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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Today I read the book of Nahum. The prophet Nahum prophesies the downfall of Nineveh. The prophet tells us that God is slow to get angry, but He never fails to punish the guilty. None can stand against God’s anger or survive His fury. Yet, even so, He is a refuge when trouble comes and will protect those who trust in Him. The prophet asks Nineveh if it is any better than Thebes. He then answers the question in the negative. He tells us of how well defended the city of Thebes was, yet it fell to conquest. The same is going to happen to Nineveh. No nation will survive once it has aroused God’s anger against it.
Finally the Lamb that was slain opens the seventh seal on the scroll. Its opening was followed by about a half hour of silence. Seven angels were given seven trumpets. Another angel with an incense burner came before the altar. He burned incense before God. The smoke from the incense mixed with the prayers of God’s people and together the smoke and the prayers ascended up to God. Let us take note of this, our prayers are a pleasant aroma before God. I will strive to offer them more and work to avoid having them bear the stench of rotting flesh that is selfish desires.
Today’s passage only covers the sounding of the first four trumpets. After the first, one-third of the earth is set on fire. After the second, one-third of the sea turns to blood and a third of the things living in it died. After the third, one-third of the fresh water became poisoned and many people died from drinking it. After the fourth, one-third of the sun, the moon and the stars went dark. There is a common theme here, one-third of the world is destroyed by each of these. Yet even after the destruction and terror of these four happenings there is a warning of greater terror to come from the last three trumpets.
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever. This psalm reminds us to consider all of the mighty and beneficent things God has done and to give Him thanks for them. In light of last Friday’s tragedy, this is an important reminder to us. God’s love does endure forever, even after an event like that. I will remember the good things God has done for me (some of which did not feel so good at the time, but were necessary) and I will thank and praise Him.
The writer of today’s passage in Proverbs makes two very powerful requests to God. First, he asks God to help him to never tell a lie. Last night I was challenged on this by someone who did not even know they were doing it. A friend of mine was talking about interacting with someone who comes from the same religious background I do. He talked about how the person was very precise in the words he used, making sure that the meaning was clear. He said that it reminded him of me. I was both flattered and challenged because I knew from the conversation that my friend was impressed by the insistence of this person on complete honesty, that he would not even accept someone else lying on his behalf. I will strive once more, with God’s help, to never tell a lie, neither directly nor by omission.
The second request is interesting. He asks God to give him neither poverty nor riches, but rather just enough to meet his needs. He writes that if he becomes too rich, he may deny God believing that he can rely on his wealth. On the other hand, if he becomes too poor, he may steal or otherwise insult God’s holy name. I am glad to be reminded of this as well. It has long been my take on life, but sometimes the desire for more comes upon me. I pray to God that He grant me peace with enough to meet my needs.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Micah tells us that after a ruler of Israel is born in Bethlehem, the people of Israel will stand up to their foes and their enemies will be wiped out. It is a passage that helps us understand why the Jews of Jesus day were expecting a Messiah who would lead them to military victory. But in the very next segment God says that He will destroy their military, both offense and defense. He says that He will get rid of witchcraft and fortune-tellers, idols and idolatrous shrines. God promises in that day to pour out His vengeance on nations that refuse to obey Him.
The prophet asks what kind of sacrifice we should bring to God. He suggests several expensive sacrifices and even the sacrifice of our first born children, then he rejects them. He tells us that God has told us what He requires of us. God does not want the sacrifices of material goods, or of our children. He wants us to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him. Then the prophet turns his attention back to what the people are actually doing. He tells them that their homes are filled with treasures gained by cheating, that merchants use dishonest measures and scales, the rich gained their wealth using extortion and violence, and even the common people are so used to lying that they can no longer tell the truth. For all of this God is going to bring judgment.
Then Micah tells us how to face the times of judgment that are coming. He tells us to look to God for help, to confidently await the Lord’s salvation because it will come. If we fall, God will raise us up. If we are in darkness, God will be our light. We should patiently endure God’s punishment because we have sinned against Him. God will bring us into His light and righteousness. He will lift us up and we will see the day of His power. God will do mighty miracles for us and through us. The world will stand amazed at the power of God.
The writer saw four angels preparing to unleash destruction upon the earth. A fifth angel told them to wait until the seal of God was placed on those serving Him upon the earth. The writer tells us that 144,000 were marked from all the tribes of Israel. I do not understand the meaning of this passage, except that it indicates that those who are faithful before God will be marked and set aside from the judgment God is bringing.
