June 14, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.’ So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between Me and all life on the earth.’” (Genesis 9.16-17)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I have to add a little more to Friday’s reflection about “the Rainbow.” One of Solomon’s teachings recorded in Proverbs 16.19 says this, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall.” Yes, I do not apologize for making an application of the biblical concept of “pride” to the political identity of “pride” as it is known in today’s culture and climate. It is offensive that such a movement as exists today to promote a section of society that experiences a disfranchisement from the rest of the society of humankind would highlight their identity as “full of pride.” Such pride, and as Solomon warned based on the gift of wisdom which God gave him, is destructive and condemning. In their pursuit to be “acceptable” and “normal,” they trample on the truth about who they really are and their purpose in the world. Honestly, I get the struggle they face. In truth, we all face a similar kind of trouble ourselves. We do not have to be caught up in a gender-identity conversation to understand the problem. We each have our own sin nature issue which puts us in our own “segment of society.” What is that problem? For me, as I have listened, studied, read and contemplated it, the problem is “love.” We all want to be loved. We want to be accepted for who we are. We want our identity validated and fulfilled. We want to experience life as a whole self. Seriously, the foundation of sin’s premise as Satan promoted it in Heaven and as he did so again in the Garden is about a “self-identity.” Somehow, Satan was able to say in words the lie so that it sounded like the truth. The lie is that God does not want us to be a whole person without Him. The truth is that we cannot be a whole person without Him. We can’t even exist as a living being without Him. We cannot understand the truth of life and all of creation without Him. Further, Satan would not even exist if not for God. And yet, there is something in the whole of creation that makes it sound as if we can. What’s worse, the lie would have us believe that without God we can live and have a life of our own that is full of meaning and purpose without experiencing death. How many people in the course of history have pursued a “non-death” experience? There are always stories of some “fountain of youth” reality. We live in an awareness of death but we do all we can to avoid it. Sadly, the more we work to avoid it, the more we validate its reality and its inevitability.

The question is not so much, then, about death but about what kind of life we do want to live “forever.” You see, mighty ones of God, while there is death, it is but a part of the whole framework of life. It is but a momentary happening that is transitional from one life to another. There is eternal life for us all as living sentient beings. The question is which life do we want to live forever? Is it an eternal life that is the fruit of our labors of living the lie? Is it an eternal life that is the fruit of our labors of living out the truth? And mind you, it isn’t even about living out the truth perfectly that matters but the intention to love God first and then our “neighbor” as ourselves. We are not perfect. We all have “something” that makes us less than perfect physically, mentally, emotionally and sadly, because of sin, spiritually. We will make mistakes. Our mistakes bear consequences. Our hope is to continue to pursue the prize of God’s ultimate affirmation and make the needed corrections to our miscalculations along the way. This is the beauty and the power of love. It is placed against the framework of living out the original purpose and design of who we were in God’s vivid imagination when He first created “us.” Sin is a type of death. It tells us we can live without God and still have the kind of life where the “fruit of the Spirit” is ours forever and ever. Sin cuts out the most important element of all in our lives. Sin cuts out “life.” Is it no wonder that Jesus could live a sinless life while on earth? He could do so because His whole orientation was to serve and worship God first in all that He did and to love others as much as He loved Himself. He loved Himself in right relationship with God and others. How did He love others? He affirmed His faith that they wanted to live as God intended them to do so in spite of whatever the world said was the truth that was, in fact, the lie. I mean honestly, did the Chief High Priest really believe that putting Jesus to death would keep him, Caiaphas and his followers, from dying? They feared the death of their assumed power and position. They feared the loss of their identity as rich men who were leaders of a nation. In fact, they were not rulers in spirit or in politics unless Rome said so. They had already died to God and to themselves. It was no wonder that they feared Jesus and His followers. They were alive from the very center of their being. They loved God and God had shown His love for them in Jesus. As for the others? They believed they could live without Him. Sure, their identity of Messiah yet to come was their excuse for not accepting Jesus of Nazareth who came to rule in the midst of the Shema. The Shema was the very foundation of all “the Law and the Prophets.” Take that one element out and the whole fabric of their existence crumbled into dust. The fruit born from that dust was perdition and hell.

For the sake of the “Pride” argument that has become a focus in society and drawn to our attention in the month of June, removing the Shema was and is the same as removing indigo from God’s rainbow to make an illusionary symbol of identity. To live life without a true focus on God is a sin. Whatever we put in the place of God is false and defeating. It is destruction to the heart, mind, soul (the Shema’s first great command) as well as the fall of the body (the Shema’s second great command.) Let me go one step further and offer this for your and my consideration. Let’s take one day out of the week and see how well our lives go. Which day shall we remove? According to the way I see the world and the Church in the world, we have removed the Sabbath day. We don’t literally make a six day week on the calendar. We allow the Sabbath day to become something it was never meant to be. It was an extension of our work week or a celebration of “us” for doing such a good job on the other six. Except we didn’t really do that. In the modern world the work week (for many) doesn’t start until Monday. Sunday is an off day that comes at the “end” of the week called a weekend. If we were to honor the traditional Sabbath day but add a day then the week becomes 8 days. Except that is impossible. And even the founders of the “Pride” movement figured out that the rainbow could not have eigth colors for all kinds of reasons (mostly production but also which “color” would be added). Production-wise they could not make seven colors work either, so they reduced it to six believing that blue was good enough for to include indigo. What happens if we take “one day” out of the week? It ends up removing the one day that helps us focus on what Jesus said “all the Law and the Prophets hang upon,” which is another way of saying “the truth about all life.” If we remove the reminder of the truth that makes for that blessed eternal life we crave then when do we remember it? It is a very dangerous and sinful “game” we play. I think it would be better to get back to the original design and figure out we can do that just not without God. God included us by grace and mercy. He gave us the best sign of all which was and is and will always be- Jesus Christ. We cannot do “life” without Him. Isn’t it time we stop trying?

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.