July 14th One Year Bible Readings

1 Chronicles 16:37-18:17 ~ Romans 2:1-24 ~ Psalm 10:16-18 ~ Proverbs 19:8-9
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Old Testament - The theme of David being a "war" king stands out today in our First Chronicles readings.  In fact, we'll get a couple more chapters of David's wars coming up in tomorrow's readings.   The wars are what kept David from building the Temple of the Lord.  This duty will be passed on to his son Solomon, a "peace" king if you will. There are some great readings today in First Chronicles 17 about the Lord's covenant promise to David via the prophet Nathan!

There is an interesting thing to note in this message to David via Nathan from the Lord in verses 12 through 14.  In context these verses are about Solomon.  However, interestingly, the New Testament basically applies these verses to Jesus in Luke 1:32-22:  "He is the one who will build a house--a temple--for me. And I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my unfailing love from him as I took it from Saul, who ruled before you. I will establish him over my dynasty and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.'"  Think these are Messianic verses that can be applied to Jesus?

Today in 1 Chronicles chapter 17 verse 30 we read this prayer of King David – “There is no one like you, O LORD, and there is no God but you.” Have you ever searched for other "gods"? Have you ever really found those other gods? Have they ever delivered on anything? Do you believe there is no other God like the one true and living God that we read about in the Bible? Are you living your life in such a way that you are seeking to know more and more about the character, heart, and will of the one true and living God? Do you love God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit with all of your mind, soul and strength? Have you forsaken pursuing all other false gods for the remainder of your life? Will you leave the idols behind?

New Testament - Again... wow..  Paul's writings in Romans are so convicting and true.  So many verses in today's readings bring out so much.  One verse that stood out to me was 16 - "The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone's secret life. This is my message."  This is powerful to consider.  Do you have a secret life?  Do you realize that Jesus will judge your secret life?  So, really, is there such a thing as a secret life after all?  It will all surely come out into the Light and be judged.  Do you have skeletons in your closet?  Will you confess those skeletons/sins to God right now and repent of them immediately?

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Romans titled "No Excuse for the Jews" is at this link.

Psalms - I love Psalm 10 verses 17 & 18 today: "LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless.  Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them."  The Psalmist here tells us that God knows the hopes of the helpless.  Do we?  Do we care?  The Psalmist says God will listen to their cries and comfort them.  Are we listening?  Are we comforting?  God will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.  Should we do this as well?  Will we?  Will you?

Proverbs - We have a great Proverb in chapter 19 verse 8 today - "To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper."  Do you love yourself?  Are you continually acquiring wisdom in your life?  Do you want to prosper?  Do you cherish understanding?  Where are you seeking wisdom and understanding in your life today?

YouTube Video: Today's readings in Romans reminds me of Casting Crowns' song "Every Man:"

Do you believe there is hope for you?  Click here for Hope!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 (NIV)

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

Comments

[John A.]

Romans 2:1-24

Review

Two days ago we saw the the power of the gospel is the salvation of those who believe. Believe what? The imputed righteousness of God (through Christ's sacrifice) given to man who believes by faith (trust in God). Thus giving eternal life.

Then yesterday we saw God's anger against sin revealed to the unrighteous. God's anger is manifested in letting man be man - removing any restraints. God gives man over to his desires immorality, unnatural relations, and to a depraved* mind and all the acts that come from such a mind. Their sins would not be hidden, but come to the light. Once in the light - society accepts and approves of the practice.

God did it back in the societies of Egypt, Greece, Rome, England, France, and I believe now in the U.S. The pattern is the same in all fallingt empires centered on man.

Paul describes four groups of the unrighteous in Romans 1-2. Yesterday we looked at the people who deny God.

*Rom 1:28, of a "reprobate mind," a mind of which God cannot approve, and which must be rejected by Him, the effect of refusing "to have God in their knowledge. [Strong Lexicon]

[Ramona]

I Chronicles 16:37-18:17

Part of message Nathan is told to give to David has totally enraptured me,

10 …" `And now I declare that the LORD will build a house for you--a dynasty of kings! 11For when you die, I will raise up one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. 12He is the one who will build a house--a temple--for me. And I will establish his throne forever. 13I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my unfailing love from him as I took it from Saul, who ruled before you. 14I will establish him over my dynasty and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.' "

This is a message with a duel or multilayered meaning; it speaks to David’s near future and the distant future, eternity. I wonder if David understood this was not only talking about the generations from his body yet born who would die off, but the words spoke of someone who would be born into his line, Messiah.

