For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 19:24-25

    The writer does not mean this literally (or perhaps, he does not JUST mean this literally). The lazy begin doing things which would lead to success, but they abandon them when they realize it will take work and time to gain from them.
    If you point out their mistake to the wise, they will become wiser. The simple-minded only learn when they see someone suffer for doing the things which they do.

Psalm 18:1-15

    Every time I read this psalm I am struck by the imagery it uses to describe God’s reaction to our cries for His help. When God launches Himself to bring justice to the innocent and the powerless, nothing will stop Him, all of Creation will tremble in fear. I pray that I am never the target of God’s anger and I weep for those who are. They were given ample opportunity to change their ways but have instead chosen to bring harm to others.

Romans 7:14-8:8

    Paul sums up the human condition when he says, “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” There is a power within us which leads us to do things we don’t want to do. That power is our sinful nature which makes us slaves to sin and death. The only way we can be freed from that bondage is through faith in Jesus Christ.
    Paul tells us that if we are controlled by our sinful nature we will think about sinful things and if we are controlled by the Holy Spirit we will think about things pleasing to the Spirit. The converse of those are true as well. If we think about sinful things we will be controlled by our sinful nature. Which means that if we want to give control to the Holy Spirit we need to fill our minds thinking about things which are pleasing to the Spirit. Remember, you are going to think about something. The Power which rules this world is constantly striving to fill our minds with thoughts about sinful things. If we do not work just as hard to fill our minds with thoughts pleasing to the Holy Spirit, he will fill us with thoughts about sinful things. The result of that is that our sinful nature will control us. I realize that the key to overcoming the sin in my life is to work harder to fill my mind with thoughts pleasing the the Holy Spirit. Thus I will give the Holy Spirit control over my life and deprive my sinful nature of control.
    We need to remember this same principle in discussing controversial issues with others. Our Enemy constantly seeks to make the discussion about what is sinful rather than about what is righteous. By doing this he gets us to think about sinful things. Instead of falling into that trap (something I struggle against), let us make the discussion about doing what is right, not about whether sin is sin.

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10

    In response to Solomon’s prayer God said, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” As I look at world events I see a future where scary things are going to happen. This passage reminds me of the answer to the frightening future I see coming. God is calling His people to humble themselves and pray. I know that I do not pray as I should. Let those of us who wish to be called by God’s name humble ourselves and fill our minds with prayer. This is the answer to filling my mind with thoughts pleasing to the Spirit. Oh Lord, make me a man of prayer!

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 19:24-25

    There are people who are too lazy to take advantage of the opportunities which come their way. They will not take the actions necessary to feed themselves.
    The simple minded learn from punishment, while the wise become wiser when their mistakes are pointed out to them.

Psalm 18:1-15

    The opening of this psalm was the basis for a great praise song “I Will Call Upon The Lord. When we are distressed it is by calling out to God that we will be rescued. If we turn to God and rely on Him, He will be faithful and grant us salvation. If we cry out to God He will hear us, no matter how far from Him we perceive ourselves to be.
    The imagery used here to describe how God will deal with anything or anyone who gets in His way when He is coming to rescue those who trust in Him would make the writer of a super hero comic blush. And the psalmist is not being over-the-top! God is He who created the universe, do not for a minute think that there are any obstacles which can prevent Him from coming to your rescue. When you face distress, turn to God and call on His name. He will come to your rescue. No one and nothing can stand against Him.

Romans 7:14-8:8

    Paul here gives us all reason to hope and believe. First he tells us that we are not alone in our struggles. I want to do what is right, but I do not. Paul had the same problem. I do not want to do what is wrong, yet I do. Paul tells us that he too had that problem. He tells us that there is only one way to be freed from this slavery to sin. It is to put one’s faith in Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who is able to free us from our slavery.
    If we are dominated by our sinful nature, we will think about sinful things. On the other hand, if we are controlled by the Spirit we will think about things which are pleasing to the Spirit. Which tells us what we must do in order to be freed from slavery to sin. We must not allow our sinful nature to control our minds and our thoughts. Rather, we must allow God’s Spirit to control our minds and our thoughts. If we do the latter It will lead us to life and peace. Let us banish from our minds thoughts about sinful activities. We can do this by filling our minds with thoughts about spiritual things and things which are pleasing to God. Let us call upon the Lord in all of our thoughts.

