For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 21:11-12

    The foolish only change their behavior when they see someone get punished for that behavior. It is sufficient to inform the wise that you find certain behavior unacceptable. The wise will change their behavior out of respect for you.

Psalm 33:12-22

    There is great joy for any nation whose people make God their Lord. God sees the whole human race and understand everything we do, even when we do not. It is not by our strength, our knowledge, our wisdom, nor our wealth that we will be victorious. It is God who will deliver us from defeat. It according to His will that those who fear Him will be successful in what they do. I will put my hope in God, not in my puny abilities. If my skill is sufficient to the tasks which God has given me, it is not to my credit, but to His. If my skill is insufficient to His tasks, I know that God will supply me with aid to make up for the lack.

1 Corinthians 9:1-18

    Paul first makes a point that those who preach the Gospel and those who teach others how to live according to God’s word are entitled to be supported by those to whom they preach or teach (or both). This is an important thing to remember. We should all be willing to pay the support costs of those who lead the local Body of Christ. However, Paul then goes on to make the point that he not only never demanded such support from the Church at Corinth, he actively rejected it. He did not do this because he was too good for them. Rather he did this because he felt compelled to preach the Gospel to them. It was only by doing so at his own expense that he felt he was doing something worth mention.
    I have struggled with what Paul says here because he sounds like he is bragging. However, I am convinced that Paul is trying to inspire some to imitate him in this way. I have become convinced that, while the Church should willingly support its ministers, the Church needs some leaders who refuse to accept a salary for doing God’s work. Some of the movers and shakers in the larger Church body need to be people who receive no human recompense for the time they spend doing God’s work.

Nehemiah 7:73-9:21

    After they had completed the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, the people gathered to hear the Law of Moses read. I find it interesting to read how they arranged for multiple speakers to repeat what Ezra said as he read the Law. Each speaker had a copy of the Law and they read along as Ezra read. As the people heard what the Law had to say, they began to weep. The leaders encouraged them to refrain from sorrow because the festival they were celebrating was one of joy. This first celebration was to praise God and thank Him for bringing them back to Jerusalem.
    A month later, the people reconvened to confess their sins and express their sorrow for those sins. First they celebrated the wonderful things God had done for them. Then they expressed their remorse and sorrow for their sins. I do not think this is always the order we should follow, but there is an important truth here. There are times when we are called to celebrate the joy we feel because of what God has done for us, and there are times when we are called to weep and mourn because of the pain we have caused God and others. We should not always be joyful and we should not always be sorrowful.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 21:11-12

    Mockers and the simple-minded need to see or experience punishment in order to gain wisdom. Those who are wise listen to instruction in order to become wiser. Let us strive to be the latter rather than the former.
    We hear stories from time to time about households where terrible things were going on behind closed doors and no one knew. Well, God knows and will bring ruin upon those who hide their wickedness in their homes.

Psalm 33:12-22

    If the people of a nation worship and trust God, that nation will be safe and secure. However, those who put their trust in their military might and disregard God’s word will discover that their might will fail them. If we put our hope and trust in the Lord, seeking to do His will, He will care for and protect us. Let us seek to teach our neighbors to fear and trust the Lord for that is the path to joy and security.

1 Corinthians 9:1-18

    Every time I read this passage, I am struck by something other than the message most often taken from it, although that message is there as well. First, I will mention the message most often taken from this passage that we should never forget. Those who preach the Gospel and otherwise tend to the spiritual needs of the body of believers are entitled to financial and material support by the body of believers. We should contribute to their well-being to the best of our ability. However, Paul here states that he has refused such support (although elsewhere he acknowledges accepting support at times). The point I take away from this is that some of us are called to minister to the body of Christ without accepting support from said body. This is always a decision to be reached by the person so called. The body of believers who they serve should be prepared, and should offer, to provide them with financial and material support.

