For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    No one can truthfully claim to have cleansed themselves of all sin. It is only through the action of God’s Spirit that we can be cleansed and sin removed from our lives. God detests double standards, let us never hold others to a standard we will not attempt to live up to ourselves. Nor should we hold one person accountable for actions we would ignore in another.

    Yesterday we read the first part of this psalm, where the psalmist expressed deep and complete despair. He felt abandoned by God. Today, in the conclusion of the psalm, he expresses his faith in God. He states that he will praise God before the assembled people. When Jesus cited this psalm from the cross, He was citing both the despair of the first part and the faith of this portion.
    God does not ignore the suffering of the needy. He does not consider what we are suffering to be too minor for His concern. He will not turn His back on us, just as Jesus was acknowledging that God had not turned His back on Him. God will listen to the cries for help from those in need. God will provide for the needs of the poor. Those who seek God will discover Him and He will give them joy. The day is coming when the whole earth will acknowledge God.

    This is one of my favorite Bible passages. It contains so much for us to study. Paul tells us to offer up our bodies as living sacrifices to God. We should treat our bodies as Holy and belonging to God. They are not ours to use to bring us pleasure. Our bodies belong to God and should be used to do His will and bring Him pleasure. We should not allow ourselves to conform to the expectations and thought patterns of the world around us. Rather, let us allow God’s Spirit to renew our minds and transform us into God’s image, so that we think and act according to His will.
    Let us not think more highly of ourselves than is appropriate. Seek to honour others rather than seek to be honoured. Look at the gifts which God has given us and exercise those gifts to their fullest extent. Do not pretend to love others, but do so genuinely. Do not think of ourselves as too important to spend time with poor, needy, or otherwise “little” people. We are not too good to associate with them.
    When others wrong us, it is not our place to exact revenge. God has stated that He will pay back those who are so deserving. If anyone has done us wrong, God will extract our revenge. Instead of doing wrong to those who have done us wrong, let us do good to them. Let us show the world that we will not be brought down to its level, but will live according to God’s love.

    Joash became king when he was seven years old. He was put on the throne by Jehoiada, the high priest. For as long as Jehoiada lived Joash served God and was a good king. He was not just a puppet of Jehoiada because we are told that he confronted Jehoiada over his failure to restore the Temple as Joash had ordered. However, Jehoiada’s influence led Joash to consider what God’s will was in all of his decisions. After Jehoiada’s death, Joash came under the influence of advisers whose priority was not serving God. Those advisers led Joash into sin and idolatry. This passage reminds us of the importance of surrounding ourselves with godly companions.

     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.

     As long as his uncle, Jehoiada, the man who had raised him, was alive, Joash followed the Lord faithfully. He ordered the Levites to collect the offerings required by the law and use those funds to repair the Temple. When the Levites failed to follow through, Joash ordered a chest made and placed at the entrance to the Temple. He then sent word throughout the land that people were to bring their offering to the Temple and place it in the chest, rather than give it to the Levites visiting their town. When the chest was full, it was brought to Joash’s officials who emptied it and tallied how much had been collected. Once a large amount had been collected, Joash hired construction supervisors to repair the Temple. When the repairs were finished the money left over was used to replace the various articles of worship which had been destroyed or defiled over the years.
     Jehoiada lived to 130, but unfortunately after his death Joash began listening to less righteous advisers. They encouraged him to abandon the Temple of God and start worshiping Asherah poles and other idols. Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah prophesied against these practices telling the people that since they had abandoned God, God had abandoned them. Joash ordered that Zechariah be stoned to death in the courtyard of the Temple. In the spring of the following year a small army of Arameans invaded Judah and plundered Jerusalem. In the battle Joash was wounded. While he was recuperating some of his officials assassinated him for killing Zechariah.
     Amaziah, Joash’s son, succeeded him on the throne. Amaziah gathered his army and attacked Edom, plundering it. He brought back the idols of Edom and began worshiping them. A prophet confronted Amaziah, asking him why he worshiped gods that had been unable to rescue their own people? Amaziah told the prophet that he had not been appointed a counselor to the king and should keep quiet. The prophet concluded by telling Amaziah that God had determined to destroy him. Amaziah then issued a challenge to the king of Israel to meet in battle. The king of Israel responded by telling Amaziah that he should not stir up trouble just because he had defeated Edom. Amaziah did not listen to this advice and went to war against Israel. The king of Israel soundly defeated Amaziah and plundered Jerusalem, tearing down a large segment of its walls. Eventually there was a conspiracy against Amaziah and he was assassinated.

     Today’s passage is perhaps the clearest part of the book of Romans and a great basic outline of how to live as a Christian. First Paul tells us not to conform to the world, that is not to copy its behaviors and customs. Rather we are to be transformed by God’s Spirit so that we will know and practice God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will for us.
     Next he tells us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. That is not to think we are more important or better than others. We need to honestly evaluate ourselves, judging ourselves against the standard of what God has called us to be, not against the standard of what others do (or more likely what we perceive others to do). Paul explains both why we should not think ourselves better than others and why we should not judge ourselves against others. He tells us that just as the body has different parts which each have their own purpose, so each of us in the Church are different and have different gifts from God so as to fulfill different purposes. We should use the gifts which God has given us to the best of our ability.
     We should not hypocritically love others, holding them to a standard that we do not live up to ourselves. Let us hate what is evil and strive to do that which is good. Paul tells us to be devoted to our fellow Christians, giving preference to others over ourselves. He commands us to work hard at serving the Lord. Let us rejoice in the hope that God has given us and be patient when we face difficulties and trouble, praying at all times. Help those around us who are in need, especially our fellow Christians, seeking opportunities to practice hospitality.
     Paul finishes out this section by telling us how to deal with those around us who wrong us. He tells us to bless those who persecute us. He tells us not to curse them, if we are not to curse even those who persecute us, how can there be anyone it is appropriate for us to curse? Through Paul, God commands us to live in harmony with each other. It is our duty to live at peace with those around us as much as that is within our control. God calls us to associate with those others might consider beneath us. When someone does wrong to us, we should respond by doing good and certainly not by doing wrong to them. It is not our place to take revenge. God reserves vengeance for Himself. Paul reminds us that God says: “Vengeance is Mine. I will repay.” I will not be conquered by evil, but will strive to conquer evil with good.

     Today’s psalm is the second part of Jesus’ last message for His disciples while He hung on the cross. In the first part, which we covered yesterday, the psalmist expressed utter despair and the feeling of abandonment. However, in today’s portion he tells us that God has not ignored his cries for help. He proclaims that God listens and answers the cries of those in need. For this he will praise God in the assembly of the people.

     I have read this proverb, “Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free from sin’?”, many times. Today for the first time I realized the key part of it, “Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart;…'”. I have not cleansed my heart. To the degree that my heart has been cleansed, it is God who has done it. Until I am willing to accept that the only way any and every sin can be cleansed from my hearts is for God to do it, those sins will remain. Any time, I say to God, “OK, I see what you want, I’ll take it from here,” I will fail to overcome the sin in question. It is only when I turn to God in abject humility and say, “God, I can’t do it. It is beyond my ability to overcome. Please do this for me,” that the sin in my life will be overcome.