After this, he saw a crowd to large to count standing before God praising Him. This crowd came from every tribe, nation, people and language. They are people who came out of the great suffering to stand before God. They washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb to make them white. No matter what we go through in this life, if we are faithful the day will come when we will stand before God and He will take away our hunger and thirst. The Lamb will lead us to springs of life-giving water and God will wipe away our tears. What a wonderful day that will be!
I will praise the Lord because He has given me the honor of serving Him. All other objects of worship are mere things. Nothing else compares to God and the mighty things He has done. I will praise God because He lives here in my heart and life.
The New Living Translation translates this proverb as “Every word of God is true.” The New American Standard Bible translates that as “Every word of God is tested.” The New International Version translates it as “Every word of God is flawless.” However, the translation I like best is the Common English Bible. It translates this as, “All God’s words are tried and true.” None of these translations contradict each other, but they each have slightly different connotations. The way the Common English Bible translates the next phrase fits it in with this first phrase the best as well.
“All God’s words are tried and true;
a shield for those who take refuge in him.”
If we take shelter in God, His words will provide us with a shield against assaults on our faith and our self-image (that’s not quite the word I am trying to get at there, but its close enough).
All of the translations agree that we should not attempt to pass our own words and thoughts off as God’s. If we do not follow that advice God will rebuke us and reveal us as liars. Again I like the Common English Bible translation best because it says that God will correct us. This reminds us that sometimes we convince ourselves that our words are God’s words and warns us against that as well. We should never place our own thoughts and words on an equal plane with those of God, whether in our own minds or in an attempt to mislead others.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
I read the first four chapters of Micah today. Micah speaks of mountains melting like wax in a fire beneath the feet of God as He comes in judgment. He tells us that God is bringing this judgment because of the rebellion of the nation of Israel. The prophet then lays the blame for Israel’s sin on Samaria, its capital. He goes further and says that Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, is the center of the Kingdom of Judah’s idolatry. This tells us something important. The corruption and idolatry of a nation spreads out from its capital. An entire nation only becomes corrupt and sinful when its government leaders are corrupt and sinful. Micah tells us that God is going to bring judgment on all of Israel and Judah, but it will focus on Samaria and Jerusalem because they are disproportionately guilty.
Micah goes on to condemn those who concoct evil plans. He speaks of people who carry out evil plans to oppress others, simply because they have the power to do so. The people told Micah that he should not say such things, that his prophesies of doom would not take place. He responded that if they did what was right, they would find his prophesies comforting. They do not find his words comforting because they are stealing the shirts off of the backs of those who trust them. They are evicting women from their pleasant homes. God is about to repay them by evicting them from the land. The people of the land are looking for a prophet who will tell them of the joys of partying. Does this not sound like the people of the U.S. and most of Western Civilization? Micah is telling these people that judgment is coming. Yet there is an important point we should make note of, the prophet also says that those who are doing right will be comforted by his words that God is coming. If we strive to do right, we need not fear the coming of the Lord.
Micah goes on to specifically condemn the government leaders. He says that they love evil and hate good. They claim to speak on behalf of God, yet protect those who offer them bribes from prosecution for their crimes and launch unjustified attacks against those who oppose their policies. They use their positions of power to personally profit at the expense of their responsibilities, yet claim that God will defend them because they do right. Micah tells them that they are mistaken, that God is going to bring judgment against them and justice for those they have oppressed.
The prophet tells us that in the last days, God will rule the earth from Jerusalem, settling disputes between nations. He tells us that in that day, people will turn their weapons into farm implements and nations will not go to war against each other. In that day. everyone will live in prosperity, enjoying the fruits of their own labors. This is a wonderful vision of some future time, but what does the prophet tell us of the preconditions for this day to come to pass. He tells us that people from many nations will say “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, so that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths” (my paraphrase). God promises that this day will come to pass. In the meantime, we are called to seek out the Lord so that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths. The nations and peoples around me may worship after idols of all sorts, but I shall follow the Lord God.
In today’s passage the writer describes what happened in his vision when the Lamb broke the first six of the seven seals on the scroll which He had taken from the hand of God. With each of the first four seals a horse with a rider appears and is given authority over the earth. The first is on a white horse and is a conqueror. The second is on a red horse and is a creator of conflict and war. The third is on a black horse and creates food shortages, but not of everything only shortages of basic staples not of luxury foods. The fourth is on a pale (The New Living Translation says “pale green) horse and is named Death. Death is given authority over one quarter of all living things on the earth. In common understanding the four horsemen are often viewed as War, Famine, Pestilence and Death, yet that is not consistent with what is actually written here. The first rider is not an omen of death and destruction. Rather it appears to represent the spread of the Gospel.
