I don’t know if anybody remembers but I write these daily blogs the day before the date they are for. So, I am writing this the morning after they caught the younger of the two brothers who bombed the Boston Marathon. I am praying that God’s Spirit will reach him and that he will turn to the One who calls us to sacrifice our lives to bring others to Him, that this young man will see that killing others is the exact opposite of how God calls us to Him. We have a God who does not call us to follow Him by killing those who do not listen, but by dying for them.
     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. 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.

Joshua 22:21-23:16

     The tribes east of the Jordan River defended their building of an altar as they crossed the Jordan. They told the delegation from the other tribes that they did not build it in rebellion against God’s command. They had no intention of offering sacrifices on it. Rather, they had built it as a memorial to remind all Israel that the tribes east of the Jordan were just as much a part of the Israelite people as those living west of the Jordan and had a part in the worship at the altar of God at the Tent of Meeting. When the delegation heard this they were satisfied with that answer and returned to the other tribes mustering for war. All of the tribes were satisfied with this answer, praised God and returned to their homes.
     Years passed and Joshua, now a very old man, called the leaders of Israel together. He told them that they have seen what God has done for them in his lifetime and that he had allotted to them the land that was to be theirs, both that which had already been conquered and that which was still to be conquered. God would drive the remaining foreigners out of the land in front of them. However, they needed to keep the commands written in the Book of Instructions which Moses had given them. They were to not even mention the names of the gods worshiped by the people remaining in the land, let alone swear by, worship or serve those gods. Joshua instructed them to cling tightly to God and turn to neither the right nor the left from the commands He had given them.
     I think that the instructions that Joshua gave the children of Israel from his death-bed applies to us today. We must cling to the Lord our God and follow His commands, turning neither to the left or the right from those commands. I don’t know how others interpret this, but to me it means neither adding additional rules to those given by God in order to keep us from violating those commands, nor loosening those commands out of false compassion.

Luke 20:27-47

     After the failure of certain religious leaders to trap Jesus with a question about taxes to Caesar, some Sadducees tried with a question about resurrection. They told Him a story about a woman who married one of seven brothers, but did not have any children by him before he died. Another one of the brothers married her, as the law directs, and he also died without any children. One by one all seven brothers married her and died without having children. The Sadducees asked Jesus who she would be married to at the resurrection?
     Jesus replied by telling them that marriage is for this age, but that those who are worthy of taking part of the age to come and the resurrection from the dead will not marry. Jesus then points out that in the account of the burning bush Moses calls God the God of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
      Jesus then asked those present why The Messiah is said to be the son of David, when David calls Him Lord? How can the Messiah be the son of David if He is David’s Lord? After this, Jesus turned to His disciples and told them to beware of the teachers of religious law. They dress ostentatiously and love to be greeted respectfully by the people who meet them. In addition they want the most important seats in the synagogues and the seats of honor at banquets. Meanwhile they cheat widows out of their property but make a great show of righteousness by saying lengthy prayers. Jesus tells us that such men will be severely punished.

Psalm 89:14-37

     The psalmist tells us that righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. Those who walk in the light of God’s presence experience joy. God has made us strong and provides us with protection. The psalmist then tells us that God will has promised that a descendant of David will rule over God’s people for all of eternity.

Proverbs 13:17-19

     An unreliable messenger will end up in trouble, but a reliable messenger will bring healing. Criticism sometimes hurts and is not always helpful, but if we ignore it we will continue to do acts that will lead us to poverty and/or shame. On the other hand if we listen and follow correction we will be honored. It is pleasant to attain one’s dreams, but it is foolish to do evil to get there.

     Well, I am past my one year mark on this blog. I am excited about discovering what God has in store for me as I begin blogging about the passages a second time through. I hope that my writing has improved as I have gone along. I pray that God’s Spirit continues to move in me as I write this. The last few days the Spirit has really moved in my heart as I wrote my blog entries. I pray that He continues to do so and that I can take what the Spirit has been saying to me and put it into practice. Please pray for me on that score.
     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. 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.

