Monthly Archives: February 2015

Daily Bible Study

February 19, 2015 Bible Study–Who Is In YOUR Family?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 10:5

    There are times when we can be productive and gather for our needs. The wise work hard during those times. Those who sleep when they have such opportunities are a disgrace.

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Psalm 37:12-29

    There are many wise statements in this psalm. However today two of them strike me the strongest:

It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and rich.

And
The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.

I will hold these two thoughts close to my heart as I consider my day.

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Mark 3:31-4:25

    When Jesus says that those who do the will of God are His brother, and sister, and mother I have always taken it to mean that if I do God’s will I am part of His family. This is true, but it also means that if I am a member of Jesus’ family anyone else who does God’s will is a member of my family. That means it is my responsibility to help them in any way that is within my ability and that I should be able to count on their help when I am in need. All too often we in the Church today fail to live as a family.
    In the past when I have read the parable of the farmer scattering seed, I have always thought about which type of soil am I? Am I the shallow soil? Showing enthusiasm at first and then losing interest when the going gets tough? Or am I the soil with the thorns? Where the concerns of this life choke out my witness? Or, maybe, I am the good soil? But have I really yielded a ten-fold or hundred-fold harvest? Those are questions which can help us evaluate our lives and see where we need to make changes.
    However, it struck me that there is another way we should look at this parable. When we witness to those around us we should think about what type of soil they are. If they are the footpath, we should pray that God break up the surface so that the seed can take root and grow. If they are the shallow soil, we should work with them to attempt to dig those rocks out so that the seeds can grow to full maturity. If they are the soil with thorns, we should help them weed. And if they are the good soil, we should strive to plant as much seed as possible so that the harvest may be great.
    There is one mistake we must not make. We must not think that because someone is the footpath there is no reason to spread seed there. Because even the footpath may have a spot where the seed can take root. As I think about this, I think about sidewalks I have seen where a plant grows up between the cracks. Over time, that plant may break up the sidewalk, allowing other plants to grow through other cracks. In the same way, if we spread the seed of the Gospel among those who appear to us to be hardened “footpath”, perhaps one of those seeds will take root, breaking up that hardened soil and turning it into good soil. Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit and remember, it is not possible to overestimate that power.
    I was going to stop there, but I had a thought about the parable of the lamp which I think is relevant here. There is an aspect about attempting to hide a lamp that I have often overlooked because we use electric lights today. If you put try to hide the type of lamp Jesus was talking about by putting it under a basket or a bed (especially the baskets and beds Jesus would have been thinking of), there is a significant chance that the basket or the bed will catch fire.

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Leviticus 7:28-9:6

    The priests were to be given a share of the offerings which the people brought to God. This is a model for us today. It is appropriate that a portion of the money we donate to doing the work of the Lord go to pay those who actually carry out that work.

Daily Bible Study

February 18, 2015 Bible Study — Madman, Liar, or God?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 10:3-4

    I am not sure it is intended, but these two verses seem to connect laziness with wickedness and hard work with righteousness. This connection is not one-to-one (that is, not everyone who is lazy is wicked and not everyone who works hard is righteous) but there is definitely a link between these things. Oftentimes people resort to evil because they are unwilling to do the hard work necessary to acquire the things they want. On the other hand, part of being righteous is working hard so that we have the resources to meet the needs of those unable to supply for themselves.

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Psalm 37:1-11

    What an appropriate reminder this psalm is when the news is about the Christians who were killed for their faith in Libya.

Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

Soon the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.

Rather than turn from their rage, those who committed this act embraced it. They allowed their anger to dictate their actions and harm was the result. But God is in control and they will be destroyed. Let us not follow their example so as to not follow them to their end.

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Mark 3:7-30

    C.S. Lewis wrote that when it comes to evaluating Jesus we have three choices. Either He was who He said He was, the Son of God, or, He was crazy, or, He was evil. In today’s passage we see that the writer of the Gospel of Mark thought the same way. He tells us that at one point Jesus’ family came to take Him away because they thought He was crazy. At about the same time, the teachers of religious law said that He was evil, possessed by the Devil.
    Jesus refuted both of these claims by pointing to the results of His actions. The first thing to remember about Jesus is that He claimed great power and authority. Jesus points out that the way to evaluate Him was to look at the results of His actions. If He was serving Satan, His actions would clearly result in greater evil. Instead His actions resulted in greater good. Further, anyone who was crazy would be unable to act in a manner which was consistently good. We would be able to see how His actions were erratic, sometimes healing, sometimes harming.
    Finally, Jesus points out that the greatest sin is attributing the actions of the Holy Spirit to evil intentions. Those who attribute the good actions they witness to the evil motives of those who perform them will never be able to see how the Hand of God works in the world. I frequently see people condemning actions which have good results because the person who performed those actions had “evil” intentions. Those same people will forgive actions which have terrible results because those who performed them had “good” intentions. It is important for us to recognize that when good things result, it is because of the actions of the Holy Spirit. If someone claims to have good intentions and the results of their actions are good, we should accept their claim and give glory to God.