Nehemiah 7:73-9:21

    The people’s initial response to hearing the words of the Book of the Law read and explained to them was to mourn. They were heartbroken when they realized how far they had fallen short of God’s commands. However, the leaders did not let them wallow in their grief. Rather, they reminded them that they had gathered to celebrate God’s wonderful power in returning them to Jerusalem and protecting them as they rebuilt the city. They encouraged them to share with those who had come less prepared. The people listened to their leaders and celebrated the feast, sharing with those around them.
    Later, they gathered another time to confess their sins and seek God’s forgiveness. This passage reminds us that there are times to celebrate God’s goodness and other times to bare our souls and grieve for how badly we have sinned.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 21:8-10

    The guilty do not move in a straight line. Everything they do is round about and indirect in an attempt to hide their true motives. The innocent move directly towards their goal. They do not attempt to disguise their purposes. We should judge our own actions by this standard. Are we direct and open, or do we hide our true motives and attempt to keep people from recognizing our goals?
    The wicked desire evil, even those closest to them can expect to be treated badly.

Psalm 33:1-11

    If we love what is just and good, we will sing praises to God. His love will fill us with joy causing us to burst forth in song. We know that He speaks the truth in all He says. Look at His great power, He merely spoke and the universe came into being in all of its wonder and grandeur. God’s plans will come to pass, His intentions will be carried out. But no matter how powerful the person or nation, their goals will only be accomplished if they serve the purposes of the Lord. Let us praise His wonderful name>

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

    This is one of those passages which is both clear to me, and difficult for me to explain. The example he uses of meat offered to idols gives a lot of nuance to what he is teaching here. First, Paul agrees with those who say that since idols are merely imaginary and not real gods, there is no harm in eating meat offered to idols. It is important to point out something that is not common in our society that we might otherwise overlook. Eating meat that had been “sanctified” by being blessed by a pagan priest and offered to a pagan god was an element of many worship practices. Eating meat sacrificed to a particular idol was part of the worship of that idol by those who worshiped it.
    Paul tells us that, since these idols were nothing but statues carved by men, there was no harm in eating food that another had offered to them. However, not everyone saw it that way. If we knew that a fellow believer felt that it was wrong to eat meat offered to an idol, we should not push them on the issue. If our fellow believer perceived that eating such meat was taking part in the worship of the idol we should avoid doing so, even if for us there was no such intention. If we attempt to convince them that it is OK to eat meat offered to idols, we may succeed in getting them to eat it without first removing the reverence for the idol which goes along with that practice from their minds. Let us avoid practices which might lead our fellow believers to sin.
    When I was growing up my father demonstrated an application of this which have always made this passage clear to me. When I was very young, the Mennonite Church (which I was raised in and am still a member of) taught that men should wear the “plain coat”. While I was still young, the Church stopped teaching and enforcing this rule. My father was among the last in my acquaintance to stop wearing the plain coat. He explained that he continued to wear the plain coat because there were some men who thought that it was a sin to wear a suit jacket other than the plain coat and if he stopped wearing it, they might feel shamed into wearing an ordinary suit jacket even though they thought that a sin. My father’s actions in this case were a clear example of what Paul was talking about. This was a two-fold decision. One, it was important that my father continue to wear the plain coat, and did not matter so much that others did not, because of the respect many in the Church had for my father’s spiritual wisdom. Two, many in the Church had respect for my father’s spiritual wisdom because he did this.

Nehemiah 5:14-7:73

    Nehemiah gives us a great example of what a leader of the people should be like. He did not use his position to acquire wealth for himself. He did not even use it to offset the expenses that went along with his position. He recognized that the people were burdened enough with the things which needed doing, rebuilding the city walls and providing for its defenses). He refused to be a further burden upon them. This is in contrast to many of our leaders today, both secular and spiritual, who use their positions to acquire great wealth for themselves (this in no way applies to those pastors, or politicians, who earn a wage from their position which is close to the average household income for their constituents).
    Nehemiah also gave an example for all of us on trusting God when we face danger. When his enemies tried to convince him to come leave Jerusalem so that they could more easily strike at him, he refused. Yet, when a credible threat arose of an attack against him, he refused to seek greater protection than the people he led would be able to take advantage of. He refused to be enticed into a place of greater danger, yet trusted God to protect him when he went about his normal day-to-day activities.