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10

    In his dedication of the Temple Solomon prayed that if the people of Israel turned toward the Temple and prayed to God for forgiveness and deliverance for God to hear them and grant their prayer. Solomon also prayed that God would hear the prayers of those who were foreigners when they prayed toward the Temple. God answered Solomon’s prayer by stating that when people are experiencing distress if they humble themselves, seek His face and turn away from their sins He will hear their prayers and deliver them. If we call upon the Lord He will rescue us.

     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.

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10

     Solomon continues his closing prayer by asking God to watch over the Temple and hear prayers said towards it (I believe that this is the origin of the idea of facing towards a holy place when praying). He acknowledges that the Temple cannot possibly contain God, since not even the heavens can contain Him. Solomon then asked God that when people sin and suffer for their sins, if they turn to God, confess their sins and repent of them, he asked that God forgive them and return them to His favor. Solomon asked that God extend His mercy not only to the people of Israel, but to anyone from any land who turned to God and sought to serve Him.
     God responded to Solomon’s prayer and gave Solomon a message that is as important for the Church today as it was for the people of Israel. “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

***
     Things are bad in the world today and getting worse. The answer is not to point to those who have never accepted Christ and blame them for their sin. The answer is for those of us who are called by Christ’s name, those of us who are Christians, to humble ourselves, admit our sins, turn from them, pray, and seek God’s face. We need to seek to do God’s will, not our own. The Christian message is not one for me to tell you what you should be doing differently. The Christian message is for me to look at my life and see what I should be doing differently. This does not mean that we do not tell people the consequences of sin and encourage them to stop sinning. It just means that law is not the answer. Law does not stop people from sinning. Only God’s grace can do that. We will not stop sinning because of our own goodness, or because of the strength of our will. All we can do by the strength of our will is substitute one sin for another. It is only by God’s grace that I will stop committing sin.

Romans 7:14-8:8

     I did not read this part of today’s reading before I wrote what I wrote about the Old Testament passage, but Paul touches on exactly the point I made at the end of that. We want to do what is right, but we don’t. We don’t want to do what is wrong, but we do. It is human nature to want to do what is right, what God commands. But it is also human nature to be enslaved to sin. But God has given us a way out. We can die to the law through Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to control us, rather than sin. If we continue to think about sinful things, we will be controlled by sin. On the other hand, if we are controlled by the Holy Spirit we will think about spiritual things.

***
     There are two ways to deal with our nature. The most common is to redefine what is right and what is wrong. In order to stop feeling bad about themselves for doing things that they know are wrong, people tell themselves that those things are not wrong. They tell themselves that it is the people who say that it is wrong who are doing wrong. The other is to admit that we are powerless to do what is right and turn control of our lives over to God. The latter is much harder. It is hard to not attempt to snatch control of our lives back, always forgetting that when we do that all we are doing is choosing the master who makes us do that which we do not wish to do.

Psalm 18:1-15

     The beginning of this psalm is very familiar to us.

I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.
All of this is wonderful and lovely, and true. I think of God in these ways all the time. The psalmist goes on to explain why he said those things. He tells us that he was on the verge of being destroyed and of death. Then he tells us: But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.
The psalm goes on to describe how God reacted when He heard the psalmist’s cry for help. This is the God who will save us as well if we turn to Him. Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
This is the force that God will expend for us when we call on His name, a force that causes the earth itself to tremble in fear. I am reading this psalm and writing this commentary on it and I almost missed how it fits into the theme today’s other passages have for me. What led to God coming forth with the force that the psalmist tells us caused the earth to tremble? Why, the psalmist told us that to, he humbled himself and prayed. If we humble ourselves and pray, we will see God burst forth onto this earth with a force that will cause the very mountains to shake.

Proverbs 19:24-25

     If you strike a mocker, someone naive and/or simple-minded may learn to be shrewd. But all it takes for those who are wise to learn is a simple correction of their mistakes.