Monthly Archives: December 2019

Daily Bible Study

December 12, 2019 Bible Study — Prayer vs Lawlessness

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Thessalonians 1-3

I keep writing about prayer because I am convicted that I need to improve the prayer in my life.  At the beginning of this letter, and of most of his letters, Paul writes about praying for those to whom he is writing..  Writing that gave me insight into improving my prayers.  I do not believe it has ever occurred to me before to pray for those of you reading this (although a few of you are otherwise among those for whom I pray).  So, starting today, I will strive to pray for those who read my writing.  Then at the end of this letter, Paul asks those reading it to pray for him.  So, I will ask those of you reading this to do the same for me.  Please pray that God will make me a better servant to Him.

However, central to this letter is Paul’s writing about Christ’s return.  Paul writes that that day has not yet happened and that everyone will know when it comes to pass.  Before the Day of Christ’s return will come a time of lawlessness, presided over by a man of lawlessness.  Paul’s writing here has elements which suggest that the “man of lawlessness” is a specific individual and elements which suggest that the “man of lawlessness” is a figurative being.   In either case, there will be a period of lawless rebellion against God.  This passage suggests that the period will culminate in the rise of an evil “Messiah” figure who will deceive many into a false, and evil, religion.  Speaking of prayer, I pray that God pour His Holy Spirit out on the people of this world, drawing them to Him, and delaying the arrival of the day of lawlessness.

Daily Bible Study

December 11, 2019 Bible Study — Praying and Living to Please God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Thessalonians 1-5

As I read this passage my mind went, I will write on this, no I will write on that.  The first thing that hit me once again was the conviction that I need to pray more.  I believe in the power of prayer.  Here Paul writes again about praying continuously for the believers to whom this letter is addressed.  I have written previously about how I am trying to increase the amount, and quality, of my prayer.  I realized the other night that the Holy Spirit has aided me in this although I am no where close to where I should be.  With the Holy Spirit’s help I will strive to pray more.  The next thing both scares and encourages me.  Paul speaks of being faithful in the face of trouble and persecution.  He warns that we should constantly be prepared for suffering and persecution.  This scares me because it suggests that suffering and persecution are in my future.  It encourages me because of the joy which Paul clearly had during his suffering.

Paul goes on the the meat of his message.  He writes that we should live in a way that pleases God.  In order to live such lives we must control our bodies, which means avoiding lustful passion.  Avoiding sexual sin is just the first step in living a life which pleases God.  In fact, God desires that we love others.  Paul reminds us to avoid sexual sin because our society often confuses sex for love, but sexual sin perverts love into a form of idolatry.

Daily Bible Study

December 10, 2019 Bible Study — A New Life In Christ Rather Than a List of “Do nots”

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Colossians 1-4

Depending on how we read Paul’s letter to the Colossians it can either be very confusing, or it can clarify his teachings regarding rules and freedom in Christ.  First, Paul tells them, and us, not to get caught up in certain rules about what to eat and what to do on certain days, nor to feel that we need to perform particular ceremonies.  He sums up the rules he tells us not to get caught up with as ones which tell us, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”  He tells us that we should not allow ourselves to be bound by restrictive rules.  There is no set of rules that you can follow which will make you right with God.

Then Paul writes that we should set our sights on heavenly things and put to death the sinful, earthly desires which we have.  He just told us that we are free in Christ.  Yet now he writes that we should avoid sexual immorality and evil desires.  I think we get an insight into Paul’s thinking by what he says about greed.  Greed is idolatry, the worship of material possessions and thus contrary to the Spirit of God.  So, if greed is worshiping material possessions, then the other sins Paul tells us to stay away from amount to worshiping ourselves.  Sexual immorality and other evil desires result from treating others as things to please ourselves.  There is a reason we refer to those we lust after as the “object of our desire”.   

Daily Bible Study

December 9, 2019 Bible Study — As Long As We Are Alive, God Has a Purpose For Us

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Philippians 1-4

Paul writes here a passage which applies to more than just the context in which Paul writes it.  He writes about those who were inspired to preach the Gospel because of his imprisonment and those who preached the Gospel to make him jealous.  Paul did not care why they preached the Gospel, he only cared that they did so.  However, there is a more general application of this.  It does not matter why people do the right thing, God will use it to change the world.  But not only will God use it to change the world, the longer someone does the right thing for the wrong reasons the more God will change their hearts.  Understand that we will get more out of doing the right thing for the right reason than we will by doing the right thing for the wrong reason. 