It is worth noting that the four horsemen do not ride out together, but rather one after the other. There is a lot of thought that can be given into the meaning of each of these horsemen and perhaps another day I will do a post on just those four. But after the fourth seal is broken and Death rides forth, the fifth seal is broken. When the fifth seal is broken the writer saw the souls of those who had been martyred for being faithful to the word of God. These souls called out to God asking how much longer He would allow such persecution to go on. The answer they were given was to wait a short while longer until the fullness of their number had been reached. Then the sixth seal was broken and there was a great earthquake. At the same time as the earthquake we are told that the sky was rolled up like a scroll and all the mountains and islands were moved from their places. When that happened everyone, from the greatest to the least, hid themselves from the wrath of God. This vision is clearly figurative (the sky is not actually something that can be rolled up like a scroll), but is it a figurative description of great destruction of this earth, or of something else. Personally, I think it is a figurative description of the destruction of the earth at some future date. However, I think the most important part about this is the image that all people will one day face the judgment of God and that that is a terrifying experience. No matter how important you are (or think you are), no matter how powerful you are, you will face God’s judgment with no hope of withstanding it. On the other hand, no matter how insignificant you are, how unimportant your actions have been, you, also, will face God’s judgment with no hope of being overlooked. One day, all will stand before God and He will judge our actions. We will not come through that judgment on our merits. Only through the grace of God will we escape eternal torment. If we attempt to defend our actions we will be shown that there is no defense. Only by recognizing that we are no better than the most evil person who has ever lived and throwing ourselves on God’s mercy will we be spared that fate.
Let us not forget to praise the Lord as we serve Him. I will always praise the Lord for the opportunity to serve Him. Sometimes I feel like the service I am called to is a burden. Even when I do, I will strive to praise the Lord. I know that if I make the effort to praise the Lord for the opportunity to serve Him, even when it feels like a burden, doing so will make the burden seem lighter. I will pray that the Lord bless those who are serving the Lord in ways that I would find burdensome (or at least that I think I would find burdensome).
The writer of today’s proverbs tells us that he is tired and worn out. He admits that he is not very bright, nor does he consider himself wise. Then he asks a question of those who think they are smarter and wiser than he. He asks them to name the person who has gone up to heaven and come down again. Surely if they are so wise they can tell them who it was who gave them their knowledge and wisdom. If your knowledge does not include God, perhaps you do not know as much as you think you do. If your wisdom does not come from God, you are not very wise.
Once again I am reminded of the story in the Gospel of John of the man born blind. After he had received his sight the Jewish leaders questioned him. They did not like his answers and attempted to use the prestige of their positions and learning to intimidate him into changing his testimony. His response was “I don’t know. All I know is that I was born blind and now I see.” Let this be our testimony. When confronted by unbelievers, I do not wish to try and convince them with my brilliant logic, or overpowering wisdom (well, OK, I do, but I have learned that it never works). I strive to offer my testimony of what God has done in my life and pray that the Holy Spirit opens their eyes and convicts them.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Today I read the book of Jonah. I am not used to this. Most of the time when we look at the book of Jonah we either look at the first part where he runs from the Lord’s command, is cast into the sea and swallowed by a very large fish, or we look at the second part of the book where he prophecies in Nineveh, they repent, and Jonah gets angry and sulks when God withdraws His judgment against Nineveh.
The story starts with God calling Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophecy that God is going to bring judgment against it because of its wickedness. Now we do not know when this took place, but it is reasonable to believe that it took place while Nineveh, as the capital of the Assyrian Empire, was at the height of its powers and represented the primary threat to Israel and Judah. Jonah did not want to go and warn them of God’s coming judgment because he wanted God to bring destruction upon them. So, in order to avoid giving them warning, Jonah not only refused to go to Nineveh, he decided to get as far away from them as possible. “God, you can’t expect me to go to Nineveh now. I’m all the way over here in Tarshish.” I am sure you know times when you were sure that God could not mean for you to do whatever it was you were being convicted to do because it was such an inconvenience to do so. I think there are two messages from the book of Jonah. The first message is that, yes, God does mean for you to do that even if it is inconvenient. The second is that God will make His will perfectly clear. Of course, if we are stubborn the way Jonah was, we will not like the results of God making His will clear.
