Tag: trust

Saul Squanders What God Gives Him

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 2, 2024

Even If God Sets Us Up for Success, We’ll Fail If We Don’t Obey Him

God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel, ask for a king. This isn’t what God wants, but he gives them what they request. He gives them a king.

At God’s direction, Samuel anoints Saul as king, appointing him ruler over God’s people and their nation.

To prove this is God’s doing, Samuel makes three prophetic promises to confirm that God’s hand is in this. They all happen.

The final one is that the Holy Spirit will empower Saul, and he will prophesy. Then God will change him into a different person, presumably a person ready to lead well and keep them focused on God.

The Holy Spirit does indeed come upon Saul, he prophesies, and his heart changes. Samuel presents Saul to the people with the confirmation that there is no one like him in the entire nation.

This means Saul is unique and equipped to be king, Israel’s first king (1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9, 24).

God gives Saul a promising start. He’s poised to lead well. But despite God’s provision. Saul squanders what God gave him.

Instead of trusting God and instead of doing what Samuel—Saul’s spiritual guide—tells him to do, he worries and grows impatient.

He ignores Samuel’s instructions, and even worse, he disobeys God’s law.

And it only takes a few chapters in 1 Samuel for this to occur. Saul repeatedly shows he’s not the man God wants as king. By the time we get to chapter 15, God has enough of the disobedient king.

God tells Samuel, “I’m distressed I made Saul king.

He’s not following me anymore and doesn’t do what I say” (1 Samuel 15:10-11). Later Samuel confronts Saul and tells him that because he rejected God’s words, that God rejects him as king (1 Samuel 15:23).

Though Saul had a great start as king and was positioned to be a great one, his lack of trust in God and disobedience causes his downfall. Despite what God gave him, Saul squanders God’s favor and doesn’t finish well.

[Read through the Bible this year. Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 8-10, and today’s post is on 1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9, 24.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags disobedience, Holy Spirit, King Saul, Samuel, trust

Bible Insights

Job Affirms God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 9, 2024

Consider What Job Believes in the Midst of His Suffering

After Bildad’s attack, Job stares into the distance. He sits in silence as if this time he will not respond.

Still, his anger bubbles within him, slowly at first and then building until it boils. He scans the three men and closes his eyes. He draws in a deep breath, filling his lungs as if for a final salvo.

“How long will you three persist in tormenting me? Why do you insist on continuing to pile your heavy words on my back? If I am in error, then it is my issue and none of your business.

“I cry out to God for help, but I receive no justice. For some reason he opposes me and stays distant. He’s taken away my honor. In his anger he treats me like an enemy, sending his army to surround me and place me under siege.

“What little family I have left, God has estranged them from me. Everyone I know has deserted me. Even my servant ignores me when I beg for his help. My wife won’t even come near me. All I have left is this broken body.

“Why won’t you take pity on me? God has struck me. Why do you too? Must you also add to my pain?

“Yes, I know that God exists. He’ll vindicate me in the end. Soon I will die, and then I’ll see him with my own eyes. Oh, how my soul longs for that to happen.

“But as for you three, don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself and the judgment you will each face.”

Reflect on Job’s Situation

Job’s friends attack him with their words. And Job believes that God opposes him for a reason he can’t understand. The three men condemn Job out of their ignorance, and God seems to deny Job the justice he seeks.

Despite all this, Job continues to trust God with his eternal destiny.

Though Job roils in physical anguish and emotional turmoil now, he still expects that God will redeem him.

Job looks beyond the pain of his life to expect that when he dies, he will see God at last. Job believes.

And he can’t wait for that encounter to take place.

Questions

When has our faith wavered?

How can we keep our allegiance to God despite the circumstances of our life, whether deserved or undeserved?

Discover more about keeping our focus on God in Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 6:31–33, Matthew 22:37, and Colossians 3:2.]

This post is an excerpt from the Bible study devotional, I Hope in Him.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Job 19 and today’s post is on Job 19:25.]

