For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    If you are invited to eat by someone who is stingy, they will be constantly thinking about whether they are getting a return on the money they spent for the meal. As a result neither you nor they will enjoy the meal or the time you spend together.

    The psalmist once more discusses how to react when enemies and problems seem about to overwhelm. When we are afraid, let us put our trust in the Lord. If we put our trust in the Lord, we will have nothing to fear. God has promised to take care of us, what can any mortal do? The answer is that no human can do anything which goes against what God wills for us and God has promised that all will work together for good for those who love Him. So, let us put our trust in Him and have no fear, no matter how threatening the future may seem.

    I struggle with putting into words the meaning I see in this passage. Paul was confronting the Corinthians over their acceptance of men who taught things contrary to what Paul had taught them. These other men, these “super apostles”, were apparently polished speakers who benefited from money raised by the Corinthian Church. Yet they apparently accused Paul of being a trickster and a fraud. When someone is busy telling you what a terrible person their rival is, especially when the rivalry starts from the side of the person talking bad about the other, watch their actions closely, they are more likely to be doing what they accuse others of than are the people they accuse. Paul points out that despite the fact that he was being accused of trickery, there were no actual examples of ways in which he tricked them.

    Unjust judges and oppressive rulers will suffer for their sins. Those who deprive the poor of judgement, deny the rights of the poor, prey on widows, and take advantage of the fatherless will find themselves in need of aid. When that day arrives, they will find no one willing to aid them. God will raise up a leader to strike them down and make them suffer in the same way that they made others suffer. Yet this leader, and the people he leads, will not recognize that all of his victories are a gift from God. As a result they will commit the same sorts of evil which they had been raised up to punish. When in their hubris they claim the right and ability to act against those who truly serve the Lord, God will show them the limits of their might and bring them down.