Tag Archives: Daily Devotional

Daily Bible Study

November 7, 2024 Bible Study — Being a Good Shepherd

Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 10-11.

When Jesus talks about being the good shepherd here He actually combines two metaphors (or, perhaps John combines them).  First, He talks about how those who do not enter the sheep pen through the gate are robbers and thieves; that the shepherd of the sheep enters through the gate.   The shepherd calls his sheep by name and they follow him because they know his voice.  Jesus clarifies this by saying that He is the gate.  While Jesus was talking about Himself as the Shepherd who calls each of us by name, He also gives us about the people He sends to lead His Church.  If they do not enter through the Gate, which is Jesus, they are thieves and robbers who have come to kill and steal and destroy.  The leaders whom Jesus has sent to us have three characteristics: they come to us through Jesus and point us to go through Him, they know each of those whom Jesus has sent them to lead by name (more on this in a moment), we will hear Jesus’ voice in what they say.  That second point is more for those who believe that they have been called by Jesus to be leaders, although we should bear it in mind when we feel like we should follow someone: do they know our name, or are we just a member of the crowd to them.  And, if we feel called to lead some of God’s people, do we make the effort to learn their names.  If we don’t, we either aren’t called, or we are failing in our calling.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 6, 2024 Bible Study — Hold to Jesus’ Teachings and Know the Truth

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 8-9.

John writes that Jesus told the Jews who believed Him that if they followed His teachings, they were His disciples, and that they would know the truth and the truth would set them free.  To which they responded that, as Abraham’s descendants, they were already free.  Jesus then told them that anyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Further, He says that they are trying to kill Him, because they have no room for His word.  I was struck today by the fact that John starts by saying this conversation was between Jesus and Jews who believed Him.  Yet, the discussion quickly turned confrontational.  Did the Jews who believed Jesus turn against Him when He told them they needed to be free?  Or, did Jews who already opposed Jesus insert themselves into this discussion because they thought they saw an opportunity to turn some of His followers against Him.  All of this resulted from Jesus saying that following His teachings will show us the truth and the truth will set us free.  I want to tie that together with the account John gives about Jesus healing a man born blind.  When the Pharisees confronted the man saying that they knew Jesus was a sinner, the man replied that he did not know about any of that, all he knew was that he had been blind but now he could see.  A little later, Jesus says that He came into the world so that the blind would see and those who can see will become blind.  Let us follow the example of the blind man and know only what Jesus has done for us.  If we do that, we will be able to see and He will reveal Truth to us so that we may be free.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 5, 2024 Bible Study — If We Do the Will of Him Who Called Us, We Will Never Again Hunger or Thirst

Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 6-7.

Today’s passage contains some things said by Jesus which seem to support the Roman Catholic Church’s stance that the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper literally becomes flesh and blood.  When you combine what Jesus said when He broke bread and shared the cup with His disciples at the Last Supper with what He says here, one could easily draw that conclusion.  Here He says, “ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”  However, I think we can better understand what He means here about His flesh and blood being food by looking what He said to His disciples when they returned and brought Him food after He spoke with the woman at the well.  In John 4:34, He said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”  So, my understanding of what Jesus said here is that we eat His flesh and blood as real food, food and drink which will satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst, when we do the will of Him who called, and then sent, us.  I mentioned that when we do the will of Him who called us we eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood and that it will satisfy our spiritual hunger.  Yet it is worth noting that when Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, doing the will of His Father satisfied His physical hunger.  

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 4, 2024 Bible Study — Stop Sinning or Something Worse May Happen to You

Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 4-5.

The account of the lame man at the pool whom Jesus healed contains a couple of interesting points.  The first one being the question which Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to get well?”  The man’s response to the question is interesting and instructive.  He said that he couldn’t get well because he had no one to help him.  Together these tell us something about helping people in need.  We cannot help those who do not wish to be helped, and sometimes all people need is someone to walk along side offering some assistance.  Which brings us to what Jesus did to heal the man.  He told him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk.  He gave the man something to do.  Then later, Jesus found the man and told him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”  That is a message for all of us.  When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He forgave our sins and made us well with God.  We need to stop sinning or something worse may happen to us.  Fortunately, God will help us with that, just like He made us well.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 3, 2024 Bible Study

Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 1-3.

John does an interesting thing in his Gospel that I have noticed before, but never really thought about before.  He switches from quoting someone to making commentary without leaving a clear indicator of where the quote ends and the commentary begins.  Primarily he does that when he quotes Jesus, but he also does it a few times in today’s passage when he quotes John the Baptist.  Until today, I always thought it was just something which John did without thinking about it (side note: while there is some debate about whether this Gospel was written by John, or by someone else, and, if it was written by John, whether that was the Apostle John or another John, I generally write my blogs assuming that it was written from the perspective of the Apostle John).  As I read it today, it struck me that John did it on purpose; partly to communicate that his “quotes” were only paraphrases of what was said, and partly to communicate a deeper understanding of what the speaker said than conveyed directly by what they said.

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 2, 2024 Bible Study — There Was No Legal Basis for Condemning Jesus to Death

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 23-24.

The first thing I noticed today was that when the Sanhedrin brought Jesus before Pilate, they accused Him of opposing payment of taxes to Caesar.  That was a stand which they had tried to get Him to take, and He had refused to do so.  Interestingly, Pilate does not ask Jesus about that part of the accusation.  Instead, he asks Jesus about the second part of the Sanhedrin’s charges against Him: Was He the king of the Jews?  Jesus’ answer to that question always fascinates me.  It seems like somewhere between “I never claimed that” and “I won’t deny it.”  It is clear from what Pilate said the the Jewish leaders that he interpreted Jesus as refusing to claim kingship over the Jews.  I believe that Jesus answered the way He did in order to give Pilate the option to interpret Him as denying His kingship.  Jesus acted as He did before Pilate in order to make it clear that there was no legal basis for condemning Him to death.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 1, 2024 Bible Study — Do Not Be Frightened, Instead Watch and Pray

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 21-22.

