All posts by AttilaDimedici

July 25, 2013 Bible Study — The Decrees of the Lord Make the Simple Wise

July 24, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

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. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

2 Chronicles 14-16:14

     The next king in Jerusalem was Asa, who took the throne when his father, Abijah, died. We are told that Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord. Asa commanded the people of Judah to seek God and obey His commands. Asa removed the pagan shrines from all of the towns of Judah. He had peace for the first ten years of his reign.
     Asa had an army of just shy of 600,000 men. At one point, Judah was invaded by an army from Cush (more or less modern Ethiopia) of over 1,000,000 men. Asa deployed his army against them, but realized that he was badly outnumbered and called on the Lord. The passage says the the Lord defeated the Cushites (Ethiopians) and caused them to flee. The wording suggests that the defeat occurred before Asa’s army engaged them in battle, but could just indicate that the Ethiopians were defeated by Asa’s army more readily than one would have expected considering the relative sizes of the armies. Whatever happened, Asa’s success was such that he conquered some of the cities in the area where he met the Cushites while he had his army in the field and returned to Jerusalem with a large amount of plunder.
     When Asa returned from battle the prophet Azariah met him, and his army, and shouted out a prophecy from the Lord. He told them that as long as they sought the Lord they would find Him. As long as they stayed faithful to the Lord, He would stay faithful to them. Asa responded to this message by having all of the idols removed from the lands he controlled. He repaired the altar in the Temple of the Lord and called the people to come together for a festival to the Lord. The passage tells us that many people from the Northern Kingdom had moved into the lands controlled by Asa because of his faithfulness to the Lord. The people entered into a covenant to seek the Lord and obey His commands. As a result, there was peace in the land until the 35th year of Asa’s reign.
     In the 36th year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) invaded Judah and started to fortify the city of Ramah to control the border. Asa responded by sending a bribe to the king of Aram, asking him to make war against Baasha. The king of Aram did so, forcing Baasha to abandon his efforts on the border with Judah. Asa took the materials that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah and used them to fortify cities which more strategically defended Judah. A prophet came to Asa and told him that God was unhappy that he had put his trust in the king of Aram rather than in God, by doing so he had missed an opportunity to expand his power. The prophet reminded Asa of how God had helped them against the Cushites. Asa responded by having the prophet jailed. The passage continues by telling us that Asa began oppressing some of his people at this time. Further the passage tells us that in the 39th year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease, but rather than seek the help of the Lord he relied solely on his doctors and as a result he died from this problem.

***
I want to point out that the passage does not condemn Asa for using his doctors. It condemns him for not, also, turning to God for healing. This is an important lesson for us. When we face illness, we should certainly follow the advice of medical doctors, but we should turn to God and ask for His healing and remember that it is God who can bring us healing no matter what the doctors have to say.

Romans 9:1-24

Paul expresses great grief over the failure of many Jews to accept Jesus as their Savior. He tells us that he would be willing to accept eternal damnation if that was what it took for them to be saved. He then makes an important point for all Christians to take note of: Christ Himself was an Israelite, a Jew. This means that there is no room for Christians to have a hatred or dislike for Jews. Instead, we should have a special place in our hearts for the Jews, since it was through Judaism and the Jewish people that God brought our Salvation into the world.

***
Do I have the same passion for bringing salvation to my friends and those around me that Paul has? Would I be willing to accept eternal damnation if that was what it took for those I love to come to know the Lord? I would like to think that the answer is yes. But, is it? When sometimes I am not even willing to risk ridicule in order to share the Gospel? I pray to God that He give me that passion, first for my friends and loved ones, then for all of those I meet and interact with.

Psalm 19:1-14

I love this psalm. It starts by saying something that was echoed by Paul in his letter to the Romans.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.[a]
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
There is no excuse. God has made Himself known to anyone who chooses to look. All we have to do is look at the sky above us to see His glory and His craftsmanship. Then the psalmist goes on to tell us that once looked and found God He will give us commands and instructions. These commands and instructions are more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey.

They revive the soul.
They make the simple wise.
They bring joy to the heart.
They give insight for living.

The psalmist asks God to cleanse him of sins hidden in his heart and to keep him from deliberate sin. I will echo the psalmist and ask God to keep sin from controlling me. And finally I pray:

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Proverbs 20:1

Today’s proverb warns us not to let alcohol lead us astray. That if we consume too much alcohol we may become someone who mocks others to no good effect. Or even worse, we may get into fights for no good reason. We should not allow anything other than the Holy Spirit to control our actions.