I’m not sure if what I’m stating is correct but I think it could be possible when we search the scriptures for answers to our current personal problems, the words we find to address the issues, God’s Words, speak and point to a time to come, eternity.

Romans 2:1-24

Knowing the “law” and doing what is required are not synonymous. This is what I here Paul saying in this passage. How many times have I said these words, “O, I know that,” and then acted like the knowing of exempted me from executing what I knew.

Psalm 10:16-18
18 You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,
so people can no longer terrify them

What is it about “orphans and the oppressed” that societies and cultures look to exploit, and what is it about societies and cultures that give rise to oppression? It must be either pride, lust or greed from within banded together to attack and plunder a vulnerable people but they are venerable to God. So going against them is fighting against God.

Proverbs 19:8-9

If the act of acquiring wisdom, actively seeking it out, is the physical evidence that one loves themselves, then those who shun wisdom and are desirous to frolic in folly, then they are self-hating folk.

[John A.]

Romans 2:1-24

There are four groups of the unrighteous:
- those that deny God
- those that say deniers are bad, but that's not me.
- those that never heard the Gospel or the Law
- those that are church-goers
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SECOND GROUP OF NON-BELIEVERS (UNRIGHTEOUS)

These are the people who say: 'Yup - those deniers in the last chapter are bad people they deserve God's anger, but I am not like them. I am a pretty good person.'

Paul maintains two things:
-You are playing God by judging those people, and that is sin.
-You do the very same things. Maybe not all, but all it takes is one, and you are subject to God's wrath now and in the day of judgment.

Or do you think lightly of God's patience when in reality it gives you the time to have the ability to repent.

You must because your heart is still unrepentant and you will be judged.

7"To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life."

"God does indeed give eternal life to those who persevere in obedience not because this obedience is perfect or because it is the basis or the merit of eternal life, but because saving faith always changes our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit so that true believers persevere in doing good. In other words, a changed life of obedience to God's truth (verse 8) is not the basis of eternal life, but the evidence of authentic faith which unites us to Christ who is the basis of eternal life." [John Piper]
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1998/1060_The_Final_Divide_Eternal_Life_or_Eternal_Wrath_Part_2/

8"But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

This would be: SECOND GROUP OF NON-BELIEVERS (UNRIGHTEOUS)

[John A.]

Romans 2:1-24

Third Group
Those that never see the gospel or the Law. The people on islands, atop mountains, and in the dense jungles, etc.

Paul says, these are also without excuse.
- God has revealed himself in nature. His eternal power and the divine essence of his power. That should be enough for man to seek God.
- The law is actually written in their hearts. Morality is part of the God given nature of man (superior being). Thus they know the law. If the do not seek God, they will be judged by the amount that they know.

The key is seeking God, and I have heard some incredible stories lately about isolated groups becoming Christians who have not had the Bible, nor any missionaries around. I will explain and post more as we go along when I can verify the stories. But I believe if the isolated are seeking God, God is big enough to hanle their request, and will provide.

Here is one. A shaman of the Yanomamo tribe in Amazon basin in Venezuela. They had missionaries, but they spoke no English, worshipped spirits, etc. Part one is his testimony, but my favorite is part two in the Q&A.

http://listen.family.org/daily/A000002017.cfm

http://listen.family.org/daily/A000002018.cfm

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People struggle with this verse:

Rom 2:13 "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." NIV

NASB is "doers of the law"

I think that when Paul says, "doers of the law will be justified," he means that there really are such people, and they are the only people who will be acquitted at the judgment. This is not a hypothetical statement. It is a statement of actual, experienced fact. When Christ comes into a person's life by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Gospel, that person becomes a "doer of the law." Not a sinlessly perfect law-keeper, but one who loves the law of God (= the law of Christ), and depends on God's help to live according to the truth (which now includes the cross of Christ and the work of the Spirit), and trusts God for his mercy when he stumbles (according to 1 John 1:9).
[John Piper]
http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper99/1-31-99.htm

[John A.]

Romans 2:1-24

Fourth Group

I call the Church goers. Paul addresses the Jew, but it is about religion not faith.

Jew: rely on law and brag about relationship with God. Know His Will, and approve of what is superior because of the Torah.
Church-goer: Rely on commandments (works) and brag about relationship with God. Know His will and approve of what is superior because of the Bible.