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Leviticus 6-7:27

    I have heard wonderful sermons preached from this passage and am always impressed by the insights gained about our lives today. However, when I read these passages today all I could think was about how hard it was to meet the sacrificial regulations of the old covenant.

Daily Bible Study

February 17, 2015 Bible Study — Are We Fun to Be Around?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 10:1-2

    A father will be proud when his son demonstrates through his actions that he is wise. On the other hand the consequences of her son’s foolish actions will bring grief to a mother. It is not just the wisdom which brings joy to a father, nor the foolishness, in and of itself, which brings grief to a mother. Rather it is the results of these characteristics in their offspring which has the result the writer is talking about.

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Psalm 36:1-12

    The wicked do not fear God and in their arrogance are convinced that they are not truly wicked. The psalmist reminds us that no one truly believes that they are evil, no matter how dark the sins they commit. There are those who claim that they can be moral without believing in God. What they forget that if there is no God, there is no standard by which to declare one thing good and another evil.

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Mark 2:13-3:6

    I have always been struck by the fact that Jesus spent time with sinners. This passage not only mentions it, but emphasizes it. Reading this passage it is clear that we are called to spend time with, and be friends with, those who are sinners. We are not going to convince those who think they are righteous that they need Jesus. Only those who know that they are sinners will be open to the Gospel message. Jesus let the sinners of His time know that He was not “too good” for them. We should live likewise.
    Today many people think that Christians are boring, wet blankets. It is clear that the sinners of Jesus’ day did not think that of Him. They invited Him to their parties and He went. No one invites a wet blanket to their parties, at least, not a second time. Yet it is clear from the Gospels that the partiers of Jesus’ day wanted to spend time with Jesus and wanted Him at their parties. They thought He was fun to be around. Do the “sinners” of today think that we are fun to be around? Do they want us at their parties?

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Leviticus 4-5:19

    Under the old covenant, the procedure for receiving forgiveness for sin was a burnt offering. This is an example of the lengths people will go to obtain forgiveness from their sins. It gives an example of how psychologically difficult it is for us to accept God’s forgiveness and move on from our mistakes. Sometimes in the Church today we make forgiveness too cheap. We forget the point I made in yesterday’s study. Jesus calls us to go and sin no more. Sin is not something to be taken lightly. Yes, God will forgive us, but every sin we commit, no matter how minor, still damages us. Look at the effort the Israelites went to in order to receive God’s forgiveness. This was not because God was vengeful. Rather it was because it was a necessary reminder of how damaging sin is. The problem with such procedures is that they lead us to believe that we can “fix” the damage sin does. Only the Holy Spirit can repair the damage we do to ourselves when we sin.

Daily Bible Study

February 16, 2015 Bible Study — Go, and Sin No More

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 9:13-18

    Foolish behavior appeals to those who are ignorant (lacking in knowledge). Such behavior appears to offer sweet rewards, but it disguises the dangerous consequences of following its path. Those without foresight see only the short term advantage, neglecting to take into account the long-term results of their actions.

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Psalm 35:17-28

    This psalm reminds me of a passage from a book I read (although I no longer remember what book it was), “You can tell more about a person from his enemies than from his friends.” If the various people and groups who have set themselves up in opposition to someone are consistently evil, that someone is almost certainly doing good. If we have enemies like those described by the psalmist, who are treacherous and hate us without cause, who plot against innocent people who mind their own business, we can be sure that God will come to our defense. It may seem to take Him a long time, but He will do so.

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Mark 1:29-2:12

    I am struck once again by the fact that Jesus healed many sick people who were brought to Him and cast demons out of the demon-possessed. The change in those He healed was sudden and dramatic. He told us elsewhere in the Gospels that we would perform similar miracles. Yet we rarely see such dramatic healing in the Church today (at least, not in the U.S.). I do not know why we do not see miraculous healing in the Church today, but at least part of the answer is that we do not expect to see such healing.
    Another thing that struck me as I read this was Jesus casting out demons. I am convinced that those we call mentally ill today would have been called demon-possessed in Jesus’ day. Whether the fist century understanding is more accurate than ours today, or vice versa, is really irrelevant. What is relevant was that Jesus was able to address those with these sorts of problems every bit as effectively as He was able to cure the physically sick. The Church today should be casting out “demons” from those suffering from such problems just as it should be curing the sick. In both cases, when we look at what Jesus did we see two important factors. The first is the actual removal of the infliction which the people were suffering from. The second was Jesus instruction to them to go, and sin no more. And perhaps this answers the question as to why we do not see more healing in the Church today. We do not put enough emphasis on the second. The Church spends a lot of time calling people to repentance and accepting God’s forgiveness, but not much time telling them to go and sin no more.