Daily Bible Study

July 24, 2013 Bible Study — In All Things God Works For the Good of Those Who Love Him

July 23, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 11-13:22

     When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem he mustered the fighting men of Judah and Benjamin in order to regain control of the Northern Tribes. However, the prophet Shemaiah told Rehoboam and the gathered troops that God had said not to fight against their relatives, the rest of Israel. As a result, the troops went home. It is not clear from the passage whether Rehoboam listened to the prophet and sent the troops home, or if the troops refused to fight when they heard the prophet’s words, or some combination of the two.
     There are two things mentioned after this that are often overlooked. The first is that in addition to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, all of the priests and Levites living in the lands of the Northern Tribes moved into the territory controlled by Rehoboam because Jeroboam replaced them as the ones to lead worship and care for the centers of worship. The second is that everyone who sincerely wanted to worship the Lord from all of the tribes of Israel followed the Levites into the territory controlled by Rehoboam.
     Once Rehoboam had consolidated his control over Judah and Benjamin he abandoned the Law of the Lord and led all of his people into sin. The passage tells us that as a result, God allowed King Shishak of Egypt to conquer much of Judah. When Shishak was besieging Jerusalem, the prophet Shemaiah told the leaders of the kingdom that because they had abandoned God, God was abandoning them to Shishak. The leaders responded that God was right to do what He was doing. In response to the people of Judah humbling themselves by restraining Shishak and causing him to withdraw after looting Jerusalem.
     After the death of Rehoboam his son, Abijah, took the throne. Shortly after doing so war broke out with Jeroboam. Abijah mustered his army and had about 400,000 men. Jeroboam mustered his army and had about 800,000 men. When the armies met, Abijah called out to the men of Israel saying that Jeroboam had abandoned the worship of God, while the people of Judah were still worshiping the Lord. He continued that the army of Judah being led by the priests of God and that by fighting against them the men of Israel were fighting against God. If they went up against God, they would not succeed. In the meantime, Jeroboam had sent part of his army around behind Abijah’s force. When the men of Judah realized that they were being attacked from the front and the rear they cried out to God for help. Despite the fact that Jeroboam outnumbered Abijah’s force and had managed to outflank it, his troops were defeated soundly in the ensuing battle. Abijah followed up his victory by capturing several towns from Jeroboam. Jeroboam never regained sufficient power to challenge Abijah again.

Romans 8:26-39

Paul tells us that God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness. One example of how the Holy Spirit will help us is when we do not know how to pray according to God’s will. The Spirit will intercede for us with God. God who knows our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit and thus will understand how what we are pleading for fits into His will and will answer accordingly.

***
     This passage suggests to me that perhaps we should strive less to spell out the details of what we are praying for and strive more to allow the Spirit to make our requests in accordance with the will of God.
***
     Paul goes on to tell us that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him. He has known us before we knew Him and chose us to be transformed into the likeness of His Son. If God is for us, what concern is it to us if some are against us? If God, the ultimate judge, justifies us, who can bring credible charges against us? Not only do we have God justifying us, but we have Christ interceding for us before His throne. Who or what has the power to separate us from God’s love against God’s will? Paul answers that with one of the Biblical truths that we should always hold close to our hearts: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
***
     No matter what troubles we face in this life, we need to remember the truths which Paul expresses in today’s passage. The first is that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. Not just in some things, in all things. God is working in every aspect of this world to bring good to those who love Him. From there we can see that we have no need to fear anything that happens in this life, whatever happens we should rejoice because it is the work of God to deliver good into our lives. How can anything, or anyone, do anything to thwart God’s plans for us? If we truly believe that God loves us, we have nothing to fear. For not only will God act for our good out His love for us, but no one and nothing is capable of interfering or reducing that love.

Psalm 18:37-50

I started reading today’s psalm and had trouble seeing a message that fit where my thoughts were today. Part of that is because it is a continuation of a Messianic theme begun earlier in this psalm that I read on previous days. However, then I came to verse 46-48:

The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
And for whatever reason, I saw how this fit with what I read in Romans 8 today. I went back and re-read verses 37-45 and saw how that they fit right with “If God is for us, who can stand against us?” We need have no fear of those who make themselves our enemy. The psalmist tells us that God will give us victory over our accusers, because God has justified us.

Proverbs 19:27-29

If you stop listening to those who offer you instruction you will not only stop learning more, you will gradually lose the understanding that you already possess.

