Tag Archives: Religion

Daily Bible Study

November 25, 2014 Bible Study — Do Not Repay Evil With Evil, But Rather With Blessing

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:14

    The translation notes say that it could also be translated as “Blessed are those who fear the Lord” and that the Hebrew just reads as “Blessed are those who fear.” When I contrast this with the second portion of this proverb, I really needed this proverb right now. I just made the decision to buy another car and I was dissatisfied with the decision I made (not with the car, but with the decision making process). In some ways this proverb relieves my worries. I had a lot of fear going into making this decision and I did not stubbornly stick to my guns, but when I was done, I thought I should have decided differently.
    If we can make a major decision without fearing that we are making a mistake, we are stubbornly fooling ourselves on to the path to serious trouble.

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Psalm 119:65-80

    It is by following God’s commands that we acquire knowledge and good judgement. The arrogant may slander us, but if we obey God’s commands He will vindicate us. Let us take joy in our suffering because it will help us learn God’s instructions. God has made us, He will give us the sense to follow His commands, if we will accept it. I will focus on God’s instructions and leave those who malign me with lies for God to handle.

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1 Peter 3:8-4:6

    Today’s passage begins by telling us not to repay evil with evil. Rather, we are to repay evil and insult with blessing. There are few who will wish to harm us if we do good, and God will reward us if we do suffer for doing good. Therefore we need not fear those who threaten us in attempt to convince us to stop doing good.
    When someone asks us why we are not afraid to continue in the face of threats, Peter tells us to be prepared with an answer. When we give them our answer, let us do so gently and with respect. This last bit is a challenge for me. Nevertheless we are called to live such lives that when people see how we live they are embarrassed that they said whatever terrible things they have said against Christians and us in the past.
    Since Christ suffered bodily harm, we should prepare ourselves for the same. This will help us keep from spending our lives chasing our own desires and instead make us anxious to do God’s will. We should no longer join with our non-believing friends in wild and destructive behavior. Everyone will have to give account to God for how they live. Let us choose to live in a way that gives others an example of how they should live to please God.

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Daniel 1-2:23

    When Daniel and his three friends were entered into Nebuchadnezzar’s training program, they strove to remain faithful to God, despite the pressures to conform to a pagan lifestyle. As I read this today it struck me that in a way the situation Daniel and his friends found themselves in was very similar to the college experience today. They chose not to join in the debauchery of their fellow students. More interesting to me is the fact that Daniel and his friends chose a diet and lifestyle that was healthier and more favorable for learning.
    It is possible Daniel was aware that this was the case, but I think he was just acting on faith. He believed that God wished him to live in this manner. Therefore, he was confident that God would cause him to thrive in this environment if he lived that way. We know from studies which have been done in modern times that the outcome was to be expected. Of course, Daniel and his three friends were healthier, better nourished than their contemporaries who drank and ate too much. Not only that but it was a natural result that at the end of the training they were wiser and more knowledgeable than the rest of their cohort.
    As I said, this is obvious to us today. Daniel and his friends spent their time in the training program learning and studying (both the program provided by the Babylonians and God’s word). They did not spend their time drinking and partying like the other young men in the program. However, I don’t think they knew this was the case. I think they believed that they would be rewarded for being faithful to God and thus made their choice. They did not choose to behave as they did because it would help them learn and be healthy (although it had that effect). In the same way, I believe that when we choose to live a godly life, we will almost always obtain better results than when we choose to live a worldly lifestyle.

Daily Bible Study

November 24, 2014 Bible Study — Submit To Government Authority

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:12-13

    Everyone cheers when good people succeed, but when the wicked become powerful people go into hiding and attempt to avoid being noticed. If most people seek to avoid drawing attention to themselves, it tells you that those with power are wicked. When people cheer for the successes of those in power, you know that those people are leading in a godly way. Usually our leaders are somewhere in between and we see the behavior of the people being somewhere in between as well.
    Those who hide their sins will find them being revealed at inopportune times, or otherwise interfering with their success. Those who admit to their sins and turn from them will receive forgiveness and be able to move beyond them.

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Psalm 119:49-64

    The arrogant will mock us for relying on God’s promises, but they are our only true hope. It is easy to become angry at those who reject God’s directions on how to lead a good life. They fail to see the connection between that rejection and the problems they seek to solve. The solution to most of the problems we see in this world is following God’s direction. It is by obeying God’s commands and instructions that we will find our way to dealing with the problems which life presents us.

