Tag: Christianity

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 42:18-38, Genesis 43
NT: Matthew 13:47-58, Matthew 14:1-12
Ps: Psalm 18:16-36
Pr: Proverbs 4:7-10

Today´s notable verse:

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 18:30 (NIV)

The One Year Bible Blog notes:

Great verses today for us to meditate upon in Psalm 18 verses 25 through 27 – “To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile. You rescue those who are humble, but you humiliate the proud.” [ED: Psalm 18:25-27 (NLT)] I really love verse 28 – “LORD, you have brought light to my life; my God, you light up my darkness.” Has Jesus brought light into your life? Does God light up your darkness?

Without a doubt; I don’t know how I would wake up each morning and get out of bed without Jesus in my life. I don’t know how I would find motivation to give my best effort at work; I don’t know how I would find the love and compassion to give selflessly in any relationship. I certainly wouldn’t have survived my most recent relationship – during, or after – without Him. But, with Him in my life, what could possibly come against me, and yet prevail? I’ve already given up my life for Christ (ultimately, in the spiritual sense; but also daily, in the decisions I make, “dying to self” to try to live according to the will of the Father) so the very thing that the world at its worst could take from me – my life – is not my own, and even then, I have something even greater to look forward to.

I’m not strong; I just try to humble myself enough to admit my weakness, and through it seek refuge in God – for it is my weakness that I am made strong.

I put together a blogroll for OYB bloggers. Here’s the output:

Here’s the code:
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=75f77f001c6e68ae7cb71e9a6eebb8e9"></script>

And, thanks to the From Knowledge to Wisdom blog, for putting together the original blogroll list!

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 41:17-57, Genesis 42:1-17
NT: Matthew 13:24-46
Ps: Psalm 18:1-15
Pr: Proverbs 4:1-6

Today´s notable verse:

The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God is my Rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2 (NIV)

What an amazing, beautiful, and powerful declaration of God at work in our lives! My Rock: my immovable and unchanging foundation, upon which everything else is built. My Fortress: my mighty protection from evil – and the Evil One – of this world that sets itself against me. My Deliverer: the One and Only capable of redeeming me from my own sinful nature, and restoring His relationship with me. Into where or whom else could I consider turning to take refuge? This verse is worthy of more meditation; if nothing else, my life the past several months has revealed the truth of these words in such a new and deeper understanding.

Some notes on the parable of the wheat and the weeds: First, note the point at which Jesus says the wheat and weeds can be distinguished and separated – the harvest. It is at this point that the wheat has matured, and bows over under the weight of the wheat grains. The weeds, having no such heavy grain heads, remain upright. Thus, the wheat and weeds are distinguished. Perhaps this analogy represents a distinction between those who bow before the Father in humility, and those who continue to stand upright in their own arrogance and pride? Second, I love this imagery: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matthew 42:43a) Have you ever seen a wheat field shining in the reflection of the sun?

 
Photograph by Pher Photography.

What a beautiful image of the righteous reflecting the glory of the Father!

The One Year Bible Blog asks:

Comments from you & Question of the Day – Okay, back to all of my fretting above about if I was given all that Joseph was given by the Pharaoh in today’s readings… 🙂 What are your thoughts on this – if you were given all of these things, would it inflate your ego possibly? Would you possibly forget about God?

I truly believe that God does not allow us more than we can handle – and I think that principle applies not only to hardship and temptation, but to blessing as well. Remember, Joseph received this blessing after remaining righteous and humble through his previous life experiences: being betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, being tempted day after day by the seduction of the wife of a powerful man, then being falsely accused by her after rejecting her advances, then spending years in prison for that false accusation. Joseph in humility and wisdom beyond years allowed God to work through all these circumstances, and developed an amazing relationship with Him. (Just think of the relationship Joseph must have had already early in his life, to have received such a blessing, not only of God revealing his future plans through dreams, but that God revealed a future of such glory to Joseph. This revelation alone would be more than most of us could handle without having to deal with major issues of pride.)

No matter how much God chooses to prosper and bless us – and to be sure, to do so is His plan! – we can be sure of two things: one, the blessing will not be greater than our ability to give in to the temptation of pride, and two, that temptation will not be greater than our ability to overcome it humbly through God. As we demonstrate our faithfulness in remaining humble through small blessings, God will continue to bless us increasingly greater and greater. (A concept we will discuss when we reach the parable of the talents!)