Discover more about Job in Peter’s book I Hope in Him: 40 Insights about Moving from Despair to Deliverance through the Life of Job. In it, we compare the text of Job to a modern screenplay.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags believe, friends, Job, trust

Christian Living

What Does Hope Mean?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 12, 2023

The World’s Understanding of Hope Pales in Comparison to the Bible’s

As followers of Jesus, we put our hope in him. But what does it mean to hope? The world’s understanding of hope isn’t very comforting. And the dictionary doesn’t do so well at aligning its definition with how Scripture uses the word.

Hoping Is Not Wishing

The dictionary defines hope as to “wish for an event to occur.” It also talks about a “longing or desire.”

In this context, we may hope for a particular gift for our birthday. We may hope our most recent purchase accomplishes what we want it to. Or we may hope to have a good day or a safe trip.

In each of these examples, this hope is little more than a wish. These types of hopes are just a longing or a desire.

Yet when the Bible talks about are hope in God, it’s much more than a wish. It’s more than a longing or a desire. Yes, an expectant hope may at some base level be a wish, a longing, or a desire, but to be of any significance, our hope must transcend these basic understandings.

Believe

The thesaurus tells us that two synonyms for hope are believe and belief. This gets us closer to a biblical hope. When we hope in God, we believe in him and what he says. We believe in his promises.

Yet too often today when we use the word believe it’s a little more than a wishful expectation, a desire to realize a certain outcome, a longing for what we want to see happen.

Confident Trust

Interestingly, a secondary meaning for the word hope occurs in the dictionary. It’s listed as archaic, meaning that this understanding of the word has fallen out of normal usage. What is this archaic definition of hope? Quite simply it’s to have “confidence” or “trust.”

When we place our hope in God, we have a confident trust in who he is and what he will do for us and through us. This sounds very much like faith. Faith is a belief in God, confident and unquestioning.

Hope in the Bible

The word hope occurs throughout the Bible, equally distributed between the Old and New Testaments. Psalms, with its many faith-filled songs of praise to God, leads the Bible with the most occurrences of hope at thirty-four.

Consider “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long” (Psalm 25:5, NIV). This confident declaration certainly transcends wishful thinking. So it should be when we place our hope in God.

In the New Testament, Romans is the most hope-filled book, with the word appearing in fourteen verses.

Here are two of them: “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:24-25, NIV).

Or how about “We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5, NIV).

Hope in God

When we place our hope in Jesus, for both now and for eternity, it’s not just something we wish will occur or that we long for. It’s much more. Our hope is something we believe in with a confident trust that it will occur, that we can count on it.

This is real hope.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags believe, hope, trust

Bible Insights

Rely on the Lord God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 12, 2023

The Nation of Judah Calls Out to God and He Routes Their Enemy

Here’s a story that shows why we should rely on the Lord God.

King Abijah is the grandson of King Solomon and the great grandson of King David. Civil war during the reign of Abijah’s father, Rehoboam, splits the nation of Israel into two parts.

David’s descendants retain rule in Judah, while Jeroboam takes control of the rest of Israel.

The thirteenth chapter of 2 Chronicles contrasts the spiritual condition of these two nations.

Under the rule of evil King Jeroboam, Israel has turned their back on God, replaced him with their manmade gods, and established their own priests and practices.

The much smaller nation of Judah, however, has kept their focus on the Lord and pursued the right worship of him.

Armies from the two nations form battle lines. King Abijah, from Judah, has a force of 400,000. Israel’s King Jeroboam has an army twice the size. Judah is outnumbered two to one. They’re sure to lose.

Even worse, Jeroboam has divided his forces with some before the army of Judah and the rest in an ambush behind them.

In desperation, Abijah and the army of Judah cry out to the Lord. They sound the battle cry and begin the fight. God routes the enemy army and Judah is victorious, inflicting significant casualties on the army of Israel.

Jeroboam does not regain his power. God strikes him down and he dies. For his part, Abijah grows in strength.

The author of 2 Chronicles explains why the smaller army of Judah routes the larger army of Israel. It is simply because they rely on the Lord God, the God of their ancestors. He is the one true God, as revealed in Scripture.

May we likewise rely on the Lord God and put our trust in him regardless of the situation that surrounds us.

May we find victory because we rely on him.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 2 Chronicles 13-15 and today’s post is on 2 Chronicles 13:18.]