I would like to write a lot on this passage, but I am working to limit how long I spend writing and keep this short.  So, I will touch on one more point.  Paul writes that he is torn between living and dying.  On the one hand, if he dies he will go to be with Christ and he deeply desired that.  On the other hand, he was convinced that as long as he lived he would be serving God, which he desired to do for as long as God chose to have him do so.  This brings to mind the last year of my Mom’s life.  She had spent her life serving others in any way she could, finding new ways to do so as she got older and unable to do things she had done when she was younger.  However, towards the end she suffered from dementia and had to move into skilled nursing care.  She was no longer able to do for others and this ate at her.  Every time I visited her, I prayed to God, asking why He did not take her home because I could not see how she could serve Him in her current state (although I knew she was in whatever ways that she could).  Then came the day she went into her final decline and it was obvious she would leave us in a few days.  I was at her bedside during shift change.  When the aid checked in at the start of the shift, I saw how heartbroken she was to witness that my Mom would die soon.  It was at that moment that I realized that my Mom had been serving God, even in her dementia when she had to be cared for, by showing God’s love to those who cared for her.

Daily Bible Study

December 8, 2019 Bible Study — Live In Unity By Being Good and Helpful

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ephesians 4-6

Paul writes that we should strive to live in unity with other believers.  However, that unity will result as we become mature in Christ so that we are no longer tossed about by every new teaching.  We should not live as the unbelievers around us live.  He warns us that society around us is hopelessly confused.  Our unity as believers should come from our insistence on sticking with the teachings which Jesus and Scripture present.  Every generation will face those who present lies cleverly contrived to appear as truth.  We can avoid falling for such lies by imitating God, which means living a life filled with love.  Love does not mean telling people they will be OK no matter what they do.  Love means warning people that they will hurt themselves if they partake in self-destructive behavior. 

I find it enlightening that when Paul sums up the things we must avoid his list always contains sexual immorality, impurity, and greed.  He often adds other things to his list, but these three are always there.  In fact, the other things which he adds are really just subcategories of one of these.  In this very passage he talks about not being a thief, which would come from being greedy.  He talks about not using foul and abusive language, which would be a subset of impurity.  We could follow how the actions which Paul warns against are expressions of greed, impurity, or sexual immorality, but I think you get the point.  However, Paul does not just warn us against certain types of behavior, he encourages us in appropriate behavior.  As opposed to foul and abusive language, everything we say should be good and helpful.

Daily Bible Study

December 7, 2019 Bible Study — Letting Christ “Redecorate” Our Hearts Because He Lives There

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ephesians 1-3

I realized as I read today that when Paul wrote that he prayed for those to whom he wrote this letter he actually prayed for all who would read it.  He prayed that Christ would make His home in our hearts.  Which reminds me of a lesson I heard several people teach from this passage.  If Christ makes His home in our heart we should think about the other things we allow into our hearts.  Sort of like the sorts of things we would allow in our homes if we knew we had special guests coming who would move around our home as if they lived there.  Most of us have things in our homes that we would get rid of if we knew someone we truly cared about and wanted to impress was moving into our homes with us.  In a similar way, we should not allow into our hearts things which we would be embarrassed to have seen by someone we want to think highly of us. 

This seems like an impossible task.  There are so many sins which I struggle to resist and parts of my life which I am too lazy to clean up.  Yet, Paul tells us that God’s power is at work with in us and that He is able to more than we can ask, or even imagine.  Not only is God capable of doing more than we can imagine, He is capable of doing infinitely more than we can imagine.  The thing about what I wrote about cleaning out our hearts because Christ is making His home there is that we have rooms there where we want to close the door and tell Him, “Don’t go in there. It’s a mess. Wait until I can get in there and clean it out.”  And Christ’s responds by saying, “Don’t be silly.  Get on with your life, I will clean it out for you.”  If we listen to Him and get on with our life of doing God’s will, He really will clean out those dirty, messy rooms in our heart so that we next go in there all that nasty, ugly stuff we were embarrassed for anyone to see will be gone.  We can never clean those “rooms” out on our own.  When we go in there we get distracted by something and make the mess worse.  When I started this paragraph, I intended to write about prayer, and, in a way, I did.  One of those things we should be busy doing instead of trying to clean our hearts is praying for others. 

Daily Bible Study

December 6, 2019 Bible Study — Allowing the Holy Spirit to Grant Us Love and Self Control

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Galatians 1-6

I have always struggled to encapsulate Paul’s teachings about living a righteous life, but not being bound by the law.  Today I finally saw the way to sum up Paul’s teaching on the subject.  We cannot find favor with God by following a set of rules.  Our reconciliation with God will not and cannot come from obedience to rules, because no set of rules can cover every possible contingency.  However, once we have been reconciled to God through accepting His gracious gift, we will desire to do what is right.  

