Tag Archives: Psalm 16

July 20, 2015 Bible Study — Godly People Are the True Heroes

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 19:20-21

    If you want to be thought of as wise, listen to all of the advice you receive and allow yourself to be disciplined. There are really two pieces to this. The first part is that if you listen to someone’s advice they will think you are wise because you listened to their advice. The second part is, if you listen to lots of advice, and accept discipline when you make mistakes, you will learn wisdom and actually become wise.
    Another aspect of wisdom is remembering that no matter what plans we make it is God’s purpose which determines the outcome. Let us seek as we make our plans to align those plans with God’s purposes.

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Psalm 16

    The psalmist is correct, every good thing I have comes from God. The most profound thing the psalmist says in this psalm is that the godly in the land are the true heroes. We should not consider people heroes because they are star athletes, or movie stars, or famous musicians, or some other sort of entertainers, or some other sort of public figure. All too often such people chase after gods other than the true God. Let us refuse to have anything to do with such gods.

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Romans 6

    Before Christ we had no choice, we were enslaved to sin. Now, however, we have a choice. We can be united with Christ in His death, and thus be raised to life with Him as well. That means that we have a choice, we can serve sin, or we can serve righteousness. If we choose to obey sin, we will be enslaved by it once more. On the other hand, if we choose to obey God, we are freed to serve righteousness. If we give in to our sinful desires, we will become enslaved once more to sin. On the other hand, the more we do what is right and holy, the harder it will become for us to do anything but what is right and holy. Think about this every time you are tempted to sin…and every time you are tempted to pass up an opportunity to do good.

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2 Chronicles 1-3

    God asked Solomon a question that each of us must answer. What do we truly want? Some of us want fame, some power, and still others want riches. However, Solomon gave the answer that should be ours if we truly wish to serve God. Solomon asked God to give him the wisdom and knowledge he needed to serve others. We may not be called to rule over others as Solomon was, but it is God’s desire that we serve those around us. So, when we are asked what we want, let us seek for the knowledge and wisdom to serve others.

January 18, 2015 Bible Study — Are We For Jesus, Or Against Him?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 3:27-32

    If you can do good for someone who deserves it, don’t put it off. If someone needs your help, deserves your help, and you could help right now, DO IT. Don’t wait until tomorrow, that might be too late.

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Psalm 16:1-11

    God is my master because every good thing I have comes from Him. When I look at the world around me I realize that it is the godly who are the true heroes. Being an athlete, a pop music star, or a movie star, or any other kind of pop culture star does not make one a hero. Those are not the people we should hold up to be honored. Instead, I will honor those who do the will of God.

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Matthew 12:22-45

    Jesus says that whoever is not for Him is against Him. Yet, shortly after the Transfiguration,He told the disciples that whoever is not against us is for us. These two statements seem in contradiction. However, when taken together they tell us something about Jesus and Christian faith that people often try to sidestep. There is not such thing as being neutral when it comes to Jesus. Sooner or later everyone must reach a decision. They are either for Him, or against Him. You must decide if you believe that He is your Savior, the Son of God, or you must believe that He is some combination of crazy/evil.
    There are those who try to get around this choice by saying that He is fictional. However, that only puts off the problem for a bit. If you believe that He is fictional, you will still have to decide whether the teachings attributed to Him are good or evil. Ultimately, the teachings attributed to Jesus cannot truly be good if Jesus is a fictional character. This leaves you with the conclusion that those teachings are evil when taken as a whole, even though you may think some of them are bad. So, either Jesus was God, and the only path to salvation, or He was evil/crazy (or the invention of evil/crazy people). Those are the only two options and, sooner or later, everyone is going to have to choose between them.

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Genesis 37-38:30

    I find the story of Judah and Tamar interesting. One thing I wondered about when I was younger was why God made the Israelites slaves in Egypt. Why did His chosen people have to suffer through that slavery? I found that answer in the story of Judah and Tamar. Judah thought nothing of joining into pagan worship by visiting a shrine prostitute. I take Judah’s attitude as typical of his brothers. If Jacob’s sons were already casually integrating with the pagan practices in this way, how long would it have been before they had completely adopted the local practices?
    So, the answer to the question I started this section with is, the Israelites had to suffer through slavery in order to forge them into a people separated from others by their worship of God. We see this still to this day. From time to time the Church becomes too much a part of society around us. When that happens, God allows persecution to arise in order to call His people out from the midst of society so that they will renew their dedication and love for Him.