Joshua 21-22:20

     After land had been allocated to all of the other tribes, the tribe of Levi came to Eleazar and Joshua to remind them that God had said through Moses that they would receive towns and surrounding pasture-lands among the other tribes rather than a separate allotment of land. At this point towns and their surrounding pasture-lands were chosen from the lands of the other tribes to be given to the Levites. The Levites were spread among the other tribes in proportion to the size of the various tribes.
     At this point Joshua called together the fighting men from the tribes granted lands east of the Jordan (Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh) and told them that their promise had been fulfilled and sent them home. As they returned home, the men of the tribes with lands east of the Jordan River built an altar on the west bank of the Jordan River. The rest of the tribes gathered for war because of this. They sent a delegation to the tribes east of the Jordan demanding to know why they had built an altar. They told the tribes east of the Jordan that God had commanded them to offer sacrifices at only the one altar and that the whole of the nation of Israel would suffer if those from east of the Jordan violated this command.

Luke 20:1-26

     When Jesus was teaching in the Temple the chief priests and teachers of religious law came to Him and demanded to know by what authority He did the things which He did (the context suggests that in particular they were asking by what authority He drove the merchants out of the Temple courts)? Jesus replies by first asking them where John the Baptist’s authority to baptize came from, from heaven or from men?
     The religious leaders discussed their answer among themselves. They knew that if they answered, “From heaven,” Jesus would ask them why they did not believe him? On the other hand, if they said John’s authority was merely of men, the crowd would likely assault them, since the crowd believed that John was a prophet. Even if the crowd did not react violently, the religious leaders would have lost the respect of the crowd if they declared that John’s authority merely came from men. So, they told Jesus that they did not know.
     Jesus then told them that He would not answer their question either. I am pretty sure that the crowd would have interpreted Jesus’ answer as saying that His authority came from the same place as John’s. Jesus was pointing out that we have to make a decision. Either John’s (and His) teachings were merely from men and could be safely ignored, or they were from God and needed to be followed. This is too important a subject to be undecided on. This is still true today.
     Jesus then tells the parable of sharecroppers who refuse to give what was due to the representatives of the landowner, even going so far as to kill his son. Jesus tells the crowd that the landowner will return, kill those sharecroppers and find others to tend the vineyards. He then quotes Psalm 118:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’
That anyone who stumbles over this stone will be broken to pieces and those it falls on will be crushed. I think His meaning was that if we try to build our lives without incorporating Him and His teaching we will constantly stumble over Him and be broken. And if we try to build our lives with Him at some place other than as the foundation, what we have built will come apart and He will “fall” on us, crushing us. Have I rejected the cornerstone? Or have I made it my foundation?
     The leaders then sent spies pretending to not be connected to them to ask Jesus a question. They approached Him and, after proclaiming what a wonderful, honest teacher He was, they asked Him if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? They were trying to trap Jesus. If He said that it was wrong to pay taxes to Caesar, they could have Him arrested and executed for sedition. On the other hand, if He said that it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, the people would lose respect for Him. Jesus knew exactly where they were going and asked them to show Him one of the coins used to pay the tax. He then asked them whose image and inscription were stamped on it. To which the questioners replied, “Caesar’s.” Jesus then told them to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and to God what was God’s. Jesus’ answer was more than just clever. When He asked them whose image and inscription were on the coin, the words He used would have reminded His listeners of the command that they were to make no images of God and that they were to have no other gods. Jesus answer would have served two purposes. The first would have been that even carrying such a coin should be construed as idolatry by the same standard that said that it was wrong to pay taxes to Caesar.
     The other purpose was more subtle and has relevance to us today. Jesus was also reminding the people that Caesar was making claims to authority that belonged to God. Caesar claimed to be the source of safety and security. He claimed that everyone owed their life to him. Caesar proclaimed that one’s primary loyalty was to him. All governments throughout history make similar claims, to some degree this is a product of the nature of government. Governments which declare that all of their citizens be part of a particular religion are attempting to get around this by saying that one’s loyalty to God (or gods) is through the government sanctioned “Church”. The Founding Fathers of the U.S. attempted to address this by placing the freedom of religion in the First Amendment to the Constitution. I do not think they were successful, but it was an attempt to address the issue of government putting itself in the place of God. It is important to realize that Jesus’ answer is not about taxes. It is about where our loyalty lies. A simplistic look at Jesus’ answer, which gets most of the point, is that the coin that is used to pay taxes to Caesar has Caesar’s image on it, so it “belongs” to him. But that YOU have God’s image on you, so you belong to God.