In fact, once he has established that we cannot gain favor with God by our actions, Paul goes on to tell us to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives.  He contrasts doing what the Holy Spirit desires with doing what our sinful nature desires and writes that our freedom from the law should result in us allowing the Holy Spirit to direct our actions.  I am only going to point our a couple of the things Paul warns us are a result of following our sinful desires: lustful pleasures, hostility, outbursts of anger, envy, etc..  You should read his whole list for yourself and recognize that he states that it is not comprehensive.  I will however list the fruits which Paul tells us will appear in our lives if we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and act according to the desires which He gives us:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Especially note that last one.  With a little thought we can see that self-control provides the key to resisting the desires of our sinful nature.  Love informs us as to why we should not give in to sinful desires and self-control provides us with the means to do so.  The other fruits which Paul lists are corollaries of those two. 

Daily Bible Study

December 5, 2019 Bible Study — God Blesses the Cheerful Giver and Paul Talks About Leadership

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Corinthians 9-13

I skipped over Paul’s comments about giving to aid those in need in yesterday’s passage and I do not want to do that again today.  In yesterday’s passage Paul wrote about the importance of setting aside the money to be given systematically rather than trying to come up with the whole amount one intends to give all at once.  In today’s passage he writes about giving joyfully, not from a sense of obligation.  We should give to those in need because we are grateful for what God has done for us.  Between yesterday’s and today’s passage Paul lays out a great guideline for giving.  We should not give more than we can afford, we should not give so much that we suffer hardship as a result.  On the other hand, we should not refrain from giving because we are afraid we might need the money for some unknown expense down the road.  God will provide for our needs, so we should not fear unexpected expenses.  The more we give, the more we will be blessed.  When Paul says that he is not speaking of material blessings, although sometimes God gives greater material prosperity to those who give generously.  If the latter is the case, it usually means that God will be giving them even more opportunity to give to those in need.

When Paul defends his authority to speak on behalf of Christ and of God, he makes the argument that he is no less than those whose preaching he disagrees with.  He states that his authority builds up those over whom he has authority rather than tear them down.  In doing so, Paul echoes Jesus’ teachings about leaders being servants.  So, authority in the Church comes from building up and strengthening others, not from making them dependent on the one with authority.  Authority does not come from being superior to others, in which case authority would be enhanced by weakening those over whom one has authority.  Rather authority comes from making others stronger and more capable.  In addition, elsewhere Paul exhorts us not to think more highly of ourselves than of others, here he reminds us not to think ourselves less than them either.  True leaders are those who help us recognize our worth without either holding themselves as better than we are or allowing us to make them feel small.

Daily Bible Study

December 4, 2019 Bible Study –Living For Christ As We Wait For Our New Bodies

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Corinthians 5-8

In yesterday’s passage Paul wrote that our heavenly bodies will be different from our earthly bodies in ways which we cannot comprehend, much the same way that a plant differs from the seed from which it grew (and this is about as far as that particular metaphor can be taken on that subject).  In today’s passage he writes about how he longs to be clothed in that new, heavenly body, not because of any desire to be rid of his current body, but because the heavenly body will be with Christ.  We should share Paul’s desire to leave our earthly bodies and enter into our heavenly bodies.  This desire should remove all fear of death from us.  Our desire for our future heavenly bodies should inspire us to serve Christ in all that we do.

We believe (well, I believe, and hope that you do as well) that Christ died for everyone.  This belief means that I must strive to live not for myself, but for Christ.  Living for Christ leads me to strive to be His ambassador to the world, calling on all I meet to come to God and receive His gift of life transforming salvation.  

Daily Bible Study

December 3, 2019 Bible Study — Sometimes the Written Word Is the Best Way to Convey Our Concerns

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Corinthians 1-4

Paul writes this letter to explain his change of plans, and to make amends for not visiting Corinth as he had told the Corinthians he was going to do.  First he tells them that the rumors they had heard about his troubles in Asia were true.  Paul tells the Corinthians that he did not expect to survive the troubles there.  Perhaps this was a reference to what happened during the riots in Ephesus, or perhaps some other incident which Luke did not include in the Book of Acts.  In any case, while Paul wanted to make sure that they were aware of the truth of the rumors they had heard, he also wanted to make sure that those events were not why he had not visited Corinth yet again.

No, the reason Paul did not visit them again was because he had been very upset by the news he had heard from Corinth.  He had been afraid that if he visited at that time he would say things which he would regret.  So, instead of visiting Corinth he wrote them a letter about the situation, a letter which deeply troubled Paul to have to write.  I think it is worth noting that Paul chose to write a letter rather than address the issue in person.  By writing a letter, Paul could take the time to choose his words with care and not accidentally escalate the situation by blurting out something worded improperly.  Further, the Corinthian believers could read and re-read what he wrote so as to understand exactly what he said and avoid putting words in to his mouth.  The lesson here is that there are times when it is best to put our thoughts in writing rather than presenting them in person.