Daily Bible Study

July 23, 2013 Bible Study — God’s Way Is Perfect

July 22, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19

The passage tells us that Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter out of the palace David had built. It goes on to tell us that he built a fleet of trade ships which sailed out of ports on the Red Sea. These ships were manned by crews provided to Solomon by King Hiram of Tyre. Solomon’s trading fleet spread his fame such that the Queen of Sheba came to see him for herself. She brought Solomon many gifts of great value and Solomon gave her gifts of great value to take home with her. The passage goes on to describe the great wealth which Solomon amassed.

***
     I had said in one of these blogs about King David that David appeared to have gained his power and wealth by acting to protect merchant caravans from bandits. It even appears that part of his reason for conquest was to eliminate kingdoms which provided a safe haven for bandits which raided the merchant caravans. I came to this conclusion largely by reading between the lines and would not want to argue the point with someone who disagreed (there is insufficient evidence to prove this). However, this passage makes it clear that Solomon gained his great wealth by sponsoring trade missions. He sent out trading fleets which returned with large amounts of wealth. It would seem likely that he sent out trading caravans as well.
***
     The passage concludes with the account of how Rehoboam lost control of the Northern Tribes upon Solomon’s death. When Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned king, the people of Israel requested that he promise to the forced labor and heavy taxes that his father, Solomon, had imposed on the people. Rehoboam first asked the advice those men who had been his father’s advisers. They told him that he should honor the request of the people of Israel and that if he did so, the people would be his faithful servants. Rehoboam rejected this advice and turned to the young men he had grown up with for advice more to his liking. They told him to tell the people of Israel that not only would he not reduce the burdens his father had imposed, but he would increase them.
     Rehoboam took this bad advice and told the people of Israel that he would increase the burdens that his father had laid on them. As a result the peoples of the Northern Tribes refused to accept Rehoboam as their king and returned to their homes. Shortly after this Rehoboam sent out the official in charge of the forced labor to restore his control. However, the people of the Northern Tribes stoned that official to death. When the news of this reached Rehoboam, he fled back to Jerusalem.

Romans 8:9-25

     Paul tells us that if we have the Spirit of God living within us we are no longer controlled by our sinful nature. Rather we are controlled by the Spirit. He further points out that everyone who belongs to Christ has the Spirit of Christ living within him, or her. Sin has brought death to our bodies, but if the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives within us He will raise us to life as well.
     As a result, we are no longer obligated to obey our sinful nature. If we allow it to dictate our actions, we will follow it into death for eternity. On the other hand if we allow the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the sinful nature we will experience life eternal. The Spirit does not make us fearful slaves, rather it makes us the adopted children of a loving Father. As a result of this adoption, we are heirs with Christ to the glory of God. Paul then says something that is a bit scary. He tells us that while we will share in Christ’s glory, we will also share in His suffering.
     Paul tells us that the suffering we experience now is as nothing to the glory that God will reveal to us in His time. He goes on to tell us that all of creation is suffering because of the consequences of sin. The day will come when creation will be freed from death and decay along with God’s children. We are suffering as we wait for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. But we await that day with eagerness, when we will experience our adoption to sonship and the redemption, not only of our souls, but of our bodies.

***
This passage talks about the other side of the fear of God. While the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, once we learn to know Christ we discover that God is a loving father. These two aspects of our relationship with God is something that is hard to understand. God does not want us to fear Him. It is just the natural reaction that we will have when we come to truly understand who and what God is. God wants us to know that He loves us. As we come to know Him we see that He does and that He cares for our every need, just as a loving father does for his children. In the same manner, God will discipline us when we do wrong, because He knows that when we do wrong we endanger ourselves and others.

Psalm 18:16-36

The psalmist says the following about God:

To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.
You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
I have found this to be true. There are two sides to this. On the one hand those with the positive qualities of faithfulness, integrity and purity perceive others as having those same qualities, while the wicked perceive those who are good and powerful as hostile. On the other hand, God actually will be faithful, behave with integrity, and show purity to those who have those same qualities, while showing hostility to those who are wicked. Going on, those who are humble will find “chance”(I do not believe in chance, chance is generally the hand of God) coming to their rescue time and again, while those who are proud will find humiliation where others would find nothing of note.
Then the psalmist tells us something that should be self-evident, but too often is not for us.
God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
If we follow the way that God has laid out for us, we will find that everything comes together for us. He will fulfill His promises, every last one of them. I will trust in the Lord and strive to follow the way that He has laid out for me.

Proverbs 19:26

I can think of nothing to add to today’s proverb: “Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.”