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1 Peter 2:11-3:7

    Peter reinforces his teaching that we are to live as foreigners among unbelievers. He instructs us to live such good lives that, even if they accuse us of wrongdoing, the unbelievers around us will honour God for our behavior. We need to examine our lives to be careful not to do anything which will bring dishonour to God’s name. This includes recognizing that the government, and its officials, have authority over us. Let us strive to be respectful of everyone, especially those with government authority, and live good lives, so that those who accuse us of wrongdoing look foolish.
    Peter makes clear how we are to judge our response to government commands. He tells us that we are to love everyone and respect the Church, the family of believers. We are to fear God and respect the government. This means that we should NOT fear the government. When the government instructs us to do that which violates God’s commands, we should respectfully decline. Another point worth making, Peter tells us to submit to government authority. Elsewhere we are told that all government authority comes from God. Therefore, the government does not have the authority to tell us to do anything which is counter to God’s commands.
    Peter goes on to tell slaves to submit to their masters, even if their masters are bad masters. This instruction contains the same limitation as the previous instruction to submit to government authority. He then tells wives to submit to their husbands. Further, they should seek to have beauty that comes from being a good, loving person, not that which comes from adornment (or cosmetic surgery). Wives are told to submit to their husbands, even if they are not godly men. That is both easier and harder than following his instructions for husbands.
    Peter tells husbands that they are to honour their wives and respect them. My wife may be weaker than I, but she is just as much God’s child as I am. And when I say weaker, I mean that literally. She cannot pick up as heavy an object as I can (or perform other feats of strength as easily as I can). The reason that the instruction given wives is easier is because it is easier to interpret what it means for a wife to submit to her husband than to interpret what it means for a husband to honour his wife. On the other hand, honouring your wife will probably not involve submitting to emotional or physical suffering at their hands. I will say that if your wife suffers emotional or physical suffering at your hands, you have FAILED to honour her.
    There is one last point I would like to make here. It is instructive that Peter has no instructions for how masters should treat their slaves. This leads me to the conclusion that Peter could see no way to be faithful to God and hold a fellow human being as a possession.

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Ezekiel 47-48:35

    Ezekiel describes a river which flowed out from the presence of God. This river got deeper as it flowed away from the Temple. It starts out as shallow stream, but becomes a deep flowing river. This river is a river of life. It brings life everywhere it flows. It even converts the Dead Sea from a place where no fish live to a place that abounds with life. Life will abound wherever the water of this river flows. I believe that Ezekiel was talking about how life will flourish in the restored Israel as a result of their faithfulness. However, it also tells us how the love of God works in the world around us when we faithfully follow Christ and express God’s love of those around us.

Daily Bible Study

November 23, 2014 Bible Study — Sending Our Money Home

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:11

    The rich often think that their wealth is evidence of their wisdom, but their are many poor people with far greater wisdom. Wealth is not an indicator of wisdom and those who think that it is are fools.

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Psalm 119:33-48

    Throughout this psalm the psalmist tells us how to live good, happy, and joyful lives. The path to that end is to follow God’s instructions, to meditate on His word. Let us be more eager to know and follow God’s law than we are to acquire money and things. Let us abandon our shameful ways in favor of God’s. Let us seek both to receive God’s unfailing love and to express it to those around us. Let us delight in God’s decrees and speak of them to all we meet. This is the path to a joyful, fulfilled, happy life.

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1 Peter 1:13-2:10

    God has chosen us to be holy. We must not slip back into living to satisfy our own desires. We had an excuse for doing so when we did not know any better. But now that we have learned how to be like God we must seek to be holy, just as He is holy. We are temporary residents, foreigners, in this world. Let us strive to send our wealth to our home country. As I read this I was reminded of the fuss over illegal immigrants going on right now. In particular I was reminded of the fact that many of those illegal immigrants send a large portion of the money they earn back to their families in the country they came from. They are not in the U.S. because they desire to be in the U.S. (this may be an oversimplification and is not my point). They are here because here they have greater opportunity to acquire wealth to send home.
    In a like manner, we should not live as if we desire to live in this world. Rather let us desire to send our wealth to our home country, the kingdom of God. This means getting rid of evil behavior: hypocrisy, deceit, jealousy, and unkind speech (the NIV translates those last two as envy and slander). We have been born again to a new life. Rather than partake in the evil behavior listed above, let us have sincere love for each other. We can build up wealth in heaven by using our wealth on this earth to show how deeply we love each other.

