Bible Recap Week 19

Pastor Julie shares her “God shots” from this week’s readings, offering insight and encouragement to stay grounded in the Gospel daily. She reminds us that when we drift from God’s Word, our minds begin to create their own version of truth. To remain anchored, we must intentionally stay rooted in Scripture; renewing our minds, strengthening our faith, and aligning our thoughts with God’s truth each day. As we do, we are called to stay teachable, keeping our hearts open to what God wants to show us.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Everyone, we can't get it. It's a workout. A workout. So you can live like Jesus. Love like Jesus. I I love spending time in the work with you like this. So let's get started.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Okay, so we are in week 18 of reading the Bible recap. This week, I seen a quote that really stuck with me, and it was on Facebook. I know that's not Bible recap, but hear me out. It said, You don't fall out of alignment overnight. You slowly stop guarding what God told you was sacred. Did you hear it? Let me read it one more time. You don't fall out of alignment overnight. You slowly stop guarding what God told you was sacred. That hit me. It made me stop, it made me pause, and I thought on it. It's like, wow. Because that is exactly what we see throughout scripture. And honestly, in our own lives too, right? We don't usually wake up one day and decide to drift away from God. It's not a, oh, I'm gonna wake up today and nope, I just don't want to be close to God anymore. It happens slowly, little by little, compromise by compromise, moment by moment of not guarding what God has already spoken. And this week, one of the biggest things that stood out to me in the reading was this we need to hear the gospel daily, not just once, not just on Sundays, daily, if not multiple times a day. Because if we don't, our minds will start forming truth on their own. Scripture talks about the renewing of the mind. We've talked about it before, about taking every thought captive. And the reality is this if we're not intentionally filling our minds with truth, we will start believing whatever feels right in that moment and whatever we need to feel right. Which goes back to the quote, right? It's a gradual thing because we stop guarding what God told us was sacred. Something can feel right and still be completely wrong. It can be good, something can be good, but it can go against the word of God. That's why knowing the word of God matters so much. It's not just about knowledge, it's about protection. And without it, we'll justify things, we can drift, and we can even convince ourselves and others if we aren't careful that we're doing the right thing when we're really not. So, gospel daily, so that way our own minds don't start forming truth all on their own. So we see that, I believe, so clearly in this week's reading. And then in 2 Samuel 6, when they're moving the Ark of the Covenant, which on the surface sounds like a good thing, right? They want to be in the presence of God, but they didn't do it the way God instructed them to do it. And when Uzza reaches out to steady the Ark after it begins to fall, something that I'm sure felt right, it was the right thing to do in that moment, he struck down dead. I have struggled with this scripture for years. I want to scream, that's not fair. Probably because I know I would have done the same thing. You see something going to fall, especially the Ark of God, the Ark of the Covenant, you're gonna want to reach out and stop it from hitting the ground. So it can feel heavy and it's confusing. But here's the truth: good intentions do not override God's instructions. They were doing a good thing, yes, but they were doing it the wrong way. And if they had known and followed the word of God, if they had honored what he had already said to them, that moment could have been avoided. Something else that came up, there's a discussion guide for the Bible recap. I don't know if any of you have seen it or if you're following it, but there was a question for this week. And it was another thing that made me stop and think. So it asked this question. It said, the Philistines transported the ark on an ox cart, and David followed suit. During David's attempt, Uzzah touches the ark and dies. So, hypothetically speaking, if the Philistines had to handle and position the ark on the cart, why weren't they held to the same standard of obedience as the Israelites? Is that God showing mercy to the Philistines, his discipline towards Israel, or both? That made me stop, and I'm like, oh. And I think the answer is both. Because the Philistines, they didn't know the law of God the way Israel did, right? Like, but Israel did. They knew God's law, they knew what was expected of them, they had been given instructions, they had been entrusted with truth, they knew how the ark was supposed to be carried and transported. And I think this reveals something very important. God holds us accountable to what we know. And I've said it before, I like this quote. I'll say it again, I'm sure. But where there is greater knowledge, there is greater