August 7th One Year Bible Readings

Ezra 4:24-6:22 ~ 1 Corinthians 3:5-23 ~ Psalm 29:1-11 ~ Proverbs 20:26-27
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Old Testament - We have great readings today in Ezra about the completion of the second Temple!  Note that this second Temple, which was completed on March 12, 516 B.C., is the same Temple that existed during Jesus' ministry.  This second Temple was then destroyed by Roman armies in 70 A.D.  This second Temple was a lot smaller than the first Temple built by Solomon.  And less ornate.  And the big thing of course was that this second Temple did not have the Ark of the Covenant nor the tablets of the Law, as these were believed to have been destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem in 586 B.C.  Nonetheless, the completion of the second Temple was a great cause of celebration for the Israelites who had returned from exile!  Below is a model of this second Temple:

New Testament - This may be a somewhat of a controversial reflection here, but I'd like to put it out for discussion.  Please feel free to let me know your thoughts in the Comments section of the blog below.  Today's readings in First Corinthians made me think about all of our various Christian church denominations that we have in our world today.  In our readings today, some followed Paul.  Some followed Apollos.  Some followed Peter.  And in our churches today, some follow Calvin.  Some follow Wesley.  Some follow Knox.  And so on.  And I guess I just wonder would the church today look any differently today if we simply all followed Jesus?  I don't mean to knock denominations here per se.  I myself go to a church affiliated with a denomination.  I just pray that each of us could look beyond our denominations and look fully toward Jesus.  And that we come to realize that no matter what our denominations, we are brothers and sisters through faith in our Lord Jesus.  We inherit eternal life through God's grace and our faith in Jesus.  We all - no matter our denomination - are "the church" through our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  As Paul teaches us in First Corinthians 3:21-23 - "So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you—whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in First Corinthians titled "A Different Look at Leadership" is at this link and "A Call to Repentance" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 29 today is a beautiful hymn of praise to God the Creator!  Verses 3 and 4 are awesome - "The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders.  The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty."  And verse 2 is something for each of us to joyfully obey - "Give honor to the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness."  Amen!

Proverbs:  Proverbs 20:27 today is a powerful teaching:  "The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive."  I love this thought!  God's Light penetrates our human spirits, exposing our hidden motives.  And this is a very good thing!  I believe that most all of us have some "blind spots" in our lives.  Blind spots meaning we have sins or issues or motives or bad habits that we don't even know we have!  We're blind to them.  And God's light - His Light of the world, Jesus - can expose these hidden things to us!  I think sometimes this can happen via solitary prayer or worship.  However, I think this can also often happen through brothers and sisters in Christ who we ask to point out any blind spots to us.  Have you ever asked anyone in your life to point out a blind spot?  Was this painful?  Was it ultimately helpful to you?  Do you think you have any blind spots in your life today?  Will you ask someone who knows you well if you have any blind spots?

Worship God:  Psalm 29 today reminded me of Chris Tomlin's song "Indescribable." Here's a great live version of this song sung by Avalon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkvZx477w4

Do you know our Indescribable God? Click here for His description!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray in thanksgiving that if you are in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ that you yourself are God's temple. Pray in thanksgiving that God's Spirit lives within you! Pray that you will not grieve the Spirit through any sort of abuse or neglect of your body, God's temple.

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]

Ezra 4:24-6:22
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord like channels of water; he turns it wherever he wants.(Pro 21:1 NET.)

As God spoke to the heart of Cyrus seventy years after the Jews’ exile to Babylon, so too he spoke to the heart of King Darius that the work of building the Temple would continue. Darius could have said that his reign was a new day and he would not be held accountable for what another man did. Darius also did not allow Israel’s enemies to give him the only information about Jerusalem he heard what the Jewish leaders said. The people remembered to mention the decree King Cyrus had issued, and petitioned Darius to look for the decree, which he did.

Too often we look at our environment and the political atmosphere of the times and say, “I can’t do that because so and so is or isn’t in office; We can’t because the Democrats; The Republicans; the Liberals, etc.” But God says, “No, not so!”

When GOD approves of your life, even your enemies will end up shaking your hand. (Pro 16:7 MSG)

This lesson is something I need to take fast hold of and keep in my remembrance. My success is not based on a political party or a law that has been put in place, but on my relationship with God. If my success is not based on me, you or Aunt Sally, then neither is yours.

I Corinthians 3:5-23

5 Who is Apollos, and who is Paul, that we should be the cause of such quarrels? Why, we're only servants. Through us God caused you to believe. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. 7 The ones who do the planting or watering aren't important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their own hard work. 9 We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God's field, God's building--not ours.

