but I can't because..."; that's not how I feel about my relationship with God.

Another example is a song called "Lamb of God" by Nicole C. Mullen. The song is absolutely beautiful; I cried the first time I heard it. After about 100 listens, I realized that in the first verse she talks about a widow holding the baby Jesus. In the second verse it makes it obvious that the window is supposed to be the mother because she says "the lady's little baby." In an otherwise perfect song this lyric bothers me to no end. For one person to confuse virgin with widow is one thing but noone in the production team noticed this gaffe? I looked it up and there aren't even any articles addressing it. It's like I'm the only person who ever noticed! The Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph were newlyweds and Joseph raised Jesus as his son. The implication of Mary being a widow at Jesus' birth is that she wouldn't have been a virgin and either Joseph was her second husband or Joseph was dead... See, it doesn't make sense. Yet, there it is in the song! I'm pretty sure God doesn't want us spreading false information in our songs about Him.

Living Water

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Qang Jaka

Did you catch that Isaiah 12:3 connects to Jesus offering living waters in the New Testament? God says that the remnant people will draw water from the wells of salvation with joy. In John 4:10-14, Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well. He tells her that if she knew who she was speaking to, she would have asked Him for water because He could give her living waters. Jesus repeats this concept in John 7:37-38. He explains that when we drink regular water we thirst again, but if we drink the water of salvation we will never thirst again. You know that feeling when you're dehydrated and someone gives you cold water (or even lukewarm water). It tastes like the most delicious thing you've ever drank and you can't get enough of it. That's exactly how finding the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ feels.

References

1. Mike Campbell. "Isaiah". Behind the Name; visited June 2018

Rescued By Christ

What does adopting a pet have to do with salvation? Absolutely nothing, and absolutely everything. When I think about my own experience picking a pet, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that Christ didn't stick with the purebreds (angels); He came for the beat-down, sickly, and damaged animals in the ASPCA commercials (us).

TopWhen I got ready to move into my first apartment by myself, I decided I needed a pet for a companion. I went to the animal shelter one day in early May, convinced there would be an abundance of kittens to choose from. There were about 5; all snuggled together in a single cage. The mother had abandoned them in the wild, leaving them to die. Someone had found them and dropped them at the shelter. The most spectacular of the kittens was fluffy and white with darker ears. There was a couple solid gray kittens and a red tabby. Huddled off to the corner was the runt: dark with patches of tabby, grey, and red. She had wiry looking fur and a pitiful face. Basically the poster cat for an ASPCA commercial.

I had barely thought about the kittens before the shelter worker told me they were too young to adopt and began ushering me on. As I moved away from the cage the runt came running to the door, then continued scaling the bars; it was as though she were trying to follow me. The poor thing wasn't strong enough to grip the bars, let alone scale the cage. Within seconds, I heard a great splash. She had to be removed from the cage and dried off to prevent pneumonia, so I asked if I could hold her while the employee went for a towel. He handed the wet kitten to me without argument. Once in my hands, the kitten dug into my shirt and wouldn't let go. After arguing with the shelter for a bit, they finally agreed to let me keep her.

The day I took her home with me

At home, the ugly kitten I'd just adopted began to wheeze. Curled up next to me, she lay so still, I thought she was dead. I had only had her for a few days before I had to rush her to the vet and acquired the priciest vet bill I'd ever seen before (and this is coming from a girl who grew up on a farm with horses and cows). She was diagnosed with so many things, I couldn't keep track, and each of them required medicine. I'm not sure if she was too weak to resist, or if she understood the medicine would help her, but each morning and evening she let me squirt doses of medicine into her mouth then promptly made a "yuck" face.

I could have taken the employee's no as a final answer. I probably could have had her put to sleep for cheaper than what it cost to nurse her back to health. But when I saw her motionless on the couch beside me, helpless and suffering, I was overcome with the desire to save her. I've had this cat for 7 years now. She grew up to be a beautiful cat with a soft, full mane. She meets me at the door every afternoon when I get home and follows me around the house all evening. She curls up in the bed and watches TV with me. Aside from her tantrums in the morning when she can't wait for me to start the day, she's the perfect campion...

Present day

When I look back, I imagine this parallels our relationship with Christ. We are like the animals in the shelter: caged, sick, weak, and looking for a better life. Some of us are too proud or too afraid to approach the Master when He enters. We stay in our cages or hide our ugliness behind others. However, some of us are bold enough to run toward Him uninhibited. We may not be strong enough to break our cage, but when we fall into the water (like a Baptism) He comes back to clean us up. When He scoops us out of that water, we cling to Him as though our lives depend upon it (they do) and declare that wherever He's going, we want to go to! Although He takes us home, our bodies are riddled with the diseases of sin; we are on our deathbed. Luckily, He looks upon us believing that we are worth every effort, no matter the price. The medicine He gives us for our sickness is bitter and disgusting; sometimes it's hard to swallow. Yet, we grow stronger with each dose. We begin to follow Him from corner to corner of His house, waiting by the door for His return.

