For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Today is Christmas Day. Merry Christmas!

    Just because someone struts about and acts as if he is powerful does not mean that he is someone to be admired. However, those who do so should be treated with caution since they can be dangerous.

    If we trust in God, He will train us to fight the battles He wishes us to fight. Let us remember to take refuge in God and only fight the battles He directs us to fight. Let us trust Him to fight any other battle which may come our way. We are such little things in this large Universe, yet God sent His Son to save us. I will praise God for all that He has done for me.

    In John’s vision the seven angels pour out the plagues upon the earth one by one and things go from bad to worse. But, instead of repenting of their sins and turning to God the people cursed God and blamed Him for their suffering. As things got worse the leaders of the people of the world joined forces to make war on God. As I read this passage it reminds me of many people today. When things go wrong, they blame God (even while claiming that they do not believe that He exists). Rather than change the behaviors which led to their problems, they blame those who point out that God warned them of those consequences. In their minds, it is God who is evil for telling them that if they continue to sin bad things will happen, things they will not like.
    Today as we celebrate Christ’s birth let us remember that God offered His Son to suffer those consequences with us and show us that if we are willing to turn from our sin, good can come out of our suffering.

    Zechariah receives another message as a follow up to the one he gave in response to those asking if they should continue to fast and mourn in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple. Zechariah’s new message is that the fasts and mourning they had been practicing should now turn to celebrations. God was determined to bless Jerusalem. This blessing is going to happen. However, in order to experience this blessing the Jewish people need to do some things. When the people of any nation act similarly, they will receive similar blessings.
    Here is the key for any nation to experience God’s blessing. The people of that nation must speak the truth. Their courts must render true and sound judgments. They must not scheme against each other, no more seeking to gain advantage by cheating/misleading others. They must stop thinking it demonstrates cleverness to swear that a lie is the truth. I will state that I believe that a nation whose people follow these instructions will find themselves on the path to economic prosperity. Running counter to these instructions leads to an economic collapse.