When Jonah fled, he got on a ship sailing for Tarshish. We are not exactly sure where Tarshish was, but it was the farthest place that anyone in Israel could think of at that time. God raised a violent storm against the ship, a storm so violent that the sailors were afraid for their lives, nevertheless Jonah slept through the storm. The ship’s captain woke him up to demand that he pray to his god for a calm in the storm. When the storm did not calm, the sailors cast lots to determine who on board had offended the gods. The lot fell to Jonah. They immediately wanted to know who he was and what god he worshiped. Jonah told them that he worshiped the God who had made the sea and the land. He then told them to throw him into the sea. When the sailors finally gave up on their own efforts to escape the storm and threw Jonah into the sea the storm stopped at once. They were struck by God’s power and vowed to serve Him. Notice that even in the midst of Jonah trying to avoid God’s will, God used him to touch the lives of those around him and to bring them to following the Lord. When Jonah entered the water, he was immediately swallowed by a great fish. We have no idea what kind of fish it was, nor how Jonah was able to survive three days inside of it, because neither of those things are part of the point of the story.
While inside the fish, Jonah prayed to God and rededicated himself to doing God’s will. God had the fish spit Jonah out onto the beach. God then once more called Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophecy His judgment against that city. This time Jonah obeyed. He went to Nineveh and prophesied that in forty days God was going to destroy Nineveh. When the people of Nineveh heard Jonah’s prophecy, they declared a fast and dressed in plain, somewhat uncomfortable clothes to show their remorse. Even the king of Nineveh got off of his throne and did this. The king called for people to turn from their sins and violence in the hope that God might turn aside His anger. When God saw their sorrow and repentance, He chose not to destroy them.
Jonah was furious with God for sparing Nineveh. He had run away to Tarshish in the first place because he was afraid that God would change His mind and not destroy Nineveh. I see two things here. One, Jonah was upset because he really wanted God to destroy Nineveh. That is bad enough, but the second was that part of the reason he wanted God to destroy Nineveh was because he had told them that God was going to. Jonah was upset because what he had prophesied did not come to pass. He was not grateful that the people had heard his message, repented and been spared the terrible judgment. Rather he was upset because he felt that he looked like a fool, he had said that Nineveh would be destroyed and it did not happen. He had not preached God’s word in the hopes that people would listen and turn from their sin. He had preached God’s word out of a sense of satisfaction of telling people how wrong they were and how much they would suffer for it.
There are two overall lessons here. When God calls us, He will make His call clear, but we had better not pretend that we do not understand His call after it is clear because we will not like what God does to convince us to follow His will. The other lesson is that we should always seek to turn people away from their sin and towards following God, even when we think they deserve the judgment we see coming to them if they do not change their ways.
Nativity Scene At First United Methodist Church In Perkasie
The writer of Revelation tells us in this passage that he saw a scroll in the hand of the one sitting on the throne of Heaven. The scroll was sealed. An angel cried out asking if anyone was worthy to open the scroll, but no one was found who could open the scroll. The writer was heartbroken because no one was found worthy to open the scroll. At that moment he was told that the Lion of Judah had been found worthy to open the scroll and when he looked he saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slain. This is an interesting juxtaposition. He was told that the Lion was worthy to open the scroll because it had been victorious, yet when he looked, he saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slain. A lamb is usually considered as the opposite of a lion. A lion is considered an apex predator, that is something that nothing else preys upon. A lamb on the other hand is among the most vulnerable of all prey animals. Here we are told that not only is a lamb the victorious lion, but a lamb that has been slain. This disrupts our entire understanding of power dynamics. When the Lamb stepped forward and took the scroll, the beings that were in the presence of God changed their song and began praising the Lamb. They sang that the Lamb had ransomed people from every possible division of people to become the people of God. This is an important message. Think of all of the things that divide us from one another, tribe, nation, ethnic background, the language we speak, the culture we grew up in, this passage is telling us that Jesus has claimed someone, or multiple someones from each of those groups to be part of the people of God. From all of these divisions, Jesus has brought people to be priests before God, priests who will rule over the earth. None of us represent a group that has special dispensation to consider itself better than others because all are equally dependent upon Jesus to become the people of God.