July 20, 2014 Bible Study — Every Good Thing That I Have Comes From The Lord

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 19:20-21

    If you want to be wise, take advice, listen to instruction, accept discipline. Actually, not just take advice, listen to instruction, accept discipline, but seek these things out.
    We can make many plans and seek to accomplish the goals which we choose. However, only those plans which align with God’s purposes will come to pass.

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Psalm 16:1-11

    Everything that I have comes from God. He is the source of all that is good and nothing but trouble can be found by seeking after other gods. I renew my commitment to make God the focus of my life and to live my life to bring glory to His name. The Lord is beside me and will give me strength. Nothing can shake me so long as I remain at the Lord’s side.

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Romans 6:1-23

    Paul explains how, before Christ came into our lives, we were slaves to sin. Through His death, Jesus freed us from slavery to sin. We are dead to the power of sin. I must refuse to let sin control my life. If I give in to my sinful desires, I risk becoming once more a slave to sin. Rather, I will choose to obey God and become a slave to righteous living. We can either “enslave” ourselves to the freedom of doing what is right, or be enslaved to sinful desires. We will be enslaved to whatever we choose to obey. If we choose to obey God, we will be enslaved to righteousness. If we choose to obey our sinful desires, we will be enslaved by them.

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2 Chronicles 1-3:17

    God’s response to Solomon’s choice of wisdom is very telling. If we seek wealth, fame, or power, we may obtain those things, but that is all we will gain. If we ask God to give us the wisdom and knowledge to accomplish the tasks He has given us, He will grant us that wisdom and knowledge. And He will grant us other things which we may desire. As Jesus says in Matthew 6, God knows all that we need. If we make seeking His Kingdom our first priority, He will give us everything else that we need.

January 18, 2014 Bible Study — “Whoever Is Not With Me Is Against Me”

     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, or more. in advance. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Genesis 37-38:30

     We have here the story of Joseph’s early life. Since he was the first son of Rachel, Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. This resulted in him being spoiled. His father gave him gifts that were much nicer than those he gave his other sons and Joseph was a tattletale. Then to compound things, he had dreams which showed him ruling over his brothers, and over his father and mother. Worse, he told his brothers about his dreams, and, while the passage does not say so, I am pretty sure he talked about the obvious interpretation of the dreams and told his brothers he was their better.
     Later his father sent him to get a report about his brothers. When he arrived at where they were, his brothers decided to take out their resentment on him. However, Reuben, the eldest, had second thoughts and convinced the other brothers to throw him in a cistern, intending to return later and let him go. While Reuben was away from the rest of them, Judah had the idea of selling Joseph to a caravan of merchants. When Reuben returned and found Joseph gone, he lost his composure and worried what he would tell his (and Joseph’s) father. However, his brothers convinced him that they should dip Joseph’s coat in blood and send it to their father saying that they had found it.
     There is an important lesson for us in this passage relative to how Joseph handled his dreams, dreams which were messages from God. What we learn is that just because God has revealed something to us, we don’t necessarily have to tell everybody about it.

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Matthew 12:22-45

     A demon possessed man who could not see or speak. Jesus healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowds were amazed and began to ask if perhaps He might be the Messiah. The response of the Pharisees was that the only reason He could cast out demons was because He got His power from Satan. Jesus first points out that it makes no sense to believe that Satan would give someone the power to cast out demons, since that would mean that Satan was fighting against himself. He follows up this up by asking them who gives power to their own exorcists. He concludes this argument by telling them that if He casts out demons by the power of God it means that the Kingdom of God is among them. I think that He is suggesting that the reason they are denying that God is working through Him is because they are afraid to face the Kingdom of God in their midst.
     Jesus then tells us that those who are not with Him are against Him. That those who are not working with Him to bring God’s kingdom into this world are working against it. Those who attribute the acts of the Holy Spirit to Satan are committing the one sin which cannot be forgiven. Finally, Jesus tells us that we can judge people by the results of their actions. If others are better off because of what they do, they are good people. On the other hand, if others suffer as a result of their actions they are evil people.