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Tags Jeroboam, pray, Rehoboam, trust

Bible Insights

A Song of Victory

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 9, 2023

Psalm 155: from Beyond Psalm 150

As God’s people travel through the desert and prepare to take the promised land, they come to the border of the Amorites. They ask King Sihon for permission to travel through the country, promising to stay on the main thoroughfare and not take any of the Amorites’ food or water on the way.

Though this seems like a reasonable request, Sihon refuses. Instead, he rallies his army and attacks the people of Israel as they wait in the desert.

The Israelites defend themselves, and they prevail. They take the land of the Amorites, along with the city of Heshbon, which King Sihon had captured from Moab.

Though the Israelites sought to peacefully travel through the Amorite territory, the king responded negatively, and he started a war. As a result, Israel defeated the Amorite army and took over their land.

In the aftermath of the battle, they sing a song of victory.

“Come to Heshbon.
   Let the city of Sihon be built and established;
for a fire has gone out of Heshbon,
    a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has devoured Ar of Moab,
    The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
Woe to you, Moab!
    You are undone, people of Chemosh!
He has given his sons as fugitives,
    and his daughters into captivity,
    to Sihon king of the Amorites.
We have shot at them.
    Heshbon has perished even to Dibon.
We have laid waste even to Nophah,
    Which reaches to Medeba.”
Numbers 21:27–30 (WEB)

Reflections on A Song of Victory

Though this passage may seem like mere gloating over a military conquest, remember that the Israelites sought a peaceful solution, and the Amorites attacked them. This is a song of deliverance from their enemies.

Though our enemy may not be an attacking army, we all have those who oppose us. We can trust that God will deliver us.

Have we ever sought an honorable solution to a problem and been wrongly attacked anyway? Did we ask God for his intervention? Did we praise him for his answer to our prayers?

May the Holy Spirit guide us to peaceful solutions whenever possible and protect us when peace with others eludes us.

Explore the other psalms—sacred songs of praise, petition, and lament—scattered throughout the Bible in Peter’s book Beyond Psalm 150.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags Beyond Psalm 150, trust

Peter DeHaan News

New Book: I Hope in Him

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 1, 2022

40 Insights about Moving from Despair to Deliverance through the Life of Job

Discover how to have encouraging confidence, persevering faith, and unshakable trust, even when you’re in the depths of unimaginable turmoil.

Job’s story is a hard one to understand. He faces numerous tragedies. He endures gut-wrenching losses. How does a godly man survive such awful circumstances?

This 40-day book of Job devotional will help you discover how Job’s story offers redemption and hope for even the most discouraged. When Job loses everything, including his family, possessions, and health, he refuses to reject God. Job’s story reveals to us who God is and how we can place our trust in His promises.

In I Hope in Him, you’ll be inspired to embrace a lasting hope and triumphant confidence in God, regardless of your situation. This impactful resource will remind you that whatever evil our enemy can concoct, God can overcome it. No matter what you’re going through, He is always enough.

In I Hope in Him, you’ll learn how to:

Trust God more, even when you don’t understand life’s circumstances
Worship God in the middle of your personal storm
Cling to hope in suffering
Listen to God’s voice through all circumstances
Heal from your grief and grow in your faith, no matter what you’ve been through

I Hope in Him offers 40 succinct readings that will guide you through Job’s story of victorious perseverance. It will help you focus on God’s enduring power over your circumstances.

As you study Job’s faithfulness in the middle of tragedy, you’ll learn how to embrace the unending peace, comfort, and hope of the Almighty during life’s trials. In addition, each devotional is accompanied by a thoughtful application question and additional reading selections from God’s Word. A perfect devotional for women, men, or small groups.

Written by seasoned Bible teacher and author, Peter DeHaan, each day’s message will challenge you to see Job’s story from a fresh perspective, learning to find purpose in your pain and victorious hope to endure the suffering of life.

If you’re willing to trust in God when life isn’t fair, then read I Hope in Him and discover the comfort of God’s promises today.