People seek the favor of those who rule, but justice comes from God. We can tell a lot about people by who they dislike. The righteous dislike the unjust, while the wicked dislike the godly.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Today’s reading is the book of Obadiah. The entire book is a prophecy against Edom. The prophet told Edom that they would be completely wiped out as a people and a nation. The people of Edom were sure that they were safe because they had a fortress city that was difficult to gain access to. The prophet told them that God was sending the nations against them and they would be rooted out completely. Their allies and those they trusted as friends would turn against them and assist in their destruction. Then the prophet gave the reason for Edom’s destruction. Edom would be destroyed because they stood aside and refused to help when Israel and Judah were invaded. Worse than that they gloated over the suffering of the Jewish people. The people of Edom went beyond that and took advantage of the suffering of the Jewish people in order to profit from it. They blocked the attempt of the Jewish people to flee the destruction, killing some of those who fled and capturing the rest and turning them over to their enemies. The prophet tells us for this sin Edom would be destroyed, but not only Edom, all of the surrounding nations that chose to profit from the destruction of Israel and Judah, rather than aid them, would be destroyed.
There is a lesson for today. Those nations which stand aside and watch the persecution of the Jewish people will suffer for it, especially when they look for ways they can profit from it. I do not think it is limited to the persecution and suffering of the Jewish people. Those who stand aside and watch while others suffer, looking for ways to profit from that suffering, will face God’s judgment. The day is coming when those who, rather than attempt to alleviate the suffering of others, have chosen to attempt to profit from it will see God’s judgment fall upon them. There is another side to this. Those who instead choose to aid those who are suffering and attempt to protect those being persecuted will be blessed. Let us strive to be among the latter rather than the former.
Here the writer gives a description of the throne room of heaven. He describes it as a glorious, beautiful place that is full of light in many different colors. He tells us that twenty four elders sit on thrones surrounding the throne of God. In addition, he describes four beings similar to those described by Ezekiel. He describes a time of intense, joyous worship of God. It does not sound very exciting, unless you have ever been in a worship service where you got fully caught up in the worship experience. Then you will have an idea what the writer is describing. He is describing a time and place where all of your senses are contributing to an experience of worship that transcends this physical world. Having occasionally experienced such worship on this earth, I can imagine that it must be overwhelmingly joyous in heaven. I have been trying to phrase this because I believe that the visual picture drawn here does not come close to doing justice to what the writer saw in his vision.
Nativity Scene At First United Methodist Church of Perkasie
The psalmist tells us that David promised to find a place to build the house of the Lord. Will we dedicate ourselves to finding a place in our hearts to build a house for the Lord? I will not rest, I will not sleep until I find a place in my heart to build a house for the Lord. There I will worship before the Lord and give my whole life to Him. Let me remember to do all that I do for the honor of God. Help me to extend the house I have built in my heart for God until it swallows up my entire being.
If you assist those who do wrong, you will do yourself more harm than any gain you might get. Put your trust in the Lord and do not fear people. The Lord will protect and care for you.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Amos has two visions of destruction. After each one he pleads with God not to do it. In each case, God responds to Amos’ plea and tells Amos that He will not bring about that destruction. Then God gives Amos a vision showing God measuring a wall with a plumb line to see if it was straight (from top to bottom, not as it ran along the ground). God told Amos that He would measure Israel with a plumb line to see if they were righteous. He told Amos that He would no longer ignore Israel’s sin. God was going to bring Jeroboam’s dynasty to an abrupt end. How do we measure up against the plumb line of righteousness? Do we stand straight, or are we crooked?
Amos utters a prophecy against those who rob the poor. He says that they are impatient for the end of Sabbath days and religious festivals so that they can get back to cheating the poor. They use dishonest measures and fixed scales. They adulterate food with things that are harmful to health. God told Amos that He was going to bring a time of judgment on them. He was going to bring famine on the land, but not famine of food. Rather God was going to bring a famine of His word. People will search for the word of the Lord and be unable to find it. When I read this I thought of all the businesses today that do not think they can be closed on Sunday, or on Holidays. I think of the stores that opened on Thanksgiving Day to get a jump on Christmas sales. Then I thought about how many places where you used to get exposed to God’s word in this country where it is no longer allowed. We regularly hear stories about a school forbidding a student to talk about God. I regularly hear trained ministers and leaders in Church bodies who deny the validity of some, or all, of scripture. In many ways we have a famine of God’s word in our country today. There are many seeking to find God’s word who are having trouble finding it. Let us plant a new crop and water it with prayer.
Today I read the messages to the last two of the seven churches. The message to the church in Philadelphia begins by saying that it is from the one who has the key of David. What He opens cannot be closed, what he closes cannot be opened. The church in Philadelphia is told that God (or Christ, in this passage it makes no difference) has opened a door for them that no one can close. He knows that they have little strength, yet even so they have obeyed God’s word and remained faithful. They are commended for persevering and told that for this they will be spared from the coming time of great testing. Do I persevere despite my weakness? Do I acknowledge that I am weak? I pray to God that He grant me the strength to persevere. I strive to acknowledge that I am weak, that my only hope to hold on is for God to give me strength. Let me see the door that God has opened for me and go through it in order to serve Him.
