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The lifter of my head

For the past few months, I have been following the Israelites journey from Abraham’s loins to becoming an independent nation in my bible studies. And a few days ago, something caught my attention in Joseph’s story.

Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers because they were jealous of him. While in slavery, his master’s wife tried to force herself on him which landed him in jail. Through all his woes, the favour of God continued to rest on him and distinguished him even in the jail cell. One night, two people in the jail had dreams and woke up quite disturbed because they did not understand what their dreams meant. And Joseph through God’s power, interpreted their dreams. Lets read together:

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. [Genesis 40:9-13 NASB]

This is a long passage so lets pause for a second and pay attention to the bolded words: Pharoah will lift up your head. Got it? Ok let’s continue:

When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.” [Genesis 40 :16- 19]

This time, pay attention to the bolded statement: Pharoah will lift up your head from you. Same guy, Pharoah; same kind of dream for the butler and the baker; but very different outcomes. One’s head was lifted up and the other’s head was lifted up from his body. This is what God was drawing my attention to this week.

There is a psalm that I pray over myself every time I need to experience God’s supernatural favour in my dealings with people. And it is this:

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Psalm 3:3 ESV

And although I pray this prayer very often, I sometimes find myself seeking personal recognition and honour from people or find myself trying to curry favour with people using my own efforts. This week, I found myself in such a position and as I was walking away from that situation, I heard God’s rebuke as the scripture Psalm 3:3 came to mind. God was reminding me from His word that He alone is and should be the lifter of my head.

The baker thought that because the butler had received favorable news about Pharoah lifting the butler’s head, that he would receive the same news. However, his interpretation was rather grave (no pun intended): Pharaoh would lift up his head right off his body! You see, human beings are fickle. The bible tells us that the arm of flesh (human beings) will fail us but the One who created the arm is mighty to save (2 Chronicles 32:8). We are encouraged to not put our hope in any human being.

Looking to people to bestow honour on us, that is not God-sanctioned, can only lead to trouble. When we look to mere humans for our elevation and promotion, you never know what you will get: either your head will be lifted up or it will be lifted up from your body! But God’s promises are yes and amen: to be the lifter of your head.

This week, God reminded me that instead of praying this psalm as a request of Him, that I confess it as my positionality. GOD is my Shield. GOD is my Glory. GOD is the Lifter of my head. This confession delimits my tendencies and desires to chase after promotions and recognition. If God wants honour and elevation for me, it will happen. I do not need to chase after them. After all, God’s goodness and His mercies have been designed to follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23: 6) and not the other way around.

Today’s post is a message for me. It is deeply personal. However, it might be a word of caution or a sweet reminder of God’s tender love for you. Which ever the case, God is always and forever for us, guarding jealously and fiercely our inheritance in Christ Jesus. He is a shield about us, our glory, and the lifter up of our heads. Amen.

Yours Truly

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Obedience: A matter of the heart

This past month, I have been on a roll with the theme of obedience and today I share the lessons I have learnt on obedience by looking at four different biblical characters: Moses, Saul, Gideon, and the unwilling son. For almost a year now, I have been ruminating on the parable of the unwilling son and what the implication of that story might be. And as I have followed the Israelites on their journey to the promised land, this story seems to be more relevant.

The parable of the two sons can be found in Matthew 21:28-32. The gist of the story is of a man with two sons who told them to go work in the vineyard. The first son refused, but later obeyed and went. The second son initially expressed obedience, but actually disobeyed and refused to work in the vineyard. The son who ultimately did the will of his father was the first son because he eventually obeyed. As I have studied obedience from this parable and through the lives of the Israelites, my biggest lesson has been that obedience is about the heart. Actions matter, in fact what we do matter a lot! But the state of one’s heart is even more important than what we do. King Saul, the first king of Israel is a perfect example of this lesson.