Discover more about Job in Peter’s book I Hope in Him: 40 Insights about Moving from Despair to Deliverance through the Life of Job. In it, we compare the text of Job to a modern screenplay.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags dear theophilus, devotional, Peter DeHaan book, trust

Bible Insights

The Bible Offers Us Hope for the Future

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 19, 2022

Because of God We Can Anticipate a Better Tomorrow

There are many reasons why I love the Bible, in fact I list thirteen. One of those reasons is hope. The Bible is filled with hope. It’s mentioned 180 times in both the Old and New Testaments.

Hope in the Old Testament

The word hope appears ninety-seven times in the Old Testament, in sixteen of the thirty-nine books. Interestingly, the word hope isn’t found in the first seven books of the Bible.

Psalms, however, is filled with hope, thirty-four times (such as Psalm 9:18).

Job comes in second place with eighteen mentions (Job 13:15, for example).

Much of the hope that appears in the Old Testament occurs in the writings of the prophets, who look forward in hopeful expectation to a better future (consider Isaiah 40:31).

Hope in the New Testament

Hope appears eighty-three times in the New Testament and pops up in twenty-four of the twenty-seven books (consider Romans 5:2).

Interestingly, in the five books written by John—who writes extensively about love—hope only pops up once, in his gospel.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation, doesn’t mention hope directly. However, the book winds down looking at a glorious future with a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). That’s something to hope for.

Hope in Our Present World

Some of the times hope is mentioned in the Bible, it anticipates a better tomorrow in our physical world: a hope for provision, a hope for deliverance, and a hope for protection, to name a few (check out Psalm 37:9).

When we place our trust in God, we can be filled with hope that he will take care of us throughout our life.

Hope in Our Future Reality

In other places when the Bible mentions hope, it’s a perspective that transcends our physical realm (such as Acts 23:6). It’s hope in a spiritual eternity with God. It’s the hope of heaven.

This anticipates an existence with no pain, sorrow, or disappointment. Some might call it paradise and others, Eden reborn. In this future reality, we will commune with God. We will worship him, serve him, and just hang out.

Some people follow God for the hope he gives them for a better tomorrow in this world. And that may be enough.

Other people pursue God for the hope he gives them for a better tomorrow in the afterlife. And that is another reward.

The Bible is filled with hope, and it fills us with hope: hope in God for tomorrow and beyond.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Psalm 6-10, and today’s post is on Psalm 9:18.]

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags Bible, heaven, hope, reward, trust

Bible Insights

Who is Barsabbas?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 24, 2021

Learn More about Barsabbas

Barsabbas is by no means a familiar character in the Bible. In fact, he is only mentioned twice—both times in the book of Acts. What makes him an intriguing fellow is his character and integrity.

You see, Barsabbas, along with Matthias, were both considered to become Judas’s replacement, to become the twelfth disciple.

Instead of conducting interviews (as would be done nowadays) or even taking a vote, the decision was made by a game of chance. That seems a cavalier and unspiritual thing to do.

To do this, the people prayed for God’s guidance in this process, trusting him in the outcome—and then they drew lots. Matthias was selected (Acts 1:23-26).

Barsabbas could have pouted, felt rejected, left the group in a huff, or been mad at the leaders.

He could have even been angry with God. After all, if God’s hand was really in this selection, as they had prayed, then it was God who decided to not pick Barsabbas.

Its one thing for a person to tell you “no,” but for God to say “no” carries much more weight.

Yet we don’t hear of him having any of these negative responses. We see no indication that he reacted with disappointment.

Apparently, he stuck around and continued to make God his priority and focus, for we next hear of him in Acts 15:22 where he was chosen to be part of an important delegation sent to Antioch.

He proved his true character in how he reacted to not being chosen—that’s integrity.

Read about more biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags disciples, Friends and Foes of Jesus, trust

Bible Insights

Paul Talks about Resurrection from the Dead

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 11, 2020

Paul Talks to Felix

The ninth sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 24:1-27 (specifically Acts 24:10-21). Paul gives his testimony and talks about his belief in the resurrection from the dead.

Setting: A hearing before Felix in Caesarea

Speaker: Paul

Audience: Felix (the governor and judge), Jews, and Ananias and Tertullus, Paul’s accusers.

