I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Jeremiah 42-44:23

     After the events recounted at the end of yesterday’s passage, the people remaining in Judah were frightened about what Nebuchadnezzar’s response would be. Out of fear, they prepared to flee to Egypt. However, before they fled they approached Jeremiah and requested that he pray to God asking what they should do and where they should go. When Jeremiah agreed to pray to God for guidance for them, they swore that they would follow that guidance, even if they did not like it.
     Ten days later, Jeremiah called them back and gave them God’s answer. Jeremiah told them that God had promised that if they remained in Judah, all would go well for them. But if they followed their plan and fled to Egypt the very things they feared if they stayed would follow them to Egypt and they would die of war, famine, and disease. Jeremiah completed this by telling them that they had been warned. He knew that they would not listen to his advice. Immediately, the leaders cried out that Jeremiah was lying, that he was telling them to say because he wanted them to be killed by Nebuchadnezzar, or taken away into exile. They refused to listen to the word of God which Jeremiah had given them and gathered the people and went to Egypt, forcibly taking Jeremiah with them.

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     How often do we do what the people did in this passage? We ask God, or asks someone to ask God on our behalf, for advice as to what we should do, but all we really want is God’s imprimatur on what we have already decided to do. In this passage the people were confident that they could not stay in Judah, that tragedy would overtake them if they did. There is more to it than that. They did not want to give up their sinful lifestyle and their worship of idols. Am I guilty of this? Do I ask for God’s guidance and then refuse to listen when He tells me what to do? It is my earnest desire to never do that, but I fear that all too often I ask God for guidance, hoping He will tell me to do what I have already decided I want to do.
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2 Timothy 2:1-21

     Let us serve Christ as good soldiers serve, and as successful athletes compete. A good soldier does not get caught up in civilian matters, rather he dedicates his time to military affairs. In the same way, I will focus my energy on doing those things which advance the Kingdom of God. A successful athlete spends their time training and learning to work within the rules. In the same way, I will discipline myself to live according to God’s grace and focus on following His commands.
     Rather than argue over words, we should work hard to serve God and do His will. If we spend our time doing the Lord’s work, we will not have time to get caught up in unproductive discussions. There is work to be done, let us not waste our time discussing things that do not advance God’s kingdom. Let us not waste time on things that are the equivalent of arguing which way the toilet paper roll should be hung. Let’s just put a new roll up and move on to the next task. I will not be afraid to say when questioned about things, “I do not know. But I know whom I have believed.”

Psalm 92-93:5

     Yes, I will praise the Lord in the morning and I will give thanks to Him in the evening. All day, every day, I will praise the Lord. Only fools and those who refuse to see do not trust God. The wicked may prosper for a short time, but unhappiness and destruction await them. Those who trust in the Lord will experience joy and happiness their entire lives.
     Floods and storms are mighty and unpredictable. When they rise up they destroy all in their path, but God is more powerful yet. Those who trust in the Lord will still be standing when the storms of life have passed over them.

Proverbs 26:3-5

     Today’s reading in Proverbs contains two seemingly contradictory statements. The first tells us not to argue with a fool or we will become foolish. The second tells us to be sure to argue with a fool to make sure he does not think he is wise. The point of the first of these is that when you argue against someone, do not allow them to “frame the debate”. Do not use the fool’s terms to make your case. The second one is that sometimes it is important to argue with people so that they know that not everyone thinks the way they do.

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Jeremiah 39-41:18

     As Jeremiah had warned, Nebuchadnezzar returned with his army and sacked Jerusalem. King Zedekiah attempted to flee the city at night, but he was captured along with all of those with him. Because he had been afraid to follow Jeremiah’s advice to surrender to Nebuchadnezaar, Zedekiah suffered the fate he feared. Part of Zedekiah’s fate was to watch the execution of his court officials. We are told, however, that Ebed-melech, who had rescued Jeremiah from those officials seeking his death, was spared and kept safe. We see here the difference in the fate of those who followed God’s commands vs. those who refused to do so.