responsibility, right? So this wasn't just about what Uzza did in the moment. It was about a pattern of ignoring what God had already said. So again, we ask ourselves: how often do we rely on what feels right instead of what God says is right? And then later on, we see David responding differently. Okay, so we jump ahead a little bit. Once the ark is brought in the right way, David is overcome with joy. He's worshiping, he is dancing before the Lord, and I love this part because I love worship and I love music and I love to dance, and it's just all together I can get carried away in worship. But I tend to be pretty reserved when I'm around other people because there was this time in my life when I was just first coming to know who God was, and I was just just so overwhelmed with emotion. And I remember dancing to a worship song, and I believe it was Christian I was dancing with. It might have been Katarina, but all of a sudden I was pulled aside and I was told not to, not to dance like that. Don't do that because this is a serious moment. We need to worship the Lord and we don't do that. And I was just ashamed. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I felt horrible thinking that I had, you know, did something to God and was asking him for forgiveness and so on and so forth. But, anyways, my point is there are moments of reverence, moments that are supposed to be quiet and still. But here and this scripture, David showed me something, and I believe he shows us all something. He wasn't performing, he wasn't putting on the show for people to see him, and he wasn't trying, he didn't care how he looked if he looked dignified. He was worshiping, he was worshiping God. Scripture says that Michael, Saul's daughter, despised him in her heart, right? What looked undignified to her was actually worship to God. I I love that. So, yes, so I will go and I will dance and I will worship the Lord. But here's where we hold the balance. Not everything emotional is from God, not everything that feels expressive is worship, and that is why we need the word because we don't define worship, God does. And this will tie into something else that we see here: the difference between fearing God and having the fear of the Lord, which I think Tara Lee did a great job of kind of breaking that down. Um because us's moment shows us, right, what happens when we become too casual with God. And then David later on shows us what it looks like to honor him rightly. And there was that moment where she talks about, she does break it down, and then she tells us how David began to fear him. It wasn't the fear of God, he actually feared God. So the fear of the Lord isn't being afraid of God, it's honoring him enough to do things his way. It's recognizing that he is holy, his presence matters, and that his word is not optional. It is not, the Bible is not a book that we get to go through and choose the pieces that fit within our lives and that we want to obey. His word is not optional. And then we see another powerful moment, I believe, in David's life. When he wants to build a permanent dwelling place for the ark, I mean, David's heart is just, it is so big. David was anointed, he was chosen by God, a man after God's own heart. But there are times that he was wrong. And I want you to hear this, right? The prophet Nathan comes to see him and he listens to what the prophet says. David was teachable. This is something we cannot miss. Being called by God does not mean that you are always right. Whatever pastor that you look up to, whatever podcast you listen to, sermon, whatever it is, that person, no matter how much you like them, they are going to be wrong at times. We need people around us. This is why we need the body of Christ. Because we need voices that can speak the truth into our lives, even when it's hard. And we have to be willing to receive it. I absolutely love that David didn't question it, it was just, this is what God has told you, this is what it is. And then when you look at Psalm 36, it reminds us of something else. You can't force people to know God. You can't make someone follow him, right? You cannot make someone have a relationship with him. Excuse me, at the end of the day, it is a choice. But what we can do is make sure that we are rooted in truth, that we are staying in the word, we are renewing our minds, and that we are aligning our lives with what God has said, not just what we feel. So if I can leave you with anything this week, it's this. We need the gospel daily. We need his word daily. Because without it, we drift, we'll start to justify, we will act on what feels right instead of what is right. So stay in the word, stay teachable, stay surrendered, and trust that God's way, even when it doesn't make sense in the moment, is always the right way. I thank you for listening today, and I would love to hear your takeaways from this week. So if you want to email them in or look on the Facebook post that posts the podcast if you didn't listen from there and comment on that thread with your takeaways, I would love to read them.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

So until next week, happy reading.water's edge.