     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.

Nehemiah 7:73-9:21

     Once the wall around Jerusalem was rebuilt and the people were able to settle into “normal lives in and around Jerusalem a gathering of all of the people was called. They asked Ezra the priest to bring out the Book of the Law and read it to them. Ezra read to them from daybreak until noon. Ezra was flanked by several Levites. The way I read the passage, they were standing some distance from him, repeating what he said so that those more distant from Ezra could hear what he was saying as well. In addition to reading the Book of the Law, Ezra explained what it meant.
     As the people listened to what Ezra was saying, they began to weep. Nehemiah told the people that they should not weep because the day was a sacred day of the Lord. He told them instead to go and celebrate with a feast, sharing their food with those who had nothing prepared. With further encouragement from Ezra and the Levites the people went from mourning to joy at having heard and understood God’s words. The leaders of the people, along with the priests and Levites, met with Ezra to go over the Law in greater detail. While studying the Law they discovered that the Law prescribed the Festival of Shelters in that month. When they realized this they sent out word and the people gathered and celebrated the Festival of Shelters as outlined in the Law. The people celebrated the Festival with joy. Ezra read from the Book of the Law each day and on the eighth day they all gathered for a solemn assembly.
     At the end of that month, the people gathered again for a day of fasting. They dressed in sackcloth and humbled themselves before God. Once more the Book of the Law was read to them. At the end of the three hour reading the people confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord for an additional three hours. Following that the leaders of the Levites called on the people to praise the Lord and led them in a prayer recounting the mighty miracles God had performed for their ancestors during the Exodus, miracles God performed for them despite their sins against Him.

1 Corinthians 9:1-18

     Having just said that he would spend the rest of his life as a vegetarian rather than cause someone to stumble in their faith in Christ, Paul asks a rhetorical question of his readers. He asks them if he does not have the right to accept support from the churches where he has preached the Gospel. Paul goes on to show that Scripture does indeed teach that those who pastor/teach/lead a congregation are entitled to financial support from that congregation. He then points out that despite the fact that he was entitled to support from the congregations he preached the Gospel to, he never asked for nor expected such support. Paul then tells them that he has no intent to start asking for such support now. He tells them that while he has a right to such support, he would rather die than accept it. Paul tells them that the reason he does not want to receive their support is because that is the only thing he has to boast of. He cannot boast of preaching the Gospel because he is compelled by God to do so. Paul did not consider preaching the Gospel to be something he did voluntarily. Since he has no choice (at least in his own mind) but to preach the Gospel, what reward is he entitled to? His answer is that he is not entitled to any reward. However, by preaching the Gospel without accepting any remuneration. Paul both becomes eligible for a reward and received that reward in the same action. Paul considers preaching the Gospel free of charge to his reward.

***
     I was going to say that I wished that I felt such compulsion by the Spirit to preach God’s word that I could understand Paul’s emotion that it was not voluntary. Then I realized that I have from time to time felt compelled to share the Gospel. In particular there was one instance that finalized my understanding and surrender to the Holy Spirit. I was at a party at a long time friend’s house. I was somewhat intoxicated, to the point that I now consider to be beyond what fits God’s will for us. I was flirting with a young woman and started discussing what was wrong with the dominant world views. I explained that the problem with those who favored socialistic solutions was that they tried to pretend that greed could be done away with and that the problem with those who favored capitalistic solutions was that they tended to say that greed was good. After spending some time making these arguments, quite eloquently I believe, the young woman asked me what my answer to the world’s problems was. I was taken aback. I had thought I had done a good job of adopting the role of the well-meaning cynic. I did not want to reveal that I was a Christian, but I had no choice, not because I could not claim that there was no answer, but because God revealed to me, through the fog of intoxication, that He expected ME to be willing to declare Him before men (or in this case woman).
     It was not to my credit that I answered as I did when I answered her question by telling her that my answer to the world’s problems was God. It was an act of the Holy Spirit, and one of the moments of greatest blessings in my life. I had forgotten that incident until today, now I pray that the Spirit compel me to witness like that more often (and more blatantly).