Daily Bible Study

July 22, 2013 Bible Study — Will We Humble Ourselves and Pray?

July 21, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10

Solomon continues his closing prayer by asking God to watch over the Temple and hear prayers said towards it (I believe that this is the origin of the idea of facing towards a holy place when praying). He acknowledges that the Temple cannot possibly contain God, since not even the heavens can contain Him. Solomon then asked God that when people sin and suffer for their sins, if they turn to God, confess their sins and repent of them, he asked that God forgive them and return them to His favor. Solomon asked that God extend His mercy not only to the people of Israel, but to anyone from any land who turned to God and sought to serve Him.
God responded to Solomon’s prayer and gave Solomon a message that is as important for the Church today as it was for the people of Israel. “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

***
Things are bad in the world today and getting worse. The answer is not to point to those who have never accepted Christ and blame them for their sin. The answer is for those of us who are called by Christ’s name, those of us who are Christians, to humble ourselves, admit our sins, turn from them, pray, and seek God’s face. We need to seek to do God’s will, not our own. The Christian message is not one for me to tell you what you should be doing differently. The Christian message is for me to look at my life and see what I should be doing differently. This does not mean that we do not tell people the consequences of sin and encourage them to stop sinning. It just means that law is not the answer. Law does not stop people from sinning. Only God’s grace can do that. We will not stop sinning because of our own goodness, or because of the strength of our will. All we can do by the strength of our will is substitute one sin for another. It is only by God’s grace that I will stop committing sin.

Romans 7:14-8:8

I did not read this part of today’s reading before I wrote what I wrote about the Old Testament passage, but Paul touches on exactly the point I made at the end of that. We want to do what is right, but we don’t. We don’t want to do what is wrong, but we do. It is human nature to want to do what is right, what God commands. But it is also human nature to be enslaved to sin. But God has given us a way out. We can die to the law through Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to control us, rather than sin. If we continue to think about sinful things, we will be controlled by sin. On the other hand, if we are controlled by the Holy Spirit we will think about spiritual things.

***
There are two ways to deal with our nature. The most common is to redefine what is right and what is wrong. In order to stop feeling bad about themselves for doing things that they know are wrong, people tell themselves that those things are not wrong. They tell themselves that it is the people who say that it is wrong who are doing wrong. The other is to admit that we are powerless to do what is right and turn control of our lives over to God. The latter is much harder. It is hard to not attempt to snatch control of our lives back, always forgetting that when we do that all we are doing is choosing the master who makes us do that which we do not wish to do.

Psalm 18:1-15

The beginning of this psalm is very familiar to us.

I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.
All of this is wonderful and lovely, and true. I think of God in these ways all the time. The psalmist goes on to explain why he said those things. He tells us that he was on the verge of being destroyed and of death. Then he tells us: But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.
The psalm goes on to describe how God reacted when He heard the psalmist’s cry for help. This is the God who will save us as well if we turn to Him. Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
This is the force that God will expend for us when we call on His name, a force that causes the earth itself to tremble in fear. I am reading this psalm and writing this commentary on it and I almost missed how it fits into the theme today’s other passages have for me. What led to God coming forth with the force that the psalmist tells us caused the earth to tremble? Why, the psalmist told us that to, he humbled himself and prayed. If we humble ourselves and pray, we will see God burst forth onto this earth with a force that will cause the very mountains to shake.

Proverbs 19:24-25

If you strike a mocker, someone naive and/or simple-minded may learn to be shrewd. But all it takes for those who are wise to learn is a simple correction of their mistakes.

Daily Bible Study

July 21, 2013 Bible Study

July 20, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

Yesterday(just as a reminder, for me, yesterday was June 19), I titled my Bible Study, “How Can I Serve The Lord Right Now?” Then today when I was on Facebook looking at what my friends had posted I came across something that answered the question for any time I am out in public. The post was about someone who, when they were out driving around, would smile and wave to everyone they encountered. When asked why they did it, they responded that they had seen a story about people who had tried and failed to commit suicide. In that story they read that many of those people would not have tried to kill themselves if someone, anyone, had acknowledged them with a smile and a wave. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that I feel better when people pleasantly acknowledge encountering me. I have decided that at least part of the answer to my question is that I can pleasantly acknowledge everyone I see.

