1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34 ~ Romans 4:13-5:5 ~ Psalm 14:1-7 ~ Proverbs 19:17
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Old Testament - It is interesting to read about the various gatekeepers, treasurers, officials, military commanders and leaders in today's First Chronicle readings! In some ways it is sad to read about how well organized things were - knowing that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the exile to Babylon is coming up. All of this organization will be destroyed. Why? Because of sin. Sin destroys. Sin kills. So sad. It is true that the lineage from Abraham to Judah to David will of course continue through to Jesus and now to us as spiritual descendants. But, the nation of Israel at this time of First Chronicles, with all of it's great organization, will later fall because the leaders and people will turn their backs on God in sin. In disobedience. Is there a lesson for us in this today? Do you see the dangers of sin? Of how it can destroy everything you hold dear? Please - flee from sin. Jesus can set you free from the bondage of sin. Don't lose everything you hold dear to something as stupid as sin. Sin will sell you lies and leave you with nothing.
New Testament - Wow. Romans 5 verses 1 & 2 are so true: "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory." It is important to note that these verses are talking about more than just a "sense of peace." They are talking about literal "peace with God"! Peace with God is gifted to us through faith in Jesus' life, death and resurrection to redeem us from the depravity and consequences of our sin. Have you experienced literal peace with God? I know that we do not always "sense the peace" with God - but I do not think it leaves us once we've entered into an eternal right relationship with Jesus. I think we can certainly distract ourselves enough or make ourselves worried or frantic enough that we might think the peace is gone. But eternal peace doesn't ever leave us. I do think we need to take time to connect with and rediscover Christ's peace within us each and every day. Reading, prayer and meditation on Scripture are great ways to do this. I have also found getting outdoors and taking a walk in nature helps me connect with Christ's peace again. What are other ways that you connect with Christ's peace within you? Please post up in the Comments section below for others to learn from! Thanks!
Verses 3 through 5 are incredible today as well: "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us--they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." Note that these verses are not saying to rejoice "because" of problems and trials (that would be morbid), but that we can still rejoice even "when we run into" the problems and trials. It is often difficult for us to remember to rejoice when problems and trials come our way - but please do remember these words of Paul in Romans about rejoicing during a time of trial. Remember our readings in Acts? Paul was ridiculed, beaten, jailed and shipwrecked - and yet, he never gave into a defeatist attitude. He kept preaching God's love! If anyone knows about trials and problems, it is Paul. And he tells us to rejoice through problems and trials because in this we learn to endure. I love that Paul says that character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation! And that this expectation will not disappoint! Do you believe this? Do you have a confident expectation of salvation?
Image above courtesy of stonesoupmusic.org. Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Romans titled "The Object of Our Faith" is at this link.
Psalms - Psalm 14 could be seen at first glance as a discouraging Psalm for us as we look at verse 3: "But no, all have turned away from God; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not even one!" I think it is important to keep in mind that there is truth in this verse (particularly if we ever start thinking we're "good" and others around us are not...). But also I think it's good to keep in mind that this verse was written before Jesus came to the earth. Jesus was perfect. And through His resurrection we are called toward greater holiness and ultimately perfect goodness once we meet Jesus face to face in heaven. Jesus gives us the hope spoken of in the closing of this Psalm in verse 7: "Oh, that salvation would come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel! For when the LORD restores his people, Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice." Do you recognize the salvation that has come to us? Are you shouting for joy for this salvation? Are you rejoicing!?
Proverbs - Today in Proverbs 19 verse 17 we read – “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.” Do you believe that when you are kind to the poor you are actually lending to God? Are you someone who is consistently kind to the poor? Are you kind to the spiritually, emotionally, materially poor that God has brought into your life? Are you also kind to spiritually, emotionally, materially poor that you do not know? Do you believe this kindness is noticed by God? Do you believe it is rewarded?
YouTube: Based on today's Proverb, Shane Claiborne's book "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical" comes to mind. I've recently read this book and thought it was a great look at how we as the church can truly be the church by loving and serving the poor. I didn't agree with all of Shane's politics or propositions in the book, but overall I was incredibly inspired by Shane's life and encouraged to love and serve others. So, the book cover is below and you can check out reviews of the book on amazon.com at this link. I do recommend reading this book - it will challenge you in some good ways. Also below is a 50 minute YouTube Video of Shane speaking at a youth conference. Shane is a humorous guy with a powerful message for the church.
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
I Chronicles 26:12-27:34
Mike you wrote: “All of this organization will be destroyed. Why? Because of sin. Sin destroys. Sin kills. So sad.”