Unless others adopted those kittens within the next 24 hours and were also willing to shell out the money for vet bills, it's almost certain my cat's brothers and sisters died within a few weeks (they would have had many of the same sicknesses she had). Even though the other kittens in the cage with mine were more attractive, that didn't save them. What saved my cat was her fearlessness to go after what she wanted and courage to stand out. We must be willing to seek out our Master at any cost and cling to Him with all our might. We must allow Him to heal us no matter the process. And finally, we must show our gratitude for His love and sacrifice, because ultimately, He could have left us to die.

Joshua 2: Spies in the Promised Land

The 2nd time Israel sends spies into Canaan we are introduced to Rahab the harlot. Joshua 2 reminds us that no matter where we are in life God can and will use us to further His Will.

Introduction

Both instances of Israel's attempts to scout out the land of Canaan are extremely memorable. Previously, Moses sent 12 spies in to the land, which didn't work out in Israel's favor due to the faint-heartedness of the spies. Only 2 of the spies had been faithful to God, perhaps this is why Joshua chose to only send 2 men this time around.
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Staying at the Inn

The spies take shelter at an inn maintained by Rahab, who's described as a harlot. This was the perfect place to gather information. The inn would have been full of hustle and bustle, and foreigners showing up there wouldn't have been an oddity or raised any flags.
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Rahab, the Harlot?

Joshua 2:1 and Joshua 6:25 both confirm that Rahab was a harlot, but many people refuse to believe that an ancestor of Jesus was at one point in her life, a harlot.^[1] Actually, it makes more sense that Rahab was a harlot. This proves God's mercy as well as how marvelously one's life can change. In the New Testament, Jesus forgives and heals a prostitute, telling her to go and sin no more. Rahab the harlot proves that even before Jesus' tenure on Earth, God was willing to forgive people and turn their life around. By taking a leap of faith, Rahab went from a harlot to a survivor, to the mother of a line that would produce King David and Jesus!
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Searching For Spies

The King of Jericho discovered the spies were there and commands Rahab to give up the 2 men. Instead of complying with the king's orders, Rahab lies about her knowledge and hides the men. Though lying is condemned by God in the 10 commandments, Rahab's great faith is shown when she risks her life for God's cause. Hiding these men was treason, which would have been punishable by death if she'd been caught by the king. Rahab's faith is praised in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25.
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Rumors of Greatness

Despite telling the king that she knew nothing about the Israelites, Rahab knew a lot about God's miracles. She tells the men that she's heard the wonders of their escape from Egypt and defeat of armies in the wilderness. Rahab proclaims God to be the true God of the world, and because she recognizes God's sovereignty, she becomes a believer and an ally. Like people today, her expression of faith may not have been perfect, but her heart was in the right place. The other people of the city had also heard these rumors, but they chose to fight a losing battle.
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The Covenant Between Rahab & the Spies

Rahab asks the spies to spare her and her family when they attack the city. The spies happily agree to Rahab's request provided she keeps her mission a secret. The sign of protection was to be a scarlet colored cord hanging from the window. This is reminiscent of the passover, though I think the exact symbolism was to remind people of how she let them escape—they climb out of the window with the cord. Rahab agrees to this covenant, which ensures safety to everyone she brings into her home during the siege. As long as the family stayed inside, they would be spared. If anything happened to them while in the house, the blood would be on the spies' heads.
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The Escape

Rahab had sent the king's men out of the city searching for the spies, so she told the spies to go in the opposite direction, to the mountains. This would ensure that the king's men wouldn't see them on their way back to camp. They were to wait 3 days until the king's men had given up and returned to Jericho, then go back to their camp. Using this plan, the spies were able to escape the city unscathed.
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The Report

The spies report back to Joshua once they get back to the camp. Like Joshua and Caleb 38 years prior, the 2 spies are confident that God is with them and a victory is guaranteed. They clue Joshua in that the inhabitants have heard great things about what God has done for the Israelites and are afraid.
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References

1. Ngo, Robin. "Rahab the Harlot?". Biblical Archaeology. January 2016

Numbers 28&29: Feasts & Offerings

Sacrifices were important but Israel wasn't free to just give sacrifices, they had to fit God's specifications.

Introduction

Photocredit: FreeImages.com/Roger Kirby

In the next few chapters, God discusses the details of sacrifices for the offerings He expects from the Israelites. God didn't just want any old offering; this is first exhibited in Genesis 4 when God favors Abel's offering to Cain's. God wanted something specific from the Israelites and He repeats His expectations throughout the books of law because these expectations are important to Him.