Thanks to the From Knowledge To Wisdom blog, who has collected a list of One Year Bible Bloggers. I’ve been thinking about adding an OYB blogroll. This list will help motivate me to do so!

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 39, Genesis 40, Genesis 41:1-16
NT: Matthew 12:46-50, Matthew 13:1-23
Ps: Psalm 17
Pr: Proverbs 3:33-35

Today´s notable verse:

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

Matthew 12:50 (NIV)

The One Year Bible Blog notes:

Comments from you & Question of the Day – Based on my comments above related to our readings in Genesis about God blessing Potiphar for Joseph’s sake – I wonder – does God intervene and bless our work lives? I think he does. I’d love to get your opinions on this – do you pray about your work life regularly? Do you think God blesses your work life? And like Joseph, does God maybe bless those around you, even if they aren’t necessarily in relationship with God? And maybe does he do this for your sake?

I think that God does bless us, so that we may bless others, and so that God may be glorified. When I seek to glorify God in my work – or in whatever I do – God blesses that work. I think God blesses us because He loves us, and wants to bless us, but the ultimate purpose of such blessing is, again, to reciprocate that blessing, and to glorify God.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 37, Genesis 38
NT: Matthew 12:22-45
Ps: Psalm 16
Pr: Proverbs 3:27-32

Today´s notable verse:

I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8 (NIV)

The One Year Bible Blog notes:

My first question I had was whether Joseph should have shared these dreams with his family? And I asked this question because I wonder if sometimes we also maybe get an insight or what we believe to be a word from God – and if we should share these things with others? Or keep them between God and ourselves? I don’t have an easy answer on this one… If you have some thoughts on this, please post up in the “Comments” section below. The other thing that came to mind for me here is what role do dreams play for us today? Does God still communicate to people via dreams today?

Hard to say, whether or not Joseph should have shared his dreams with his family. Most of the OT prophets were given visions, or a word, and then told to go tell someone; in most cases, the “going” involved several days’ (or months’, or years’) travel – time spent meditating on the Word given them. Perhaps Joseph should have done the same. On the other hand, Joseph was a boy at the time, and would not have had the wisdom of a more mature adult. If God gave him these dreams at this point in his life, then it is reasonable to assume that God would extend him grace to account for such lack of wisdom. Perhaps God’s plan would have worked out differently, had Joseph acted differently; regardless, God – who had fore-knowledge of the events about to transpire – used what happened to accomplish his will.

I think that we do still hear from God today. God has not changed, so why would His means of communication change? However, circumstances have changed. The Word of the OT prophets was the literal Word of God. They spoke with the authority of the literal Word of God, at the risk of death. Today, we have the complete and written Word of God, in the form of the Bible. This Word is the standard by which we are to judge any Word from God that we hear, or that others hear. I believe that God established the five-fold ministry in the New Testament – Apostles, Prophets, Preachers, Teachers, and Evangelists – and that this five-fold ministry is still at work today. However, the prophetic ministry is under the authority and constraint of the established Word of God – that is, the Bible. Why should God not still speak to His people through visions and dreams? I see nothing scripturally that indicates that certain workings or forms of communication that were in place in NT times have ceased. Food for thought – what does this mean: “…For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Rev. 19:10 NIV)

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 35, Genesis 36
NT: Matthew 12:1-21
Ps: Psalm 15
Pr: Proverbs 3:21-26

Today´s notable verse:

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:8 (NIV)

The One Year Bible Blog notes:

The other thing that these Proverbs verses remind me of is one of my favorite three word quotes – “Habits determine success.” I’ve spoken about this in some of my weekly emails in regards to reading the One Year Bible each day. It takes some planning and insight for us to figure out when we will realistically read the Bible for 15 minutes every day. After this planning and insight and after a week or two we’ve suddenly built up a great habit. A habit that will determine our success in reading the Bible in a year.

Actually, as I understand it, a behavior takes about 21 consecutive days to form a “habit”. Regardless, the point is the same. That’s why I set my alarm an hour earlier, to be sure I have time to read and write each morning. (Establishing the complimentary habit – getting to bed an hour earlier – has been more difficult.)

Comments from you & Question of the Day – Based on my reflections in Proverbs above, how do you go about planning things in your life? In what ways do you invite God into the process of planning your life? And in what ways, or at what times, do you simply make decisions based on your own knowledge or common sense? What is the foundation of your own knowledge or common sense? Is it the Bible? Is it God? Do you suppose with the foundation of God and the Bible in our lives, that we may not need to take every single decision throughout our day to God in prayer because we are operating (generally speaking) from a biblical godly worldview? How do you balance taking things to God for guidance and making decisions on your own?