As soon as I read your statement, I thought of something Paul wrote,
Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace.
(Jam 3:15-18 NET.)
God is order, sin is disorder because there is no truth in it. When I read how organized David was in assigning the men of Israel to temple and political duties, I was thinking how our church’s today could take a clue from David. I didn’t see the big picture showing how this order would soon fall apart because God would eventually be taken out of the Temple. The Temple to honor His name would be built, destroyed and rebuilt all because of sin and not because of an expansion project.
Romans 4:13-5:5
13 It is clear, then, that God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was not based on obedience to God's law, but on the new relationship with God that comes by faith.
(Rom 4:13)
The above statement is so very hard for us to grasp. Either we have a hard time receiving a gift, which by its very nature is free, or it is not a gift or we think we are not worthy. It is through Jesus Christ’s righteousness that God sees those who call and believe on the Name of Jesus.
I love how the NLT begins the sixteenth verse, “1So that's why faith is the key!” If we have faith then we hold the instrument that can unlock all the doors that have been locked because we were in sin.
Psalm 14:1-7
7 Oh, that salvation would come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel!
For when the LORD restores his people,
Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice
Sometimes, no most of the time, my means of escape out of a situation that is not pleasing to God is always in front of me but I fail to see it. I can usually see the way out for others but not myself. Didn’t I here something about take the beam out of my eye before I take the speak out …?
Proverbs 19:17
So often before we will lend something to someone, we behave like a lending institution, we weigh the risks. Will I get it back? And if we just give money, we really don’t give we scrutinize how the person uses the money. Sometimes we fail to really listen to what the person is saying, misjudging the need and we wind up giving what they asked for NOT what they need.
As I think on this, I realize I’m guilty of superficial giving. A women with children and no husband may be poor because she not only has no support from her children’s father but she is also lacking in employable skills. Giving her money may help buy groceries, or shoes for her children, but what she really needs is someone to watch her children so she can go to school. My time is what I am unwilling to give, my time and patience to supervise someone else’s’ children. Yikes!
Posted by: Ramona | July 17, 2009 at 08:38 PM
Romans 4:13-5:5
Salvation: the promise of imputed righteousness through Christ comes by faith.
It cannot come by the Law. Why?
If those who live by the Law receive the promise,
1) faith has no value. It would not matter if you have faith (trust in God) or not. You would not need faith, but only to obey. Your motivation for obeying the Law could be fear, desire of the promise, or simply as a challenge, but you would not have to have any faith to get the promise.
2) The promise is worthless. Why? No one can obey the Law perfectly. No one would be saved. It would be like me saying, "I will give you a million dollars if you can stand here on the street and using only your own body jump up to the top of that three story building. I may have the million, but no one can do it. That is the Law - impossible to obey perfectly.
Because the Law brings wrath. If you rely solely on the Law, you cannot obey, you have sinned, sin angers God, God moves against you either here, and if not here at judgment.
Posted by: John A. | July 17, 2009 at 08:58 PM
Romans 4:13-5:5
[continued]
4:15because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Wait a minute, if there is no transgression, how can God judge?
STORY TIME
A 1,000 years ago there was a country ruled by a good, wise, and just king. Outsiders viewed the king this way, and most of the countrymen loved their king and were loyal subjects.
Except for one small town on the outskirts of the kingdom. These people ignored the king. They did not pay (fair) taxes, consider themselves subjects, nor acknowledge the king in any way. In fact, they tore up or defaced any royal decrees that came around, poached the king's cattle, and mocked the king at every public opportunity.
Yet, the townspeople did plenty of good things: helped widows and orphans, rebuilt any destroyed homes for other towns, even went out of the country and helped heal many sick people with theIR special "town" herbs. They did a lot of good - too much to list.
One day, the king had all the townspeople rounded up and brought before his throne. "What have you got to say for yourself", the king asked. The town leader had all the ledgers of the town that listed there good deeds placed before the throne. Over 200 ledgers in all. The leader said, "We are good people".
How did the king react? He had all the ledgers taken away and said, 'The ledgers are not relevant. The issue is rebellion, not how good or bad you are, and since you have always been in rebellion, you are guilty.'
[Note: The king did mitigate some of the punishment because of the deeds, but all were guilty of rebellion, and all were put in jail.]
The wages of sin is death, and death has been present since the fall. The sin before the law was not on anybody's ledger, but all were guilty of rebellion - Turning their backs to God and each going their own way.
