Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Reflection: Today, we have two stories that show the plight of Israel, as they longed for their redemption. The lament psalm is filled with remorse for the days when Israel was a strong nation and following after God. Now they are left to weep at the rivers of Babylon, where they have been deported after the Babylonian invasion of the Southern Kingdom in 586 B.C. Before that we see the reason for the exile as King Ahab again makes the bad decision to rely on the false prophets, 400 of them, who tell him want he wants to hear, rather than relying on the true prophet who shares God’s voice. This story goes to show us how important it is to test the voice of prophets and just because someone (or 400) say, “Thus sayeth the Lord”, doesn’t mean it is God’s voice. We have an enemy still today that tries to deceive us like he did the Israelites. This why the gift of the Holy Spirit is so important as we discern what is of God and what is not. Finally, we have the great race in the G...

Reflection: Again today we are reminded in our last verse from 1 Corinthians that no temptation has overtaken us that is not common to man, but God is faithful and will be able to provide the way of escape so we can withstand the trial. We see Jesus in the most severe trial of His life, when the Father has forsaken Him for the sake of the forgiveness of the world. At the end of his life we see his compassion for his mom, who he asks the disciple whom he loves to watch over (most likely the disciple John!). Again we see that Jesus is really in charge, as the soldiers don’t have to break his legs, but he dies before that to fulfill the scripture that he would not have a broken bone, just as he had no sin either. And with that Jesus utters, “It is finished and Jesus gave up His Spirit!” Throughout this trial we have seen that Jesus is really the one in charge, though some of the most powerful men of the world confront him, he shows His power and authority come from God! He will g...

Reflection: Today, we have a tale of two kings. One, King Ahab, who had allowed evil in his reign, and yet God in his mercy allows him to be victorious over Ben-Hadad, king of Syria. Perhaps because God was honoring His covenant to King David, in spite of Ahab’s disobedience, or maybe because Ahab had finally listened to the prophet God had sent in repentance to how he treated Elijah. God enables him to have victory. Then, in our gospel, we see and hear about the Passion of another King, King Jesus. John’s gospel gives us more insightful details of the trial before Pilate the Roman Governor. They focus on Pilate’s deliberation and his play on the words of Jesus being their king. Jesus uses the moment to reach out to Pilate, and calmly displays no reaction proving His kingship is under a different type of rule. The Jews uses political manipulation to get Pilate to render his judgment, though he sees no reason to crucify Jesus. But at the defining point, both the Roman governo...

Reflection: We all have times in our lives where we reach our quitting points. We’ve had enough. We’re exhausted. We’re tired of people not responding in the way we think they should. Even for those who are trying to be faithful to God’s calling, there is a sense sometimes of, “Really God is this what you want me to be doing?” Today, we see the prophet Elijah was at the end of his rope. Even after his dramatic showdown with the prophets of Baal, where God showed himself to be the true God, Elijah has to flee for now the evil queen Jezebel has a bounty on his head. He journeys with his servant to Beersheba, leaves his servant, and then spends a day and night in the wilderness. And here is what it says, “He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.” You might say he had reached a new low in his life, but God has me...

Reflection: Denial is a power force in human nature. One of our default character defects is denial. When we are confronted with the truth about ourselves the first thing we want to do is to deny it. We see throughout Scripture the power of denial at work. As Elijah confronts King Ahab, who has denied the Truth by worshipping other gods, he is in major denial. The people are in denial too, so Elijah sets up a test to show who the true prophet is. He assembles 450 prophets of Baal, and he is the only prophet left in Israel, to make the point abundantly clear and to break the chain of deceit and lies. As the fire from heavens consumes the bull offered as a sacrifice and consumes everything else on the altar, it becomes clear who the true God is and the prophets of Baal are exposed for their lies. King Ahab runs to Jezreel, as the dark clouds gather and produce a heavy rain that had been waited for. In John 18, we Jesus’ most devoted servant Peter, denying Jesus not once, or t...

I will be on vacation through Sunday 11/25, so my next post after today will be Monday 11/26. You can click on this link for the daily readings. http://www.moravian.org/faith-a-congregations/moravian-daily-texts.html Reflection: Today’s theme is one of joy! The psalmist talks about the “songs of joy” the Israelites sang as the ascended to the Jerusalem to praise God in the temple. He even states that those who sow in tears will reap in joy. As we focus on what God has done for us we can claim “joy” no matter what our circumstances. We see the joy in Solomon’s life at the height of his reign. Visiting Queen Sheba discovers that Solomon’s wisdom is even much more than she expected. She notes how his servants are (happy/joyful) by serving in the light of the wisdom God has given him. As God gives us wisdom and we act on it, it leads to joy because we see how great our God is. Finally in the Gospel, Jesus teaches the disciples that His joy will be complete in them as they a...

