December 1st One Year Bible Readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
Daniel 8:1-27 ~ 1 John 2:1-17
Psalm 120:1-7 ~ Proverbs 28:25-26

Old Testament - Daniel chapter 8 is quite a chapter!  I'm not 100% sure how to post up on this chapter - so I went over to bible.org to see what they had to say and I came across this paragraph over there - "Daniel chapter 8 is a preacher’s nightmare. Even noted scholars hesitate to be dogmatic in their interpretation of this chapter. Daniel himself has not the foggiest notion of the vision’s meaning, even after the angel Gabriel has interpreted the vision for him."   I think I better just link over to what bible.org has to say about this chapter today.  This is in the blog world what one would call a punt!  :)

The closing verse 27 of chapter 8 certainly stands out to me today: "Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it."  Do you think you'd be physically exhausted & sick if you saw a vision like Daniel saw in this chapter?

New Testament - First John chapter 2 is full of tons of wisdom today!  Verses 5 & 6 are so strong: "But those who obey God's word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did."   Do we realize that obeying God's Word, the Bible, demonstrates our love for God?  Do we live our lives as Jesus did?  Do we really love God?  Do we obey God's Word?

Verse 9 certainly gives us much to consider in our lives: "If anyone says, "I am living in the light," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness."  Are you living in the light?

Verses 15, 16 & 17 are worth looking at.  Zondervan's commentary says that the "world" in these verses is not the created world or people - but the world of sin, which is the dominion of Satan. "Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever."  Are we doing the will of God in our lives?  Do you want to live with God forever?  Do you continually pray to God to deliver you from lust & pride?

Psalms - Psalm 120 is the beginning of 15 Psalms known as "songs of ascent!"  This could mean the ascent of the stairs to the Temple in Jerusalem - or more likely the annual religious pilgrimages and the ascent to Mount Zion in Jerusalem.   Are you ready for the next 15 Psalms of Ascent?

Verse 1 in this Psalm should be encouraging to each of us: "I took my troubles to the LORD; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer."  Do you have troubles in your life?  Have you brought them to God in prayer?  Will you?  Will you allow him to answer your prayer?

Bible.org's commentary on Psalm 120 today titled "I am for Peace" is at this link.

Proverbs - Proverbs 28:26 today teaches us: "Trusting oneself is foolish, but those who walk in wisdom are safe."  This is a good reminder to seek wisdom continually in our lives.  And not just to rely on our own senses.  Where can we find wisdom in our lives?  Do you believe reading the Bible each day will bring wisdom into your life?  Actually, let me go off on a slight tangent here, but I think it's related.  A while ago Dennis Prager had a call from a Christian guy on his radio show.  (Dennis is Jewish)  They were debating a subject and Dennis asked the caller where he gets his morals from - from his heart or from a religious text?  (obviously inferring the Bible)  The caller said he gets his morals from his heart.  Which sounds like a good answer on the surface... but look at this Proverb again - "trusting oneself is foolish." And remember Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"  This was a very powerful question I think Dennis asked the caller.  And Dennis challenged the caller on the answer of saying he got his morals from his heart.  Dennis' point was that our morals should come from the Bible - from God.  What do you think on this point?  Where do your morals come from?  I do think that obviously we want to incorporate God's morals into our hearts... but will our morals first come from our hearts or from the Bible?   I'm with Dennis.  I'm voting for the Bible as being the source of our morals.  And I'll go one step further - I'm voting for Jesus, who is the Bible made flesh.

Comments from you - 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

[Jeff]

Folks,
Any further thoughts on Mike's Proverbs comments today regarding our morality coming from our hearts or from the Bible? I too would like to think that they should come from the Bible--but what about the oft-quoted Jeremiah 31:31 which is interpreted to be God's will for us Christians that he will "write it on our hearts"? Aren't there many Christians who virtually never read the Bible? Would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.

[Richard]

Here's a link to a good commentary of Daniel 8: http://www.ministrybooks.org/Chapter.cfm?id=%22%23%5C%24%20%0A

[Anka]

I'm going off a bit here on the subject of prophecy....Honestly I believe God's not going to teach a 10year old calculus.I have heard a lot of false prophesies and have come to the conclusion that in our times there are very few prophets.Daniel's life gave glory to God in every thing he was found faithful...before God gives you any huge revelations,He'll reveal your own heart and your sins."All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work"....true...lets not also forget"6Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."........................My point is I guess lets not be overzealous in finding out what God will Himself reveal to us as He sees fit.I do have to say what I noted in Daniel was the saints were given over to the goat in vs 12 because of rebellion....In our days,so many christians don't read the bible so they can't possibly walk as Jesus walked if they don't really know how He walked...slowly the love of the world sets in,before you know it....you're not anywhere near Christ...scary....these things are happening to day,have happened before and will continue to happen(sadly)....May God help us walk as Jesus did,not be drawn to the things of the world that ultimately lead to separation from Christ...
God bless you all

[Jenny]

Great readings!! I tried to look up in my study Bible daniel 9, some of it seems to refer to Alexander the Great and also to the antichrist obviously. I'll have to read up in my Study guide or bible.org for more on Daniel's visions. What stood out in my study Bible was the commentary on .v17, "I was afraid and fell." The notes say, 'Loss of consciousness is a common reaction to heavenly visitation'. Whoa! thats pretty crazy.