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Psalm 16:1-11

     Who do we hold up as heroes? The successful athlete? The movie or television star? Or do we follow the example of the psalmist and hold up the godly people of the land as our heroes? I will strive to emulate the godly and hold them up for others to do the same. I will not imitate those who worship gods other than God. I will be content with what God has given me, with the inheritance which is mine from Him. No, I will not just be content, I will be glad for what God has given me, whether it is great or small in the eyes of this world.

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Proverbs 3:27-32

     This proverb is a wonderful piece of advice about how to live a good life. If you can assist someone who needs help now, do not put it off. Do good for others when the opportunity arises. Further it tells us not to betray those who have reason to trust us. Finally it warns us against admiring those who use violence to advance their interests, or to succumb to the temptation to imitate them.

July 20, 2013 Bible Study — How Can I Serve the Lord Right Now?

     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.

Reading Phillies-conference on the mound
Reading Phillies-conference on the mound

2 Chronicles 1-3:17

     When Solomon took the throne he called together all of the leaders of Israel to worship at the Tabernacle in Gibeon. David had moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, but the Tabernacle that was built in the wilderness was still at Gibeon. In addition, the bronze altar that had been built during the Israel’s time in the wilderness was there as well. Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar before the Tabernacle in Gibeon.
     That night God appeared to Solomon and asked him what he would like God to give him. Solomon responded by asking God to give him the wisdom and knowledge to be a good ruler of God’s people, Israel. God was pleased that Solomon had not requested wealth, long life, death to his enemies, or honor. Because of this God promised Solomon that he would grant his request for the wisdom and knowledge to be a good ruler, and he would give him wealth, honor and a long life.
     The passage goes on to recount Solomon’s correspondence with Hiram, king of Tyre, in preparation for building the Temple. It concludes with a describe the building of the Temple itself.

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     This passage teaches us the same lesson as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:33. If we make our priority to seek after God’s will in our life, God will grant us everything else that we need. If we make it our heart’s desire to do God’s will and to serve Him to the best of our ability, God will give us our heart’s desire and more. Once more I ask God to give me the desire to serve Him first and foremost of all of my desires. I wish to get to the point where my question of anything I want is, “How can I use this to serve the Lord?”

Reading Phillies pool party
Reading Phillies pool party

Romans 6:1-23

     There is a lot of stuff in today’s passage, but for me, I want to highlight the following verses (Romans 6:12-14)

Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master,…

There is not much I can say to make the meaning of this any clearer or explain how it applies to my life. I do think this fits very well with what the Old Testament passage said to me. If we give ourselves completely to God and ask, “How can I use this to serve the Lord?” of everything we do, it will go a long way to helping us fulfill the other part of what Paul tells us: “do not give in to sinful desires.” I will strive to ask in every moment, “How can I serve the Lord, right now?”

Reading Phillies--another mascot
Reading Phillies–another mascot

Psalm 16:1-11

     This psalm has an important point to make. Every good thing we have comes from the Lord. I will follow the example of the psalmist and make the godly people in the land my heroes. They will be the ones that I will emulate and that I will encourage others to emulate. I will resist the temptation to follow other gods, because that is the route to destruction.
     The Lord will guide me and instruct me. He is right beside me, ready to answer whenever I ask, “How can I serve the Lord right now?” I just need to listen (something I am not very good at).

Umpire upstages the mascot
Umpire upstages the mascot

Proverbs 19:20-21

     Today’s proverb recommends that we get all of the advice that we can and take whatever instruction we are given, this is the route to always being able to determine the wise course of action. It does not say to follow all of the advice we are given, merely to get all of the advice that we can. The second proverb tells us that we can make all of the plans that we wish, but only those that serve God’s purpose will come to fruition. Which brings us back to my question for the day, “How can I serve the Lord right now?”