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Ezekiel 45:13-46:24

    Ezekiel continues to describe the procedures and rituals that the Israelites are to follow when God restores them to Jerusalem and the land of Israel. As I have said over the last few days, I find it hard to see what God’s message is for me in these instructions from Ezekiel. However, one thing struck me today. Ezekiel describes the tax which is to be collected for the “Prince”. My understanding is that this is what the people are to pay in taxes to the government in the restored Israel. It is a wealth tax, but the rate is the same for everyone. It is not a progressive rate, not a greater percentage from those who have more. If you own 200 sheep, your tax is one sheep. If you own 400 sheep, it is 2 sheep. If you own 200,000 sheep, your tax is 1,000 sheep.

Daily Bible Study

November 22, 2014 Bible Study — Glorious, Inexpressible Joy

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:8-10

    Those who accumulate wealth at the expense of the poor are merely accumulating it for someone else. God will ignore the prayers of those who ignore His laws. Those who lead people down a path to doing evil will be caught in the traps they set for others. While those who live upright, honest lives will thrive.

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Psalm 119:17-32

    I like how today’s portion of Psalm 119 begins:

Be good to your servant,
that I may live and obey your word.

We request that God be good to us, not because we obey His commands but in order that we may obey His commands. Then the psalmist reminds us that we are foreigners in this land. We are not citizens of earth, rather we are citizens of God’s Kingdom. Let us tell God of our plans and ask His guidance on carrying them out. Let us listen to His answers and change our plans according to His instruction. I will beg God to keep me from lying to myself that my own desires are His will, when such is not the case. I have chosen to be faithful and will strive to follow God’s instructions.

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1 Peter 1:1-12

    Peter reminds us that it is through our faith that we are shielded by God’s power. He encourages us to rejoice and be glad, even though we suffer grief from the trials we face in this world. These trials come to prove the genuineness of our faith. It is not a matter of proving our faith to God, who knows whether or not our faith is genuine. Rather it is a matter of proving our faith to ourselves.
    Our faith is of greater worth than gold. Peter tells us that our faith will bring us praise, glory, and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. I initially read that as meaning when Christ returns, and think that is probably primarily what Peter meant when he wrote this. However, I just realized that it means, in part, that every time Jesus Christ is revealed to someone who has seen our faith (and perhaps comes to see Jesus because of our faith), we will receive praise, glory, and honour.
    We have not seen Jesus and we do not see Him now, but our faith should, nevertheless, fill us with glorious, inexpressible joy. I went with the NIV for this passage today because of what it says in verse nine. The NIV translates verse nine in the present tense. We are receiving the end result of our faith, which is the salvation of our souls. This is not just something which will happen to us in some nebulous future. It is happening right now as we live lives of faith in Jesus Christ. As I type these words, I am filled with that inexpressible, glorious joy to which Peter refers. I hope that reading the passage and thinking about what it means does the same for you.

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Ezekiel 44-45:12

    Ezekiel continues his discussion of the Temple in the restored Jerusalem. It is not clear to me if this restored Jerusalem represents a place and time on earth, or the heavenly Temple, or is perhaps primarily symbolic. As a result, most of Ezekiel’s prophecy about it goes over my head. However, in today’s passage there a couple of things which connect for me.
    Ezekiel discusses how the religious leaders of Israel failed to protect the rituals instituted by God by allowing those who did not worship God to partake in them. Rather than maintain the purity of their worship they invited those who scoffed at God to organize and run their worship. As I read this I think of groups and organizations today who try to find common ground of faith with those who do not honour Christ. We can not make those who have not surrendered themselves fully to the Lord members of the Body of Christ.

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November 21, 2014 Bible Study — Confess Your Sins To Each Other

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:6-7

    I agree with this proverb. I would rather be honest and poor than dishonest and wealthy. I could not live with myself if I lived a life of dishonesty even if being honest means being poor.