Psalm 89:1-13

     The psalmist declares that he will sing of God’s unfailing love and faithfulness. That he will do all in his power to see that everyone knows of God’s wonderful power. I will strive to do the same. I will declare God’s mighty power and is everlasting love. There is no being nor institution which can compare to the power of God. I will praise Him as long as I draw breath.

Proverbs 13:15-16

     If we demonstrate good sense, people will respect us. On the other hand those who cannot be relied on are heading for destruction. Those who are wise think and plan before they act. The foolish not only act without examining the consequences, they are often proud of this fact.

     It was one year ago today that I began this daily Bible study blog. I am getting excited about discovering what God has in store for me as I begin blogging about the passages that I blogged about last year. I hope that my writing has improved as I have gone along. I pray that God’s Spirit continues to move in me as I write this. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. As I said, I am excited to see what difference going through these passages for the second time makes.
     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. 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.

Joshua 15:1-63

     Today’s passage describes the territory that was assigned to the tribe of Judah, with specific mention of the land given to Caleb. The passage concludes by telling us that the tribe of Judah was unable to drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem.

Luke 18:18-43

     A man of consequence approached Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. The man addressed Jesus as “Good Teacher”. Jesus asked why the man called Him good, since no one is good aside from God. I have heard different explanations as to why Jesus started His response in this manner. Considering the question which Jesus was answering, I believe that Jesus was saying that we cannot earn eternal life. After saying that, Jesus told the man that he should keep the commandments, listing do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false witness, honor your father and mother. The man proclaims that he has kept all of those. Jesus responds to that by telling the man that he still lacks one thing. The man should sell all that he owns, give it to the poor and come follow Jesus. The man was saddened by this response because he was wealthy and unwilling to part with his wealth.
     I have seen many commentaries on this passage and most of them have missed what I think is a key element to this exchange. The man was looking for something he could do as an aside to living the rest of his life the way he had been. Jesus answer was that if we want to have eternal life, we need to make following Him the central focus of our lives. It is not enough to just fit “following Jesus” or “being a Christian” in to our spare time. Following Jesus needs to be what our life is about.
     When the man turned away Jesus said, “In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” In other words, it is impossible. I have heard many preachers try and explain how He was just trying to say that it was very, very hard. Yet, the rest of the exchange seems to indicate that those who heard Him understood Him to be saying that it was impossible because they asked Him, “If this guy, who has ‘everything’ and has lived a righteous life can’t get in, how can anybody be saved?” Jesus answered them that it was indeed impossible for people to earn eternal life, but what was impossible for man was possible for God. In other words, our only hope for salvation is the grace of God.
     Peter then asks, “What about us? We gave up everything to follow You.” I have read this many times before and today I noticed something about Jesus’ answer to Peter that I never saw before. Peter said that they had given up everything to follow Jesus. Jesus told him that everyone who gave up things for the sake of the Kingdom of God would receive back even more than they gave up and eternal life. The thing I never noticed here is the motivation for having given things up. The reward was not for those who gave things up to be part of the uprising against Rome, or for those who did it to be the followers of a “Great Teacher”. The reward was for those who gave things up for the sake of the Kingdom of God. This teaching raises two questions for me. Am I willing to give up what I have to serve God? And am I giving things up to serve God, or am I doing it to be seen as righteous?

Psalm 86:1-17

     This is a wonderful psalm. I was hoping for something that would connect to the Boston tragedy, but I think this is a good reminder that addressing all social problems begins with us as individuals turning to God in times of trouble. The place to start in dealing with tragedy is where this psalm begins:

Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;
answer me, for I need your help.
I call out to God because I need His help. I cannot deal with the problems of this world on my own. The psalmist tells us more about how we deal with troubles.
Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
It is only by following God’s ways that we can experience God’s salvation from our troubles, but it is only by God’s Spirit that we can learn those ways and only by the prompting of that Spirit that we can follow them once we know them. Even after a tragedy such as Monday’s, no, especially after such a tragedy, I will praise God and give glory to His name. No other god is like Him, nor can they do the deeds He performs. He can bring healing both to the victims and the perpetrators of this tragedy.

