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.

     The Prophet talks of how gold and precious gems lost their value in Jerusalem because there was no food to buy. People allowed their children to starve because they had no food to feed them. Even the wealthiest begged for food in the streets. All of this happened because the people’s sin was even greater than that of Sodom. As I read this I think of the sins of our nation and wonder how long the judgement will be held off? The judgement on Jerusalem came because the priests and the prophets shed the blood of the innocent.
     But with all of this, the prophet says that God will restore them if they turn back to Him. God does not change and He will not abandon those who turn from their sins and worship Him.

     The author tells us that we must listen carefully to the truth we have heard so that we do not drift away from that truth. Every disobedience of the law was punished. How much more will we suffer if we ignore the message of grace through Jesus? The message of salvation by grace was confirmed by signs, wonders and miracles and by gifts of the Spirit.
     The world to come will not be subject to angels. It will be subject to those humans who choose to follow Jesus. Mankind is nothing, yet God has made them but a little lower than the angels and will give them authority over the world to come. Jesus was made a little lower than the angels and through His suffering He has been given authority over all things. Jesus became human because only as a human could He die. It was only by dying that He could break the power of the devil and of death. By dying He freed us who had been slaves to sin and fear of death. In order to do this, He had to become in all ways like us, fully human in all aspects. He was able to make atonement for our sins because He was like us. He can help us when we face temptation because He experienced the same temptations that we do.
     Jesus understands what we experience because He has experienced it. We cannot say to Him, “You don’t understand. You never experienced this!” Because He did indeed experience it. We can know that whatever we experience, He has suffered as much or more.

     Let all that is in me praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord with all of my being. Oh Lord, do not let me ever forget what you have done for me. You have forgiven my sins and filled my life with good things. Let everything that God has created praise the Lord. How true this is, I am sitting here in the warmth well fed at no cost, after I spent the day worrying about having to spend money that I do not have for dinner tonight and then spending the night in a dark house with no power. Instead I am sitting in my church’s building after my pastor called me to invite me and my wife to dinner here for those who were without power. In addition, he invited us to spend the night. God is good and gracious.

     Just because someone is well-spoken does not mean they are not evil. Many people use smooth words to cover evil intent.