Psalm 33:12-22

     The psalmist tells us that the people whose God is the Lord will experience joy, not in a personal sense, but in a corporate sense. No matter how well equipped you are, nor how strong, nor what aids you may have in your endeavors, you will not have success unless God is on your side. I will put my hope in the Lord because no matter how powerful those who strive to harm me, God will defend me. I will trust in His name.

Proverbs 21:11-12

     The simple gain wisdom by observing wrongdoers being punished, the wise gain wisdom by being instructed. God takes note of what the wicked think they are doing in secret and they will not escape the consequences of their evil.

     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.

Nehemiah 5:14-7:73

     Nehemiah recounts how he never drew on the food allowance of the governor for the twelve years he was the governor of Judah, nor did he use his position as governor to acquire land. He and his men devoted their time to working on the wall. As the work on the wall reached completion Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab sent word requesting that Nehemiah meet them in a village outside of Jerusalem. Nehemiah suspected that they were plotting to ambush him and replied that he was working on an important project and could not take the time to come to meet them. Nehemiah’s enemies sent the same message to him requesting a meeting outside of the city to him four times. He sent the same reply to them every time. Finally, they sent a personal message with a message threatening to send word to the king of Persia alleging that Nehemiah was plotting to have himself named king of Judah and rebel against Persia. Nehemiah told the messenger to pass the word to his master that such allegations were baseless and that he was not going to meet with him.
     Later, Nehemiah went to visit a shut-in named Shemaiah. Shemaiah told Nehemiah that his enemies were coming to kill him that night and that they should go to the Temple and bolt the doors. Nehemiah refused to follow such advice to barricade himself in. Shortly after this they completed the walls and set up doors in the gates. During this time many letters went back and forth between nobles of Jerusalem and Tobiah. The nobles kept praising Tobiah to Nehemiah and passed everything Nehemiah said on to Tobiah. Many of the nobles in Jerusalem had sworn allegiance to Tobiah because of his family connections. After the wall was finished, Nehemiah appointed his brother as governor over Jerusalem and gave him instructions on keeping the city well guarded.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

     Today Paul moves on to another topic, whether or not Christians may eat food offered to idols. This is not a topic of much concern to us today, but there is much we can learn from what Paul says on the topic. The first thing Paul tells us is that it is more important to love one another, and to act towards one another with love, than it is to have the correct knowledge. He further says that it is only through love that we gain full knowledge.
     From there Paul goes on to the specifics of eating meat offered to idols. He starts by expounding on the fact that idols are not truly gods. There is only one God. Some people worship many different gods, but we know that those gods are not truly gods at all. However, not all believers know this, more importantly, some believers are used to believing and behaving as if certain idols are real gods. As a result if and when they eat meat that has been offered to idols, they think of it as worship of those idols. We do not win God’s approval by what we do or do not eat. We do not lose anything in God’s eyes if we do not eat specific foods, nor do we gain anything if we do eat them.
     Paul goes on to tell us that since we neither gain, nor lose, by what we eat, we should consider the consciences of those whose faith is weaker than our own. He tells us that we should be careful to make sure that we do not exercise our freedom in Christ in such a manner as to cause someone with a weaker conscience to stumble into sin. If our actions might encourage our brother or sister in Christ to sin, we should choose not to take those actions.

Psalm 33:1-11

     The psalmist calls on those who are godly to sing for joy and praise the Lord. It is fitting that those who He has purified praise Him. We can trust everything that God does. If something is just and good, we can be sure that God loves it. The psalmist tells us all we need to know of God’s power in verse six:

The Lord merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
THe psalmist tells us that God brings to naught the plans and schemes of the nations, but whatever God intends comes to pass. All that happens furthers God’s agenda for this world, despite the attempts of people and nations to thwart those plans.

Proverbs 21:8-10

     The guilty follow a path that winds and twists, while the innocent are direct and open about their intentions and where they are headed. If you desire evil, you are evil.