For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    I find it interesting that the proverb writer suggests that one is either godly or a fool. He, further, tells us that the godly speak words which encourage others, suggesting that if you do not do likewise you are a fool on the path to your own destruction.

    The psalmist reminds us that God’s plan will result in our suffering even if we are faithful. Sometimes we will face difficulty and trouble in this life, but let us never forget that God’s love will never fail. Sometimes God will bring trials and difficulty into our lives because of His love for us. However, that does not mean that we cannot, or should not, call out to God for rescue when we are in such situations.

    I really want to write about Jesus’ statement, “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” The problem is that I am not sure what to say. When Jesus says that, what does He mean? Part of it is about the faith that children have, not just their faith in God but in many things. This faith is not questioned. It just is.
    Of course we must never forget that most annoying of children’s questions, “Why?” So, even though we are to receive the Kingdom of God like a child that does not mean that we can’t ask questions. It does mean that we accept it even when we don’t understand.
    However, the thought I had was about children and their belief in Santa Claus. Children do not ask how Santa Claus can possibly visit every child on earth on one night. At least, not until they start to lose their child like belief in him. And now I come upon the problem I always run into when I start down this road, how do I express this thought without suggesting that Christian faith calls for suspending our reason? There is a definite paradox here. We are to accept the Kingdom of Heaven with a child’s unquestioning faith. Yet we are to apply our reason, given to us by God, to that faith.

    The concept of the Sabbath and Jubilee year are interesting concepts. As we read through the Old Testament, we discover that their celebration is more noted as an exception than as a rule. I wonder to what degree this failure was a result of the other failures of the Israelites to keep God’s Law and to what degree those other failures were a result of their failure to celebrate the Sabbath and Jubilee years. I think that in many ways it worked both ways.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    I don’t think there is any way to say it any clearer than the proverb writer. Righteous living is rewarded with life. Wicked actions are rewarded with more sin and ultimately with death.

    Those who are kind to the poor will be rewarded. God will rescue them when they are in trouble. If we use what God has blessed us with to aid those who are struggling in life we will live safe and secure. Let us turn to God and confess our sins when troubles strike. Even if everyone else betrays our trust, God will judge us fairly.

    Once more Jesus asked His disciples to feed a large crowd and once more they asked how they can feed this many people. It had not been that long since they witnessed Jesus feed the five thousand. In the meantime they had witnessed Jesus perform many other miracles. If the disciples, who were with Jesus every day, struggled to understand the power He commanded (and which He had delegated to them), is it any wonder that we have trouble believing that He can work such miracles through us?
    On the other hand, we do have the writings telling us of these things. There is something to be said for being able to read about what Jesus did. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to do any better. We can read about all of the miraculous things which Jesus did, and we can read about how He promised that His followers would be able to do even more. Yet we still find it difficult to believe that God will perform such miracles through us.

    The beginning of this passage says that “On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves.” The translation notes say that could be translated as “you must fast.” This is a reminder to me that I do not fast enough, nor do I deny myself in other ways enough. There is spiritual and physical benefits from fasting and other forms of self-denial. From time to time I have attempted to learn the spiritual discipline of fasting. It is one of two ways in which I am still struggling with my spiritual life. I do not pray as much as I should, and I do not fast (occasionally I will fast for half a day, but that is not really fasting). I will continue to strive to learn to do this, but I have never been very good at self-denial of any sort.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The godly use their words to provide healing and help others make their lives better. The wicked use their words to conceal their intentions and to distract people from their violent actions. How do you and I use our words?
    The second part of this proverb gives us a good tool to analyze our actions. If you find yourself arguing and quarreling all of the time, it is a safe bet that you are not acting in love. Rather, you are allowing hate to control your life. Those who are acting in love let offenses pass. As I wrote this I realized it tells us a lot about some people in society today. Those who are easily offended by what others do and say are allowing hatred to rule their lives.

    This is another one of those psalms which I see as expressing my thoughts about God so well. First it tells what I have experienced:

