~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
1 Chronicles 15:1-16:36 ~ Romans 1:18-32
Psalm 10:1-15 ~ Proverbs 19:6-7
Old Testament - Today in 1 Chronicles 15 we read about David dancing before the Ark as it enters Jerusalem!
David's song of praise in 1 Chronicles 16 is phenomenal. Verse 8 begins his praise with - "Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness." These are two things that I'm afraid I do not do enough - give thanks to God & proclaim his greatness. I am amazed really at how little I give thanks to God. I mean, yes, I say grace and thanks before meals. And I'll maybe give a little prayer of thanksgiving here or there to God on occasion - but it is just very occasionally. Why am I not giving thanks to God frequently?? I am not sure. I think it maybe has to do with the human condition - we always want more. Things are never really good enough. But if we really stop and think about it, we are so fortunate to have lived the # of years we have lived in our lives! Each day in our life has been and is a gift from God. How about you? Do you give thanks to God frequently? Now, as for proclaiming God's greatness, I think I stumble in this area too. I think sometimes I forget the wise saying of - "God is God, and I am not." I think sometimes I try to fall back on my own power and might and strength and spirit - when really all that I have comes from God. I pray that I begin to proclaim God's greatness more and more often.
New Testament - Wow... Paul's writings today in Romans are such a true stern true warning about the dangers of sin. I really can't imagine how sin can be written about much more truthfully. Verse 21 is a strong warning - "Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused." I do believe that this is such an accurate description of what sin does to our minds - it makes our minds dark and confused. Things can get so fuzzy / hazy in our mind due to unchecked sin that we can even get to the point of where we do not realize we are sinning. How sad to live life knowing God, but not worshiping him or even giving him thanks. And then to come up with wacky ideas of what God is like.... ever hear any wacky ideas about God out there? :) The result is that people's minds become dark and confused because of sin... sad. Let us live our lives so that we share the Light of the Gospel of Jesus in the dark places in the world.
Bible.org's commentary on today's Romans readings titled "No Excuse for the Heathen" is at this link.
Psalms - Psalm 10 is a prayer for rescue from attacks from the proud and wicked. Wisely, you'll note that this Psalmist is not taking punishment into his own hands - but asking God for punishment. We would do well to remember that punishment is the Lord's...
Psalm 10 verse 1 stood out to me today - "O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I need you the most?" Have you ever felt like this? I know I have. However, I also have realized later on that just when I thought God was no where near me, he was actually as close as could be taking care of me. Even though it may have seemed that God was "hiding" from me, he was actually right there with me all along!
Proverbs - The second half of Proverbs 19 verse 6 really stands out to me today - "Everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!" This is obviously very true when we think about our human relations. But what about with God? Who anywhere gives better gifts than God? Who else literally gives us the gift of life? Who gives us every good and perfect gift in our lives? And yet... does everyone rush to be God's friend? I would guess that many of us reading this blog would consider God to be our friend. But what about the rest of the world? Why isn't all of the world rushing to be friends with the giver of all good and perfect gifts? And even us who consider God to be our friend - do we consistently treat God like we do our other friends? Do we spend time with God? Do we laugh, cry, and enjoy life with God? Are you a true and consistent friend of the Giver of every good and perfect gift?
What verses or insights jumped out for you in today's readings? Please post up in the Comments section below!
Grace,
Mike
PROBLEM:
18
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves.[a]
19
For the truth about God is known to them instinctively.[b] God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20
From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.
24
So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies.
25
Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen.
SOLUTION:
This makes me think of what Jesus Himself said:
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
NOT that He knows the way (though He surely does), but HE IS the Way, Truth, and Life – He is “I AM”
This same truth I saw in the reading from I Chronicles 16:
11
Search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching.
And we can trust Him, because of the immutability and inability to lie – the certain, guaranteed hope of God fulfilling His covenant:
15
He always stands by his covenant[g]-- the commitment he made to a thousand generations.
AND where is His strength found?
27
Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty are in his dwelling.
HIS PRESENCE is the SOURCE, the TREE, the PLACE from which I can find His strength.
Honor, majesty, strength, and beauty ARE:
His “environment”
His “clothing”
When I spend time with Him, His environment can be mind and His clothing can be mine—throughout the day!
I often do not know what to do—and I am at the end of my understanding and keep hitting a wall. But, if I spend time in His Presence—cultivating my relationship with Him--
THEN, out of our knowledge of God, and our acting on it (faith without works is dead)—we have the vital experience to share His glory and strength to those around us!
28
O nations of the world, recognize the LORD,
recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong.
Posted by: Vance Brown | July 13, 2005 at 05:35 AM
I Chronicles 15-16:36
Luke 16 10 “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” This verse came to mine every time I read Obed-edom’s name in this passage. He is mentioned four times in regard to being a gatekeeper in the tabernacle (15:18); a musician, a harp player) (15:21); and his home was where the Ark was kept for three months (15:25) while David tried to figure out how to get the Ark into the city without someone dropping dead.
After suffering the consequence of chosen ignorance, not actively consulting and reading the Laws of Moses, which would have told him how to move the Ark the right way, he does the right thing and gets the “411” on how to handle properly, God. (Well the God in the box, the home He had chosen to stay in for the sake of Israel)
David’s wife’s, Saul’s daughter, sneer at David, she must have been embarrassed, demonstrates to me that people have shown and will continue to show contempt for those who are in heartfelt worship. Like David, we must pay them no mind, but I don’t know if we can get away with locking them up.
In his Psalm, David lets us know that seeking God requires constancy and persistence (16:11), just like Jesus would latter tell us to do by asking, seeking and knocking.
Romans 1:18-32
This thing with God allowing us to have what we want (24 So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired) is the same thing He did with Israel when she asked for a king. He, God, gave them a man named Saul whose name in Hebrew is a play on the Hebrew word for desire.
I Sam 12:
12 "But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us'-even though the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you.
God is still in the business of giving people what they want even if what they want is hell.
Psalm 10:1-15
WOW!
4 These wicked people are too proud to seek God.
They seem to think that God is dead.
5 Yet they succeed in everything they do.
They do not see your punishment awaiting them.
Not only are these two verses powerful, they let us know that the wicked will seemingly appear to succeed; however there is something coming toward them on the road they don’t see, punishment. Just because the wicked or the righteous do not see evil, being thwarted by God does not mean the road is clear of their just dessert, we like they don’t see everything.
Proverbs 19:6-7
The kind of friends spoken about in these two verses, I don’t need nor do I want.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
Posted by: Ramona | July 13, 2005 at 07:00 PM