The final message is to the Church in Laodicea. It is in many ways the most scathing and probably the most applicable to the church in the U.S.. They are condemned for being neither hot nor cold, for being indifferent. They are a rich church that is convinced that they have all they need. This sounds like all too many Christians in the U.S., myself included. All too often I allow my Christian walk to become stale. Let me turn from my tendency to indifference so that I may become an enthusiastic disciple of Christ. Either a burning hot coal that sets hearts on fire for Him, or a cool drink of water that provides refreshment and relief to those who are suffering. I know that He is standing at the door and knocking, I will open it and let Him in. I will let Christ take over my life and use me to His ends.
Let me follow the example of the psalmist and not be proud or haughty. Let me not concern myself with matters great and awesome. Rather I ask that God calm and quiet me as a child weaned from its mother’s milk. Prepare me, my Lord, to eat the meat of instruction that You put before me. Teach me to follow in Your ways and undertake the tasks which You give me. I will put my hope in the Lord.
What a perfect proverb to follow up on today’s psalm. If we are proud, we will be humiliated. Instead let us humbly acknowledge our limitations so that we may be honored.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
The prophet began today’s passage by condemning rich women who used their position of power and influence to oppress the poor. Women who are demanding more stuff from their husbands. He goes on to condemn those who are self-righteous, who make regular offerings and brag about their offerings over and above the “default”. I do not think the first part is necessarily just about women. I think it applies to anyone who thinks that they are deserving of being treated well because they have wealth that was acquired for them by someone else. This passage is about those who think that because they follow religious rituals they are holy, better than others and therefore can abuse those others who are clearly less holy than themselves. This is a condemnation of those who think they are righteous because they give thousands of dollars to charity, yet have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on themselves. Someone recently said that God does not measure our giving by how much we give, rather he measures it by how much we spend on ourselves. I think that that can be abused as well, but it is a good starting point to think about giving.
Amos tells us that God had sent disasters, natural and otherwise, against Israel to call them back to Him, but they had ignored them and refused to repent of their sins. God showed the people the results of their sins and they still refused to turn to Him. Reading this passage reminds me of what I have seen in my lifetime and how for the most part people are continuing to turn away from God despite what should be warnings and calls to return to Him. We have had Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. We have had the Columbine shootings, the Aurora movie theater shootings, the 911 attacks. We have had SARS, Mad Cow disease and AIDS. After each of these hits the news, there has been a short upswing in interest in God, but it quickly fades away and people return to their sinful lifestyles with a vengeance, laughing off anyone who makes a connection between these tragedies and sin (even when as in AIDS the correlation is pretty direct).
The prophet tells us that now is the time to repent and turn back to God, away from our sinful and unjust behaviors. God does not want our hymns of praise and assemblies of worship, he wants us to seek justice and to care for the poor. Now is the time for us to pray and fast, to seek to serve the Lord in whatever way that He calls us. We need to turn away from religious behaviors that are just for show and seek to take those righteous actions which help those in need. Let us seek the Lord with all of our hearts. We need to fast and pray, not for our country, but for people. How may the Lord’s will be best accomplished in this world? We should pray neither for the continued strength of the U.S. (or any other nation), nor for its downfall (or that of any other nation). Rather we should pray that the people of the U.S., and of every nation, turn to God and repent of their sins. Jesus said that His Kingdom is not of this world and we should always remember that no nation on this earth is God’s Kingdom.
Today, I read the messages to the next two of the seven churches. The church in Thyatira was commended for its love, faith, service and patient endurance. It was, however, reprimanded for permitting a woman who called herself a prophet to lead some believers astray with her teachings of sexual immorality and participation in pagan rituals. A severe judgment is declared against those who follow her teachings and fail to repent. The message continues by praising those who have not followed these teachings of “deeper truths” and asking nothing more of them than that they continue to hold tightly to the truths of the Gospel. There is a clue in this passage about how to recognize false teachings. The false teaching being condemned here claimed to be a “deeper truth”, something that was not known to the common believer. This is a common theme in many false teachings, they provide “secret” knowledge, or some other means by which those who follow them are separated out as special from others. But the message of the Gospel is that we are all the children of God and loved by Him. Anyone who turns to Him and seeks fellowship with Him will not be turned away.