Proverbs 13:9-10

     If we live a godly life, we will experience light and joy. If on the other hand we choose wickedness, our lives will be filled with shadows and depression.
     If we are too proud to listen to advice, we will find ourselves surrounded by dissension and strife. On the other hand, if we listen to advice, we will gain the wisdom (in particular, the wisdom to avoid conflict when possible)

     I am not quite sure what to write about the explosions in Boston yesterday, but considering the topic I listed as the title for today I think I need to say something. I will be praying for the people in Boston, but not only for the victims. The people who did this need to be struck the way that Saul was struck on the road to Damascus. I pray that God will strike them down and reach into their souls and show them how much He loves them and brings about change in their hearts. I, also pray that people everywhere see how horrible this was and turn to God, that people recognize that only God can protect us from something like this. All too often we turn to the “authorities” after a tragedy like this rather than turning to The Authority who can truly offer protection and healing.
     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. 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.

Joshua 13-14:15

     When Joshua grew old, God described to him the lands left for the Israelites to conquer. God told Joshua that He would drive the peoples from those lands ahead of the Israelites, so Joshua should include that land as he divided the land up among the tribes. The passage goes on to describe how Moses had allotted land to some of the tribes and to tell us that Joshua and the priest Eleazar assigned lands to the rest of the tribes.
     Today’s passage concludes with the story of Caleb coming to Joshua to request his land. Caleb recounts how he was one of the spies who Moses sent into the land from Kadesh-barnea. Caleb reminds Joshua that he was the only one of the spies besides Joshua who encouraged the people to invade right away. He says that Moses promised him that he would have the lands which he had explored as his part of the mission. Caleb asserted that, at 85, he was as strong and able to travel and fight as he was when he went on the spy mission and 40 years of age. Joshua heard Caleb’s petition, blessed him and gave him the Hebron as his portion of land.
     All too often today, some of us think we are too old to do much, yet here was Caleb, at 85, requesting permission to go forth and conquer the land which had been promised to him. Joshua was no younger than Caleb, so that means that Joshua was around 80 years of age when he took over from Moses as leader of the Israelites. Moses himself was around 80 years of age when God appeared to him in the burning bush. When God comes to us with a task, we should not think that we are too old for that task.

Luke 18:1-17

     Jesus told His disciples a story about a widow who was seeking justice. The judge from whom she needed a ruling was corrupt and had no concern for justice, public opinion or righteousness. The judge initially ignored the widow’s request. However, the widow did not give up, she continued to come to the judge and pled for justice. Eventually the judge got tired of her pleas and granted her justice to get her to stop bothering him. Jesus tells us that we should cry out to God day and night for relief from our troubles and that God will give us justice quickly. Then Jesus says something that appears to be a non sequitur (I don’t think that it is, I just don’t see how it fits). He asks, “But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” When He returns, will He find that you and I have faith?
     Jesus then tells another story, one which tells us quite a bit about how we should view sin and those around us. He tells of two men who went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee (who in the view of those of the day would have been considered an exemplar of righteousness) the other was a tax collector (who in the view of the day was the prototypical sinner). The Pharisee stood by himself and thanked God that he was such a righteous man, recounting all of the things he did to serve God. The tax collector, on the other hand, stood with his head down, beat his breast in remorse, acknowledging that he had no righteousness and crying out to God for mercy. Do we come before God recognizing that we are sinners? Or are we confident in our “righteousness”? Jesus tells us that it is the one who acknowledges his sin before God who returns home justified. Let us humble ourselves before God so that He may raise us up, rather than exalt ourselves so that He needs to humble us.

Psalm 85:1-13

     This is a wonderful song of hope and pleading with God. The psalmist requests that God “restore us again” and “revive us again”. I will echo the psalmist’s plea. I ask that God restore me again and revive me again. That He brings me back into a right relationship with Him. But more than that I ask that He do the same for those who seek to worship Him throughout the world. Restore us, revive us dear God, not just me, but all who call on Your name. Show us Your unfailing love.
     But there is more to what the psalmist says. After asking God to grant us His salvation, the psalmist says that he will listen carefully to what God has to say. He also asks God to not allow His people to return to their foolish ways. I desire to make that my prayer. Dear Lord, do not allow me to return to my foolish ways. I know that I tend towards doing sin and I request that You guide my steps away from such foolishness.

