Archive for February, 2008
Bible in a Year… Day 18 (Job 5-6)
February 20th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in » Bible in a Year
It’s Wednesday again… time for more Biblical poetry (Job 5-6).
Today’s thoughts:
Job 5:17-18 (NIV)
17“Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.18For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.
In these verses, we find Job’s friend Eliphaz continuing his “encouragement”. He has linked Job’s suffering to sin he believes Job must have committed, and advises Job to realize the blessing of suffering God’s correction.
While Eliphaz was off-base in regard to his belief that Job must have sinned to incur such suffering, his advice is spot on… when God corrects us, the correction itself may be quite difficult to endure. But God’s intention for discipline, and the result? Healing. We’re made better… more complete… more holy.
We become people God can really use.
When is the last time you experienced God’s discipline? Can you attest to the fact that it’s a good thing, even if it’s not all that pleasant at the time?
Bible in a Year… Day 17 (Psalm 6-8)
February 19th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in » Bible in a Year
Psalm Tuesday is here again… we’re reading chapters 6-8.
Today’s notes:
Psalm 6:1-7 (NIV)
1O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.2Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.3My soul is in anguish.
How long, O LORD, how long?4Turn, O LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.5No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave?6I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.7My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
Psalm 6 presents the powerful and moving plea of a man totally crushed as a result of sin.
The state of being presented in this Psalm is not a fun place to live, but I wonder how serious we can be about our relationship with Christ if we are not brought to this point from time to time, either as direct regret for sin, or at least by compassion and hurt over the necessary suffering of Jesus that enables us forgiveness.
When is the last time you came before God in this state… totally broken over sin?
Psalm 8 (NIV)
1O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.2From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.3When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,4what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?5You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.6You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:7all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,8the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.9O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
I really love this Psalm of praise to God, specifically verse 4… “what is man that you are mindful of him”.
I mean, really… looking at the entirety of creation, how can we not be amazed that God is totally engrossed and concerned about the details of our lives? Why should he even care when He’s got the universe to run? When He’s got six billion other people running around this planet to keep tabs on? When He’s got wars, plagues, famines, and all sorts of other disasters that really need His attention going on even now?
But He cares about you and me. Deeply and completely.
Wow.
Bible in a Year… Day 16 (Joshua 11-15)
February 18th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in » Bible in a Year
It’s Monday, time for history again. Today, we’re in Joshua 11-15.
Today’s notes:
Joshua 14:6-12 (NIV)
6Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’10“Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
I love the example of faith given in Caleb. We find him here, some 40 years after originally reporting that the Israelites should move forward to take the land of Canaan (as directed by God)… still ready to go and fight the battles God commanded at the ripe old age of 85. Our strength is never what matters when it comes to doing things for God, and Caleb apparently understood that.
What a reminder his faith is for us when God asks us to do something we think we’re incapable of doing!
Bible in a Year… Day 15 (Genesis 8-11)
February 17th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in » Bible in a Year
It’s Sunday, the start of week 3, so we’re back in Genesis today (chapters 8-11).
Today’s notes:
Genesis 9:1-3 (NIV)
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
I find these three verses interesting because of what is implied by a straightforward reading. Verse 2 implies that animals had no fear of man prior to this point. Verse 3 implies that men were originally vegetarians.
Anyone else ever noticed this?
Genesis 9:8-17 (NIV)
8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10and with every living creature that was with you — the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you — every living creature on earth. 11I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever 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.”
17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
Agreements between men are generally signed and sealed in some manner. Signatures are almost always required, and it’s not uncommon to notarize things or even to apply corporate seals.
As if God’s word itself were not enough, God effectively “signs and seals” his agreement with us by providing a natural sign for all mankind to see… the natural splendor we call a rainbow.
Genesis 11:1-9 (NIV)
1Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9That is why it was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
I’ve often wondered why God decided it necessary to thwart the plans of man to build the tower of Babel. God is, well… God. Any plans man could make are no threat to Him.
However, thinking further about these plans, I find it’s the intent behind building the city and tower that must have offended God moreso than the structures men chose to build. A couple points that could be made of their intent:
- The city and tower appear to be built to establish their own renown. Men wanted to be known for their own accomplishments, rather than magnifying God’s splendor and glory. God would obviously be displeased by this.