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Leviticus 1-3:17

    The passage describes in detail the nature of the offerings which the Israelites were to present to God. When we offer something up to God it is to be the best of what we have, not something we weren’t going to use any way. When we give of our time it is not to be, “Well, I did not have anything else to do then, so I may as well give my time to God.” When we give money to God it is not to be, “Well, I have this money left over after I paid my bills and did the other things I really wanted to do.” Let us give to God from the best of what we have, not from what is left over.

Daily Bible Study

February 15, 2015 Bible Study

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 9:11-12

    This proverb makes a very good point. You are the one who will benefit if you acquire wisdom, and you are the one who will suffer if you fail to do so. While the wisdom or foolishness of your actions may affect others, you are the one who will be affected the most. Each person will experience the consequences of their actions. If those actions were guided by wisdom, they will benefit. If those actions were foolish, they will suffer.

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Psalm 35:1-16

    When we do good for and to those who oppose us, we can rely on the Lord to rescue us from their plots against us. We are called to grieve for their troubles and do what we can to ease their suffering. It is not for us to attempt to repay them for the evil they do us. God will rescue the helpless from the strong. If we seek always to show God’s love, God will give us victory and send shame and disgrace to those who attack us.

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Mark 1:1-28

    I had never noticed that John the Baptist only baptized people after they had confessed their sins. I don’t think this was a generic confession, “Yes, I am a sinner.” I think it was more specific. Things like, “I committed adultery,” or “I stole from others,” and probably even more specific than that. Do we practice confessing our sins to others? Should we? I believe that the answer is “Yes” and that I do so less than I should.
    I do not think I have commented on the fact that the Gospel of Mark is quick hitting. He quickly recounts an episode from Jesus’ life, then moves on to the next. In today’s passage we have John’s ministry, Jesus’ baptism, the calling of the first disciples, and teaching with authority. The other one of these stories I am going to touch on is the calling of the first disciples.
    When Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him, they left their nets at once and followed. Now, we know from the Gospel of John that their first exposure to Jesus was in Judah, right after He was baptized by John. So, this is not about our first response to Jesus. This story is about our response when God calls us to the ministry He has for us. Are we prepared to drop what we are doing and follow Him? This is a challenge for me, largely because I have felt a call from God, but I do not understand the details of the ministry to which He is calling me. The other thing to remember about this is that we know from tidbits elsewhere in the Gospels that these four men returned to fishing for short periods of time (at one point Jesus preached from Peter’s boat, at one point they were in the boats fishing after Jesus’ resurrection when He appeared to them). Considering all of that, let us remember their example when God calls us to ministry.

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Exodus 39-40:38

    The descriptions of the construction of the Tabernacle remind me of part of the reason I started this blog. If it were not for writing this blog, I would skip over these sections…or, more likely, just not read the Bible on the second or third day of such passages and fail to resume again.
    At the end of today’s passage it describes how the presence of God descended on the Tabernacle like a cloud. The entire time the Israelites were in the wilderness this cloud of the presence of God remained with them. At night, the fire of the Lord’s presence was visible to the entire encampment through the cloud. While the cloud was settled over the Tabernacle, the Israelites stayed camped. When the cloud lifted, they packed up the camp and followed it. There must have been a certain comfort in being able to see, and follow, a visible representation of God.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2015 Bible Study — The Grave Is Empty

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Happy Valentines Day to all of you reading this today, but especially to my lovely wife. If it was not for her encouragement and help I do not think that I would have been able to continue this Bible study for so long.

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Proverbs 9:9-10

    The wise and the righteous are always willing to learn more. This is because they are aware that fear of the Lord is the foundation of all wisdom and knowledge of God is the source of good judgment.

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Psalm 34:11-22

    Verse fourteen gives us a motto to live by:

Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

It is not enough to not do what is wrong, we must do what is good. If we want peace it will not just happen. We must search it out, and when we find it we must work, and work hard, to maintain it.

