Tag Archives: The earth is the Lord’s

Daily Bible Study

January 29, 2013 Bible Study –The Last Shall Be First

     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.

Magrat At Her Favorite Spot
Magrat At Her Favorite Spot

Exodus 8-9:35

     Seven days after the waters of the Nile had been turned to blood, God sent Moses and Aaron back to Pharaoh. They were to tell Pharaoh that since he had not let God’s people go to worship Him, God was going to bring a plague of frogs on the land. Aaron stretched out his hand and frogs came up out of the Nile and other bodies of water and covered the land. Once again Pharaoh called his magicians who duplicated this feat. What Pharaoh’s magicians could not do was make the frogs go away (or die). So, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and asked them to ask God to take the frogs away. Pharaoh told them that if they did that he would let their people go to worship God. Moses asked Pharaoh to specify a time for the Egyptian households to be rid of the frogs. Pharaoh gave Moses a time and Moses prayed to God. At the appointed time the frogs that were not in the waterways died. Pharaoh however reneged on his promise and did not let the people go. The next plague was gnats. This time Pharaoh’s magicians were unable to duplicate what God had done through Moses and Aaron. Nevertheless Pharaoh would not let them go. The plagues got progressively worse and Pharaoh bargained with Moses, but he never followed through. Repeatedly through today’s passage we are told that Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to follow through on what he had promised.
     How often have I been like that? When I have faced troubles I have made deals with God, promising that if just this once more He gets me out of the troubles I got myself into, I will change my ways and do what He commands. Or sometimes I have declared that as soon as things got better I would commit myself to serving Him in a new way. Then when things get better I forget, or make excuses why I won’t do the things I said I would do. The answer is I have done that all too often.

Amaryllis In Red
Amaryllis In Red

Matthew 19:13-30

     Some people brought children to Jesus for Him to pray for them. The disciples tried to discourage them, I assume because they thought it was a waste of Jesus’ time to pray over children that were not sick. Didn’t these people know that Jesus was an important man? However, Jesus intervened and told them to let the children come to Him, that the Kingdom of Heaven belonged to those who were like these children. Jesus laid His hands on the children and went on His way.
     Then a man came up to Jesus and asked Him what good thing he needed to do to get eternal life? Jesus gave a two-part answer. The first part was to question why the man was asking Him about what is good, since only God is good. The second part was to tell the man to keep the commandments. The man then asked specifically which commandments he should keep. Jesus answered this by listing six of the ten commandments. To which the man replied, “Oh, I’ve kept those.” Jesus then told him to go sell all that he had, give the proceeds to the poor and come follow Jesus. The man went away sad because he was unwilling to give up his great wealth.
     Jesus turned to His disciples and told them, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” The disciples’ response to this statement by Jesus was that if a rich man would have trouble getting into heaven, what chance did anyone else have? Jesus told them that it was impossible for man to do this, but with God all things are possible. This led Peter to burst out that they had left everything to follow Jesus, what would happen to them? Jesus told them that they would receive their reward and that those who had given up worldly possessions in order would receive a hundred-fold more and eternal life as well. Jesus followed this up by saying that many who were first would be last and many who were last would be first.
     I see a link between these two stories. The rich young man was looking for a shortcut to salvation. He was looking for a way to have both his power and position in this life and in the kingdom of heaven. The children were being brought by their parents, no one thought they were important (except for Jesus). The disciples obstructed the children’s path to Jesus. At the very least they stayed out of the rich young man’s way, if they did not actively clear the way for him to approach Jesus. The rich young man wanted to know what the rules were confident that once he knew the rules he could use his wealth and position to smooth the way for himself. The children just wanted to see Jesus and be touched by Him. Perhaps the most important point of this story is Jesus statement that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. There have been many attempts to make this comparison less ridiculous, but let’s look at what came after Jesus said this. The disciples response was, “Well then, how can anyone be saved?” and Jesus followed up by saying that it is impossible for man, but with God all things are possible. It is only through the action of God that I can be saved, I cannot earn salvation. There is nothing I can do to obligate God to let me into heaven.

Lights On A Tree
Lights On A Tree

Psalm 24:1-10

     What the psalmist says here is so true. Everything on this earth and in this universe belongs to God. Anything we think that we have is something that belongs to God that He has given us stewardship over. This thought should give us guidance in how we spend our money and our time. How can we spend them in ways that further God’s purpose in this world? When I am considering spending money or doing something with my time I need to examine how that will serve God. I want to plan my life so that everything I do and everything I spend my money on serves God’s will.