- Walled cities and towers existed for the defense of the people. If men were living at peace with one another, as God intends, this city and tower would be totally unnecessary. I can see why He would choose to prevent these plans from being implemented because of the heart that must be manifest in these people to conceive plans more applicable to an existence filled with conflict than peace.
- God had commanded the people to be fruitful and multiply… to repopulate the earth following the flood. Yet these people intended to band together and establish themselves as a city or nation in a particular locale. In effect, they were telling God, “no, we won’t do what you want us to do… we will not disperse.” God had to force them to do so.
Difficulties communicating across cultures and languages are still prevalent today… a direct result of Babel. It’s important that we understand what God wanted to communicate to us by imposing this upon us.
Any other thoughts?
Bible in a Year… Day 14 (Romans 3-4)
February 16th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in » Bible in a Year
We’ve reached the end of week 2. I’d like to say it’s been easy this week as well, but I’d be a liar. I’ve had to shuffle around my posting schedule quite a bit to keep these coming daily… with travel due to work, I’ve found that it’s sometimes necessary to wrap up the writings in advance of the day and schedule them for posting.
So, I’ve come clean. If you’ve thought I’ve been great about picking this up daily, don’t keep those false thoughts… life affects my ability to do this on a regular schedule daily, just as it does every other believer I’ve known.
Anyway, it’s Saturday, so we’re back in the epistles again… Romans 3-4.
Today’s notes:
Romans 3:9-18 (NIV)
9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written:”There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Our sinful state is definitely not a pretty picture. Verse 18 pretty much boils it down to the basics though… without a healthy understanding of God, how would you expect people to behave?
Yeah… pretty much however we want.
Romans 3:21-24 (NIV)
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Here’s the good news that counters the nastiness of our sinful nature that Paul describes earlier in Romans 3… despite all our sinfulness, righteousness is still obtainable! Not of ourselves, of course, but direct from God, through the sacrifice of Christ, through faith in Him.
Amazing grace, indeed.
Bible in a Year… Day 13 (Matthew 3-4)
February 15th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in » Bible in a Year
It’s Friday, so it’s back to the gospels… Matthew 3-4.
Today’s notes:
Matthew 3:4-5 (NIV)
4John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
You know, if you just read verses 4 and 5 in Matthew 3, you’d probably think something along the lines of, “well… the circus must have been in town.” John the Baptist sure sounds like someone you’d see in a sideshow act.
And you think your pastor dresses odd… 
Matthew 3:13-17 (NIV)
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”15Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
How awesome would it have been to be present during Jesus’s baptism, and actually hear God speak?
Matthew 4: (NIV)
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”4Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
And you think you know what it’s like to be tempted. Imagine fasting for forty days, then being tempted with food.
Matthew 4:7 (NIV)
7Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
I’ve always wondered about the concept of “putting God to the test”. Does asking God for a sign fall into that category?
I don’t know the right answer, but it’s not uncommon for Christians to say something along the line of, “if God does this, I’ll know I’m supposed to do this.” Kind of like Gideon and the fleece (at the end of Judges 6?
Are we crossing a line with God when we ask Him to do certain things to prove something to us?
Matthew 4:18-22 (NIV)
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him.21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Don’t you often wonder if there was more to the calling of the first disciples than this? I get the impression Jesus just walks up and says, “ya’ll come with me”, and they just up and leave. I know Christ’s calling is powerful, but isn’t the disciples response so counter-intuitive to our experience that it’s hard to believe?
Don’t get me wrong… I’d LOVE to have faith like that… but I know my reaction would be to question Christ’s calling to the point He’d probably say, “You know, I’ll do fine without you.”
Anyway, that’s it for today’s readings.
Does anyone have any thoughts they’d like to share?
Bible in a Year… Day 12 (Isaiah 7-11)
February 14th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in » Bible in a Year
It’s Thursday, so that means we’re back in prophecy again… Isaiah 7-11.
Today’s thoughts:
Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)
2The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
Jesus is the light Isaiah describes… is He your light? Has the dawn that comes through faith in Him changed you, or are you still walking in darkness?
Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
6For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 11:1-5 (NIV)
1A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him —
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD –3and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;4but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.5Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
In this time of trouble for Israel, how encouraging must it have been to know that God was preparing a Messiah?
What kind of hope and peace does Jesus, the Prince of Peace, bring to your life?