Wow, if only you knew just how impactful those questions have been in my life recently… We should always seek God when we make decisions. It is wise to take major decisions to God in prayer, and to seek the counsel of godly men and women. For the day-to-day life decisions, I think we need to have God’s Word stored up inside of us, so that we can apply it. It is never wrong to seek wisdom from God directly, but I think we can become spiritually “lazy” by not using His Word, that He has already given us, to prepare us to make such decisions. Bear in mind also that God’s wisdom usually turns worldly wisdom on its head, and that the right decision is seldom the easy one. God’s principles seem exactly opposite to worldly common sense: to become a leader, serve? To become great, become the least? To live, die? Repay evil with kindness, and pray for those who persecute you? To the world, what nonsense! To us, however, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God! (I Corinthians 1:18-31)

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 32:13-20, Genesis 33, Genesis 34
NT: Matthew 11:7-30
Ps: Psalm 14
Pr: Proverbs 3:19-20

Today´s notable verse:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

The One Year Bible Blog notes:

Comments from you & Question of the Day – Based on my last question in the Proverbs section above, have you been keeping up with all of the news and issues of the day surrounding intelligent design / creationism / evolution? I have only kept up at a high level. Are there any websites or books or resources you can recommend to further study intelligent design & creationism? Can anyone offer up a good definition or distinction between intelligent design & creationism – if there is a difference? Do you think it is possible to believe in both intelligent design and evolution – if God’s hand was guiding evolution – or no?

I’ll have to find the time to write at length on this subject, as it is of interest to me. I think the whole ID-vs-evolution debate is based on bad premises. To answer your question, intelligent design (ID) is simply the alternative to evolution. (Here’s my problem with the opposition to ID as scientific theory: if evolution is “sound” science, then it must be – one of the purported arguments against ID – falsifiable. So, if it’s a falsifiable theory, then something else must be true. Evolution simply states that random chance produced life as we know it. The alternative to random chance is some non-random event/events. The theory that life came from non-random events is a perfectly valid definition of ID theory.) Creationism, on the other hand, introduces philosophical/moral/religious ideas on top of ID. ID theory itself does not discuss, per se, how or why or by whom or what. Using the term Creationism invokes these issues (in my opinion).

NOTE: The use of the term “evolution” here applies to macro-evolution – speciation – the theory of one species of live evolving through genetic mutuation into a distinct species. The theory of this form of evolution has never been observable nor reproducible: two other fundamental requirements for a theory being considered “sound” science. Micro-evolution, on the other hand – genetic mutation resulting in changes within a species – does happen. No one credibly argues against it.

Note also that evolution is not intended nor is it adequate for answering questions of origin. I think, to ask if evolution can be consistent with the Genesis creation story as a whole would be to invoke questions of origin, and therefore not really appropriate. However, I don’t think that evolutionary theory is consistent with the Genesis story for the creation of man. Genesis states that man was a new and unique creation, from the dust of the earth.

I’ll write more coherently, and more at length, on this subject in the future.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 31:17-55, Genesis 32:1-12
NT: Matthew 10:26-42, Matthew 11:1-6
Ps: Psalm 13
Pr: Proverbs 3:16-18

Today´s notable verse:

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.

Psalm 13:5-6 (NIV)

The One Year Bible Blog notes:

Comments from you & Question of the Day – In our Matthew chapter 10 readings today we read this teaching from Jesus in verses 24 & 25 – “”A student is not greater than the teacher. A servant is not greater than the master. The student shares the teacher’s fate. The servant shares the master’s fate. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, how much more will it happen to you, the members of the household!” Do you believe these teachings of Jesus are true? Do we, as students of Jesus, share his fate? What was Jesus’ fate? What then is our fate? Have you ever been persecuted or called names because of your faith in Jesus? Should we be surprised when this happens?

Here is part of the fate we share with Christ:

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:9-15 (NIV)

(See also: Ephesians 2:1-5)

As for persecution, we are truly blessed to live in a country in which the worst form of persecution we face is a twisted mis-interpretation of the meaning of “separation of church and state.” I am reminded that this One Year Bible Blog group consists of people from all over the world – people some of whom know what real persecution means.