After Jesus told His disciples that the Temple would be completely torn down, they asked Him when that would happen and what would be the sign that it was about to take place.  First, He told them to be careful not to be deceived because many would come claiming to be Him, or proclaiming that the time was near.  They will use the wars and uprisings which will take place to give urgency to their preaching, but we should not be frightened.  Jesus told His disciples that they would be seized and persecuted before the end came, that everyone would hate them.  He told them that they would be betrayed by their parents, relatives, and friends.  Some of them would even be put to death.  In all of this, they would have the opportunity to testify to God’s greatness, and God would give them words to defend themselves that no one would be able to refute.  I am firmly convinced that while this prophecy pertained to the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, parts of it also apply to us.  If we stand firm when we face similar persecution, we will win life.  Jesus says one more thing I want us to remember.  He tells His disciples, and us, not to let our hearts get weighed down with carousing and the anxieties of life.  Let us watch and pray so that we may stand before Christ when He returns.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 31, 2024 Bible Study — Use the Gifts Which God Has Given You

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 19-20.

There are two aspects of the Parable of the Ten Minas (as the translators title that parable here) that I want to focus on.  One of them I am not sure I ever noticed before.  In the version of this parable which Matthew recounts, three servants received different amounts of money to manage.  Here in Luke, ten servants each received the same amount.  This puts a completely different perspective on the story, as Jesus only notes the outcomes for three of the ten.  This puts a completely different understanding of what this means.  Jesus doesn’t tell us what results the other seven had, I think we are to consider the one who invested and got a return of 10 minas and the one who hid it and gave his Lord back the mina he had been given with no return to both be outliers.  As a result, the one who earned ten minas is outstanding.  He did not start with any more than anyone else.  He just put in extra effort.  While the one who earned nothing looks even worse, because he had just as much to work with as the one who earned ten.  Finally, it seems like the majority did something similar to the one who earned five, but some of them may have only earned one.  In any case, only the one who did nothing with what he was given received punishment.

I have noticed the other thing I want to write about today, but I never thought it mattered.  In addition, I do not recall anyone ever commenting on it (except maybe in passing).  The man who gave out the money to his servants was going to a distant country to have himself made king, but the people of that distant country hated him and sent him a message saying that they did not want him to be king.  Yet, he was made king despite their objections.  First I want to point out that the man was going to have himself appointed king.  He was not called by someone in that distant country to come and be king.  He took the initiative to go and get himself made king over that country.  Second, the people of that country rejected him as king, but he was made king anyway.  I felt like as I spelled out this part of the parable to which we usually pay little or no attention I would come to some understanding about what message it added to the parable.  So, while I did not come up with why Jesus included this detail to the parable, I think it is important that we look at such details.  There is a reason Jesus, and Luke, included those details, when the time is right the Spirit will reveal it to us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 30, 2024 Bible Study — We Are Unworthy Servants, We Have Only Done Our Duty

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 17-18.

I find it interesting that when the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, He first told them, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”  Then He followed that up with a short parable which had the point, “when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'”  Later in today’s passage, Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee and tax collector who were praying in the temple.  The Pharisee thanked God that he was a better person than those around him like the tax collector.  The tax collector on the other hand prayed, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”  Jesus told us we should be like the tax collector, not the Pharisee.  These two things together give us a clear picture how we should view serving God and those around us.  No matter what we have done, we are still unworthy of the blessings God has given us.  Equally, we are not better than others, not even those we perceive as not doing God’s will.  We need to stop worrying about if we have enough faith, or even thinking that our faith is not enough.  Jesus told us that we don’t need much faith, just the amount of a mustard seed, and that all we need to do is what God directs us to do.  We need to stop looking for the kingdom of God, because it is already in our midst, or, as the translators’ note for Chapter 17 verse 20 says, it is within us.  Let us not look for more faith, or for rest from our works.  God is within us and will give us the faith we need to do His will if we seek to do it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 29, 2024 Bible Study — The Blessing We Receive for Doing God’s Will Is Doing God’s Will

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 14-16.

It struck me that we often miss part of the point of the parable of the banquet which Jesus tells here.  Everyone I have seen or heard comment on it says that the banquet in this parable is the kingdom of heaven, and that those who were initially invited were too busy to enter when the time came.  That is not wrong, just incomplete.  In light of what I wrote yesterday, it strikes me that they too busy to do what God asked of them.  They passed up on their opportunities to serve God and thus missed the blessings of doing so, the “banquet”.  All too often we miss Jesus’ point that the blessing of serving God is serving God.  Or, to put that another way, the joy we get out of doing God’s will is greater, and more fulfilling, than anything else we could do with our time and energy.

When I first read today’s passage my first thought was about the final line of Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”  This is another one of those things that we tend to overlook.  We get caught up in the main point of the parable and miss this point.  I really think that what Jesus is saying here ties in with what Paul wrote in Romans 1:18-20.  Specifically, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”  In the case of this parable which Jesus told, Jesus is speaking particularly about the lessons to offer care for those in need out of our resources, while Paul is talking more generally about belief in God and what how He commands us to act.  I wrote that last sentence and realized those two points are not as far apart as I thought the were when I began writing it.  Both Jesus and Paul are telling us that there are no arguments we can use to convince those who choose not to believe in God.  If they have chosen to reject the words God has spoken through His prophets, and the evidence He has made plain in the very nature of the universe, they will also reject any evidence we can provide them.  That does not mean that we do not try anyway.  We just need to remember that only the power of the Holy Spirit will change their minds.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.