For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Someone who refuses to change their actions, even after repeatedly being told what they are doing wrong, and why it is a mistake, will suddenly be destroyed (well, at least from their perspective). By the time they fall it will be too late to mount a recovery. You know the type of person the writer is talking about. Those people who are even more determined not to change their ways after someone has told them they are wrong.

    I love how this psalm opens:

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Are we glad when people invite us to go somewhere to worship God? Do we look forward to our opportunities to join with others in worship? I was going to say that as I get older I find greater joy in doing so, but that is not really true. I have always found great joy in joining others in worshiping the Lord. It is just that I used to be more easily distracted by other pleasures. I have come to realize that the joy I get from worshiping God lasts longer than the pleasure I get from other things (except doing other things to serve the Lord, but that is a form of worship as well).
    The psalmist asks us to pray for Jerusalem to be at peace. This is certainly something we should do. We should pray for peace in all the earth, but there is something especially symbolically important about peace in Jerusalem. Let us pray that one day soon there will be peace in Jerusalem, and that that peace will spread throughout the earth.

    In yesterday’s passage, John told us that if we sin, we have an intercessor who pleads our case with God. However, in today’s passage he tells us that those who keep on sinning belong to the devil. Those born of God will not continue to sin. Taken together these two passages teach us that, while God will forgive us for our sins, if we rely on that forgiveness and refuse to change (that is, we do not attempt to stop sinning) we do not belong to God. It is possible to know if we are children of God. If we live righteously and love our fellow believers, we are children of God. If we do not do those things (which are really one and the same thing), we are children of the devil.
    Those who do not live righteously will hate those who do. It should come as no surprise when those who do not strive to follow Christ hate us. What should surprise us, and make us question whether we are being faithful, is when those who reject Christ like us (there will be times when it happens, but we should be very careful when it does). Even when others hate us we should show our love. It is not enough to say that we love, love is not passive. Rather true love is active. If we love those around us we will demonstrate that love by our actions. If we do that which love compels us to do, our actions will show the truth of our faith in Christ for all who see.

    Today’s passage continues to lay out events in Daniel’s future. It talks about a king who will rise to power and will act against God’s people. This king will ally with those who once served God but have chosen to reject God’s will. However, those who truly know God will stand strong and resist such blasphemy. The ending of this passage describes a time when the government will persecute those who attempt to remain faithful to God. Such times have come in the past and will come again in the future. Are we prepared to remain faithful servants of God in the face of persecution?

     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. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     Many modern Bible scholars hold the opinion that the book of Daniel was written in the time of the Maccabees. Today’s passage helps one see why. In the vision of today’s passage, Daniel gives a fairly good synopsis of the events which will happen in world politics in that part of the world from the time of Cyrus to the time of Antiochus IV. Since this passage is written in the style of apocalyptic literature, I do not put much thought into when this passage was written. The purpose of apocalyptic literature is to communicate that God is in control of events. Political leaders will from time to time arise who convince religious leaders to distort God’s word to support a political agenda. At those times there will be wise leaders who remain faithful and teach others to be faithful to God’s word. However, those wise leaders will often suffer persecution.

     John reminds us that, even though we have an intercessor with the Father for those times we do sin, if we continue to sin we belong to the devil, not to God. If we are truly children of God, we will be unable to make a practice of sinning because God’s Spirit is within us. There are two ways that we can tell that we are truly God’s children, we will do what is right and we will love all of our fellow believers. Chances are good that the reason one person will hate another is because that second person makes the first person aware of their sinfulness. If we hate our fellow believers we are no better than murderers.

     Jesus showed us what real love was by giving up His life for us. This means that we should be willing to lay down our lives for our fellow believers. It is not enough to say that we love one another, we must show it by our actions. If we have enough and more than enough to meet our daily needs and do not help provide for our fellow believers in need, we do not truly love them. I ask God to help me to show my love whenever the opportunity arises for me to do so. If we do what God asks us to do, He will give us whatever we ask of Him. God asks of us that we love one another, not just in thoughts and words, but in deeds and actions.

     Am I truly glad to go to the house of the Lord, to gather with fellow believers to praise Him? This psalm encourages us to pray for peace in Jerusalem and what is best for Jerusalem and I believe that we should do so. However, in this psalm, Jerusalem is also a metaphor for the Church, the Temple of God which He has built out of those who follow and serve Christ. We should pray for peace in the Church and for what is best for the Church, as well.

     Those who refuse to accept criticism, who refuse to change their ways after being repeatedly rebuked, will suddenly find destruction coming upon them, with no hope of escape.