Thirteen years ago today my wife and I got married. So far, God has given us thirteen years together. Not all of that time has been great, but I would not trade any of it. I continue to thank God every morning for the wife He has given me and I am grateful to her for marrying me.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
The poor and needy will search for their basic needs and not be able to find them. However, God knows of their need and will provide for them. Those who see what God has done will praise His name for His miraculous love. I am not going to try and summarize this passage as I often do, there is just too much in it. Rather I am going to pull out segments that speak to me today. I will. however, strongly encourage anyone reading this to go and read the entire passage, because there are more beautiful portions to it than I am going to touch on.
The prophet tells us that God’s chosen one will not shout or raise His voice in public. However, He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. I think this is a model we should attempt to emulate. I want to strive to remain calm and explain what I believe in a quiet, rational voice. When I disagree with others, I do not want to shout them down, rather I want to calmly explain why I disagree. I believe that this is part of my calling from God, to be a calming and steadying influence. I do not always succeed. Sometimes I allow my passions to overcome me, but I have observed that I am at my most effective when I remain calm. It is my ambition to leave the forceful overwhelming of opposition to God.
I do not want to be one of those who sees, but does not pay attention, or hears, but does not listen. When God speaks to me, I want to pay attention. I do not want God to get out the “two by four” to get my attention by smacking me upside the head. I will not be afraid for I know that God is with me.
No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.
No one can undo what I have done.”
We all used to be dead in our sins, obeying Satan as his servants. We, like everyone else, was deserving of God’s anger. But God, because of His great love, gave us life through Christ’s death and resurrection. Our salvation from death and despair came about by God’s gift and had nothing to do with anything we ourselves had done, or will do. We have been saved from sin and transformed by God’s grace so that we can now do the good and holy things which He planned for us. We are not save because we do good things. We do good things because we are saved.
We as humans have a tendency to divide ourselves into groups. We attempt to make ourselves part of a group where some people are on the inside and are the “good” people while others are on the outside and are “bad” people. Christ came into the world to destroy those divisions. Christ came to break down the walls between us and make us all one people by reconciling us to God. If we wish to be part of God’s Temple, we must allow Him to put our hostility others to death on the cross with Christ. That is the hostility towards others because they are part of “that” group and the hostility towards others because they cut us off in traffic. God loved us when we were hostile to Him and acted to reconcile us with Him. We are called to act in a similar manner.
There is a phrase in this psalm that I wish to make my prayer:
your saving power among people everywhere.
I desire that everyone on earth praise God. The more people who turn to God to serve and worship Him, the less poverty and misfortune there will be in the world.
Those who drink to excess will find many troubles.