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Psalm 119:1-16

    Every year when I get to Psalm 119, I try to see if I can follow a pattern through the entire psalm (besides the fact that it works its way through the Hebrew alphabet). I am never able to do so, mainly because I lose track part way through.
    The opening of this psalm can be read two ways, both of which are true. First, we can read it as saying that only those who people who obey God’s law truly have integrity. The second is that only those who have integrity truly follow God’s instructions. I believe that both of these are true. It is only by following God’s law that we can have true integrity, and if we are not people of integrity, we are not following God’s law. Let us follow the psalmist’s example and ask God to move in our lives so that we follow His commands. I will ask the Holy Spirit to come into my life and transform me to obey God’s law.
    The psalm goes on to tell us that the way to stay pure is to obey God’s word. The way to avoid sinning is to hide God’s word in our heart, to memorize Scripture. I will study the Bible and God’s word because it gives me great joy. I will study His commands and reflect on God’s ways. I will strive to do God’s will in all of my actions.

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James 5:1-20

    James makes many important points in this passage. He discusses the suffering that will come to those who have gained wealth by oppressing the poor. He encourages us to be patient in the face of suffering while we wait for the coming of our Lord. He warns us against swearing oaths, encouraging us to instead be honest so that no one needs us to take an oath to believe us.
    But for me the big take away from this passage is his encouraging us to recognize the power of prayer. If we have problems in our lives, we should pray. If things are going well, we should praise God. We rarely look at it this way, but he is telling us that praising God is a form of prayer. He tells us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and will produce great results. Do we truly believe in the power of prayer? Are we willing to stand before the world and say that we believe that prayer can heal us? Or deal with other problems we face?
    He tells us that if we are sick we should call the elders of the Church to anoint us with oil and pray over us. Such prayer offered in faith, James tells us, will heal the sick. God will make us well. Then he adds an interesting point, in this circumstance those who have sinned will be forgiven. He continues by telling us to confess our sins to each other and to pray for each other. It is by confessing our sins to our fellow believer and praying for our fellow believer that we receive healing. James is telling us there is a clear link between confessing our sins and receiving healing. Do we confess our sins to our fellow believers? I must admit that while I try to do so, there are some sins I have difficulty revealing to others.

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Ezekiel 42-43:27

    Today’s passage continues with more descriptions of the Temple to come. There is a place in the middle of today’s passage where God promises to live among His people forever if they will stop defiling His name by worshiping other gods along with their worship of Him. What are we worshiping alongside God? Have we put aside our idols? Let us worship and follow God alone and no other gods.

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November 20, 2014 Bible Study — Humble Yourselves Before God

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:3-5

    These three proverbs all fit together in a way that many people fail to understand. Society becomes truly oppressive when the poor join with the rich in oppressing their fellows in poverty. The wicked thrive and rise to the top in a society where those who are favored follow a different set of rules from everyone else. The only way to resist the wicked is by obeying the laws that apply to everyone else, even when you can get away with not doing so. Those who are steeped in evil believe that justice is just an excuse used by those in power to get their own way. Only those who seek the Lord truly understand the meaning of justice.

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Psalm 118:19-29

    When God opens the gate where the righteous enter, will we go in? Or we be like the builders and reject the cornerstone because we think we know better than the Architect? No matter how intelligent and knowledgeable we think we are, let us recognize that God, as Creator of the Universe, has a better understanding of how we should live than we are capable of. God has made this day for us, let us rejoice in it and be glad. God is my God and I will praise Him.

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James 4:1-17

    At first reading this passage seems to support those who preach “prosperity gospel”. James says that the source of all conflict is because we want things and do not have them. As a result we scheme and kill to get those things we desire. He goes on to tell us that the reason we do not have what we desire is because we do not ask God for what we desire. This sounds like standard “prosperity gospel” (which is not real Gospel at all).
    However, James does not stop there. He goes on to tell us that even when we do ask, we do not receive because we ask with the wrong motives. When we ask God for things in order to spend them on our own pleasures, God will not give us what we ask for. When we desire things in order to use them for our own pleasure, we are seeking to befriend the world. If we are friends of this world, we are enemies of God.
    So, rather than seeking things to use for our own pleasure we should humble ourselves before God. Part of doing this is seeking to spend what God has given us in serving Him. We need to faithfully desire to please God rather than ourselves. The next sentence seems to be a change of theme, but I think I see how it fits in with what went before.
    James said that we have conflict when we seek that which we do not have in order to spend it on our own desires. Now he tells us that the way to deal with temptation and sin is to resist the devil. If we resist temptation and those who encourage us to fall into it, they will flee from us. He is not really saying that those who encourage us to sin will flee from us when we resist temptation, although many of them will do so (with flee perhaps not being the word that would first come to mind). He says that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. By which I take him to mean that if we resist the temptation to sin, we will find that the opportunity to succumb to that temptation will pass…and the more we resist the temptation, the fewer opportunities we will have to succumb to it in the future.
    There is one final point James makes in this passage. If we know what we ought to do and do not do it, it is just as much a sin as doing what we know we ought not do. It is not enough to not do wrong. In addition, we must do what is right.