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. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

2 Chronicles 4-6:11

Solomon had bronze and gold furnishings made for the Temple. When the Temple and all of the furnishings were completed, Solomon summoned all of the leaders of the people of Israel to Jerusalem for a holy festival to move the Ark of the Covenant from where David had placed it into the Temple. When all of the leaders arrived, Levites picked up the Ark and brought it to the Temple. In addition other priests and Levites brought the tent it had been in and all of the sacred articles that were in the tent into the Temple. During the process of moving the Ark Solomon and the people of Israel sacrificed so many animals, sheep, goats, and cattle, that no one kept track of the number.
When the sacrifices were finished, the priests carried the Ark into the Holy Place in the Temple. After the priests left the Holy Place the priestly and Levite musicians performed together to praise God. While they were singing and playing a thick cloud filled the Temple. The cloud was so think that the priests could not continue the service. Solomon then concluded the service by praying a prayer thanking and praising God for choosing David, his father, to be king over Israel, and himself to build God’s Temple in Jerusalem.

Romans 7:1-13

I always find it hard to explain what Paul is saying in today’s passage. I think that partly that is because Paul had a hard time expressing the idea he was trying to convey. The first point Paul makes is that cancels all of our commitments under the law. He then goes on to show how that means we are freed from our bondage to sin. We were bound to service to sin by the law. However, when we died with Christ at our baptism we were freed from that bondage. We are no longer captive to the law, before our death with Christ in baptism we were obligated either to keep every jot and tittle of the law or we were bound to serve sin in our every action. Christ’s death freed us from those two choices and allowed us to serve God according to the spirit of His intentions.
Another point which Paul makes is sin takes advantage of our knowledge of good and evil to entice us to do evil. The law was introduced in order to show us the boundaries of good behavior, but in our sinfulness we see those boundaries as lines to cross to demonstrate our independence. I’m still not getting it right. Every time I read this passage I think, “Wow, that is an awkward way to say that.” Then I try to reword it another way and it always comes out either being even more convoluted, or saying something completely different from what Paul was saying. Or both.

Psalm 17:1-15

The psalmist prays to God for deliverance from his foes and his troubles. Why does he do this? Because he knows that God will answer. That God will bend down and listen, just as a loving mother will bend down to hear what her child is saying. The psalmist goes on to warn us that those who look for their reward in this world will face destruction at the hand of God. But those who are righteous will be vindicated because they seek to see God face to face as their reward. This psalm sums up where those who follow “prosperity gospel” go wrong. “Prosperity gospel” teaches that we will receive a reward in this world. While we may receive good things in this world, our reward is to see God face to face.

A rose by any other name... — A rose by any other name…

Proverbs 19:22-23

What we truly desire is to be loyally loved. We will be happier being poor with someone who honestly loves us than rich with someone we cannot trust. If we truly fear the Lord, and act accordingly, we will have no reason to fear anything else and trouble will pass us by.

Daily Bible Study

July 20, 2013 Bible Study — How Can I Serve the Lord Right Now?

July 19, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

Reading Phillies-conference on the mound

2 Chronicles 1-3:17

     When Solomon took the throne he called together all of the leaders of Israel to worship at the Tabernacle in Gibeon. David had moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, but the Tabernacle that was built in the wilderness was still at Gibeon. In addition, the bronze altar that had been built during the Israel’s time in the wilderness was there as well. Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar before the Tabernacle in Gibeon.
     That night God appeared to Solomon and asked him what he would like God to give him. Solomon responded by asking God to give him the wisdom and knowledge to be a good ruler of God’s people, Israel. God was pleased that Solomon had not requested wealth, long life, death to his enemies, or honor. Because of this God promised Solomon that he would grant his request for the wisdom and knowledge to be a good ruler, and he would give him wealth, honor and a long life.
     The passage goes on to recount Solomon’s correspondence with Hiram, king of Tyre, in preparation for building the Temple. It concludes with a describe the building of the Temple itself.

***
This passage teaches us the same lesson as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:33. If we make our priority to seek after God’s will in our life, God will grant us everything else that we need. If we make it our heart’s desire to do God’s will and to serve Him to the best of our ability, God will give us our heart’s desire and more. Once more I ask God to give me the desire to serve Him first and foremost of all of my desires. I wish to get to the point where my question of anything I want is, “How can I use this to serve the Lord?”

Romans 6:1-23

There is a lot of stuff in today’s passage, but for me, I want to highlight the following verses (Romans 6:12-14)

Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master,…

There is not much I can say to make the meaning of this any clearer or explain how it applies to my life. I do think this fits very well with what the Old Testament passage said to me. If we give ourselves completely to God and ask, “How can I use this to serve the Lord?” of everything we do, it will go a long way to helping us fulfill the other part of what Paul tells us: “do not give in to sinful desires.” I will strive to ask in every moment, “How can I serve the Lord, right now?”

