The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Category: Lent

February 23, 2015

Lent Devotional: Joshua 9:1-27

Joshua 9:1-27 (click here)
Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.

Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us?

They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. (Joshua 9:15, 22, 24-26)

Reflection
This is one of the more interesting stories in the Old Testament, and it really doesn’t get that much attention because people don’t know what to make of it.

God had commissioned his people to take the land of Canaan. They were not to make peace with any of the lands inhabitants for they were all falling under the just judgment of God for their sin.

However, the Gibeonites deceived the people of Israel into thinking they lived far away. So, Israel made a covenant with Gibeon. They soon discovered the dishonesty of the Gibeonites, but remained true to the covenant they had made.

Covenant is the key.

Grace was extended to the Gibeonites through a covenant. The Gibeonites certainly didn’t deserve it… nor had they earned it. In fact, they were deceivers, liars, and tricksters. Why should Israel be bound to keep it’s word with such people?

Because it was a covenant and there was supposed to be no stronger promise than that.

God’s grace toward us in Jesus is known as the new covenant. It is a promise of God’s unmerited favor toward us, not because of us, but because of Jesus.

We certainly don’t deserve such grace… nor have we earned it. In fact, we could be called deceivers, liars, tricksters, and many other applicable things. Why should God be bound to keep his word with such people?

Because his grace comes to us as a covenant through Christ… and there is no stronger promise than that.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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February 22, 2015

Lent Devotional: Jonah 1:1-17

Jonah 1:1-17 (click here)
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. (Jonah 1:1-3)

Reflection
This is not a book about a big fish. It’s not even ultimately a book about Jonah. This is a book about God. It is a book about God’s grace. It is a book about God’s heart.

The very first words which come from the mouth of the Lord reveal his heart, “Arise, go to Nineveh…” Jonah knows what this means. Nineveh was an evil Assyrian city known for flying captives and draping their skins on their walls. They were cruel, bloodthirsty, and built their entire kingdom on violence.

This violence had affected Jonah’s own people and would eventually consume the entire Northern kingdom of Israel. Jonah knew that the Lord sending one of his prophets to this city could only mean one thing…God must be giving them an opportunity to repent. “Go to Nineveh” reveals the gracious heart of God and Jonah knows it (just read Jonah 4:2).

Yet these words reveal not only the heart of God… but they reveal Jonah’s heart as well. Jonah does not desire grace for Nineveh, but judgment. He wants to watch Nineveh burn. We all have our own Nineveh…don’t we. We have a place, a person, a people whom we would love to see as the recipients of divine judgment.

Jonah is meant to be a funny character. We smile at him as we see him try to oppose the will of God almighty and run from him. We laugh at this man…until he becomes a mirror. We are Jonah.

The whole point of this book is to reveal the gracious heart of God and to question the hardness of our heart. The whole point is to show us whether or not we have merely understood grace with our heads or whether we have been transformed by it in the depths of our hearts.

How can you know if grace is merely a head concept or if it has changed your heart?… You can know if you’ve been changed by grace not by how you react when it is extended to you, but by how you react when it is extended to others…when it is extended to Nineveh.

You’ve been changed by grace if you’re willing to extend it to Nineveh…because you know that you were Nineveh first.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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February 21, 2015

Lent Devotional: Numbers 14:11-25

Numbers 14:11-25 (click here)
“And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” (Numbers 14:17-19)

Reflection
Israel sinned in the desert. They rejected God… again and again. God’s wrath toward their sin was completely just.

Yet… God raised up a man, Moses, to stand in the gap for this sinful people.

Moses cried out for grace because he knew that God was gracious. He called upon the very character of the Lord to be displayed toward his people. He asked the Lord to pardon iniquity, show his steadfast love, and graciously forgive. And, Moses asked all this for a people who even rejected and mocked him again and again.

We know this story… don’t we?

We sinned. We rejected the Lord…again and again. His wrath toward our sin was completely just.

Yet… God raised up a man, Jesus, to stand in the gap for sinners like us.

But Jesus didn’t have to cry out for grace, as God in the flesh he could give it himself! Jesus, the very embodiment of steadfast love took on our sin that we might be pardoned, graciously forgiven. And, Christ did all this even in the midst of us rejecting and mocking him. What wondrous steadfast loving grace is this?

“…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

We have been shown great grace through Jesus. Now, like Moses, may we desire great grace be shown to others. May we stand in the gap for sinners like us and proclaim what they still need to hear… that there is a God who is steadfast love, who pardons iniquity, and who graciously forgives… his name is Jesus.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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