In addition Paul has said that the law is written in our hearts, so we will have transgression based on what we knew and what we did with that knowledge. However without faith, all are guilty and condemned of rebellion, just as the town people in the story.
Posted by: John A. | July 17, 2009 at 09:23 PM
Romans 4:13-5:5
4:23-25The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Back to the propitiation idea. If Christ had just died on the Cross, then believers would have sin atoned for, but we would not be redeemed. Redeemed means to claim and take hold of in a tangible fashion after paying the price for the object to be redeemed. It is the resurection that gives eternal life/salvation. It is the resurrection that leads to the redeeming, that allows us to become children of God and co-heirs to heaven. Christ being the firstfruits* and we, as believers, to follow him to heaven for glorification.
*Feast of the first fruits is a feast of the harvest where the Jews cut sheaves off the harvest, and offered them to the Lord in thanks for the crop. the idea was offering the first fruits of the harvest with anticipation of much more fruit behind the first.
Interesting enough, the first fruit feast at Christ's death was on the Sunday after the crucifixion. At dawn and early morning hours Jesus was seen by varous groups. But by the time the first fruits were offered, Jesus may have coincidingly been going up to the Father. [Remember it was eight days later before Jesus appeared before Thomas and apostles]
Christ as in 1 CR 15 was the firstfruits of much more fruit to come (believers) - who would be going up to heaven.
Posted by: John A. | July 17, 2009 at 09:50 PM
Romans 4:13-5:5
5:1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,...
It is not we have the"peace of God", but very clearly in the Greek, it is peace with (or literally "toward" God).
The saved (justified) by faith (trust in God) are now the rebels who are no longer in rebellion. We have turned back to God, repented, and believed, and imputed righteousness is ours. We are at peace facing toward (with) God.
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HOPE
5:3-4 Not only so, but wealso rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
I had a fellow believer talk about some tough tiems recently. I was agreeing with him, and added, "but it will be pretty cool when we are in heaven."
He told me he "hoped so", and in discussion he explained he hoped he would be in heaven. Why the doubt, because he sees the english word "hope" in a lot of Paul's writings, and so he just hopes for the best??????
His problem is in his defintion of hope:
The modern idea of hope is “to wish for, to expect, but without certainty of the fulfillment; to desire very much, but with no real assurance of getting your desire.”
That is not the biblical definiton of "hope". In Scripture, according to the Hebrew and Greek words translated by the word “hope” and according to the biblical usage, hope is an indication of certainty. “Hope” in Scripture means “a strong and confident expectation.”
In dictionaries today, this is labeled an archaic concept. Imagine that. The reason the expectation can be certain is based on whom you are placing your hope in (GOD). If your hope is based on God's Word, then it can be a certain expectation as God never breaks His Word.
Secular definitions cannot have hope being a strong and confident expectation because they rule out God. Therefore everything you hope in is flawed and a chance of disappointment exists.
[Note: After explaining the Biblical definition of Hope to the man, the last time I saw him he was beaming with a grin from ear to ear.]
Posted by: John A. | July 17, 2009 at 10:23 PM
1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34
The Treasurers and Other Officials
"These men were watching over the treasures of God, the gold, silver and-so-on."
Army Divisions
"David has organized the spiritual part of the kingdom and now he is working on the military part of the kingdom. And I think David has it in the right order, spiritual must always come first. You can have the best army, as the Babylonians did, and still be defeated because your heart is far from the Lord. David now divides all his military men into 12 groups or divisions, with each one having 24,000 men. These groups or divisions would serve for 1 month out of the year, unless of course you were in a war, and then you would be called to active duty."
VERSES 32-34
1. "Ahithophel was David's counselor until he turned against David. When David's son Absalom rebelled against David and he makes himself king, Ahithophel joins him. And if you remember, Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba, and it is possible that because of David's actions against his granddaughter and son-in-law, that Ahithophel had a lot of bitterness in his heart towards David. And now the time was right for a revolt and he may have felt he was giving David his just reward. But his life ended tragically as Absalom refused to hear his wise counsel, and thus, he went and committed suicide. He saw that the reign of Absalom was coming to an end, and thus he was as good as dead anyway."
2. "In the chapters we have studied tonight we have seen how David organized the nation of Israel, both spiritually and militarily. You see, God is a God of order and not chaos. He sets things in order, and He does the same in our own life when things seem to be in utter turmoil In Psalm 37:23-24 we read "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand."
http://www.ccmanitowoc.org/Library/Guglielmo-Joe/Studies/TH/13-1CH/TH1055.HTM
Posted by: John A. | July 18, 2009 at 12:44 PM