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Ezekiel 40:28-41:26

    Ezekiel goes into great detail describing what the Temple in the restored Jerusalem will look like and its dimensions. I have read this passage many times, but it carries no special meaning for me. I have heard sermons preached on this passage and I admire preachers and teachers who see deep meaning in what Ezekiel describes here. However, it is not something that I see when I read this (although occasionally I will see what someone else sees when they talk about this passage).

Daily Bible Study

November 19, 2014 Bible Study — Faith Without Works Is Dead

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:2

    When a nation has no moral code, its government will easily fall and chaos will rule its streets. But a nation with wise and knowledgeable leaders will be stable and prosperous.

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Psalm 118:1-18

    Yes, the faithful love of the Lord endures forever. If the Lord is for me, I need not fear. Nothing can harm me if God is standing by side. The strong arm of God has done glorious things and I will agree with what the psalmist says:

I will not die; instead, I will live
to tell what the Lord has done.

Will you join me in telling the world what the Lord has done?

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James 2:18-3:18

    James discusses the meat of his teaching on faith in today’s passage. Yes, faith is important and it is through faith we are saved. However, it is not enough to believe, what we believe must change how we act. If our faith in Christ does not cause us to perform good deeds that faith is of no value. Even the demons believe in God, even so they have chosen to rebel against Him. Saving faith will lead us to behave in a righteous manner.
    James goes on to talk about the importance of controlling what we say. He uses several metaphors to demonstrate how an ill-chosen word can cause great damage. While he stresses the importance of controlling our tongues, he, also, points out that doing so is a herculean task. One which we will probably never accomplish fully. Even though we will probably never be completely successful we should constantly strive to have greater control over what we let slip out of our mouths.

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Ezekiel 39-40:27

    Ezekiel prophesied that a mighty ruler with a great army will attack Israel because he perceives them to be defenseless. He warns that God will strike the armies attacking Israel down with a devastating blow. I am not sure if this prophecy refers to a specific instance or if it is a prophecy about what will happen to those leaders who allow their hubris, their overwhelming arrogance, to lead them to attack God’s people. However, it certainly reads like something which I could see happening in the world today.
    The implication of this prophecy is that some nation, or group of nations, will attack Israel with overwhelming force, but be destroyed before they can damage the nation of Israel. If this is a singular event, Israel’s enemies will all be destroyed in a short time. Israel will prosper as a result of this attack. The army which attacked Israel intending to plunder it will itself be plundered by Israel. The prophet tells us that it will take the people of Israel seven months to gather the bodies and bury the dead from the attacking army. Further they will acquire enough fuel from plundering the army’s supplies to last them seven years. Those who sought to overwhelm and destroy God’s people will be destroyed and provide prosperity to them instead.

Daily Bible Study

November 18, 2014 Bible Study — Be Quick to Listen and Slow to Anger

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 28:1

    The wicked are fearful of everyone because they know what they would do if they were in the other person’s shoes. The righteous have no fear for the very same reason.

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Psalm 117:1-2

    God’s love for everyone is powerful and enduring. I will praise Him for all the good He has done and encourage others to do the same. If you have not experienced God’s love it is because you are not looking.

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James 1:19-2:17

    James tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak, and even slower to anger. He goes on to tell us that anger does not produce the type of behavior God desires in us. Instead of getting angry we should get rid of the filth and immorality in our lives replacing them with the word of God. However, it is not enough to listen, we need to act on what we hear. This is true when we listen to other people, but even more so when we listen to the word of God.
    If we listen to God’s word but do not act on what God says, the listening will do us no good. We can claim to be religious, but if we do not control the words we speak we are kidding ourselves. True religion means taking care of widows, orphans, and others who cannot care for themselves. It is not enough to tell people that you wish them well. If they are in need, we must do whatever is in our power to meet their needs. Faith that does not cause us to act righteously is worthless.
    The lesson that James is trying to get through to us in this passage is that we should listen carefully to what others say they need and to what God tells us we should do. Then once we have heard what is being said to us, we should act according to God’s will.