Why are these sacrifices so important? As Christians, whose debts have been paid by Jesus, we don't think about sacrifices often, nor do we reconcile the purpose of these sacrifices. God told Adam and Eve that the penalty for breaking His rule (eating the forbidden fruit) was death and in Romans 6:3, it is confirmed that the price of sin is death. The sacrificial death of the animals represented the death the Israelites deserved because of their sins. Today, Christ has played the role of a sacrifice, paying our debt to sin the way the blood of these animals used to pay for the Isrealites' sins.

The method of redemption is likely repeated to remind us of the weight/gravity of the issue. It reminds us to continually think of our shortcoming and foreshadows our ultimate redemption through Jesus, but it also reminds us that there is still hope for us.

Daily Offerings

The daily offering required 2 lambs in their first year; one lamb was to be sacrificed in the morning and the other at night. Along with the lambs, they were to offer 1/10 part of an ephah of flour mingled with 1/4 part of a hin of oil. Strong wine was to be given as a drink offering.

I am not sure what the difference between strong wine and regular wine is. Perhaps this meant the good, aged wine, as opposed to the newly created and weaker (less potent) wine. Some people believe that "wine" in the Bible is actually grape juice, however describing grape juice as strong does not make much sense to me.

Sabbath Offerings

On each Sabbath, they were to give 2 lambs—both in their first year and without blemish—2/10 deals of flour, and a drink offering. Presumably "the drink offering" mentioned is wine, as in Numbers 28:7. While this seems pretty straight forward, my lone question is in defining "Sabbath." Does this refer to the weekly Sabbath or does this also include the annual sabbaths? Since there is a separate passage dedicated to the feasts, I presume this offering was only expected on the 7^th day Sabbath.

Monthly Offerings

At the beginning of each month, the Israelites were to give a special burnt offering for God. It was to consist of 2 young bullocks, 1 ram, 7 lambs, 3/10 deals of flour mingled with oil for each bull, 2/10 deals of flour and oil for each ram, several tenths deal of flour and oil for each lamb, and drink offerings. For the drink offerings, each bull required 1/2 hin of wine. The ram required 1/3 hin of wine and each lamb required 1/4 hin of wine. Lastly, a kid of the goats was to be offered as a sin offering.

Feasts

In addition to the daily, weekly, and monthly offerings, there were annual sacrifices required in accordance with each feast.

Passover

The first feast of the year was the Passover feast commemorating God saving Israel's firstborn during the 10th plague of Israel. A special offering was to be given on the first day of the celebration (15^th day of the first month). This offering required 2 bullocks, 1 ram, and 7 lambs for a burnt offering. The meat offering was to be flour mingled with oil; each bullock required 3/10 deals, the ram required 2/10 deals, and each lamb required several tenth deals. A goat was to be sacrificed for a sin offering. This was to occur daily for the remaining days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Notice, this sacrifice is almost identical to the monthly sacrifice. The only part missing is the drink offering of wine.

Feast of First Fruits

The next feast to occur would be the feast of firstfruits. The offering for the feast was the same as the passover (2 bullocks, 1 ram, 7 lambs, flour, and a goat). Like the other feast offerings, this offering was required in addition to the daily offerings—I wonder if a feast day occurred on the Sabbath, if all three sacrifices were required.

Feast of Trumpets

The feast of trumpets occurred on the first day of the 7^th month. The offering for this feast required only 1 bullock, the usual 1 ram, 7 lambs, and corresponding meat offerings of flour. As usual, a goat was to be sacrificed for a sin offering.

Day of Atonement

On the 10^th day of the 7^th month was the feast and sacrifices for the day of atonement; this feast required the same offerings as the feast of trumpets.

Feast of Tabernacles

The 15^th day of the 7^th month signified the feast of tabernacles which required a great number of sacrifices. The sacrifices corresponding to each day of the feast are listed in the table below. We should be thankful that we don't have to sacrifice so many animals—the animals probably are too. However, it is also a reminder of how much blood was needed to cleanse the sins of the nation. I know that each family was to bring a passover lamb, however I am unsure whether the other feast day sacrifices were per family or for the whole nation. If this is per family, the amount of blood needed to cleanse the nation was unquenchable. It makes sense that God would send His son to foot the bill, if not out of pity for us, for the animals.

Day	Bullocks	Rams	Lambs	Goats	Flour
1	13	2	14	1	~5.7 deals
2	12	2	14	1	~5.4 deals
3	11	2	14	1	~5.1 deals
4	10	2	14	1	~4.8 deals
5	9	2	14	1	~4.5 deals
6	8	2	14	1	~4.2 deals
7	7	2	14	1	~3.9 deals
8	1	1	7	1	~1.2 deals