July 17th One Year Bible Readings

1 Chronicles 24:1-26:11 ~ Romans 4:1-12 ~ Psalm 13:1-6 ~ Proverbs 19:15-16
~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~
~ Listen to today's Scripture on DailyAudioBible.com (podcast) or OneYearAudioBible.org ~

Old Testament - In First Chronicles chapter 24 today we read about the divisions of the priests and the Levites.  It is important to note that the priests and Levites had differing roles.  The priests actually performed the sacrifices whereas the Levites assisted the priests in their duties - including assisting in the sacrifices, playing music, baking goods, and care of the Tabernacle/Temple (to name a few things the Levites did).  Both priests and Levites were from the tribe of Levi, but the priests also had to be descendants of Aaron, the first high priest of Israel.  More details on the duties of the priests and Levites are at this link.

Ever wonder why we have music in church today?  First Chronicles 25 verse 1 could be where the stage is set for the tradition of music in our worship services! "David and the army commanders then appointed men from the families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to proclaim God's messages to the accompaniment of harps, lyres, and cymbals." Do you find music in church to be inspiring?  Do you worship God with music in church? Why do you suppose music moves people so profoundly in church?  Do you think music can bring people closer to Jesus?  Has music brought you closer to Jesus?

New Testament - We have great writings by Paul today in Romans how we are declared righteous before God!  Verse 4 is powerful - "When people work, their wages are not a gift. Workers earn what they receive. But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work."  Our right relationship with Jesus is a gift.  We do not work to earn it.  It is given to us as a gift.  Our right relationship with God is not because of our work - but because of Jesus' work on our behalf on the cross.  Have you accepted the gift?  If not, will you accept Jesus' invitation to receive this free gift today?

Paul's writings about Abraham's faith are wonderful in today's readings.  Verses 9 & 10 stands out: "Well, what about Abraham? We have been saying he was declared righteous by God because of his faith. But how did his faith help him? Was he declared righteous only after he had been circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? The answer is that God accepted him first, and then he was circumcised later!"  These verses are an example of Abraham being accepted into a right relationship with God through faith - not works (circumcision in this case).  I do believe our good works are desired and appreciated by God - he wants us to ultimately live holy & loving lives where we love God and love people.  But, faith in Jesus and acceptance by God comes first, then our good works for the Kingdom come as fruits of our faith.  Abraham was an example of this as we read in verse 3 - "For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.""  Below is an portrait of Abraham being called by God by artist Guy Rowe:

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Romans titled "An Old Testament Illustration of Justification by Faith" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 13 is thought to be a prayer by David for recovery from a grave illness, based on verse 3: "Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die."  Yet, even in the midst of this serious illness, David amazingly proclaims in verse 5: "But I trust in your unfailing love."  How about you?  When you are sick or in the midst of a very challenging or sad situation, do you trust in God's unfailing love?  Always?  No matter what is going on around you?  Do you trust that God will ultimately restore the light to your eyes?

Proverbs - Proverbs 19 verse 15 is quite true - "A lazy person sleeps soundly--and goes hungry."  Have you ever had lazy periods of your life?  Are you maybe in one now?  Do you realize that when you are lazy you are slowly starving yourself?  That you are going hungry?  I believe this can apply to being lazy about our physical world - as well as our spiritual world.  When we are lazy in our faith, yes, I believe we can appear to "sleep soundly."  But - meanwhile we are starving ourselves spiritually, which is a grave risk.  Are you in a physically or spiritually lazy place right now?  If so, will you turn to Jesus for your work orders - and for your very food?  If you are in a lazy place right now, please do not continue to sleep quite so soundly...

YouTube - A while back I listened to one of Joshua Harris' sermons for the first time, and it was one of the best sermons I've heard in a while!  He just started a series on "Discernment" and the sermon I listened to was Biblically based and incredibly thought provoking for our lives.  The sermon is based on First Thessalonians 5:21-22 - "Test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." You can download the MP3 of this sermon at this link.  Below is a brief YouTube clip from this sermon on Discernment (5 minutes of a 51 minute sermon! :) -

Have you discerned God in your life?  Click here for Discernment!

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.]

REPOSTED FROM YESTERDAY, BECAUSE IT WAS LATE AND IT CONTAINS SOME STUFF NOT COMMONLY FOUND IN COMMENTARIES.
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Romans 3:9-31

No One is Righteous

The first nine verses are pretty easy to read. If you are not a Jew than you are a Gentile, thus Paul is referring to everyone in the world: MANKIND

Mankind is in rebellion as a group, and no one is righteous on their own. All have sinned.

WHAT ABOUT INDIVIDUALS

Not Job, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Rachel, Rahab, Daniel, Joshua, or any other OT character is righteous (holy, pure, without sin) on his/her own. The OT goes to great pains to point out at least once if not several times when the characters sin.

