For today, One Year Bible Online links here. It is the last day of the year. A day when many reflect on what they have done over the last year and what they would like to do differently in the year to come. There is some value to this practice, but I think we should strive to do such evaluations of our lives with greater frequency than just once a year.
The writer continues to speak about the characteristics of a wife of noble character. He reminds us that someone who is charming may be deceptive and beauty will not last. However, a woman who fears and obeys God has value that lasts her entire life.
How appropriate this psalm is for New Year’s Eve. It calls on us to praise the Lord by making a lot of noise. Let’s look at this list of noisemakers:ram’s horn, lyre, harp, tambourines, strings, flutes, and cymbals. This psalm sounds like directions for a great New Year’s Eve celebration.
The book of Revelation ends with a comment that is a good reminder for the last day of the year. The time prophesied in this book is near. God is calling us to come. Do you hear Him? More importantly, will you respond to His call? And having responded to that call, will you join me in echoing it to those who have not yet heard? All who are thirsty are invited to come and drink freely of the water of life. I invite you to come and drink.
God is sending His messenger to refine us like silver or gold. He will purify us by His Spirit. In order to purify silver and gold it is melted down with fire. In a similar manner God purifies us by putting us through hardship. When we face hardship, let us not shrink back. Rather let us embrace the hardship which God brings into our lives, because it is an opportunity for us to be purified of sins which hinder our service to God.
The Holy Spirit is going to testify against those who sin. Malachi gives a list of those whom the Spirit will testify against, but they all have this in common: they do not fear the Lord. All of sins result from that same mistake. If we truly fear the Lord we will allow His Spirit to enter our lives and keep us from sin.
And so we bring another year to a close. It has been a year of trials and difficulties for me, but God has been merciful and gracious to see me through. I will praise His name and thank Him for everything He has done for me. I hope that I have blessed people through the course of this year, both through this blog I write and through interactions with me in person. I pray that God’s Spirit will guide my actions in the coming year so that I may bring glory to His name.
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. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
The prophet tells the Israelites that the Messiah they are looking for will soon come. However, he warns them that it will not be a time of unmitigated joy. Rather it will be a time when they are tested as the Messiah will be like a refiner’s fire which purifies silver. The people will be put on trial and those who do not fear the Lord and do evil will face justice. The prophet gives a list of examples of the offenses for which people will need to answer: sorcery, adultery, lying, cheating employees out of their wages, oppressing widows and orphans, denying foreigners justice.
The prophet calls on people to repent. Now is the time to return to the Lord, before He brings His day of judgment. Let us stop cheating the Lord of the tithes and offerings which are due to Him. If we put God first in our lives, He will bless us. God is calling on us to give Him from our wealth, but He requires more than that. We are to serve Him and not lift up for admiration those who do evil. The day of God’s judgment is coming and those who are arrogant and wicked will be burned up on that day. While those who fear the Lord will be blessed. Those who fear the Lord should speak with others who fear the Lord and seek to serve Him in all we do. He will hear our words and know our hearts. Then He will make those who fear Him His people.
John completes his letter by reminding us that Jesus will be returning soon. The time when people will be repaid for their deeds is not far removed, time is short. Those who have washed themselves in the blood of the Lamb will be permitted to enter into the City of God and eat from the fruit of the tree of life. Those who continue to wallow in their sin will remain outside and not be able to experience the blessings of God’s new creation.
God’s Spirit and the Bride of the Lamb say, “Come”. If we hear their word, let us repeat it and say to those we meet, “Come.” Those who are thirsty for God’s righteousness are invited to come and drink of the river of life. Anyone who desires may freely drink of the river of life. I will not place obstacles in their path (not that I am capable of doing so). Time is running short, let us make sure to call to those who will listen so that they may come to know the Lord.
What a wonderful psalm to end the year on. I will praise the Lord and call on everything that has breath to praise the Lord. I will praise His mighty works and His unequaled greatness, no one and nothing is as great as our God. I will praise Him with every means at my disposal.
