July 9th One Year Bible Readings

1 Chronicles 7:1-8:40 ~ Acts 27:1-20 ~ Psalm 7:1-17 ~ Proverbs 18:22
~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~
~ Listen to today's Scripture on OneYearAudioBible.org or DailyAudioBible.com (podcast) ~

Old Testament - We read some interesting verses to consider today in First Chronicles 8 verses 8 through 10: ^"After Shaharaim divorced his wives Hushim and Baara, he had children in the land of Moab. Hodesh, his new wife, gave birth to Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sakia, and Mirmah. These sons all became the leaders of clans."  These verses basically record polygamy & divorce by Shaharaim.  However, just because these actions are recorded in the Bible, it does not mean they are condoned by God.  Since the creation of Adam and Eve, God has meant for there to be one man with one wife.  But, we humans don't always follow what God wants for us... (as we each well know)  The Bible records both the good & the bad in human actions.  If someone were to chronicle our lives today, would what the chronicle recorded be pleasing in God's sight?  Don't worry so much about your past & past mistakes.  God can forgive and redeem those, if you will turn to him in repentance.  But right now - what would the chronicler capture in your life today?  Would it be pleasing in God's sight?  Would you want other people to read about your life today?  Would you be comfortable with any aspect of your life showing up on the front page of tomorrow's news?

New Testament - Today in Acts 27 verses 1 & 2 we read: "When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of an army officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. And Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a boat whose home port was Adramyttium; it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province of Asia."  A great map of Paul's journey to Rome is below:

In verses 10 & 11 Paul's wise advice about the storm is not heeded: ""Sirs," he said, "I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on--shipwreck, loss of cargo, injuries, and danger to our lives." But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship's captain and the owner than to Paul." I wonder about this in our lives today - are we like the officer in charge of the prisoners and ignoring Paul's advice?  Do we hear Paul's advice to us in his Epistles, and yet are we ignoring it?  Are we instead paying attention to the ship's captain, or the world, rather than Paul, when a storm is indeed bearing down upon us?

Bible.org's commentary on today's Acts readings titled "A Biblical Look at Leadership" is at this link.

Psalms - Today in Psalm 7 verse 10 we read: "God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right." What stood out to me here is that it does not say that God saves those who "do" what is true and right.  It says that God saves those whose "hearts are" true and right.  As discussed in yesterday's Matthew 5 post, below, this is getting toward our interior motives and thoughts and hearts - the important thing is not what we do on the "exterior", but who we are on the "interior".  And then certainly if our hearts are true and right, a natural outflow of this is doing good things on the exterior.  But, it's the interior - our hearts - that matter most.  How is your heart these days?  Is it true and right?  And do you believe that God is indeed your shield?

Proverbs - Proverbs 18 verse 22 I believe is a two way street: "The man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favor from the LORD."  And the woman who finds a husband finds a treasure and receives favor from the Lord!  I think all of us are fortunate to find a wife or husband.  The sad thing of course in our world today is that marriages statistically are not lasting.  I believe the divorce rate is around 50% now?  Pretty high to say the least...  My thought is that God needs to be the center of any marriage for it to really last.  Really, God needs to be in the center of anything we do in our lives for it to truly last...  Is God in the center of all areas of your life today?

Today's Proverb does remind me of a book I just finished reading - Joshua Harris' "Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship."  Has anyone else read this book or other Josh Harris books?  I'd love to get your reactions in the Comments section below.  The reason being is that I have many friends who say Josh's views are "extreme" and should be heeded with caution.  I guess I can see their points, but honestly, I loved the book!  I thought Josh did a great job talking about how our relationship with God is the first and foremost priority before marriage.  If we're not healthy with God, we won't be healthy in a marriage relationship.  In one chapter in particular in the book Josh does a great job leading a meditation on what Jesus did on the Cross for us - just how significant the Cross is...  Not something I'd expect from a book titled "Boy Meets Girl!" :)  In any case, I do recommend this book to anyone who is single.  Maybe it would be good for married's to read too.  But for singles I think it gives you a lot of great food for thought about relationships - including first and foremost your relationship with the Lord!

YouTube Video: Today's Proverb reminds me of Rebecca St. James' song "Wait for Me:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooAi3KJ5I-s

Are you waiting for God?  Click here and wait no more!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart. " Psalm 7:10 (NIV)

Prayer Point: Pray that God is your shield that has saved you. Pray for an upright heart. Pray that your lost family and friends come to a saving faith in Jesus and will then have God as their shield.