Proverbs 13:7-8

     Today’s proverb tells us that some who are poor pretend to be rich, while some who are rich pretend to be poor. Then the writer warns us of the danger of pretending to be rich. The writer tells us that there are dangers that result from being perceived as wealthy and the rich may be able to ransom themselves from that danger. But if someone who is poor faces such danger, they will be unable to escape it if they are perceived as wealthy. It is better to be rich and pretend to be poor than poor and pretend to be rich.

     I am approaching the one year mark of doing this daily Bible study blog. I am getting excited about discovering what God has in store for me as I begin blogging about the passages that I blogged about last year. I am debating if I am going to go back and read what I wrote last year to compare it to what I write this year. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. As I said, I am excited to see what difference going through these passages for the second time makes.
     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. 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.

Joshua 11-12:24

     After Joshua and the Israelites defeated and subdued the southern region, the kings of the northern region united to attack them. Joshua mobilized the Israelites and marched against the northern kings, while their armies were still camped at their initial muster point. The Israelites surprised the northern kings and defeated their armies decisively. The Israelites then went on to conquer the cities, completely destroying their populations.When Joshua finished this campaign, the Israelites controlled all of the land except for some Philistine cities on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea (at least that is how this passage reads to me) and the land had rest from war. It is interesting to note that after defeating Jericho and Ai, Joshua only attacked those who either first attacked Israel’s allies (the Gibeonites) or gathered their armies to attack Israel.

Luke 17:11-37

     As Jesus reached the border between Galilee and Samaria on His way to Jerusalem, He met ten lepers. The lepers begged Jesus to heal them. Jesus responded by telling them to go and show themselves to the priests (as the Law of Moses required of lepers who had been healed). As the lepers followed Jesus’ instruction and went to show themselves to the priests, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, upon noticing that he was healed, returned to Jesus and fell at His feet praising God. This one was a Samaritan. Jesus notes that only one out the ten returned to praise God and that one was a Samaritan. He asked where the other nine were? The question I need to ask myself is this, am I the one or the nine?
     Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come? Jesus’ answer is intriguing. He tells them that the Kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed (I think the New American Standard Version does the best job of translating this in a way that is understandable). Jesus tells them that we will not be able to say about the Kingdom of God, “Here it is,” or “It is over there.” He tells us instead that the Kingdom of God is in our midst. When I read what Jesus says here, it reminds me of earlier passages where He compares it to yeast. The Kingdom of God is in our midst and is (or should be) permeating all aspects of society. I think that to some degree the problems in our society resulted from Christians forgetting that they were the yeast permeating the dough and began to think that we were the dough.
     Jesus goes on to tell His disciples that the time will come when they will long to see His coming. People will proclaim that the Messiah is “Over here,” or “Over there.” But we should not believe them because when Jesus returns, it will be like a flash of lightning that lights up the sky from one end to the other. When I read that description I think about the incredibly bright lightning bolts that happen every once in awhile, the ones where even if your eyes are closed you see the flash. Jesus goes on to tell us that just like in times past when the day of judgment arrived (the Flood and what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah) people will be going about their lives with no thought to the coming judgment when it will arrive suddenly. No one in the time of Noah missed the coming of the Flood, no one in Sodom and Gomorrah missed the coming of the day of judgment on those cities. In the same way, when Jesus returns, no one will miss it.

Psalm 84:1-12

     I strive to fully share the sentiments the psalmist expresses in this psalm. I want to do this every hour of every day:

With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
And I do believe that this is true:
A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
There are times when I forget but God reminds me before I go completely off of the rails. It is truly better to be a lowly servant in the house of God, than a mighty ruler anywhere else.

Proverbs 13:5-6

     I like the NIV’s translation of today’s proverb: “The righteous hate what is false,…” A short time back I realized that the way to read proverbs like today’s is as a method for judging myself. Do I hate what is false? Or do I revel in deception and guile? If the former, I am being transformed into God’s likeness. If the latter, I am on the path to shame and destruction.

     I am approaching the one year mark of doing this daily Bible study blog. I am getting excited about discovering what God has in store for me as I begin blogging about the passages that I blogged about last year. I am debating if I am going to go back and read what I wrote last year to compare it to what I write this year. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. As I said, I am excited to see what difference going through these passages for the second time makes.
     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. 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.