Remember that charm is deceptive and beauty does not last. Our first priority should be on character. I will thank the Lord that He has given me a wife who has all three, but I will never forget to value character the most.
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
This is my final devotion of the year. I have been blessed through this year by doing this and I am looking for the blessings the Lord will bring me in the New Year. This year I started this in April. I am looking forward to starting at the beginning of the Bible and working through it over the course of the entire year. I would encourage everyone to read through the Bible in a year. I pray that others have been blessed by what I have written and that the Spirit guide me in my studies going forward.
The prophet tells us that God is going to send His messenger before Him. The Lord will follow His messenger and appear suddenly. He will be like the refiner’s fire or a bleaching agent. He will burn away the dross and bleach away the impurities. God will sit in judgment over those who cheat employees out of their wages, those who oppress the widow and the orphan, those who deprive outsiders of justice.
God calls on us to return to Him. He condemns those who claim that they have committed no sin and do not need God’s forgiveness. God calls on us to put Him first in our priorities, to first dedicate a share of our resources to serving Him. God condemns the people for honoring those who get rich through wickedness. I look at this section of this passage and see a condemnation of our society. There are many who say, “You don’t need God to be moral.” There are many who see people who gained fame and fortune through sin and seek to emulate them. I have failed to dedicate the first fruits of my income to God. I have been convicted over the last couple of weeks about my giving to serve the Lord. I will strive to be more faithful in the New Year.
Those who fear the Lord will talk with one another and God will take note, placing their names in a scroll (note the similarities to yesterday’s passage in Revelation referencing the Book of Life). The prophet tells us that the difference between those who serve God and those who do not will be obvious. Is it obvious to those around me that I am different? God’s day of judgment is coming and the wicked will be burned up like straw in the fire. Yet the fire that is destructive and burns the wicked will be like the healing rays of the spring sun to the righteous. This passage evoked in my mind something like a scene from a vampire movie. I see a group greeting the sunrise on a beach. Those who are righteous greet the dawn with joy and revel in the beauty of the rising sun. The evil burn up like vampires exposed to the sun, running and screaming in terror as they seek a place to hide from the coming light. In that day there will be no place to hide from the light of God’s presence. I seek to be one of those who will bask in that light, rather than one who flees it in fear.
The writer tells us that a river of the water of life will flow from the throne of God through the city. The tree of life will grow on either bank of the river bearing ripe fruit every month. There will no longer be a curse on anything. I read this as saying that there will be no Second Law of Thermodynamics in the new heaven and earth that God will create after judgment day. The Second Law of Thermodynamics is the one that tells us that everything runs down and decays. After judgment day, we will live in a new creation where nothing ever breaks down. There will be no need for the sun or lamps there because the light of God’s presence will shine on everything.
Jesus is returning soon. He will come back and bring all creation to completion. The Spirit is calling us to come and drink of the water of life. Let us call to those around us for them to come and drink of the water of life. As I look at the world around me I see many who are thirsty for the water of life, have I done enough to show them where to find it?
As we conclude this year, I will echo John’s conclusion and with him say:
We end the year with a psalm of praise. This psalm calls on us to use everything we can access to praise the Lord wherever we find ourselves. I will praise the Lord every day of my life.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
I will praise the Lord on this final day of 2012 and I will start the day on the first day of 2013 praising the Lord.
How appropriate that the proverb for today reminds of the other important individual in my life. The psalm reminded me to praise the Lord, now the proverb reminds me to let my wife know how much she means to me.
Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.
It may be nice to have a wife who is charming (and I do), but charm can be used to deceive. It may be nice to have a wife who is beautiful (and once again, I do), but beauty will fade. The wonderful thing to have in a wife is one who loves and fears the Lord. I am so thankful that along with her other attributes my wife has that as well.