First Fire In The Fire Pit In the New Year
First Fire In The Fire Pit In the New Year

Proverbs 6:1-5

     Today’s passage from proverbs is a recommendation to avoid standing as security for someone else’s debt (for example, co-signing a loan for them). It is one of the few passages in Proverbs that I do not agree with completely. I would say that one should only offer to secure someone else’s debt if you are able and willing to pay that debt back for them. While you may hope and expect that someone will pay the debt, you should realize that the reason they need someone else to offer to secure the debt is because there is reason to believe that they will fail to do so.

Daily Bible Study

July 31, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

2 Chronicles 29:1-36

     King Ahaz had shuttered the Temple and promoted the worship of various pagan gods. When he died his son Hezekiah took the throne. Hezekiah’s mother was the daughter of Zechariah. We are not told for sure, but this was probably the same Zechariah who instructed Hezekiah’s grandfather, Uzziah, in the fear of God. If this was the case, Hezekiah is an example of how much influence a godly mother can have. Hezekiah’s father, King Ahaz, not only did not worship God, preferring the worship of other gods, he interfered with others doing so by shuttering the doors of the Temple. However, upon taking the throne the first thing Hezekiah does is to open the Temple doors and get them repaired. Hezekiah summoned the priests and Levites and instructed them to clean out and purify the Temple. It took them eight days to clean out the courtyard and eight more days to clean out and purify the Temple itself.
     When the cleansing of the Temple was completed, Hezekiah called upon the people to gather for a re-dedication service. Hezekiah provided an offering for consecrating the people to God. We cannot get a good feel for it from the description, but this service was much like a festival. While the offerings were being made we are told that the singers sang accompanied by trumpets and other instruments. When these offerings were completed, Hezekiah instructed the people to bring their own offerings to the Temple. The people brought so much in the way of offerings that there were not enough priests to prepare them all, so the Levites helped them do so.

Romans 14:1-23

     Paul discusses disputes over what people eat and drink and over the celebration of Holy days. He tells us not to argue over such things. Some people think it is OK to eat anything, others will only eat vegetables. Paul tells us here that whichever side of that dispute we are on, we should not condemn those who take a differing position. In addition, Paul references some who emphasize worshiping the Lord on a particular day vs some who hold all days alike. Paul seems to come down on the side of those who hold all days alike, but sees no problem with some people emphasizing a particular day. On both of these disputes, Paul says that it does not matter which side we are on, as long as our goal is to honor God.
     He goes on to tell us that we must not cause others to stumble. He gives the example that he believes that nothing is unclean in and of itself. However, if someone believes that it is wrong to eat certain foods, then for that person it is wrong. If a fellow Christian has a problem with something we choose to eat, we should not eat it in their presence, and we should keep the fact that we sometimes eat that between ourselves and God. If you have doubts as to whether or not it is right to do something, than it is a sin to do that something. Or to put it another way, if doing something makes you feel guilty, don’ do that something. We should not eat or drink anything that will cause another to stumble. This is the basis for the only valid argument that I have ever heard from Christian teetotalers. They argue that some people are alcoholics and if those people consume any alcohol they will be unable to control themselves and will drink to excess. This seems to be true. The teetotalers therefore argue that we should not drink alcohol in the presence of alcoholics because we may cause them to be tempted to drink alcohol if we do so. They further argue that we should not drink alcohol in the presence of anyone because we do not know who is or is not an alcoholic. They further extend the argument that we should not drink at all because we do not know who will observe us buying the alcohol in the first place and thus be tempted. I do not subscribe to this argument, but it has merit. As Christians, we should be sensitive to drinking in the presence of alcoholics. I am not so much concerned with those who are aware of their problem, because I can encourage them in their choice to abstain when I am drinking. The place for special care is around those who have a drinking problem but refuse to acknowledge it.

Psalm 24:1-10

     Everything belongs to God. All parts of our lives should be dedicated to honoring Him. We should not attempt to close God out of any part of our lives because it all belongs to Him. Everything we have and everything we are is God’s. If we do not dedicate all of our actions to His service we are failing in our duty to Him.

Proverbs 20:12

“Ears to hear and eyes to see—
both are gifts from the Lord.”

     Notice it does not say anything about mouth to talk. Our ears and our eyes are used to observe the world around us. I think it is interesting the order they are listed. Perhaps we should focus a greater part of our observation on what we hear relative to what we see than we tend to.