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 calls for us to turn to God, to repent and follow the will of God. He tells us that while God has punished us, He desires to tend our wounds and heal us. God wants us to demonstrate love to others, not perform traditional rituals. He wants us to know Him, not perform empty ceremonies. The prophet tells us that Israel has weakened itself with its sins and does not recognize its weakness. When trouble came they turned to one earthly power after another for salvation, yet never once called on God. They turned to every possible solution except for God. They sought relief from their troubles by every means they could imagine other than turning to God. Does this not sound like the world around us today? People seek political solutions to the problems, rather than seeking to do God’s will and allowing Him to fix the problems. They seek to propitiate the gods of economics by one empty ritual after another rather than turn to God and do what He commands. Hosea condemned the people of Israel for mocking the prophets, for laughing at those who called them back to righteousness. He condemned them for being hostile to and laying traps for those men among them who stood up and pointed out the path back to God. Does this not sound like our culture today? How often do we fall in with those who make fun of people who attempt to live righteous lives in the public eye?

     Today I read the last of John’s three pastoral letters. In this letter John commends Gaius for living according to the truth as reported to John by some traveling preachers who had recently returned to John and given him a report. John speaks highly of Gaius for the hospitality he showed to these fellow believers when they passed through. John then condemns a leader of the congregation local to Gaius, Diotrephes, for his refusal to help these itinerant preachers. Diotrephes even went so far as to excommunicate those who went against his instructions and helped them. Diotrephes was abusing his position of authority and John had plans to go to the city where Diotrephes was and expose his duplicity. Overall I see two lessons for us today. The first is that we should not allow Church leaders to stop us from doing what we know is the will of God. The second is that Church leaders must be held accountable for their actions.

     When God does wondrous things for us, let us not forget to praise Him so that unbelievers know where our good fortune comes from. We may be suffering but if we plant a crop of righteousness we will reap a harvest of joy.

     If a ruler gives credence to liars, only those who are willing to lie to get what they want will be willing to advise him. Both the oppressed and the oppressor are created by God to serve Him. A ruler who gives justice to even the poor will lead a stable government.