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Ezekiel 37-38:23

    There are so many lessons that can be learned from Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones. Today, it makes me think of congregations which have become dried up and dead. I remember a man who was serving as interim pastor for a congregation which had been struggling for years. He told someone that there was nothing wrong with letting a congregation die.
    He was not exactly wrong… but he was wrong.
    There is nothing wrong with a congregation dying, but who are we to say that God does not still have a purpose for a congregation, even one which appears to be already dead. Perhaps if that interim pastor had spoken a prophetic message to that congregation instead of preparing to bury it, the Spirit of God would have moved in it to accomplish a great work.
    I currently attend a congregation that was in much the same state as the one that interim pastor said that about, at the same time. However, God sent the congregation I now attend a man who spoke a prophetic message. A man who called on the Spirit of God to breath new life into the congregation. Both congregations were in areas which desperately needed the love of God. In both cases the congregations are still there. But the first one is small and struggling still 30 years later. The other is vibrant and growing. The difference is that in one all leadership saw was dry bones, in the other leadership saw that God’s Spirit could breathe new life. I know of at least one other church leader who was called by God into the area of that struggling congregation, but he looked elsewhere because all he could see when he looked at that congregation was dry bones. I pray to God that He never let me dismiss something as dry bones when He desires to use me to bring His Spirit to breathe new life into it.

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November 17, 2014 Bible Study — Wealth Is Not a Sign of God’s Favour

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 27:23-27

    Make sure to continue to manage the work and resources which provide your income, no matter how wealthy you become. Continue to be productive as long as you are able because accumulated wealth is fleeting.

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Psalm 116:1-19

    This psalm starts with a line that we should all remember. “I love the Lord because he hears my voice…” Yes, the Lord hears our voice and answers our prayers. The translation I am using (New Living Translation) says that God protects those with childlike faith. Other translations say that God protects the simple. It reminds us that many people will look at our faith in God and think we are foolish, naive, or just plain childlike for having such a faith. I will not let such opinions shake me because God will protect me. I will not fear death. I will not fear anything because I will walk in God’s presence as long as I draw breath.
    The psalmist asks,

What can I offer the Lord
for all he has done for me?

He then answers that question. We have nothing to offer the Lord that He does not already have. We have a limited number of things we can do to show our gratitude. We can lift up the salvation God has given us and show it to those around us, making them aware that it is there for them as well. We can praise God for all of the wondrous things He has done for us. We can publicly keep our promises to God, so that others will see how His faithfulness causes us to be faithful.

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James 1:1-18

    I love the book of James. He starts off by stating that he is a slave/servant of God and Jesus Christ. He is owned by God and does what God commands/orders him to do. We should seek to live in the same manner. Then comes something that is hard to actually do. We should not just be willing to endure troubles and trials. We should take joy in experiencing troubles and trials. They will test our faith and increase our endurance/perseverance. As our endurance increases we will come ever more mature in our faith. When our endurance becomes complete we will find ourselves perfected (a situation I do not anticipate attaining until I enter into God’s presence in heaven).
    James tells us that the poor should consider themselves honoured by God, while the rich should be humbled by the fact that they are rich. This runs exactly counter to the way we normally look at such things. We have a tendency to honour the wealthy and look askance at the poor, usually thinking that the latter is something to be embarrassed about. This passage is one of the most direct contradictions of “prosperity gospel” (which is exactly the opposite of good news). I think that James is saying that if you are rich, God is telling you that you do not have the faith and gumption to serve Him well without that wealth. While, the poor are being honoured by God because He is telling them, and the world, that they are able to do His will with few resources. Contrary to the way the world views things, wealth is not a sign of God’s favor. Rather, it is a sign that we need to work harder to accomplish His will.
    I want to make two final points. Wealth is not a sign that someone is an inferior Christian any more than it is a sign that someone is a superior Christian. I am not wealthy by American standards, but I am when compared to most of the world. I am not sure how my faith would survive if I was at the average level of wealth for people around the world, or below. As I have gotten older I have become ever more humble. I have come to fear that if God had chosen to give me a life of hardship that my faith would not endure. However, I am sure of one thing, God’s grace will be sufficient for whatever situation He puts me in. He will not test me beyond what I am able to endure.

