For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I want to encourage everyone who reads this blog to work on reading the Bible regularly, whether it is to work your way completely through it, or some other method of disciplining yourself to read from the Bible each day.

Proverbs 25:11-14

    Good advice given at the right time is like a gift of gold and silver. In the same way, well worded, accurate criticism of our actions are a gift of great value if we are wise enough to listen.

Psalm 83:1-18

    I am not sure if this psalm is a prophecy or a prayer…or perhaps both. If it is a prayer, it is one for the people of Israel, and all who love the Lord, to pray today. Once more, the people’s who surround the land of Israel have joined in alliance to attempt to destroy the nation of Israel. Reading it and looking at what is going on in the world today, it looks somewhat like a prophecy. For most of my life, the nations surrounding the modern state of Israel have been allied together with the goal of destroying Israel (and to one degree or another, the Jewish people). Yet, now, the fire which they started, with the intention that it would engulf Israel in flames, is threatening to consume them. Looking at the situation in the Middle East now, ISIS, which is a result of attempts by the rulers of Arab nations to stir up hatred against the Jews (there are other factors in its origins as well), is threatening to destroy those Arab rulers. The only hope to escape the fire burning in the Middle East is to acknowledge God as Lord of All.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

    My reading of the Bible has made me worry about my faith, because I have never been truly persecuted for it. Oh, I have experienced minor ridicule for it from time to time, but never anything that counts as persecution the way Paul and other Biblical writers refer to it. However, today I realized that this passage suggests that some Christians may not be persecuted. Paul tells the Thessalonian believers that God will provide a rest for those who are being persecuted when Jesus appears from heaven. Then he says that God will provide that rest “for us, as well”, implying that the rest will be for those who are not being persecuted.
    As I first skimmed this, before reading it carefully, the first thing that struck me were the words, “keep on praying.” It was a reminder to me that God is calling me to work on my prayer life. It is important that all Christians find a way to have a disciplined prayer life. When I read the passage more closely, I found a clue to doing so. Paul in most of his letters refers to his prayers for those to whom he is writing. Let me unpack what it tells me. First, one aspect of developing a disciplined prayer life is making people who you interact with the subject of your prayers, both believers and unbelievers. Second, tell them that you are praying for them. When we pray for our fellow believers, let us pray that God gives them the power to accomplish the things which He is prompting them to do.

Jeremiah 22-23:20

    Jeremiah prophesied the downfall of the kings who succeeded Josiah. God had chosen to punish each of them for their failure to worship and honour Him, for their selfish oppression of the people. They did not follow the example of King Josiah, who had given help and justice to the poor and needy. God offers the same condemnation for political leaders and rulers today who use their position solely to advance their own interests and do not use their power to defend the poor and needy.
    Jeremiah goes on to offer a similar warning to religious leaders. He warns that those who have risen to positions of religious authority are not living righteously. They are doing evil and abusing their authority. There is the recent story of the pastor who admitted to his congregation that he was HIV positive and had had sex with members of the congregation. In addition, I recently read about a congregation whose pastor received a $60,000 a year clothing allowance. These are both examples of what Jeremiah was talking about, religious leaders who are abusing their authority. Jeremiah tells us that God will bring judgement on both religious and political leaders who abuse their positions of authority. We need to be careful not to follow such leaders.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I am well along in reading through the Bible for the third time in as many years. I want to express what a blessing this has been to me. I want to encourage everyone to try to read through the Bible each year.

Proverbs 25:9-10

    Do not use information given to you in confidence to win an argument, let alone revealing it for some other reason. If you get a reputation for revealing confidential information, no one will ever share such information with you again.

Psalm 82:1-8

    God presides over all rulers, both secular and spiritual, those in the physical world and those in the spiritual world. He will bring judgement against those ruler who favor the wicked and hand down unjust decisions. Any ruler who wishes God’s favor must give justice to the poor and weak (such as the fatherless). They will uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. They will rescue the poor and the helpless from the hands of the wicked. God will judge the nations whose rulers fail to do these things. If we wish God’s favor, we will do these things to the best of our ability and strength.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-28