Preceding Events: Paul is sent to Felix in Caesarea to protect him from a plot by some Jews in Jerusalem who have vowed to kill him.

Overall Theme: Paul denies the charges against him and declares his core beliefs.

Scripture Quoted: none

Central Teaching: Paul believes in the resurrection from the dead.

Subsequent Events: Paul is kept in prison for two years, but is granted some freedom and has more opportunities to talk with Felix. Although Felix is moved by what Paul says, there is no record of him deciding to follow Jesus.

Key Lesson: God’s plans may not be our plans or meet our expectations of how things should happen.

We should, however, put our faith and trust in God and his plans for us. His will for our life is more important than our plans.

This post is from the series “Sermons in the book of Acts.” Read about sermon #8 or sermon #10.

Read more about the book of Acts in Tongues of Fire: 40 Devotional Insights for Today’s Church from the Book of Acts, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags Paul, sermons in Acts, trust

Christian Living

There’s No Shortcut to Heaven: Buying Full Indulgences Won’t Help

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 28, 2020

Martin Luther Worried That Buying Full Indulgences Served to Hinder Salvation

What most raised the ire of the Church against Martin Luther and his ninety-five theses, however, was not his claim of salvation through Jesus alone or the pope having no power over purgatory, but his bold statement that full indulgences served to hinder salvation.

False Security

Martin realized indulgences instilled a false sense of spiritual security in those who bought them. It was as if they had purchased a pass to enter heaven; they were good to go. Then they could live their life as they wanted, without regard for what God wanted.

Instead, the people’s complete trust in papal indulgences to secure their salvation removed the requirement of repentance and damned them for eternity.

With their certificate of indulgence in hand, a full indulgence, the people no longer felt a need to repent, Mark 1:15, or to work out their salvation by doing good and helping the poor, Philippians 2:12.

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses: Celebrating the Protestant Reformation in the 21st Century

Help the Poor

Jesus, however, commends those who clothe the naked and care for the sick, Matthew 25:34-40. Yet all the attention given to buying indulgences removed the focus from those in need.

Jesus didn’t say, “Sell your cloak and buy an indulgence.” (He said to “sell your cloak and buy a sword,” Luke 22:36.)

Martin noted that when people paid for their indulgences, they in effect diverted money from the poor and even the needs of their own family. Instead, they redirected it to the Church. Full indulgences had the direct impact of producing less charity for those who needed it most.

Selling Full Indulgences Fund the Church

Instead it provided more money to those in power who already had too much. The Church wanted the people’s money. They had already downplayed helping the poor so they could receive more.

The sale of indulgences advanced their unethical quest to get more of their followers’ cash.

Full indulgences were also dangerous because they encouraged complacency.

God’s work in the lives of his creation unfolds in a strange way. Only when a person feels completely lost can the light of God provide the needed illumination.

Yet the crutch of indulgences kept people from ever feeling utterly lost and in need of God. True peace comes from faith in Jesus, not by receiving absolution through the purchase of an indulgence.

Faith in Jesus

As a response to placing faith in Jesus comes the need to carry our cross to follow him as his disciple, Luke 14:27. We die to self to live for God. We deny our wishes and become crucified with Jesus, just like Paul, Galatians 2:20.

The cross of Jesus, not an indulgence from a pope, provides the way to cover our wrongs.

The German people had long lived under the financial tyranny of the Church. They sought relief. Martin’s theses demanded financial liberation and resonated with them.

They understood it. It became their manifesto against the Church’s corrupt money grab.

Luther’s 95 Theses

What most of the German people didn’t grasp, however, was Martin’s call to be crucified with Jesus. The people rallied around a vision of financial release from the Church’s practices, thanks to some of Martin’s theses.

As a result, the other theses accompanied them. This pushed the group of ninety-five theses forward, even if the people didn’t understand them all.

Though Martin understood his 95 theses, he had no idea of the problems they would cause.

Read more about Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation in Peter DeHaan’s book Martin Luther’s 95 Theses: Celebrating the Protestant Reformation in the 21st Century. Buy it today to discover more about Martin Luther and his history-changing 95 theses.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 95 Theses, cross, Martin Luther, repent, salvation, trust