Reading Phillies--another mascot — Reading Phillies–another mascot

Psalm 16:1-11

This psalm has an important point to make. Every good thing we have comes from the Lord. I will follow the example of the psalmist and make the godly people in the land my heroes. They will be the ones that I will emulate and that I will encourage others to emulate. I will resist the temptation to follow other gods, because that is the route to destruction.
The Lord will guide me and instruct me. He is right beside me, ready to answer whenever I ask, “How can I serve the Lord right now?” I just need to listen (something I am not very good at).

Proverbs 19:20-21

Today’s proverb recommends that we get all of the advice that we can and take whatever instruction we are given, this is the route to always being able to determine the wise course of action. It does not say to follow all of the advice we are given, merely to get all of the advice that we can. The second proverb tells us that we can make all of the plans that we wish, but only those that serve God’s purpose will come to fruition. Which brings us back to my question for the day, “How can I serve the Lord right now?”

Daily Bible Study

July 19, 2013 Bible Study — If You Seek Him, You Will Find Him

July 18, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

Don't feed the ostriches! — Don’t feed the ostriches!

1 Chronicles 28-29:30

David summoned all of the leaders of Israel to give his final instructions to them and to Solomon. He told Solomon that God had chosen his family out of all of Judah to be kings over Israel, chosen David out of all of his father’s sons, and now chosen Solomon out of all of David’s sons. David gave Solomon an important piece of wisdom. He told him that if he seeks God, he will find Him. David then went on to give Solomon detailed instructions for building the Temple. David then turned to the leaders of Israel and told them what treasure he was giving from his personal wealth for the building of the Temple and asked them to do something similar. The leaders responded by giving a large amount of wealth. David gave over $3 billion worth of gold at today’s prices and the leaders of Israel all together gave over $5 billion worth. In addition, they, David and the leaders, gave silver and other metals for the construction.
David then prayed a prayer of praise where he acknowledged that everything which he had had come from God. He refused to accept any credit for the wealth which he had donated to the Temple construction, since that wealth came from God in the first place. David tells us that we have nothing to give to God, because we have nothing that did not come from God.

***
There are a couple of things in this passage I want to highlight as timeless messages. The first is what David tells Solomon, “If you seek Him, you will find Him.” That is as true today as it was in the time of Solomon. Anyone who truly, with all of their heart, seeks the Lord will find Him. Of course the rest of what David said to Solomon there is true as well, “But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” I will continue to seek the Lord.
There is a second message here that David gives in his prayer. Everything that we have comes from God. We have nothing that we can call our own to give to God. We are on this earth for a mere moment and all the joys and pleasures we experience are gifts from God. We have no basis to feel put upon when God asks us to give to His causes from the bounty He has provided us.

Romans 5:6-21

Paul tells us that very few people would be willing to die for someone who was a “good person”, a few more might be willing to die for someone who was universally acknowledged as good. But Christ died for us when we were sinners, enemies of God. If we were reconciled to God through Christ’s death while we were still in opposition to God, how much more will His life bring us salvation? Jesus has made us friends with God, allowing us to rejoice in our new relationship with Him.
Paul goes on to draw the comparison between Jesus and Adam. It was through Adam that sin and death entered the world. Adam’s one sin led to the sins of many. Christ’s obedience to God led to many being made righteous. Through Adam’s sin, sin came to rule over the earth, bringing death to everyone. Through Jesus’ obedience onto death, God’s grace wrested the rulership over the earth from sin resulting in eternal life through Jesus.

Psalm 15:1-5

Today’s psalm gives us a list of how we should attempt our lives.

speak the truth
refuse to gossip
refuse to harm our neighbors
refuse to speak evil of our friends
despise flagrant sinners
honor those who faithfully follow the Lord
keep our promises even when it hurts
lend without interest
do not accept bribes to lie about the innocent

If we do these things we will stand firm no matter what troubles come our way.

Proverbs 19:18-19

I read the first of these proverbs and could not help but think of reports I have read concerning the youth in our country. So many parents want to be their children’s friends and don’t want to anger their children. So rather than disciplining their children they are becoming a willing party to their death. I have watched several families raise their children. The children of the strictest disciplinarians went through life knowing they were loved. The children of the most permissive spent their lives looking for love.
The second proverb has a similar message. If you save someone who allowed anger to overcome their better judgment from the consequences of their actions, they will not learn their lesson and will repeat the mistake.