    In yesterday’s passage Paul told us that Jesus’ return would come unexpectedly. Here he continues to tell us that if we stay alert and clearheaded we will not be surprised by that day. Night time, when it is dark, is when people sleep and get drunk. Since we live in the light of Christ, we should remain clearheaded and sober. Paul is using the contrast between drunkenness and sobriety here for the way we should live. He is not speaking just about the effects of too much alcohol, but other things which will distort our judgement if we let them. However, when Paul uses the word that the NIV translates as “sober” and the NLT translates as “clearheaded”, he does not mean serious and stern. Instead he means moderate and controlled.
    Paul’s final advice in this letter is a series of instructions that fit together to help us build Christ’s Body. Let us work to encourage one another and build each other up. This involves warning those who are lazy to work harder for Christ, and encouraging the timid to step out in faith. It involves caring for and supporting the weak. Perhaps most importantly, it involves being patient with everyone. I know that out of this list my two areas I most need work is laziness and patience.
    He goes on to tell us to always be joyful and to never stop praying (there’s that prayer thing again, God is not going to stop pushing me on this). He tells us not to stifle the Holy Spirit. However, let’s remember that just a few verses earlier he told us to be sober and clearheaded. As an example of how we should deal with this we have his instructions on prophecy. We should never scoff, or be contemptuous, when someone presents a prophecy. However, we should carefully test each prophecy, and everything else that is said, before we take it to heart. Does it match up with Scripture? Is it consistent with the will of God so revealed? As we listen to what is said, and in every other part of our lives, let us hold on firmly to anything and everything that is good, but keep our distance from any sort of evil.

Jeremiah 19-21:14

    When I read this and similar Old Testament passages condemning the people of Israel for sacrificing their children to idols I cannot help but think of abortion in this country. I cannot but help think of those who readily sacrifice their children on the altar of their ideology and encourage others to do so as well. Do they not know how God condemns the murder of innocents? And none are more innocent than a child not yet born. Time is running out for people to turn away from such sins and back to God. Just as Jeremiah smashed the clay jar in this passage, so will God smash this nation if its people do not repent of their sins and turn to following Him. There are those who will persecute us for calling people to obey God, they will suffer greatly when God brings His judgement. Rather than feel anger at them, let us pity them for the suffering they will experience.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 25:6-8

    Do not boast that you deserve great honour and try to insinuate yourself among the decision makers. It is better to wait for those in authority to request your input than to be humiliated when they tell you that you don’t matter. Do not rush to report events, make sure you really understand what happened first. Otherwise, you will look like a fool when someone else reports what really happened.

Psalm 81:1-16

    If we, as a people, follow God’s instructions and do as He desires, we will live lives of plenty and joy. Let us praise His holy Name for all He has done for us. If, on the other hand, we refuse to follow His instructions He will allow us to suffer the consequences we have chosen. The consequences of following our own stubborn thoughts, living according to our ideas of what is right are not ones we will like, but God will allow us to experience them if we insist.

1 Thessalonians 4-5:3

    Paul urged the Thessalonians to live to please God, even though he knew they were already doing so. He encouraged them, and us, to do so more and more each day. Let us focus on those things we do which please God, and do more of them each day, until there is no time left to do things which displease God. It is God’s will for us to be holy. We cannot be holy if we indulge our sinful desires with sexual immorality. Time and again Paul warns us against sexual sins and the importance of controlling our own bodies. It is important that we live in ways that are holy and honourable, not in the lustful passion which those who do not know God indulge in. Paul points out that we give in to our lustful passions we are wronging and/or taking advantage of someone else.
    As I am reading through the Bible I am coming to realize that while all sin separates us from God, there are two types of sin which cause problems beyond just the sin itself. Those two types of sin are sexual sins and greed in all of its manifestations.

Jeremiah 16:16-18:23

    I will fully agree with Jeremiah when he says,

O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;
if you save me, I will be truly saved.
My praises are for you alone!
The corollary to that is that if God does not heal us, we will not be healed and if He does not save us, we will not be saved.
    God gives Jeremiah the metaphor of the potter with clay. There are two pieces to this metaphor, the personal and the corporate. God is shaping us into a form that only He understands. If, as He is shaping us, we take on a form contrary to His desire, He will crush us down into a formless ball and start over. There are limits to this metaphor, but it explains much of the suffering we experience as followers of God. This forming process holds true for both individuals and for nations.
    God gives a further example about how He treats nations, groups of people, if God announces that a certain nation will be destroyed for its sin, but the people of that nation renounce their sins and turn to God, God will withhold His judgement. On the other hand, if God has announced that He will strengthen and build up a nation, but the people of that nation turn to evil ways and refuse to follow God’s will, He will destroy that nation.
    I look at what is going on in the world today, and it seems to me that God is announcing His intention to destroy the nations of “Western Civilization”. But this passage gives me hope that it is not yet too late. If the people of those nations will turn from their sins, God will intervene and save them from the destruction their sins have set in motion.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 25:1-5

    It is to God’s glory that the way the world works is not always obvious or apparent. It is to a ruler’s glory to seek answers to how the world works. Just as a silver smith removes impurities from silver before trying to make something with it, so a ruler should eliminate the wicked from his administration before he tries to govern.