Joshua 7:16-9:2

     The next morning Joshua brought the tribes before him and Judah was selected. Then he had the clans of Judah brought before him and one was selected. Then the families of that clan and finally the individual members of the family that was selected. The man Achan was singled out. When Joshua confronted Achan, Achan confessed to taking some silver coins, a gold bar and a robe from Babylon. He had hidden these under his tent. The Israelites went to his tent and found the items just as he had said. The Israelites took all of Achan’s possessions and destroyed them and executed Achan for violating the command of God.
     After cleansing the people of the sin of Achan, Joshua led the entire fighting force of Israel against Ai. Joshua divided his forces and sent one group around to the other side of Ai to hide and wait in ambush. He then took the main force up towards the main gate. When the forces of Ai came out Joshua had his force flee as if it was defeated just like the previous time. When the forces of Ai pursued them away from the city, Joshua signaled for the ambush force to attack the city. The ambush force entered the city and burned it to the ground. The armies of Ai were disheartened when they saw the smoke from the city. At that point Joshua stopped retreating and attacked the forces of Ai, killing all of them.
     After destroying the city of Ai, Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal. Joshua copied the instructions that God had given Moses onto the stones of the altar. When he had completed this, Joshua divided the people of Israel into two groups. One group he placed on Mount Ebal, the other group on Mount Gerizim. He placed the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant between them. Joshua then had the groups follow the instructions which Moses had givenfor blessing and cursing the people of Israel. Joshua then read all of the commands which Moses had written in the Book of Instruction to the entire assembly of the people.

Luke 16:1-18

     Having told the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost(prodigal) son to the crowds, Jesus tells a story to His disciples. The story is about a manager who has been misusing his boss’ money. The boss found it out and called the manager to a meeting to account for his management. The manager realized that he would be fired and did not want to end up doing manual labor or as a beggar. Jesus tells us that the manager decided to make it so that people would be grateful to him. He called in his boss’ debtors and reduced the amount they owed by a large amount. Jesus told His disciples that the people of this world are more shrewd at dealing with other people of the world than are the people of the light. We should use our wealth to benefit others so that when our worldly resources are gone we will be welcomed into heavenly homes. We should use our worldly resources to serve God’s purposes.
     Jesus then says something that is very challenging to me. He says that if we have done poorly in managing the minor matter of the worldly wealth God has given us, why would God trust us with things of heavenly import? I have done a poor job of managing my money. I am striving to improve and pray continually for God’s guidance, but I have gotten myself into a difficult position which requires more stringent control over my impulses than would have been necessary if I had restrained myself earlier. We cannot serve two masters. We must choose to either serve God or material wealth. I strive to be a servant of God and not of material wealth, but I have allowed myself to get into a position where I need to spend more concern for my material well-being than I would like. I continue to strive to manage my money according to God’s will for me and have faith that He will give me guidance and provide for my needs, but it is a struggle I face every day.

Psalm 82:1-8

     God sits in judgment over those who rule. He asks them how long they will continue to render unjust judgments that favor the wicked? God will bring judgment against those who fail to defend the weak and the fatherless, who fail to uphold the rights of the poor and the oppressed. Those whom God has granted power on this earth must rescue poor and oppressed from the grasp of the wicked. IF they do not, they will face God’s judgment. As I read this psalm this morning, it reminds me of the trial of Dr. Gosnell, the abortionist who performed abortions for years, coldly murdering those infants which survived his attempts to kill them in the womb and causing the death or injury to many of the women who came to his clinic. He even forced an abortion on one young woman who changed her mind after entering his clinic. All the while, those who claimed they want abortion to be “safe, legal and rare” looked the other way. Who is weaker than the unborn and newly born? Yet those who hold power on this earth can not be bothered to protect them. God will rise up and hold those persons to account. He granted them power on this earth and they failed to use it to bring justice to the poor, the weak and the fatherless. O Lord show me where you have granted me the power to bring justice to those who are powerless.

Proverbs 13:2-3

     Wise words will lead us to be well fed, but those who are treacherous seek violence (or perhaps one should read this as saying that those who enjoy violence are treacherous). Those who watch what they say live long and prosperous lives. Speaking rashly will lead to ruin.
     This proverb comes as a timely reminder for me as I have a meeting with my boss over an issue where I became angry in response to his actions. This reminds me to choose my words with care and let the Spirit of God guide my actions.