Next is the message to the church in Sardis. It has a reputation for being a strong and vibrant congregation, but the message tells us that it has died. Too many of its members are just going through the motions without any real commitment to doing God’s will. They are told to return to what they believed and did when they first believed. They need to wake up and follow God’s righteous path. Even so, there are a few among them who have remained faithful and whom God commends. This is a warning to us today that we cannot rest on what we did in the past, God calls us to righteous behavior today and tomorrow and every day until the Lord returns. We don’t get to retire from serving the Lord (and some of us don’t wait until we retire to attempt to retire from the Lord’s service).
Yes, let us call on the Lord for help. If we call on Him, He will rescue us from our troubles, not because we deserve it, but because He loves us. We do not deserve God’s love. We deserve misery and trouble for all of the sins we have committed, for the harm and trouble we have caused others, but God will forgive us our sins. All we have to do is turn to Him and strive to allow Him to replace our sin with righteousness. How I strive to put my faith in nothing but the Lord, for only He can be relied on.
Failure to control ones temper will lead on into all kinds of sin. I am usually very good at controlling my anger. Sometimes however I let that fool me into thinking it is ok to lose control of my temper. There are times when it is right to feel anger, and even occasionally to act on that anger. However, it is never right to let anger control our actions.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Amos the prophet was a shepherd from a small village in the Kingdom of Judah when he was called by God. He begins his prophetic words by warning Israel’s neighbors that God is going to bring judgment against them for their sins. But these are not the point of his ministry. When he gets to Israel, Amos goes into detail regarding their sins. They mistreated the poor, selling them into slavery. They abused those who could not look after themselves. They shoved those without power out-of-the-way. They were shamelessly adulterous. They celebrated religious festivals using goods acquired through corruption. They did everything in their power to corrupt the righteousness of those who publicly dedicated themselves to righteous living. For all of this God was going to bring judgment and there would be no escaping it.
This reminds me of our society. Some elements of it sound like it is describing the Christmas shopping season:
“They trample helpless people in the dust
and shove the oppressed out of the way.
Other parts sound like a sitcom (couldn’t you see this being an episode of next season’s “Two and a Half Men”):
Both father and son sleep with the same woman,
corrupting my holy name.
But I look around and this really strikes home, because I see it everywhere:
“My people have forgotten how to do right,”
says the Lord.
“Their fortresses are filled with wealth
taken by theft and violence.”
Let us read God’s word and learn once more how to do right. Too many of our churches spend Sunday morning entertaining those who come to service rather than teaching them what God commands. And we who attend them demand that they do so. We seek out churches that entertain us rather than those which discipline us to follow God.
Bhakail Yule Watching Commedia Dell’Arte
Today I read the message to the first three of the seven churches. The first message is to the church in Ephesus. They are commended for their patience and hard work. They are further commended for recognizing false prophets and teachers for what they are and not following them. In particular for not following the teachings of the Nicolaitans (a sect that appears to have taught that grace allows Christians to live immoral lives). However, they are condemned for having lost their enthusiasm. It is not enough that we get our doctrine correct, we need to be enthusiastic in our love of the Lord. Remember the enthusiasm we had when we first came to know the Lord, we need to recapture that.
The second message is the church in Smyrna. They are commended for their suffering and poverty. The writer tells us that despite their reputation for poverty they are rich. Since their is no condemnation given of them, I will assume that he was referring to spiritual riches, not material ones. Further they are praised for standing up against blasphemous opposition. Finally they are warned that there is more persecution coming against them, but if they remain faithful they will receive eternal life. Let us strive to be like the church in Smyrna, faithful in the face of opposition and persecution.
The third message is to the church in Pergamum. They are commended for remaining faithful in the face of persecution. They remained faithful despite a strong anti-Christian religious establishment in the city. However, they are criticized for tolerating those who follow the teachings of the Nicolaitans. They partook of the ceremonies of pagan religions and practiced sexual immorality. Is this not something that we face in our society today? A temptation to go along with non-Christian religious rituals so that we do not stand out and appear judgmental? A tendency to accept as normal and ok the rampant sexual immorality of the society around us so that we are not called “prudes”? We are told that we must repent of our sins and stand strong against such false teaching.
The Lord has cut me free from the bonds of sin and godlessness. Those who oppose righteousness will suffer defeat and humiliation. Hopefully this will turn their hearts to God.
Words alone are not discipline. If they are not backed up by further action, they will be ignored. It is worse to speak without thinking through how your words will be understood than it is to act foolishly.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Giving Tree At First United Methodist Church In Perkasie
Today I read the Book of Joel. The prophet begins by describing how the land was overrun by locust swarms. It appears that at the same time there was a drought. The prophet calls for a time of fasting, mourning and praying. Turn to the Lord, do not focus on outward signs of mourning, rather focus on genuine remorse and sorrow for your sins, change your ways and follow God. Call all the people together for a time of prayer and fasting. Seek the will of God. He is slow to anger and full of love. God is eager to bless us when we do what is right.