Both Jew and Churchgoer: 19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth...

You people of the temple and church: Do you steal time from God that should be His? Do you love other things more than the love you should be giving God (adultery)? Do you rob the temple/church, by not giving what you ought to God's place?

If you are not justified by faith,(Rom 1:18), then you are also under God's wrath, because God's name is blasphemed in the world due to your actions. You will also be judged by your deeds.

All four groups are unrighteous and under God's wrath, and will be judged by their deeds. It will not go well for them in eternity.

It all sounds so dire, but there is an out. Seek God, Repent, and believe, and imputed righteousness is yours; thus eternal life.

[Frederick]

"Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? (1 Chronicles 17:16b)

Who am I? It is a great question. David knew that he was nothing before God and so he knew what God promised was God's grace.

Who am I? This is my prayer and response. I am nothing before God and what God has given me is God's grace.

I will remember that: Who am I?

[Joanna]

the passage in romans is a good reminder to live your talk... not just talk.

[John A.]

Romans 2

I just want to emphasize that verses 6-13 are statements by Paul that indicate we cannot be doers of the law or persistently do good, without being believers.

Without belief by faith and aceepting Christ as our Lord and Savior, we cannot have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

Without belief by faith, we would be in one of these four groups: the unrighteous, and we would be given over to our hearts and minds desire.

On our own we could never be doers of the Law - it has to be with the help and guidance of the Father through the Holy Spirit.

[John A.]

1 Chronicles 16:37-18:17

17:2 "As Nathan hears the heart of David, his request to build a house for God, Nathan tells David to go ahead and do all that is in your heart, build a house for God. You see it was the right thing to do. Nathan doesn't even bother to inquire of God for he feels it is the right thing to do. But Nathan is going to find out that just because it is the right thing to do, doesn't mean it is the will of God."

17:3-4 "God tells Nathan, "Son, you have to go and tell David that he can not build me a house." And you may wonder why God would not allow David to do this, for David was a man after God's own heart! In I Chronicles 28:3 we are told the reason. We read "But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.'" You see, David's hands were the hands of a warrior and God would not allow him to build Him a house, but we are going to see that He is going to let David's son Solomon build Him a house, for Solomon was a man of peace and not of war."

17:10 "the LORD will build thee an house
Basically, David has told God he wants to build Him a house, and God responds, "Thanks, no, but instead I'm going to build YOU a house."
To use a John Kennedy phrase, "It's not what you can do for God, but what God can do for you".
It certainly is easy at times to get all excited about our relationship with the Lord and feel like we've got to rush out and do something for God.
Lesson
Let God love you first
I think that sometimes we get a little ahead of what God wants to do in our lives.
I think that we can jump out into stuff that we’re not quite ready for.
We want to be building palaces for God, but God wants to do construction on us.
The Bible's emphasis is on what God has done for man, not man for God."

17:12 "He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
Solomon built the temple.
But Jesus Christ would reign forever
This is an example of prophetic telescoping - a prophesy jumping across vast spaces of time in a single sentence."
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18:2 "David continues to defeat the enemy, this time the Moabites. The sad thing about this was they were family. The Moabites, along with the Ammonites were descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew. Remember the story of Lot fleeing the city of Sodom before God's judgment came upon that city, and Lot and his wife and two daughters fled the city. Lot's wife could not leave that all behind her and she turned into a pillar of salt. Lot's two daughters thought they were the only ones left and thus got their father drunk and had sex with him. It is out of this incestuous relationship that these two nations were born. In Genesis 19:37-38 we read, "The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day." And remember that David's great grandmother was a Moabite, Ruth. David also went after the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, the son of Isaac and the brother of Jacob."

18:7-8 "David was told by God that he could not build Him a house, but God never said that David could not gather the materials for his son Solomon who will build God a house. This tells me that we are to give to the Lord whatever we have, to assist in the building of His kingdom."

These quotes are from two commentaries that say it better than I ever could:

http://www.calvaryfullerton.org/Bstudy/13%201Ch/2002/131Ch16-17.htm

http://www.ccmanitowoc.org/Library/Guglielmo-Joe/Studies/TH/13-1CH/TH1054.HTM

[david hatmaker]

God is a amazing the more time i spend with him and the more i give of myself for him the more i see how magnificent he is and long to get to know him more.