September 11 - Time of the Church

Psalm 16 - "⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption."
So is David concerned with his flesh or his soul? It is a common mistake for us to read soul and interpret it as spirit. Soul is not one part of a person but the whole person. David's body is secure because God will not abandon his soul, aka him. The Psalm is prophetic in that it speaks not only about David, but even more fully about Jesus.

2 Chronicles 29:1-24 - Just reading this short passage may leave you scratching your head. Chronicles has been detailing the kings of Israel and Judah. Just about every king was rebellious and sought after other gods. But Hezekiah comes along to restore worship as it should be.

Philippians 3:1-21 - Paul goes through a list of accomplishments according to the flesh, that is the law. It seems clear that Paul was actually doing quite well by human standards, and probably wasn't struggling with massive guilt before Jesus came and blinded him on the road to Damascus. Yet his encounter with Christ radically changed him. Very often we think that people need to feel bad before they can accept the Gospel. This is true some of the time, but the key isn't in tapping into emotions, but encountering the risen Jesus. Perhaps people need us to make the introduction.