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Matthew 28:1-20

    Mohammed is buried in Medina in the Mosque of the Prophet. The bodies of the founders of religions are in shrines in other parts of the world. Their followers make pilgrimages to those sites to approach them. But when the women went to Jesus’ grave that Sunday morning, they were told, “He isn’t here.” They then went into the tomb and observed that it was indeed empty.
    When the guards told some of the leading priests what had happened they were instructed to claim that the disciples had stolen the body while they were sleeping. Through out history people have tried to explain away the empty tomb, but it is still empty.

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Exodus 37-38:31

    The people of Israel worked together under the direction of the two chief craftsmen to build what must have been a beautiful place of worship. All of the elements described sound like they would have been an overwhelming sight.

Daily Bible Study

February 13, 2015 Bible Study — How To Share the Gospel

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 9:7-8

    If you call out the mockers for their disrespect or rebuke the wicked for their evil behavior, they will not change their behavior. They will merely insult you or attack you in turn. However, when you point out to the wise where they have done wrong, they will change their behavior and love you for the concern you have shown. I have observed this time and again. The question I need to ask myself, do I take correction to heart and change my behavior? Or am I sure that those who tell me I did wrong are mistaken?

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Psalm 34:1-10

    This psalm gives a wonderful template for sharing the Gospel:

  • Praise God, all of the time,
  • Boast only about what Him.
  • Talk about the wonderful, amazing things God has done
  • Tell those around you how God has answered your prayers
  • Invite them to try it for themselves

    • That last is so important. All too often I have found myself trying to convince someone of the truth of the Gospel by rational arguments when what I should have done was invite them to check out God’s promises for themselves. I myself spent many years trying to find proof that God existed. It was only when I finally decided that I would assume He was real and see how things worked from there that I discovered the proof of His existence.
        When you want to introduce someone to a good food they have never tasted the only way to truly convince them is to have them actually taste it. In the same way, the only way to truly know the joy of following the Lord is to try it for yourself.

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    Matthew 27:32-66

        Throughout this passage we see references to Psalm 22. In verse 35 there is a reference to the soldiers dicing for his clothes, which matches up to Psalm 22:18. In verse 39-44 Jesus is mocked by various people. This matches up to Psalm 22:6-8. Then in verse 46 Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” This is a direct quote of Psalm 22:1.
        A key element to understanding this passage, and what Jesus meant by crying out that final line, is to be aware that it was a tradition that quoting the first line from Scripture was considered the same as quoting the entire passage. So, when Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”, He was not saying that God had abandoned Him. Rather, He was expressing both the despair and hope which He felt at that moment.

    Despair:
    My life is poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
    My heart is like wax,
    melting within me.

    Hope:
    For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.
    He has not turned his back on them,
    but has listened to their cries for help.

    I am convinced that reading Psalm 22 shows us what Jesus was feeling as He hung upon the cross. He felt deep despair, yet He had a hope which was almost joyous. When we face trials in this life we should share Jesus’ confidence in God’s final victory.

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    Exodus 35:10-36:38

        After Moses had given out the very specific instructions for the building of the Tabernacle, he invited those who were gifted craftsmen to contribute the pieces that were needed to complete the construction. As the materials began to come in, Moses appointed two men to be in charge of putting it all together, men who had been given skills by God which made them qualified for this position. As these men, and those they recruited to help them, began their work the people continued to donate materials. Finally, the men had to go to Moses and ask him to tell the people to stop bringing them more materials. Isn’t this where we should be in the Church today? Where the leaders need to tell us to slow down on our donations to help the poor because they cannot distribute it as fast as we are donating it?

Daily Bible Study

February 12, 2015 Bible Study — We Are Responsible for Our Actions

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 9:1-6

    The proverb writer uses yet another metaphor to illustrate the way in which wisdom is available to anyone who desires it. Wisdom is there for us, all we have to do is accept it. While we should seek wisdom and our life will be better if we do so, we do not have to actively look for wisdom. Wisdom will come looking for us. Fools are those people who repeatedly refuse to accept the lessons which wisdom strives to teach them.

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Psalm 33:12-22

    A nation will be successful and prosperous if, and only if, the people within it fear and worship the Lord. It is not a mighty army, nor is advanced military equipment which gives a nation security and wealth. However, the Lord will watch over those who fear and serve Him. As I read this psalm, I am reminded of those who look at the decline of the U.S., both morally and as a world power.
    They seek to cultivate the political power to change the laws in order to reverse the decline. Their attempts are futile. God does not call us to make our country powerful. He does not even call us to make our country morally pure. We are called by God to serve Him. I am not seeking to live in a powerful country. I am seeking to convince those I meet to serve the Lord.