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

[Ramona]

I Chronicles 7:8-40

The following little passage really caught my eye,

21 … Ephraim's sons Ezer and Elead were killed trying to steal livestock from the local farmers near Gath. 22Their father, Ephraim, mourned for them a long time, and his relatives came to comfort him. (NLT),

I’m thinking well if the two boys were stealing cattle and someone stopped them with deadly force, what was Ephraim mourning about for so long? Was he mourning because they were stealing and got caught then killed or because they were just killed. Cattle rustling is a serious offense even today, don’t mess with folks’ livestock.

I did a little digging and read a commentary, Matthew Henry, and other translations, and it seems that in the Hebrew it is unclear who were the ones doing the actual stealing, Ephraim’s boys or the farmers near Gath. I can imagine what Ephriam was thinking when these two boys died, “The promise and blessing my grandfather prayed over me wasn’t worth a hill of beans. (Gen 48:19)” But God has this thing with resurrecting dead things and things that appear dead, like dreams, hopes and promises.

Acts 27:1-20

Mike mentions the ignored advice given by Paul and warns us not to do the same, valuing the advice of the ship’s caption and the world over that of a godly man. I began thinking why we ignore the Word of God over the word of man. The captain of the ship and the owner were “experts” of the way of the seas, Paul was a tent maker as for as his occupational training, a former student of The Law and a current follower of the Way.

We call in expert witness to testify in court cases; we want the medical professional who is an expert in his/her field when we have serious illness. People who are knowledgeable in their fields because they have an acceptable number of degrees behind their names proving who they are and where they studied are the ones we turn to, rely on for the real info on governmental and financial matters. Sunday morning is filled with expert talking heads on programs that tell us which stock to invest in, which world and local leadership will rise and fall.
Paul wasn’t an expert in the ways of the sea so ignore him. “Hey Paul, mind your business and make those tents. Do something that you know!” We follow everything under the sun; but forget to follow the Son.

10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. (KJV—The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Corinth—1 Corinthians) Which voice will I continue to give significance too?

Psalm 7:1-7

Mike thanks for pointing out that doing and being (a heart issue) are two different things. You gave some great insight too the verse. We grow accustom to reading words but we fail to really read what is there and understand, Thank you.

I wanted to find out who this Cush was the man who inspired David to write this Psalm. The only thing I could find was a man from Cush, (Ethiopia) but I don’t think the man from and the man Cush were one and the same. This Cush was a Benjamite the man from Cush was a foreigner in Israel (II Samuel 18:19-23)

Proverbs 18:22

Hmm, I’m not so sure that this refers to women but it could and I’m not going to split hairs. However, I see something in this other than what is on the surface, a wife does not mean every women when married is one. I probably came to that conclusion by reading this verse in the Amplified Bible,

22 He who finds a [true] wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

Well if there is a true wife then there has to be a false wife. Some folks have trouble in their marriages because what they married was not a wife, although she was female. Reading Proverbs one will find there are different types of married woman spoken about, some good and some bad.

And to balance this all out, one is a male by birth but is a man by choice.

When I was a child …: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (I Corinthians 13:11) The putting away of childish things is a conscious decision by the individual it is not something grown out of. So in balance, not every man is a husband. He just may be an immature boy in a grown body unable and unwilling to accept the responsibilities of a family

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Terriann]

I'd like to add one thought to the discussion on decision making and whose advice we are to listen to. I noticed one little word today that I've never seen before in verse 12, that is majority. Growing up in America, the idea of majority rule is pretty much ingrained. But here we see that the majority was just plain wrong. It is important to remember that God's word over rides the majority no matter how many voices say otherwise.

[Rosella dela Paz Gordon]

It all boils down to that to whom we will FOLLOW and PLEDGE our ALLEGIANCE to.
The GOD of GOOD, LOVE and TRUTH? Or the father of evil, death and lies?
There is only two choices. HEAVEN or HELL.
Our CREATOR, SAVIOR and HOLY SPIRIT of GOD?
Or the ETERNALLY CONDEMNED.
That is the foundation upon which we BUILD our LIVES on EARTH.
The ROCK. Or the sinking sand.
***
Thanks Michael for what, where, why, and how you SERVE the LORD with. We are BLESSED.

Thank you, also, Ramona for your comment. It blessed me to.