God had instructed that all the nations that the Israelites conquered be completely destroyed (people and livestock alike) but when Saul defeated the Amalekites, he decided to spare their king, Agag and keep the choicest animals for sacrifice to God. One might hear this story and think it was noble thing that Saul had done but God was not pleased. He rebuked Saul sternly,

“What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams”

The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT and 1 Samuel 16: 7b NIV

Apart from the fact that the All-knowing God knew that one day, a descendant of King Agag named Haman would make it his life’s mission to wipe out all the jews from the face of the earth when he demanded the total destruction of the foreign nations, he was more concerned with the state of the heart of Israel’s ruler. A heart of obedience was a prerequisite for a long and fruitful reign (Deuteronomy 17:19). Saul’s grand gesture of saving the choicest livestock and sacrificing them contravened God’s edict and was in direct violation of the priestly mandate. His intentions did not matter, his actions even mattered less- because God saw his heart and he dishonored God in his heart and that cost him a great deal.

Moses was another person who dishonored God in his heart and it cost him greatly. Forty years had passed since the Israelites left Egypt to go to the land that the Lord had promised them. After camping in Kadesh, they ran out of water. When the people complained to Moses and Aaron, the Lord commanded Moses to speak to a rock so that water would miraculously gush from it. Instead of obeying the Lord, Moses chose to deliver an angry lecture to the people and then strike the rock twice with his staff. I have always wondered what was so bad about Moses hitting the rock with his staff when God had asked him to speak to the rock. Surely the Israelites deserved the stern rebuke! Why did his actions cost him the promise land even though the rock produced water? Well, scriptures clues us in that it was not so much about what he did as it was about his heart in that moment. Moses dishonored God in his heart and that spilled over into his angry outburst and actions. That is what God punished… the dishonor.

“…for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.”

Numbers 27:14 NIV

Many times, obedience is perceived with a “do not question; do as you are told” mentality. However, if obedience is more about the heart and less the actions, then there is opportunity to seek clarification and ask questions of God when we do not understand what is being asked of us. Gideon is a good example of this (Judges 6-8). I have been intrigued with the story of Gideon and how he appeared to question all of God’s directions without any repercussions. After carefully analyzing the story of Gideon, I conclude that even though he asked God to prove Himself over and over again, he never dishonored God in his heart through the process. His acts of questioning and clarifying were not acts of disobedience (dishonoring God in his heart) or blatant defiance and were actually welcomed by God. In this story, I see God respond to the frailty of humanity through tenderness. Gideon’s tests were designed to draw him into a deeper understanding of who God is and God indulged him.

An obedient heart may be one that has self doubt but says, “God, can you tell me some more about what you are asking of me?” “Can you show me what I ought to do and how I ought to do it?” An obedient heart may not always do the right thing but is quick to admit its wrongdoings and say “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.” An obedient heart may not be one that jumps for joy when asked by the Father to work in the vineyard but still goes any way.

My prayer for you and for myself is for a heart of obedience… and as our hearts respond in obedience to the King, may our actions follow suit.

Yours Truly

Posted on by intentional4christ

Advent Calendar day 16: A Wise Heart

I recall in my younger years I did something that I still regret to this day. Although it was a single incident that perhaps may not even be remembered by parties involved, I certainly remember and it colors that time of my life. Have you had a moment’s lapse in judgement where you said or did something that changed everything? Today’s reading hits the nail right on the head with this proverb:

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Ecclesiastes 10:1 NIV

In this scripture, folly is contrasted against wisdom and honor and has been described to be the undoing of both. Folly can come in many forms- a small act of unkindness, a moment of anger, a rash decision or a harsh word can cost a person a great deal. It can cast a shadow on one’s bright future, can close doors of opportunity and can bring great misfortune. We need to apply ourselves to wisdom in all our endeavors and a wise heart dictates that there is a proper time and place for everything

Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.

Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 NIV

So how do we respond to this advice? The psalmist prays “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12) and I today I pray same of God.

Dear Heavenly Father, teach us to realize the brevity of life, help us to number our days and redeem the time you have given us. And above all, give us a heart of wisdom so we are not entrapped by folly. Amen.

Yours Truly