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Matthew 27:15-31

    Despite being unable to find anything Jesus had done which deserved the death penalty, despite the entreaties of his wife to have nothing to do with Jesus, Pilate allowed the crowd to pressure him into ordering Jesus’ crucifixion. The crowd readily took responsibility for Jesus’ death, while Pilate disavowed responsibility for it.
    There is some truth in the crowd’s claim of responsibility, but there is no truth in Pilate’s disavowal. The people in that crowd shared responsibility for the death of an innocent man, but so did Pilate. We are responsible for our actions, even if we were pressured by the crowd to take them,

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Exodus 34-35:9

    God instructed the Israelites not to make any treaties or agreements with the people in the land. He explained that if they entered into such agreements, they would be drawn into the worship of those peoples’ gods.
    The same thing is true for us today. We should not enter into alliances with those who do not serve the Lord. This does not mean that we should reject when they support the causes for which we fight. However, we must be careful not to let them guide our strategy, nor join their groups fighting for causes we believe in. If we join with them we will end up worshiping their gods, perhaps without even realizing it.

Daily Bible Study

February 11, 2015 Bible Study — Peter and Judas

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 8:33-36

    Those who allow themselves to be instructed by wisdom find joy and life. Those who reject the wise advice which leads to the Lord are harming themselves more than any others. By doing so, they may as well be seeking their own death.

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Psalm 33:1-11

    Let us sing for joy as we praise the Lord. Use whatever musical talent that you have to glorify His name. My musical talent is limited, but I can sing loudly. If the sound of my voice offends your ears, and it will come as no surprise to me if it does, that just means that you are not singing loud enough.
    The psalmist reminds us that all God had to do to bring the entire Universe into being was speak. His very words caused all that is to come into being. Just think what His words can do to whatever problems we may face!

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Matthew 26:69-27:14

    Recently I have come to compare Judas and Peter. When Peter realized that he had betrayed Jesus by denying Him three times, he went away, crying bitterly. He knew he could never make it right. Judas, on the other hand, went to the priests and tried to get them to offer him absolution. He tried to find a way to make it right. When he realized that he could not make it right, he killed himself. Both Peter and Judas thought they knew better than Jesus how it should go. But Judas was stronger than Peter, which led to his destruction. Judas could not live with himself as dependent on God for forgiveness.
    I am not quite saying this right. I need to spend some time working out this thought.

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Exodus 32-33:23

    The first thing that struck me was that Aaron asked the people to bring him their earrings, which he then used to make the golden calf. When Jacob left Schechem to return to Bethel he asked all of his household to bring him their idols. They, in turn, gave him all of their idols and their earrings. I am confident that there is symbolism in this connection. I am not sure what that symbolism is, but I do not think it is about the evils of earrings (even though I am not a fan of earrings). Just another thing I need to put some thought into and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance about.

Daily Bible Study

February 10, 2015 Bible Study

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 8:27-32

    Wisdom was there when God set up the heavens and laid out the oceans. The reason we can figure out the science of how the universe works is because God used wisdom and reason to create it in the first place.

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Psalm 32:1-11

    We have all sinned by disobeying God. If we stop trying to hide our guilt and instead confess our sins, God will forgive us and clear our record. I cannot do this psalm justice. Read it for yourself and meditate on its truth.

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Matthew 26:47-68

    When the armed men who accompanied Judas arrested Jesus, one of the disciples(John tells us it was Peter) fought back with his sword. This lends credence to what I said yesterday about the disciples anticipating joining in battle to defend Jesus against the authorities. Jesus responded to this effort in His defense by telling His disciples that it was unnecessary and unwanted.
    When Jesus was before the Council, the high priest asked Him if He was the Messiah. I have always felt the phrasing of the question and answer in the English translations did not quite match up. It seems to me that the high priest’s question to Jesus would have likely come across as, “You are the Messiah, aren’t you?” I perceive Jesus’ answer as being more along the lines of, “See, even you admit that it is so.” I am not phrasing this quite right. It seems to me that to those who spoke the language, the high priest’s question would have been an unintentional acknowledgement that Jesus was the Messiah.

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Exodus 30:11-31:18

    The tax described in this passage is significant in several ways. First, it is clearly stated that it is the same for everyone, rich or poor. It is not in any way a progressive tax. Every person has an equal share in the Tabernacle. Another interesting aspect of it is that it is to be collected when the leaders of Israel conduct a census so as to avoid plague. This suggests that the census is totaled by counting the coins rather than by people traveling from town to town counting people. There is an element of respecting the honour and honesty of the people when collecting the tax and counting the people.