But wait! Are not some of these men called righteous in the OT. Yes, but just like Christians their righteousness is imputed to them based on their belief (Trust in God:faith) and His promise of a redeemer. God sees them as righteous because they are believers.

In the NT not Mary, Joseph, the apostles, Paul, etc. or any other character is righteous on his/her own - all have sinned. They are declared righteous (justified) because of their belief (trust in God: faith) that Christ paid the price for our sins.

All are rebels. The ones declared righteous are "rebels" who have gone to God in faith. The rest of mankind (non-believers) has always been and always will be REBELS (unrighteous), not understanding (foolish), turned away, deceitful, and warlike against God. They will remain so unless they TURN BACK, REPENT, AND BELIEVE.
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Pauls use of OT Scripture

Verses 10-17 cite different verses from Psalms, Eccles., and Isaiah. The words may not match up with the OT citations word for word in any one Bible. This used to bother me until:

I relaized most writers in NT used the Septuagint: the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible written between 300 and 0 A.D in Alexandria, Egypt. The translated Greek may not match up with the ancient Hebrew translation in your OT.

In addition it seems some of the writers paraphrase the OT passages when writing in NT. This would be a problem, unless you acknowledge that all scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16). The men writing were endwelled (as all believers) are with the Holy Spirit. So - as long as the paraphrase conveys the same meaning as the original OT citation - there is no problem.

Wait a minute John, anybody can take different verses out of the Bible and string them together to say any point they are trying to make to an audience.

True. this happens all the time with non-believers who do not have God's help at understanding Scripture. It is also very dangerous for believers, and is something that should be avoided or prayed about a great deal before expressing the thought.

However, Paul and the other NT writers are being inspired by the Holy Spirit to write NT. If they string together verses from different books of OT, then we have to believe (trust in God) that the message is correct and that the passage IS what God is saying to us (believers).

[John A.]

Romans 4:1-12

Paul has laid out his teachings:

1) Gospel is the power of God for salvation for those who believe by faith (trust in God) the imputed righteousness received through Christ.

2)Gods anger has been and is now being shown against the deniers, good people, isolated people, and churchgoers.

3) It is not about circumcision, rituals, or the Law, it is about faith. The believer (justified) is righteous by faith.

4) No one is righteous (on their own) - not one. All Jew and Gentile are rebels whose nature is sin. God provides a solution through Christ, as none can earn salvation, so He could be just and justify. Man is justified by faith apart from the Law. One God for all people - Jew and Gentile - the solution is the same for both.
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Examples

Abraham - Before the Law or the instruction for circumcision was given, Abraham was justified (saved). On what basis?

4:3What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

David - David knew and believed. Paul affirms that Psam 32:1-2 is describing God crediting righteousness apart from works.

Abraham is the key though. It is not about the Law or circumcision. His imputed righteousness came before the law or circumcision. From God's prophecy of Abraham being the father of many nations: Abraham is the spiritual father of those who believe that are uncircumcised (Gentiles). Abraham is also the father of the Jew - but not all - only those who believe.

4:12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

"BUT WHO ALSO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE FAITH THAT OUR FATHER ABRAHAM HAD...."

[John A.]

1 Chronicles 24-26:11

Priests

"It was the family of Aaron that was the priestly line, and from this we have 24 divisions and each was to serve for 2 weeks. At the end of their 2 week service they would return home and minister from there. Remember that the Levites were spread out in 48 cities throughout the land of Israel so that no man was more than a days journey from one of these cities."

Singers

"Here we see David assemble the worship team and when it speaks of them prophesying with harps and-so-on, don't let that confuse you. They were not necessarily foretelling but forthtelling the things of God through their music. In I Corinthians 14:3 we read "But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men." Worship songs should minister to our hearts, they should build us up, they should encourage us, they should comfort us, as we focus back on the Lord..."

NOTE: The word "prophet" derives from the Greek word "to announce." A prophet of the LORD God spoke His words. The prophet spoke the words of God, not his own. He was a mouthpiece which God declared His message to men. Now prophecy has both a broad and a narrow meaning. The broad meaning can be defined as to "forth-tell", and the narrow meaning means to "fore-tell."A good way of understanding the general from the specific is to realize that forth-telling involves knowing the Will of God, and "fore-telling" contains insight into the future plans of God. Forth-telling challenges and exhorts men to accomplish the Will of God, fore-telling predicts the future and prepares the believer for the things to come.
http://iknowjesuslovesme.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-does-prophecy-in-scripture-mean.html

Gatekeepers

"The gatekeepers were responsible in keeping out those that did not belong in the temple area and to allow those who did belong in."

http://www.ccmanitowoc.org/Library/Guglielmo-Joe/Studies/TH/13-1CH/TH1055.HTM

[ellen rutledge]

the lord is so wonderful my favorite he will never leave us or forsake us thanks for your prayers yesterday yours in christ ellen rutledge