Articles by Kevin Baird

“He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes.”

Psalm 105:37 NKJV

This will be the wrap-up post of these pandemic perspective-devotionals. I know the quarantine has lasted over 30 days, but I have found myself incredibly busy despite the lockdown. In fact, as far as our personal household goes, this season has been an opportunity for God to move in some amazing ways. Sometimes I hesitate to testify of God’s awesomeness because I am aware that other people have been facing the struggle of a lifetime. I have been in that place too. I have listened to amazing testimonies (let’s say at church), while I have faced a mountain that looks impossible to climb. An amazing praise report from another can feel like a slap in the face to you when you are facing a struggle. No one likes their nose rubbed in another’s praise report. I understand that dynamic and there should be a sensitivity to everyone’s immediate circumstances, but I also have learned that I am “to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). I have endeavored to do that no matter what circumstances I may personally be experiencing at the moment. We need to be cheerleaders for each other.

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“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 58:13-14

The Sabbath is not heard from the pulpits as much as it probably should be. It is a major concept in the Old Testament and finds numerous comments in the New Testament, including a whole chapter ostensibly devoted to it in Hebrews chapter four. At its root, it means “rest”. To participate in the Sabbath means you are not only ceasing from what is conventionally seen as “work” or expending physical energy, but it carries with it a cessation from “striving”. That is why the Hebrew writer, I believe, was inspired to use the word, “rest”. Physical rest, for example, is needed. It is vital. It is a part of the human health system. Our bodies and immune systems will break down and be susceptible to disease and viruses, if we don’t maintain a proper rest schedule. There are certain things which will never be addressed correctly in our bodies if we do not choose to rest. This doesn’t mean we are lazy or avoid work. Those concepts are addressed in the Bible too as important. What it does mean is that there is an appropriate emphasis and “balance” on both work and rest in order for us to function at optimum abilities as human beings. Too much of either can be an issue, but a practice of both can be powerful.

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“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Hebrews 12:11 NKJV

I am convinced that whether one believes God initiates all world events or simply allows all world events, He will certainly USE all world events. If this is true, and according to Romans 8:28 it certainly seems to be the case, then we better be sure we don’t miss the lessons and repercussions that are being applied. This pandemic has been a bombshell to so many aspects to our life. I am becoming convinced that it is being USED by God to discipline His people.

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Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ “

Matthew 4:7 NKJV

There is a fine line between faith, foolishness, and presumption. I do not claim to know where that line is in every situation, but there is one. Some moments are easily recognized, while other moments are way more nuanced and shaded. Personally, to stand at the top of a 10-story building and jump off the ledge quoting Psalm 91, would be both an act of presumption and foolishness.  There are few people who would try to make a theological case of God suspending the law of gravity upon your confession of faith. Even Jesus, in the context of the above Scripture reference, refused to be provoked into a false choice of obeying Scripture and yet ignoring a natural law of gravity. Jesus rightly reaffirms that God can do the miraculous, but we are not to be presumptuous.

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“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”

I Samuel 30:6 KJV

I think it’s important to pause and remind ourselves how much we rely on other voices and events to keep us encouraged. I think that if most people were to be honest (I am trying to be), we rely on surrounding stimuli (voices and activities) to keep us built up, positive, and excited. Nothing wrong with that. We all need it to some degree. But what do you do when all your “other” voices and events are no longer accessible? What do you do when the vast majority of the culture is speaking negatively, predicting doom and gloom, or the events you count on to give you your weekly dose of encouragement are cancelled? I believe the answer to those questions provide another metric in evaluating your maturity.

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