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2 Timothy 1:1-18

     This passage is one of great encouragement to me. I strive to follow the command which Paul gave Timothy. I will fan into flames the spiritual gifts which God has given me. God does not put His Spirit in us so that we can live timidly and in fear. Rather, He gave us a spirit of power, love and self-discipline. This spirit, which God has given us, moves us to tell others about Christ without shame or fear. God has saved us and called us to live a holy life, not because we deserve such treatment, but because He planned to do so from before He created the universe.
     In this passage Paul wrote the words which inspired the hymn, “I Know Whom I Have Believed.” The words of this song touch my heart and brings me to tears of humility and joy every time I hear or read them:

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
Refrain:
But “I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”

Each successive verse begins with “I know not…” I confess that there are many things I do not know. But, as this passage, and the refrain of the song point out, there is one thing I do know. I know that I have believed in a God who is more than able to guard and keep safe that which I have entrusted to Him. I have no need to fear condemnation and damnation because I have offered myself up to God and asked Him to transform me into His image. I know that, while I am unable to live up to His standards, He is able to transform me into His likeness, and He has promised to do so.

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Psalm 90-91:16

     The psalmist reminds us that God does not see time the way that we see time. Our lives are but a moment to God, yet He sees everything we do. There is no place we can go to sin where He will not see it. We need to recognize that our lives are short and we have only a short time to honor and glorify God. If we do, He will make us glad all of our days.
     The psalmist entreats us to find refuge in God, to rest in His shadow. If we do this we will not fear anything. The psalmist tells us the following:

Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
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If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.

God promises that He will rescue those who love Him and protect those who trust Him. This is such a wonderful promise. Our lives may be short, but if we spend them honoring God, He will keep us safe and give us joy for all of our days.

Proverbs 26:1-2

     A fool is as unlikely to get honored as snow is to fall in the summer. In addition, giving an honor to a fool is as disruptive as rain during harvest.
     The more interesting proverb is the second which tells us that if someone curses us, and we do not deserve the curse, it will not come to rest upon us.

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Jeremiah 35-36:32

     Jeremiah honored a family clan which had stayed true to traditions laid down by their ancestor. At God’s behest, he held them up as an example to the rest of Israel. They had remained faithful to instructions handed down by their ancestor, yet the majority of the Israelites had failed to remain faithful to the instructions handed down by God.
     God instructed Jeremiah to write down on a scroll all of the prophecies which He had given him. The hope was that if the people of Israel heard all of the terrible things in store for them if they continued in their evil ways, they might repent. Jeremiah summoned Baruch and dictated the prophecies to him and Baruch wrote them down on a scroll. Baruch then took the scroll to the Temple on one of the holy days where he read it to the people. When some low-level functionaries heard what he was reading they asked him to come to them and read the scroll for them. They were horrified by all of the terrible prophecies which they heard and sent word to the king.
     The king instructed them to bring the scroll and read it to him in front of his court. As the scroll was read, the king cut off the portions that had been read and threw them in the fire until the entire scroll had been read and burned. The king and his companions showed no remorse or repentance when they heard the words on the scroll and had no fear of the terrible things predicted. When Jeremiah received word that the king had burned the scroll, he dictated a second copy to Baruch which included even more dire prophecies.

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     Whenever I read, or hear this passage, I think of a picture from a Sunday School class when I was very young which depicted the king sitting on a comfortable chair cutting pieces off of the scroll as it was read to him. This story has always stuck with me as an example that we cannot escape news we do not like by destroying the medium on which it is delivered to us. Today, I was struck by something else as well. As I have been reading the book of Jeremiah, I have felt like his prophecies of doom were speaking to our country now. In this passage I was struck by how even at this late date there is still opportunity to repent and turn back to God. The doom is not inevitable, if we turn to God and change our ways, He will forgive us our sins and bring us blessings.

1 Timothy 5:1-25

     Paul gives a series of miscellaneous advice to Timothy in today’s passage. Paul tells Timothy to treat those older than himself with respect, even when they need to be called to account. Those the same age or younger should be treated as siblings, gently and with love. As believers it is our responsibility to look after our family members who cannot support themselves, we should not expect the Church to care for them. On the other hand, the Church should provide for those in need who have no family to help them. Those who are in need of assistance should pray to God for His help and strive to do all they can to care for themselves.

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     I get a sense from Paul’s writings (here and elsewhere) that Christians should strive to help those in need, but we should never expect others to help us. This does not mean that we are not to accept help when it is offered and we are in need, just that it is not our right to be helped. I should always strive to work so as to have the resources to provide for my own needs and to have some left over the help others, even when that seems to be impossible.

Psalm 89:14-37

     Just as God made David king over Israel because he honored God with his life, so too will God lift us up if we dedicate our lives to honoring God. Let us call out to God, “You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.”