Obedience is certainly a wonderful thing God desires from us, he desires it more then sacrifice. Some ppl practice ceremonies where they do without something, but God wants obedience, that is the test, "If you love me you'll keep my commands". It can at times be very hard cause our flesh doesnt always like what God wants us to do....not to mention the enemy trying to disuade us! But obey, no matter how hard...if you resist the enemy and obey, you will see victory in that area. and if you love the Lord, I would think the natural response would be to please Him. On the contrary, I guess ppl can say I love Jesus! yet not obey or really desire to please Him. Its because that person doesnt really love Jesus. harsh reality...i pray we will all ask God to show us our heart.

I totally agree with you and Dennis Pragar. I know I went off on a tangent yesterday on the heart being wicked, we cannot know it. There is nothing good in our heart and if we think so we deceive ourselves. I've been coming across this in my studies at home and at church a lot lately, i think God is speaking pretty clear to me. Dont trust my heart! The more He reveals my heart to me, the more it disgusts me. But its good, cause I need help in those areas. God reveals our heart like a mirror. Its like the man who looks in the mirror and sees dirt on his face and acknowledges, 'yes, theres dirt on my face'. Then he walks away! What good does that do? Then there is the man that sees the dirt on his face, acknowledges it, then takes action to clean it off! We may see our sin and acknowledge it, but it we do nothing about it, what good does that do?? We need that mirror, to ask God to search our hearts. David said, such knowledge is too wonderfful for me I cannot attain it! David knew his heart was beyond his vision/limited knowledge, we cant even know the depths of our heart!

To answer your question, yes I want to live with God forever! I constantly need help in areas. Certain areas even i sometimes think, 'eh, those arent my weaknesses' so i dont worry about them, they become my weaknesses! I put my guard down!!! I was like, "what, why am i feel this bad desire? i never struggled with it much before". Well, goes to prove, I dont know my heart!! Man, thank GOD for HIs mercy, love and Christ Jesus to free us and give us the victory thru His blood! I love HIs word!!! Its so honest, so freeing!

[SissySue]

The Medes and Persians: Iraq and Iran?

Jeff, regarding the heart:

1Titus 1:8-11

We know that the Law is good, if it is used in the right way.

We also understand that it wasn't given to control people who please God, but to control lawbreakers, criminals, godless people, and sinners. It is for wicked and evil people, and for murderers, who would even kill their own parents.

The Law was written for people who are sexual perverts or who live as homosexuals or are kidnappers or liars or won't tell the truth in court. It is for anything else that opposes the correct teaching
of the good news that the glorious and wonderful God has given me.

This speaks to me of how changed we are when we take on Jesus righteousness--not our own, and that when we ar led by the Spirit, our hearts are purified. The "law" speaks to me of "the Bible" and it is similar to (from my perspective) how we can drive 80 miles an hour until/unless there is a speed limit posted. We have not broken the law until their is a "law" to break, and God places his "law" (the spirit) in our hearts.

Hope this helps.

[Mae]

I really like reading John, it makes me feel soooooooo---oooooooo close to Jesus! "Do we realize that obeying God's Word, the Bible, demonstrates our love for God?" ~ I absolutely realize that. It's the only way to demonstrate our love for God. Some people (who do not know God) ask me if the Bible is 'some sort of Lawbook'. I tell them that being a Christian has nothing to do with following any kinds of law, besides the regular law of course. But I don't want people to think that God created laws for His people. The way that I see and feel it, is that the Bible is the Word of God that brings me closer to Him. I don't HAVE to do this or HAVE to do that ... I'm free to do this or that. And I choose to read the Bible daily, I choose to go to Bible study every week, I choose to go to Church, I choose to pray. I'm free because He set me free and obeying to God's Word is something I CHOOSE to do.

I'm defenitly live in the light. I have my life before my rebirth and my life now visualized in light and dark. Now it all seems sunny and clear. Before my rebirth it seemed all dark and hazy. I try to love everybody and be nice to everybody and whenever it feels hard to do so, I pray to the Lord and ask him to help me. Help me to love and embrace this person in my life. It does help a lot. And again He'll set me free, I want to love and embrace somebody and I let Him do it for me, help me with it and the barriers seem smaller and I can actually see Him helping me. I never 'hated' someone, I don't like using the word 'hate'. Sometimes when characters bump with somebody I can have problems liking someone. And that's a situation I ask for help. Because I think it's important to live in the light.

[henry wallace hegland]

Oh Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the wind, Whose breath gives life to the world, Hear me!
I come to you as one of your many children.
I am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom. May I walk in beauty.
Make my eyes behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things that you have made,
And my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may know the things
That you have taught your children--
The lessons that you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
Make me strong, not to be superior to my brothers, but to be
able to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you with straight eyes, so that
When life fades as the faded sunset My spirit will come to you without shame
Chief Dan George

I'm with Dennis. I'm voting for the Bible as being the source of our morals. And I'll go one step further - I'm voting for Jesus, who is the Bible made flesh.