The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 9 Listen: (5:06)  Read: 2 Corinthians 3 Listen: (2:25)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 9.4-6

4 After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Reflection: Grace Not Merit

By John Tillman

Moses clears something up for the people before the conquest of Canaan begins and we need to hear it too. “You aren’t better than them,” God says.

God chooses by grace, not merit. The Canaanites deserved to lose the promised land because of their wickedness, but Israel did not deserve to take it because of righteousness or integrity.

God told Abraham the sins in Canaan had not “reached their full measure.” (Genesis 15.16-21) The Canaanites experienced God’s grace and patience, but that patience ran out. By the time Moses and the people arrived, the measuring cup overflowed. Canaanite culture was promiscuous and abusive. Their kings were brutal and unjust. Their gods were false and degrading. God intended to wipe out the way they lived, the way they governed, and the way they worshiped.

Moses also warned, live up to this or lose it.

After generations, God’s people hadn’t wiped out wickedness, they soaked it up. They adopted Canaanite cultural practices, demanded a similar government, and placed idols to false gods in God’s temple. By the time Manasseh took the throne, God testified that Judah was worse than the nations he drove out.

God shows no partiality. God used the Assyrians and Babylonians to drive out Israel and Judah, just as he used Israel to drive out the Canaanites. What do we learn from this?

Living in the shade of God’s grace, we can develop a sense of divine entitlement. “We deserve this power, this comfort, this pleasure.” We don’t. This spiritual entitlement indicates a loss of the fear of the Lord and paves the way for us, like Israel, to conform to things we should confront.

Our culture’s lusts lead to promiscuity and abuse, its greed leads to brutality and injustice, and its idols lead to deception and degradation. Our salvation and identity as God’s children is secure in Jesus, but there will be judgment both in this world and after for what we fail to confront and what we fail to do. (Revelation 2.5, 15-16; 3.3, 16-19; 1 Corinthians 3.10-17; 2 Corinthians 5.9-11)

Let God begin his conquest in our hearts. Holy Spirit, help us wipe from our hearts lusts that lead to promiscuity and abuse, greed that leads to brutality and injustice, and idols that degrade and deceive.

We should be different. The way we live, govern, and worship should reflect the humility of knowing we are unworthy and the conviction of knowing all are invited into God’s grace.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. — Psalm 116.8

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Repeating History

Like Israel, we have failures in our past, both individually and as the global Church…At times, we have been more like Anakites than God’s people.

Read more: Glimpsing the Promise

If we don’t trust that “God’s way” will work, we will abuse power, act rashly, and mistake angry words or actions for holy ones.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 8 Listen: (2:58)  Read: 2 Corinthians 2 Listen: (2:13)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 8:17-18

17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Reflection: Count Your Hardships

By Erin Newton

Count your blessings. Typically people are meant to reflect on all the good things that have happened in their life. This usually produces gratitude. It’s not bad advice either. Reframing our experiences enables us to heal from past events.

It may even seem like Deuteronomy is offering the same advice. God calls his people to remember. Remember the manna. Remember the non-achy feet despite years of wandering. Remember the clothes that never needed mending. Lots of blessings to be counted.

He also tells them to remember the reason they left Egypt—their hardships and trials. Remember the venomous snakes and the waterless land. These don’t sound like blessings to be counted. But remembering redirects their hearts to God.

When they only look at their successes, or all the places where “things just worked out,” the temptation is to take credit. Moses could have flexed his muscles and relished in the glory of being the leader. Each family could sit down to another full table of quail and bread, considering themselves awfully proud to be such hard workers deserving of such a feast.

Success and fortune whisper self-congratulatory tales to our itching ears.

Even looking back on history, we conjure the idea that everything then was better. We are tempted to pat ourselves on the back. Look how far we’ve come! And with such ideas, we credit success to our own power and strength. We either whitewash the hardships or delve into pride.

But God asked them to remember the hard times. Remember the times they were hungry or thirsty. Remember the time they all nearly died. Why? It’s not to cultivate a spirit of depression or fear. Balanced with the various ways God provided, the anxiety-inducing “what-if” turns into the hope-filled “even-if.” Even if the land is waterless, God provides. Even if we are attacked by venomous snakes, God provides.

The stories do not end with, “We will pull ourselves up and make ourselves stronger!” There is no pep-talk to motivate the people into working more for their success.

Remembering the good and the hard allows us to see God at the center of our lives. Go ahead and count your blessings. Praise God for the modern manna. But take time to remember the hard times you’ve already endured. Remember these times by saying, “Even when…” and knowing God was working, is working, and always shall be working—for your good.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth. — Psalm 46.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer

 by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Count Your Blessings – Hymns for Giving Thanks

Oatman’s famous hymn is a reminder to us all that God has blessed us immeasurably and it is up to us to be attentive to the gifts God has given us.

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Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 7 Listen: (4:13) Read: 2 Corinthians 1 Listen: (3:52)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 7.17-21; 25-26

17 You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” 18 But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. 19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. 20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. 21 Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

25 The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Reflection: Demolish the Infrastructure of Idolatry

By John Tillman

The people fear that the seven nations are too many, too strong, and too well-established to be driven out. Moses assured them God would drive out the kings and armies. However, Moses warned of greater difficulty uprooting spiritual powers than political powers. There was an infrastructure of idolatry in the land.

Imagine if our country’s electrical grid was compromised and had to be replaced with a new power source that was incompatible with the old equipment. Every power pole, transmission tower, and power plant had to be torn down. The wiring in every house had to come out, be melted down, and be replaced. Nothing could remain or it would cause shorts, failures, and destruction. This is what God commanded Israel to do with the temples, shrines, tools, and personal idols of Canaan.

Followers of Jesus are not asked to conquer or drive out nations. Jesus commanded us to bring the nations in. The family of Jesus is multi-ethnic and multi-national. Nationalism is pagan, not Christian. However, there are spiritual powers and infrastructures of idolatry that we are called to uproot, tear down, and destroy.

It might be possible for you to live where there are no freeways, rail transport, electricity, or running water. However, wherever you live, you’ll find a robust infrastructure of idols. Within our culture and our hearts there are temples, false gods, and “Asherah poles.”

Idols usually don’t look dangerous. Within a culture, idols look normal, good, valuable, and reasonable. Idols promise plenty, pleasure, and security. Idols tell us our lusts are healthy, our greed is practical, and our dominion over others is natural. This spiritual reality is more insidious and dangerous than any political reality.

We may think these influences (in our country or our hearts) are too many, too powerful, or too ingrained in us to be conquered. But Jesus is greater than any inclination within us or any influence around us.

Bulldoze the roads idols take to your heart. Tear idolatrous wiring out of the walls. Unplug from unhealthy influences. Plug in to Jesus. Jesus provides greater joy than any experience of pleasure, greater assurance than any position of power, and greater worth than any accumulation of wealth.

Lift up Jesus to let people see the power you are plugged into. Live a life of incandescent beauty that draws all to the warmth and welcome of Jesus.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Hallelujah! Praise the Name of the Lord; give praise, you servants of the Lord,
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to his Name, for it is lovely.
For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. — Psalm 135.1-5

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
 by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: The House God Desires

Despite the sinfulness of David’s line of descendants, Christ lowered himself to be born the Son of David.

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