Daily Bible Study

July 18, 2013 Bible Study — Rooting For God’s Team

July 17, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34

Today’s passage discusses how the Levites were assigned as gatekeepers and to oversee the various Temple treasuries. It also describes how they were assigned roles as kingdom officials over various parts of David’s kingdom. The passage then goes on to describe how David organized his army and the various individuals he put in charge of managing the kingdom.

Romans 4:13-5:5

Paul tells us that it was not by the law that Abraham received the promise that he would be heir to the world. Rather it was by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, it is pointless. Paul points out two reasons the promise would be pointless. The first is that if we received the promise because of obeying the law, there would be no need for the promise because we would be earning the reward. Second, no one can successfully keep the law. All the law does is show us where we fall short of God’s standard. God’s promise is given on the basis of faith and it is a promise of giving us a free gift.
Abraham continued to have faith that God would keep His promise long after a logical analysis would have said there was no hope of such a thing happening. Even when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah beyond child-bearing years, Abraham believed God when God said that through Sarah he would become father to many nations. Abraham continued to believe that God had the power to do what He said that He would do. This faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. This was recorded so that we would know that it was by faith that righteousness is received.

***
Paul concludes this section by advising us to boast about our hope in the glory of God. This is not a boast about something we have done, rather it is a boast about something God has done. It is similar to boasting about a sports team we root for, not boasting to the fans of other teams, but to those who we believe are, or should be, fans of our team. In the same way we should boast to those around us about what God has done, in order to convince them that they should be rooting for God’s team. To continue the sports metaphor, there are times when we look at a successful team that we say that a particular player “put the team on his back and carried them to victory.” One of the things that is meant by that statement is that the star player played so well and so hard that it did not matter that the other players on the team were not really good enough to deserve being in the championship game, let alone win it. This is sort of what it’s like to be on God’s team. We do not have what it takes to win righteousness, but, unlike in the sports metaphor, God does. God is able to carry us over the line to victory and give us righteousness despite our utter inability to even play the game, let alone being able to win.
***
I could stop right there, because that is the main message for me today. However, Paul says something else that I think we need to pay attention to in today’s passage. Paul says that we should not just endure suffering, but glory in it. We should embrace suffering. Why should we embrace suffering? Because suffering teaches us both how to persevere and to actually do so. But perseverance is not the product we are after. Perseverance develops character. When we persevere, we learn to behave in ways that make our character better. But even yet we are not at the goal. The goal is not to have good character (although that is a good thing). No, the goal is to have hope. As we develop character, we learn to have hope. And not just any hope, but hope in God. Our hope in God will not be disappointed. We know this is the case because we know that God loves us. We know that God loves us because God fills us with His Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with God’s love (both for us and for others).

Psalm 14:1-7

This psalm starts off with a beginning statement that is one of my favorites.

Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
The NIV translation contains a note which says that the Hebrew word translated as “fool’ denotes someone who is morally deficient. People choose to deny that there is a God because they wish to do things for which they know God would hold them accountable. The thing that makes them fools is that these actions cause as much harm to those who do them as they do to others. The psalmist goes on to ask if the wicked will ever learn? People suffer the consequences of doing evil and fail to recognize that it was their own actions which caused their troubles. Rather than change their ways, they continue to do things which will cause them pain. Those who continue to do evil will find themselves gripped by terror, but God will be with the righteous (and we learned in the passage from Romans, that those are those who have faith in Jesus).
The psalmist tells us: All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
This reinforces the message which I have seen in the passages from Romans over the last few days. We do not earn our salvation by doing good, because none of us is capable of doing good.

Proverbs 19:17

Something to always remember:

If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—
and he will repay you!
God always pays back His loans in full!

Daily Bible Study

July 17, 2013 Bible Study — I Have Nothing To Boast About

July 16, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 24-26:11

Today’s passage is a list of the groups which David divided the priests and Levites into in order to assign them their duties. The various groups were assigned their duties by the casting of lots so that no preference was shown for one group over another.

Romans 4:1-12

Paul continues on his theme about salvation through faith by pointing to the example of Abraham, who was viewed by the Jews as their forefather. Paul points out that the Scripture tells us that Abraham was counted as righteous because of his faith, before Abraham was circumcised. Circumcision, rather than being a source of Abraham’s righteousness, was a sign of Abraham’s righteousness, a product of that righteousness. Paul concludes that Abraham was the spiritual father not of those who were circumcised, but of those to whom righteousness is credited because they believe.

