Author: Dave Dishman (Page 73 of 411)

Most of us consider ourselves good people. We’ve never murdered anyone or pillaged any villages. Sure, there’s snide remarks at times, and we believe the worst in those who deserve it. The Scriptures, however, take aim at our self-congratulatory natures:

The Lord looks down on heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

A modern argument states that humans are basically good, merely corrupted by the world around them. With enough education and resources people develop into strong moral beings. Experience belies the point, however. Germany was one of the most highly educated societies in the world when the Nazis took power. Intelligent people make decisions every day based on selfish motives—myself included.

This psalm reminds me to view myself honestly, and decode my relationship with our holy God. In heaven pretty good doesn’t cut it. I’m left in a desperate state.

All are corrupt, all turn away, no one is even pretty good. But the Lord reached into our wretchedness and provided a lifeline. The hopelessness of this psalm points to the hopefulness of Jesus, who’s way, way more than pretty good.

Psalm 14 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi

A couple of weeks ago a massive storm woke me up in the middle of the night. Disoriented (I was traveling and in an unfamiliar room), it took a few seconds to remember where I lay and to recognize the booms as thunder. Glad to be in a warm bed, I dozed off and woke to a rain-washed city.

Even from a dead sleep I understood the action in the skies that night as a thunderstorm. Getting up and opening the curtains would have confirmed my belief. Lightning leaves no doubt.

Jesus predicted he will return to this earth in such a way that no one will miss it.

Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

People claiming to be the son of god we consider crazy. Which, to be fair, many people back in the day considered Jesus crazy as well. But Jesus proved his crazy with miracles, teachings, and most importantly, his resurrection. Now there’s one more proof Jesus has in store—his return.

His second coming will leave no doubt. Like lightning from one end of the sky to the other, glorious beyond imagination, you and I and the rest of the world won’t miss it.

Amen, come Lord Jesus.

Luke 17 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Micah Tindell

When my boys were little and I let them watch action movies, they always asked, Dad, who are our enemies? Which was hard to answer, since I didn’t want to create animosity against any certain people group in their young hearts. But they ached to go out in the yard and attack someone. So I answered, bad guys are our enemies, which satisfied a six and four-year old. They picked up sticks and started whacking, and I sat back, satisfied with my good parenting (their mother was away the entire time).

David suffered from his enemies. He wrote: The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead.

In his anxiety David cried out for relief: Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

David faced enemies both from abroad and within his own household. Real people gunning for him in the streets.

Which makes me wonder—who are my enemies?

No physical people that I can think of. Certainly the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil, as Paul points out in his letter to the Ephesian church.

Enemies of the mental and emotional variety also surface. Worries about finances or retirement. Desires for more, wanting things I don’t have. Hoping to get noticed. Frustrations brought on reading about national and global situations.

Enemies twist and manipulate. I forget the blessings—my wife, my children, my grandchild, family and friends, a warm house, solid finances, good health and a myriad more. Enemies deceive and cover up.

David prayed: Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground…In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.

When overwhelmed in the night, or struggling during the day, you and I can pray like David. When our enemies show no sign of relenting, it’s time to ask for relief—Lord, silence my enemies, destroy the foes in my mind, teach me to do your will, and lead me by your Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Psalm 143 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by David Werbrouck

Easter morning arrived with blinding flashes and roiling ground for the soldiers guarding the tomb of Jesus:

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel’s appearance stunned the guards into a frozen, catatonic state. Lying on the ground in suspended animation, did the guards hear the words the angel spoke to the women who came to care for the body of Jesus?

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

Later the guards took a large bribe to lie about what happened. But I wonder how they fared as time went on? They knew what they experienced. They also heard of Jesus’s appearance after the resurrection, and surely noticed the boldness of his followers. Did any of the these guards eventually decide to follow Jesus, fully embracing the miracle they witnessed?

The first believers to grasp the reality of the resurrection were these faithful women. However, the first people to have their lives literally upended by the resurrection were those guards.

Certainly the first, but definitely not the last.

He Is Risen!

Matthew 28 in Through the Bible in 2024

Rembrandt: The Resurrection, 1639