If we repent and turn to the Lord in our times of trial, He will bless us again. Once we have repented our sins and turned back to God let us begin rejoicing in the great things He has done in the past and will do in the future. If we confess our sins and turn to God, He will bless us and more than that He will pour out His Spirit on us. The young will prophesy and see visions. The old will dream dreams. God’s Spirit will be poured out equally on all who are willing, young and old, rich and poor, men and women. All will be equal before God. At that time God is going to bring judgment against those who refuse to follow Him, but those who call on His name will be saved.
Let us gather together for fasting and mourning, confessing our sins and repenting of our sinful ways. Then let us rejoice in the good things that God is about to do. Let us rejoice in the ways that He is going to reveal His power among us. I will promise to embrace prophecy, no matter who it comes from. I will revel in the visions and dreams that God gives His people. By doing this I can be a witness to those around me and hopefully convict a few more to turn to God and follow His ways.
Another View Of The Giving Tree At First United Methodist Church In Perkasie
I begin the Book of Revelation. Revelation is a difficult book that all too many Christians avoid, partly because it scares them and partly because of all of the crackpots who have attempted to use it to predict when Jesus will return. I do not believe that John’s Revelation was intended for us to figure out when Jesus will return. Its purpose is to prepare us for the things that will happen around us and to show us that no matter how much evil may seem to dominate, God is in control of all that happens.
John begins by telling us that God will bless those who read this prophecy, listen to its message and obey what it says. He specifically addressed this letter to the seven churches of the Roman province of Asia (western Turkey). John gives us some great language describing God. He tells us that God is, was and is to come. God is with us today. If we look back into the past, we can see that God was there as well. As we move into the future we can have faith that God will be there with us as well. God has always been and always will be. It was God who started things off and it will be God who brings things to an end. There is no place or time to get away from God.
Those who fear the Lord and follow His ways will be blessed. They will flourish and thrive. Those that marry will have a marriage that is joyful and blessed.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Hosea condemned Israel because the richer it got, the more it sought out pagan gods to worship. Hosea condemns the people of Israel make covenants they have no intention of keeping. They have cultivated wickedness and wonder that the only harvest they get is sin. They trusted in mighty armies for their safety rather than in the God who can save. The merchants cheat and steal and boast that they have made themselves rich. They have gathered wealth by defrauding those around them and claim to be honest because no one has caught them. Doesn’t this sound like our culture today? People seek meaning for their lives in everything but the One who can actually provide such meaning.
But the prophet tells them (and us) that the days of easy work in serving the Lord are over. Now we must do the strenuous labor of breaking up the hard ground of our hearts and plant the seeds of righteousness. Then, and only then, we will be able to harvest a crop of love. Now is the time to seek the Lord so that He will shower us with righteousness. It is time to turn away from our idols of consumerism and material wealth and turn to God. Time to confess our sins and ask God for forgiveness. Let us remember that God is the source of all good things. The paths that God puts before our feet are straight and true. If we look on the light that comes from God we will not stumble, but those who insist on closing their eyes to his light and continue to sin will stumble and fall on the paths God has laid out for them.
Today’s passage is from the letter of Jude, who identifies himself as the brother of James. He says that he intended to write about salvation but instead finds that he must write about false teachings that have entered the Church. He warns us against those who teach that God’s grace allows us to live immoral lives. They are a contagion among us. He tells us that such teachers care only for themselves. They live to satisfy their selfish desires. They do not anything that helps or feeds others. They are shepherds whose only care for the flock is to gather food for themselves. He compares them to clouds that do not bring rain. They block the warmth of the sun without providing the water that is necessary for growth. They are grumblers and complainers, loudly telling others about how wonderful they are, flattering others in order to get what they want.
We must do our best to no allow these false teachers to create division among us. Let us show love to those whose faith is wavering and reprove those who fall into sin. Above all let us remember to love those around us, even as we condemn the sin. Let us strive to show those we love (which should be everyone) how the sin they are chasing after is harming them.
We can work as hard as we like but unless we are working toward God’s goals our efforts will be in vain. No matter how carefully we plan and how hard we work, we can only accomplish that which serves God.
Those who do not discipline their children are as guilty of child abuse as those who are too heavy handed. Children need to be shown discipline in order to know they are loved.