Psalm 80:1-19

    I love how the NLT translates this psalm. The psalmist asks God how long He will be angry with His people and why He is breaking down their protections? Yet it is clear he knows the answer to the second part. The psalmist again and again in this psalm asks God to turn us to Him again. It is such a great way to sum up the Gospel message. We will not be saved until God turns us to Him. It is by God’s power that we realize our sinfulness. It is by God’s power that we recognize our need for Him. And it is by God’s power, and His power alone, that we turn to Him and accept His salvation.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-3:13

    I do not get a theme out of today’s passage, rather I see a couple of points worth noting. Following up on yesterday’s theme about how to preach the Gospel, Paul tells us that he pleaded with, urged, and encouraged the Thessalonians to live lives worthy of God. We should take a similar approach with our friends. Let us plead with and urge those who have not yet accepted Christ to do so. Let us encourage those who have come to know the Lord to live ever more faithful lives.
    Paul reminds us that there are those who will strive to keep us from preaching the Gospel to those who do not already believe. They will claim that we should do the good things we do because we follow Christ without mentioning the reasons we do them. They will tell us that we could help more people and better if we would just help them with their problems and not teach them to change their lives so as to avoid those problems in the first place. The final thing I see in this passage is a reminder about the importance of prayer. Let us follow Paul’s example and pray night and day.

Jeremiah 14:11-16:15

    Those who should have been warning the people of Judah about the coming troubles, their religious and secular leaders, were telling them that all was well: that their foreign policy was a success and peace had arrived; that their domestic policy was a success and prosperity was around the corner. God told Jeremiah that instead of these things, war and famine were coming to the land. God would no longer listen to prayers for the people of Judah. He was going to send destroyers against them, war, disease, and wild animals, to teach them the error of their ways. Have we reached that point today? The point where no intervention can deflect the coming judgement? I do not believe we are there yet, but we are getting close. We need to call the people to turn to God before it is too late to turn His judgement aside.
    There is another theme in this passage. Jeremiah is being persecuted for his faithful relating of God’s message. God promises that He will protect Jeremiah from his enemies, from those who seek his death. Even in the face of the coming destruction, God tells Jeremiah that He will protect him. Further God promises to do the same for all who turn to Him and speak His words to those rushing to destruction.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 24:30-34

    The lazy leave things undone that need to be done resulting in poverty when only a little more effort could have allowed them to escape from it.

Psalm 79:1-13

    When we cry out to God, He will come to our rescue. When we turn to Him He will forgive our sins. Those who scoff at God will learn of His power one way or another. Those who persecute God’s servants will learn of God’s power.

1 Thessalonians 1-2:8

    Today I see this passage as giving us a tutorial on reaching the unsaved with the Gospel. We need to begin by making sure that the message we are conveying is not in error, that we are speaking and living the true Gospel message. In our efforts to convince people to follow Christ we cannot use trickery or deception. You cannot convince someone that you are speaking the truth by using trickery and deception. Further, we must make sure that our motives in preaching the Gospel are neither selfish nor impure. If we attempt to get people to follow Christ by using flattery, even if we initially succeed, we will leave them susceptible to being deceived into false beliefs later. The most important part is that we need to make those we wish to reach for Christ part of our lives. Let them see how we live out our faith day to day. Let them see our struggles and that we do not think of ourselves as perfect. But also let them see how our faith gives us hope in the face of adversity and the joy we get from serving God.

Jeremiah 12-14:10

    If the people of any nation learn to follow God and cling to His ways, God will establish them safely in the land which they hold. Those who choose to love and honour God will be given a place among His people. On the other hand, if we refuse to obey His will, we will be uprooted and destroyed. We have been made to cling to God so as to bring honour and glory to His name. But if we refuse to listen to Him and follow our own desires, worshiping that which is not God, we are useless, like an article of clothing which was buried in the mud. It is not enough to cry out to God for help as we continue to live our sinful lives. We must allow His Holy Spirit to transform us, to guide us away from the sins which have brought us into this difficult place to begin with.