Reflection: Today we enter into the famous passage which describes our relationship with God through Jesus. Israel was the True Vine in the Old Testament and now has grown out of family Israel a Savior, Jesus the True Vine. Jesus tells his followers to remain (abide) in Him and He will abide in them forever. Like any tree as the branches abide they bear fruit and from time to time there is pruning. Jesus promises His disciples as they abide in Him and His Word they will be forever fruitful. The fruit being a life of discipleship that makes other disciples! Importantly they will be given the Holy Spirit, who will remind them of Jesus’ words and correct them when necessary. This is the simple, but hard Christian Life. Are you abiding in Christ? Do you take time to be with him each day? Do you listen to His voice through prayer and His Word? Do you spend time with other Christians who encourage you to abide and help you discern where you need to prune when necessary? Psalm ...

Reflection: Today again we see the radical juxtaposition of the temple where God would dwell and the power of His presence would lead the Israelites. God’s promise to David was there would never be someone on the throne. But the problem was earthly leaders fall and soon the temple would be overrun due to the Israelites serving and running after other gods. But in the Gospel, we see of another way God would dwell with and in His people. In John 14 we see the promise of the Holy Spirit who would be with the believers forever and would dwell within them. As the Holy Spirit lives within each believer He would lead and guide them and for our part as we obey God and abide in Him we stay inexorably connected to Him. John 15 will give us a famous passage in which he describes how we can abide in Him and He in us. Again obedience will be our part as we listen and obey the Holy Spirit’s voice. The body of Christ becomes the temple of God and God dwells in the midst of believers. As...

Reflection: Today’s readings bring two significant moments in the life of Israel. Solomon instructs the Ark of the Covenant to be brought into the temple to the Most Holy Place. Here God will dwell by His Spirit, and yet more significant is that He has chosen David to rule over His people. It is by God’s presence that the kings of Israel would rule and have power and authority to lead the nation. Later we will see what happens when they depart from this basic principle that their power and authority which comes from God alone! Their power is maintained by being obedient to the Covenant He had given Moses coming out of Egypt. In the Gospel reading, we have Jesus comforting His disciples with the words I read at every funeral. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled but trust in me for there are many rooms in my Father’s house and I go there now to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you I will take you back to the place where I am.” Jesus has been living every ...

Reflection: Again today we see the juxtaposition of the joy of the people of God in David’s psalm, as he sings of the joy of the tribes as they ascend toward Jerusalem to worship God. He prays for peace in Jerusalem the authority and power of the 12 tribes of Israel to judge. All of Israel’s trust was in a place because they had confidence that in God’s house there was peace and prosperity. This is continued in the passage from 1 Kings, where Solomon constructs his own house after finishing work on the temple. Note he sought to build the temple first and and with greater urgency, as it took only 7 years. His own home took 13 years to build. As he finishes up the temple in the second part of the chapter, we see the finest of materials being used to build it. Huram is hired, who is gifted and skilled and filled with wisdom and understanding to do the work of a craftsman. Notice God gives different gifts to different people. Craftsmanship is a humble gift that is often overloo...

Reflection: This is an epic moment in the life of Israel, as after 7 years the temple is completed. Historians date is around 960—950 B.C. This dates the Exodus around 1440 B.C. We see the promise God makes to the Israelites, if you keep my commandments and obey them I will always be with you. We see the great detail given to the temple, and the time spent to make sure it was done right for the glory of God. The temple would be the central place where the Israelites would center their life around. It would be a continual reminder of God’s presence and His deliverance of them from slavery into the Promised Land where the conquered giants. The psalmist (David) also reflects the life of a worshipper. This psalm is most likely from King David, who did not get a chance to see the temple built. Hence he lifts his up his eyes to the hills from where his help comes from. You see his implicit trust in the Lord who watches over his every move by day or by night. Then as we move i...

Reflection: We have an interesting juxtaposition in the first two readings. The psalm is the first of 15 psalms, which are all very short but one. This is after one very long Psalm 119. Many think there were spoken or sung one at a time, and this one seems to be the occasion of an ascent. But yet we see David has not been able to dwell where he wants, but is banished to Meshek and Kedar . Most believe he was not literally in these places, but this was a figure of speech much like we might say, “we were out in the boondocks.” This is David’s longing to be in a peaceful place worshipping God, with people who are at peace with each other and their neighbors. Don’t we all long for this too! Then, in the next reading from Kings, we see Solomon (David’s son) at the height of his glory. Israel is at peace on all sides, and is even receiving cooperation from Hiram, King of Tyre (on the coast of the Sea). There laid the beautiful cedars of Lebanon, which were used to build the templ...