Proverbs 25:25-27

     Compromise between the righteous and the wicked is not a virtue. It is not honorable to seek an honor for oneself.

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Jeremiah 33-34:22

     God promised through Jeremiah that He would not abandon the descendants of Abraham. God had made a covenant with them and He would keep that covenant as long as day follows night and the universe shall endure. In addition, God had made a covenant that there would be Levites serving as His priests and a descendant of David ruling over His people.
     In the final portion of today’s passage, Jeremiah delivers a condemnation of the people of Jerusalem. In the Law God had told the people that when they obtained their fellow Israelites as slaves, they were to free them every seven years. However, the people of Israel had not followed this instruction. During a time when the people of Jerusalem were feeling threatened by the Babylonians, they entered into a covenant with each other and with God to free those Israelites whom they had as slaves. However, as soon as the threat subsided, they went back on their word and re-enslaved those they had freed.

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     How often do we do something similar? We are feeling overwhelmed by threats and troubles. We examine our lives and discover those areas where we are acting in ways which we know are outside of God’s will. We turn to God and repent of our sins and turn away from those things we know are wrong. Only to resume those behaviors as soon as the situation gets a little better. Let us turn to God and live according to His will in bad times and in good.

1 Timothy 4:1-16

     Paul tells us that there will arise hypocritical teachers who will lead some to abandon faith in Christ for teachings that are demonic. They will teach that certain foods are to be avoided and that people should not marry. He warns us that these teachers’ conscience will have been seared by their sins such that they see nothing they do as wrong. Paul tells us that all food was created by God to be received with thanksgiving.

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     There are separate elements to what Paul is writing here that need to be noted. He tells us that there will arise false teachers who will justify any action they desire to take and who will feel no guilt at doing wrong, even things which they had taught were wrong for others to do. Further Paul teaches here that no food is “evil”. We are to give thanksgiving to God for whatever food we find to eat and offer prayers to God for His providing it to us. Paul’s teaching here is that the problem with any given food is not the food itself, but consuming it in excess (which is gluttony).
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     Paul then continues to an instruction that stands as a challenge to me. He tells Timothy not to waste time arguing over “godless ideas and old wives’ tales”. Rather Timothy is to train himself to be godly. This instruction applies to us as well. I find it difficult not to argue with people about ideas which I find ludicrous. However, it seems to me that Paul is telling us here not to spend time arguing with people about ideas which are not part of the Gospel. Rather we are to train ourselves in godliness in a manner similar to that which athletes train themselves physically.
     Paul’s focus here is on spiritual training and discipline, but I think he is also recommending that we spend some time training our bodies as well. I need to work at being a positive example to everyone around me in all aspects of my life. As I read this today I realized that I need to develop a regimen of training to be godly that is similar to the regimen I would undergo if I was training to run a marathon, or compete in a competitive sport. I take part in a physical activity where some of those involved go through rigorous training in order to improve. They set up a training regimen and place themselves under the auspices of a mentor who points out aspects of their “game” that needs improvement. The mentor assigns them tasks to improve those areas. This seems to me a model which I should adopt for my walk as a Christian.

Psalm 89:1-13

     This psalm reminds me to praise God every day of my life. God’s love for us will never fail. When I read this psalm, the hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”, began running through my head. I would post the lyrics here, but it is still under copyright. However, the key line for me today is, “all I have needed Thy hand hath provided.” God’s faithfulness and love will endure for eternity.

Proverbs 25:23-24

     Today’s proverb warns us against seeking to seem clever by speaking negatively about someone behind their back.

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Jeremiah 31:27-32:44

     Jeremiah has been given a prophecy of coming destruction for Jerusalem, but now he is given a message of hope for the future. God promised to make a new covenant. One in which He would put His instructions within His people and write His laws on their hearts. Those who wish to follow God will not need to be taught to know the Lord. Any who wish to know the Lord will be able to come to Him and know Him without anyone teaching them because God will make Himself known to them. God has done this great thing, if we look within ourselves we will see what He desires.
     Earlier in this book, Jeremiah recorded several illustrations which God had told him to carry out to illustrate the coming judgment. Now, when the fall of Jerusalem was imminent, God told him to give an illustration of His promise to bring the people back from exile. God instructed Jeremiah to buy a plot of land. Jeremiah had been preaching and prophesying that Jerusalem would fall to Nebuchadnezzar. Now, when it was clear that this was about to happen, Jeremiah was telling the people that they would be restored to the land. To show that he believed what he said, Jeremiah bought a piece of land and sealed the deed in a pottery jar. Jeremiah reminds us that nothing is too hard for God. Just as God had brought about the calamities which He promised, so too would He bring about the good things which He had promised. Let us remember that we may face troubled and difficult times, but God has promised to care for us and bring us through them to better times as well.