***
Once more Paul very subtly tells us that we act because of the righteousness we have received, not in order to receive that righteousness. We receive righteousness through our faith in Jesus Christ. Once we have received that righteousness, we begin to act according to God’s will as a result of receiving that righteousness. Paul points out that not even Abraham was in a position to boast about what he had done in service to God. If Abraham was not in a position to boast about what he had done in service to God, then no one is.

Psalm 13:1-6

The psalmist asks God how long God will allow him to suffer, how long God will allow his enemy to have the upper hand? Yet, even though it is clear that the psalmist is feeling like God has abandoned him, the psalmist makes known that he has faith that God will rescue him. The psalmist trusts the Lord and acknowledges that the Lord has already done good for him. When times seem difficult and God seems far away, I will still trust in Him, because He has rescued me in the past and I know that He will rescue me again. God does not rescue me because I am good. He rescues me because He is good.

Proverbs 19:15-16

Today’s proverbs sum up two basic truths. If you are too lazy to work when there is work to be done, you will experience hunger. If you keep God’s commandments, you will have a happy healthy life. If you break them you will experience suffering and death.

Daily Bible Study

July 16, 2013 Bible Study — All Have Sinned

July 15, 2013 AttilaDimedici Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 22-23:32

David decided that the place where the threshing floor of Araunah had been would be the place that the Temple of God would be built. He then gathered materials to be used in the construction of the Temple. Because he thought that Solomon would be young and inexperienced when he became king and David wanted the Temple to be grand and magnificent, David began making plans for the Temple. He instructed Solomon on building the Temple. David said to Solomon that God has told him, David, not to build the Temple because he had shed the blood of too many people. Rather David was to leave the building of the Temple to Solomon, who would reign in peace. David then gave orders to all of the leaders of Israel to assist Solomon in building the Temple.
David took a census of the Levites and assigned them to one of three divisions based on the clans descended from the three sons of Levi. He assigned the majority of the Levites to the task of supervising the work at the Temple. A second smaller division was to serve as officials and judges. The third division was divided between those who were to be gatekeepers and those who were to be musicians praising the Lord. David did this shortly before he arranged for Solomon to be crowned to take the throne in his place.

Romans 3:9-31

Having stated that there are benefits to being a Jew and to being circumcised, Paul asks if this means that Jews are better than other people. He answers his own question by saying resoundingly no. Paul tells us that all, both Jew and Gentile, are equally under the power of sin. He quotes several psalms in order to support this claim, pointing out that the psalmist tells us that:

No one is righteous—
not even one.
…
All have turned away;
Paul continues by telling us that the purpose of the law is to make us aware of our sin, no one can be made righteous by the works of the law because no one can keep it in its entirety.
From there, Paul explains that God has now revealed the way to be made right with Him, without keeping every last requirement of the Law. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. The Law and the prophets told us that this was coming. It applies to all who are willing to believe. Everyone has sinned and we all fall short of God’s standard. God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin and thus freed us from the power of sin. God will declare any sinner righteous who is willing to believe in and rely on Jesus for their righteousness. This means that our righteousness gives us no basis to boast, or to claim to be superior to someone else, because it is not based on anything we have done. It is something we receive solely on the basis of our faith in Jesus. However, this does not mean that we ignore God’s law. It is only as an expression of our faith that we are truly able to fulfill the law.
***
There are two lessons that Paul is attempting to teach in this passage. The first is that we do not have any basis for considering ourselves better than someone else. There is no way that we have lived i\up to God’s standard well enough to be able to say to someone else, “Well, at least I didn’t do that!” Every one of us has something in our life that other people, no matter how steeped in evil they may seem, can point to and say the very same thing about us. no matter how hard we have tried, we have failed to meet the standard which God has set for us. Nevertheless, God has given each one of us the option of accepting His free gift of His righteousness. Which brings us to the second lesson Paul is teaching in this passage. Once we have accepted God’s gift of righteousness, we will be inspired to do God’s will by living a life faithful to God’s commands.

Psalm 12:1-8

This psalm is a psalm of hope in a day when its opening line once more seems to be coming true.

Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!
The faithful have vanished from the earth!
The psalmist tells us that the Lord has seen the violence done to the helpless and He will rise up and rescue them. The wicked may strut around displaying pride in their wickedness and evil may be praised throughout the land, but God will keep the needy safe and protect them from the wicked.

Proverbs 19:13-14

Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth,
but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.

I will not attempt to add anything to this, except to say that I have been blessed by God.

Fact and Fantasy

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