    I do not think that I ever noticed before that Jesus lead the disciples off to a secluded place right after the Twelve returned from their ministry tour. This suggests that the preaching of the Twelve had increased the interest in what Jesus had to say. Reading this today it made me reconsider my thoughts about mega-churches. I have never been a fan of such congregations. I feel that we should be part of a group where we can recognize that someone is a newcomer. However, it is clear that Jesus attracted huge crowds, which tells me that there is a place for such things.
    When the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away so that they could go get something to eat (did they perhaps say this because they themselves wanted to eat and did not have enough to share with everyone?), He told them to feed the crowd themselves. The disciples response was that they could not afford to do so. Not only did they not have enough money to do so, but they would have to work for months to earn enough money to do so. The lesson of this story is that where there is a need, we should share what we have and count on God to provide.
    It is worth noting that Jesus did not do this in a quiet way. First, He had the whole crowd sit down in groups. Then in front of the entire crowd He took the five loaves and two fish, blessed them, then broke them and distributed them to the disciples to give to the crowd. Everyone saw what He was doing, and how little food He started with.
    The passage tells us that the disciples were amazed when Jesus walked on water and stilled the winds because they did not understand the significance of the feeding of the five thousand. I think that we struggle with the significance of the feeding of the five thousand today. Certainly, part of the significance is in the title of today’s blog: “Share what you have, God will provide.” There is more to it than the way we normally interpret that. God will provide in ways which defy our understanding of the laws of nature.

    I am still struggling with these passages in Leviticus. I really believe that there are things here that make them worth reading over and over, but I am having trouble seeing it right now. The one thing I saw in this was that we should express our gratefulness to God when we are healed from illness. Not just in a minor, personal way, but publicly and in an expressive manner.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The wise are happy to listen to what others have to say, in the hope that they might learn something. Fools are too busy telling everyone what they already know to learn anything new. The result is that the fools will fall flat on their faith, tripping over obstacles that others had tried to warn them of.
    Those who are clear and honest about their goals can walk safely, but those who dodge and weave in an attempt to conceal their intentions will be exposed for the liars they are.

    Let us confess our sins and acknowledge to ways in which our suffering is a result of those sins. It is only when we do so, and truly regret our sins, that we will be prepared to receive God’s healing. That healing may not come at once, but let us remain silent before God until He sends us that healing. Let us not complain when we suffer because of our own sins.

    In today’s passage we have two people who are desperate for Jesus’ healing power. We have a father who asked Jesus to heal his daughter and a woman who believed that just touching Jesus’ robe would bring her healing. The woman discovered that there is more to receiving healing from Jesus than just touching His robe and going on your way. Even though she just wanted to touch His robe and move on, healed, Jesus demonstrated that He truly cared about those He healed. Even if we do not ask for it, Jesus will take the time to acknowledge each and every person whose life He touches.
    Jairus was willing to face the ridicule of those around him to see his daughter healed. When the crowd laughed at Jesus, Jairus did not waiver. Even after it was reported to him that his daughter was dead, he continued to have faith that Jesus could heal her. Those who brought the news of her death told Jairus to stop bothering Jesus, there was nothing He could do now. Jesus told Jairus not to be afraid, to just have faith. That message is for us as well. In the face of death, we need not fear, we just need to have faith.

    This passage contains instructions regarding what food the Israelites were allowed to eat and how to treat a woman after childbirth. It was not a revelation to me that the food rules were common sense instructions on how to avoid sickness. With a little thought it becomes clear that the instructions on what animals to eat, or not eat, and on handling the dead bodies of such animals, are health related. There may be exceptions, but there are many animals that fit the description of those they were not allowed to eat that present health risks if eaten.
    The thing that caught my attention was that, by declaring a woman “unclean” for a period of time after childbirth, this passage gives a new mother time to rest and recover from childbirth AND time to bond with her new baby. In addition, by giving extra time for the birth of a daughter, the passage encourages a mother to spend more time with a daughter than with a son. This is significant in a society which often held women and girls as of less value than men and boys.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The godly will be blessed by everyone except for the wicked who will say one thing (something good), but do another(something evil and violent). People will have fond memories of the godly, but will only remember the wicked in order to curse them once more.

    The psalmist reminds us that the godly teach right from wrong. The thing about this is that in order to teach right from wrong you need to know right from wrong and in order to know right from wrong you need to believe that there is a right and wrong. I will put my hope in the Lord and He will show me right from wrong. Then, perhaps one day, I will be able to teach that to someone else.

    Yesterday I talked about the seeds in the parable of the sower. There I talked about how we do not know what tools God may use to break up the hard ground of someone’s heart. Today’s passage talks about how a farmer scatters seed and the seed grows without any further intervention from the farmer. The farmer does not need to understand how the seed sprouts and turns into a plant. It will do it whether he understands or not. In the same way, we do not need to understand how the Holy Spirit will use the “seed” of the Gospel message we shared with someone to change their hearts. Let us scatter the seed of the Gospel message to all around us, praying for the Spirit to nourish that seed and cause it to grow.

    On the very day when Aaron was ordained priest, and his sons along with him, two of his sons were killed for their failure to closely keep God’s commands. It is hard to imagine how difficult that must have been for Aaron. I struggle with finding meaning in this passage, but there is one thing that does come through clear. When the Bible talks about fearing God, it is not being figurative. We should fear God such that we are hesitant to do anything which we think might displease Him.