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Ezekiel 35-36:38

    Ezekiel tells Edom that they will suffer because they took pleasure in the suffering of the people of Israel. This is a warning for us. I will never take pleasure in the suffering of others, no matter how deserving I believe they are of that suffering. The wicked may deserve to suffer for their wickedness, but rather than take pleasure in their suffering we should feel sorrow that they had not turned from their sins before it came to pass.
    Ezekiel prophesies that God will restore the people of Israel to their land. However, He will not do it because they deserve it. He will do it in order to bring honour to His name. In the same way, He has offered us salvation, not because we deserve it but so that His name may be honoured. Let us remember that we did not receive good things from God because we deserve them. God has done good things for us in order that we will honour His name. Let us never forget to honour God’s name and praise Him for His generous mercy.

Daily Bible Study

November 16, 2014 Bible Study — Not To Me, But To the Lord Be the Glory

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For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 27:21-22

    Fire is used to test the purity of gold and silver, but you can measure a person by how they react to praise. No matter what you do, or how hard you try, a fool will not give up his foolish ideas. If by some chance you do convince a fool that one of his ideas is foolish, he will replace it with another just as foolish.

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Psalm 115:1-18

    The psalmist reminds us that the glory for our successes should go to God. Any success which I have in this life is because of God’s mercy and grace. It was His gifts to me which made me able to accomplish anything of worth. It is not I who deserves the credit, but rather God.

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Hebrews 13:1-25

    Today’s passage starts out with four instructions that all fit together. We are to continue loving each other, show hospitality to strangers, and remember those suffering (being imprisoned and mistreated are both forms of suffering) as if we were experiencing that suffering ourselves.
    The next couple of things fit together with these as well. Everyone should honour marriage, even those who are not married. Those of us who are married must remain faithful to our spouse. Those who are not married should encourage those who are married to remain faithful to each other. Remaining faithful to your husband or wife involves more than just sex.
    The final point that stands out to me today is “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This does not mean that we should resist change. However, as the writer points out, it does mean that we should reject new teachings, that is, teachings which do not have their basis in the Bible. It is sometimes argued that the anti-slavery movement represented a new teaching because slavery is mentioned in the Bible, even in the New Testament, and not condemned (it can be argued that it was even indirectly supported). However, the anti-slavery movement was against a culture which viewed certain people as less than human. The anti-slavery movement arose when all slaves in Western Civilization were derived from the same racial background and enslaving them was justified on the basis of claiming that they were not truly human. Such a claim is counter to the teachings of the Bible, even those places where it discusses slavery. As a result, the anti-slavery movement relied on Christian teachings of long standing. Some more recent teachings rely on the claim that loving my neighbor means not confronting him or her about behaviors which cause them to be distanced from God. I cannot accept that approach.

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Ezekiel 33-34:31

    Ezekiel returns once more to the theme of the watchman. There are two points to this metaphor. The first is that God does not take pleasure from the death and destruction of the wicked. He would rather that they turn from their wicked behavior and live. The death and destruction of the wicked is only inevitable if they keep on sinning. The second point of this metaphor is that it is our duty as servants of God to warn people of the death and destruction which is coming for them. Do we love those around us enough to warn them of the dangers inherent in their sinful behavior? Have we spoken out as loudly against greed as we have against sexual sins? Have we warned those who oppress the poor that their actions will lead to their destruction as surely as sexual sins will lead to the destruction of those who partake in them?
    Ezekiel than goes on to speak about those spiritual leaders who use their position to enrich themselves rather than to care for the flock. Spiritual leaders who are more interested in what is in it for themselves than in the needs of the people they lead. They do not assist the weak, nor care for the sick. They do bind the wounds of the injured, nor go searching for the lost. While he is discussing his condemnation of spiritual leaders, Ezekiel makes his first comment directed at all of us. Not only did the spiritual leaders not go looking for the lost, no one else did either. Ezekiel continues by warning us that God will judge even the common person for their actions. God will judge between the “fat” sheep and the “skinny” sheep. What role have we played in driving others away from God? Have we kept the best “grazing” for ourselves and trampled the rest? Have we bullied the weak and driven them from God?