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1 Timothy 3:1-16

     Paul here lays out the requirements that someone must meet in order to be selected as an elder and as a deacon. There has been much debate about the importance of these instructions and the meaning of Paul’s statement that an elder must be faithful to his wife. However, what struck me today is that these standards are those which I should strive to meet, whether I am called to be an elder (or other leadership role in the Church) or not. These are things which an elder is called to be so that they can be a model to others in the Church. However, we are all called to be above reproach, faithful to our wives (spouse), temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. The only one of the requirements which Paul lists for an elder that is, perhaps, not one all Christians should aspire to is being able to teach (well, those who God calls to lead a single life do not need to be faithful to the spouse they do not have). In addition, we should seek to have a good reputation among those outside of the Church so as to be good witnesses for Christ.

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     Sometimes we get so caught up in discussing the meaning of this passage in deciding who should be a leader in the Church that we forget why our leaders are to have these characteristics. They are to have these characteristics so as to model them for us. Which means that those of us who are not called to leadership positions are to strive to have these same behaviors and characteristics.

Psalm 88:1-18

     The psalmist cries out to God from deepest despair. Even when overwhelmed by depression, he calls out to God. This psalm is a model for us. When we are troubled, no matter how severe our depression, we need to call out to God. We may not see God’s answer to our prayers, but we need to come before him with persistence. When this world’s trouble threaten to overwhelm me I will do as the psalmist:

O Lord, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.

Proverbs 25:20-22

     This proverb suggests that the best way to respond to those who are your enemies is by being kind and caring to them. There are two benefits to this. The first is that you will make them look bad when they attack you. The second is that God will reward you for your kindness.

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Jeremiah 30-31:26

     Jeremiah writes of a coming time of terror, a time of trouble for God’s people. Yet, he says that God’s people should not be afraid or dismayed because God will save them. This is a message which I will keep close to my heart. I will not be troubled or afraid, no matter how bad things are because God promises that even on that day of utmost terror He will be with His people and save them.
     God said through Jeremiah that His people’s sins were so great and many that He had to punish them, He had to allow the nations of the world to devour them. However, those who devoured His people would be devoured. Those who plundered them would be plundered. Those who attacked them would be attacked. Those who refuse to become part of God’s people will endure suffering. But for those who turn to God and accept a place among His people, He will turn their mourning into joy. God will give rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowful.

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1 Timothy 2:1-15

     Paul urges us to pray and petition God for all people, especially those in positions of governmental authority. One reason that we are to pray for the authorities is so that we may live in peaceful, quiet, and holy lives. A second reason for us to pray for all people, including the authorities, is that God wants all people to come to a knowledge of the truth and to be saved.
     In the current time of government strife here in the U.S., have we as Christians remembered our duty to pray for those in positions of authority? And have we done so? But there is a little more to it than just praying. Paul tells us to pray with holy hand lifted up, free from anger and controversy. So, when we pray, we are to bring our prayers before God without anger and without taking sides. Let us lift up those in positions of authority and request that God make His will known to them and change their hearts so that they willingly do His will. But we are not to bring our opinions about what God’s will for them to do into the prayer. Let us submit ourselves to God’s will as we pray for the people around us and for those in authority over us. This last is a real challenge for me. I am an opinionated person who is sure that I know how others should think.

Psalm 87:1-7

     The psalmist wrote that the day will come when God will offer everyone from every nation the opportunity to be a citizen of His holy city. That day has arrived, through Christ, God offers each and every one of us the opportunity to be adopted into His family and thus become citizens of the Kingdom of God. What a glorious opportunity we have.

Proverbs 25:18-19

     When I was little, we had a saying that I am sure is still taught to children, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” This is presented from the perspective of the one on the receiving end of hurtful words and thus serves some good. However, as this proverb points out, it is not true. What we say about others can be as damaging to them as attacking them with a weapon.