Sadly today, we find ourselves in the very predicament Paul rebukes the church at Corinth for, divisions and divisiveness. When we are divided because we have grouped ourselves based on callings and purpose that is a good thing. We don’t expect our hand, which is part of our body, to have the same purpose and function as our heart. However, we as the body have divided ourselves into groups based on alliances and affiliations, and argue over which or whom is better than what part and which function is more important then the other. By itself, each part will fail, but in unity we work together, in bringing the body to become an effective and efficient move of God.

Yet, we fight over denominations, we fight over schools of theology and it goes on and on and on, seemingly without end. I’m not sure if the Body of Christ is imitating our political and/or ethnic and cultural groups, or if they are imitating us. What ever it is we need to put a stop to it.

We need to be like Paul and say,
For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.
(1Co 2:2 AMP)

Psalm 29:1-11
This Psalm seems to compliment and confirm that indeed the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord (Proverbs 21:1). No matter what anyone does to go against the Lord or God’s people, they will never prevail. No matter that God’s people are attacked they will never be totally cast down nor destroyed, God will always have for himself a remnant no matter if His people go astray or they are attacked by enemies, God and God’s Word will always remain because it can never be destroyed.

Proverbs 20:26-27
A wise king winnows out the wicked [from among the good] and brings the threshing wheel over them [to separate the chaff from the grain].(Pro 20:26 AMP)

Just a thought: If the threshing wheel (Usually grain is thrown up in the air because the chaff is picked up by the wind and blown away while the heaver grain of wheat falls to the ground), is brought over wheat or some other grain; good from wicked; then pressure is being applied to all even the godly.

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
(Pro 24:10 AMP)

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[cjvg]

I think we will see the church of the future become one, we will still have denominations, but in name only. The real church will finally be revealed as we will no longer be able to sit on the fence, we will need to stand up for what God intended us to believe and follow. The abortion and homosexual issues are examples, since they are no longer "in the closet" we must state they are sin and stand firm on that statement, remembering to hate the sin but love the sinner, as we are all harboring sin of some sort. We must remember that all sin is the same in God's sight, there are no levels of sin, even though we like to think there is.

[Steve]

Good Morning Mike, I want to thank you for the effort you put into producing this blog. I use the One Year Bible and Your Blog for my daily devotions. And I have for several years now.

I just wanted to comment on the Temple that was built when the Jews returned from Babylon. I've been under the impression that the Temple of Jesus' day was built by King Herod. Maybe Herod just remodeled the Temple. I'm not sure.

[Michael]

Wow, I am excited to read these comments here, I know the Holy Spirit is stirring truth in the hearts of God's people. Growing up my family didn't go to church much, my Mom and I lived wth my grandmother and we went every now and then, for sure on Easter, and yeah Christmas to. However, their was no root to any church. This was a disaster.

Now, I have been saved for 9 yrs, and began going to a non-denominational church for those 9yrs years. I never questioned whether I should be going to a Baptist church, a Methodist church, or any other denomination, I was just happy to be God's, finally. I neve questioned doctrine because I didn't know what it was.

However, now that I have grown a little I know that God is a God of freedom, he's a God of denominations because that's where his people are, he's a God of non-denominations because, yes, that's where his people are too. I've learned that God is a God of freedom, a God of love, a God of power. This means he is able to move through all these earthly means (denominations or not) to bring us closer to him. I have learned this though, religion (man made) kills the heart, soul and spirit of a man. This was never God's intention. God's intention was for a free man or woman rejoicing in the glorious work of Jesus Christ, and then empowering that believer to move and walk about the earth fulfilling the call God has placed on their life at every avenue and juncture they come too. The blessing of God is knowing him and turning to him in spirit and in truth. Without this, and without the grace, and love of God, we are serving ourselves and setting ourselves up to have a bitter spirit against anyone who would challenge our belief system and our theological understandings. No, God is a God of love, peace, joy, thankfulness, patience, fruitfulness, and grace. He loves us, quarky or not, denomination or not!

[Steve]

Hi Mike, It's me again, I went to the internet and discovered that Herod did a reconstruction of the Temple that was built in Ezra's day. So I guess it was essentially the same Temple, only redone.

[Elizabeth Hiveley]

We feel it is important to us to go to a church that believes in all that He is...
signs, wonders and miracles.

" He is the same yesterday, today and forever."
shalom with grace and truth
elizabeth

[Billy]

Mike, I think the many denominations causes many,many problems in the Christian community but I only think this will be reconciled with the return of Christ.