May 11th One Year Bible Readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
1 Samuel 10:1-11:15 ~ John 6:43-71
Psalm 107:1-43 ~ Proverbs 15:1-3

Old Testament - Okay - I have a temporary new favorite verse in the Bible!  Today in First Samuel chapter 10 verse 22 when they were about to name Saul king, but they couldn't find him: "So they asked the LORD, "Where is he?" And the LORD replied, "He is hiding among the baggage.""  That is awesome!  I really appreciate the fact that Saul was hiding among the baggage.  :)  I think that's where I would be too.  I hope I would be in any case.  I think it's a bit scary when someone is too lustful for power.  Better to have your future king hiding in the baggage...  :)

   

(sorry, couldn't resist this photo... :)  I suppose this image below would be more appropriate for Saul being named king as we read in verse 24: "Then Samuel said to all the people, "This is the man the LORD has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is his equal!" And all the people shouted, "Long live the king!"

In First Samuel chapter 11 we see Saul really step into his role as king by defending the city of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites attack.  Verse 2 was sad to consider when the Ammonite king said this to the citizens of Jabesh-gilead - ""All right," Nahash said, "but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!""  Gouging out the right eye would be done for humiliation purposes - but also to destroy the military ability of the archers.  After this point, Saul gets word back in his hometown that Jabesh-gilead is under attack.  Below is a powerful painting by the artist James Tissot from the year 1896 of verses 6 & 7: "Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. 7 He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent the messengers to carry them throughout Israel with this message: “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who refuses to follow Saul and Samuel into battle!”"

I was impressed with Saul's graciousness in verses 12 & 13 of this chapter: "Then the people exclaimed to Samuel, "Now where are those men who said Saul shouldn't rule over us? Bring them here, and we will kill them!" But Saul replied, "No one will be executed today, for today the LORD has rescued Israel!"  Impressive.  You could see where after defeating the Ammonites, Israel's adrenaline might be running high to go after dissenters.  Saul put a stop to it, which was impressive.  What about us today?  When we are riding high on a victory of some sort and the group around us says we should forge ahead on something that does not seem right, can we stand up and say "No" to the group as Saul did on this day?

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in 1 Samuel titled "The Making of Israel's First King" is at this link.

New Testament - Okay, so John chapter 6 verses 53 through 58 are some verses that get interpreted several different ways - some saying these verses speak of the Lord's Supper / Communion and some saying they speak only of faith in Jesus because the Lord's Supper had not yet been instituted by Jesus at this time.  I think the key for us to focus on is that Jesus is our nourishment - our literal spiritual food if we have faith in him. It is interesting to note that many disciples turned away from Jesus after this teaching.  I love Peter's reply to Jesus in verses 68 & 69 after Jesus asks if the Twelve will leave too - "Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life. We believe them, and we know you are the Holy One of God.""  True words indeed Peter.  True words indeed.  If not Jesus, to whom would you go?  Does anyone else have the words that give eternal life?

Bible.org's commentary on John chapter 6 today titled "The Bread of Life" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 107 today is a wonderful Psalm of thanksgiving!  Okay, be honest, who started busting out singing the Michael W. Smith worship tune "Forever" when you read verse 1? - "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever."  I did!  That's a great tune... based on a great verse in a great Psalm.  Listen to a short portion of the tune "Forever" for free at this link here - song #1 at this link.  Sing it y'all! 

Psalm 107 repeats a verse four times - starting with verse 6 here - ""LORD, help!" they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress."  (then see verse 13, verse 19, and verse 28 - same verse) This is a great reminder to pray - and yes, it's great to pray during times of distress of course.  But, how about praying during times of happiness & joy?  Or even times of just regular blahs?  I recently read much of the book "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg (great book!), and it has a great chapter on prayer.  It is so true that one of the best ways to truly know and love God is through prayer.  Simple prayer.   5 minutes a day.  Do you pray to God 5 minutes a day?  When the storms of life come, do you cry out for help to Jesus?  Do you know that he will always be there for you in the midst of the storm?

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 15 verse 1 is so so so very true... we would all do well to practice this every day - "A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare."  How beautifully true & wise this is?  Let us be gentle people...

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  If someone were to describe you, would they describe you as a "gentle" person?  Would you want to be described as a gentle person?  Should we be gentle all of the time?  Was Jesus gentle all of the time?  Was Jesus gentle most of the time?  To whom or in what circumstances was Jesus not gentle?  Should we follow Jesus in this regard?  Also, 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

[R]

1 Samuel 10:1-11:15

I am a person that goes to the core of things, the cause—the effects are just grass to be mowed down and managed, but the core is the key to the problem. No one just rolls out of bed one morning and commits a heinous act. Character flaws are clearly seen if one looks; but the root, the causal seed takes study. For me it is important to do self-study, if I make a misstep, a sin, I need to not just look at the sin but look at why I did what I did. What is it I believe about myself, about God about the problems I face and faced to take the action I took? Those are the types of questions I ask.

Jesus said,

The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45 AMP)

We speak in three ways, our words, sprit and our gestures (body language) and what I do and what I say, when lined up, make a powerful testimony of what I truly believe about myself, about God and about those around me. What does Saul really believe about himself, what does he believe about God and about the people who he will be serving as king; or is Saul thinking the people should be serving Him.

Maybe because I’m looking at the entire picture of Saul’s life, I am now looking at him in his entirety. He began with a BANG but ended with a whimper. The things that led to that whimper are in his character right now in these verses, in these chapters. I want to study them so I can take heed of what the Apostle Paul wrote in the tenth chapter of I Corinthians,

But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. (1 Corinthians 10:5-6 NET.)

The Children of Israel are not the only ones who had a wilderness to go through. Everyone who comes to Christ has their own desert to cross, their own tests to take; what can I learn from Saul to help take me to the next level?

[A]

There was a time when Israel rejected God and replaced Him with man made gods,when the time for war came,God said"let your gods save you".Now we see God again being rejected yet this time,he gives Israel what they ask for...a king.To them,he looked the part...Handsome,tall and his father was a man of valour.Compared to Jesus who is said to have had nothing majestic about him...nothing to attract...came from the home of a poor carpenter.True,the things that are seen are temporal.Today we don't hear about Saul but we sing about Jesus...and we hear about David.Guess it would be good to see why as we read on.I wonder sometimes why God this time didn't get angry at Israel's rejection but shows love and protection.True His thoughts and ways are beyond our comprehesion(unless he chooses to reveal it to us).It is good to seek the will of God because even if we do get what we want,in the end we realise it wasn't worth it.
The link Mike provided showed something about Saul I never thought about...1)it was his servant not Saul who had the idea to seek out Samuel..2)Saul after being appointed in front of Israel,went back home to continue farming...
My conclusions...Saul didn't really have seeking God on his agenda...well that could have repercursions right?
God bless you all

[Romayne]

Psalm 107:
23They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

24These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

25For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

26They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

27They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.

28Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

29He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

30Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

For me this is yet another of David's prophetic points where he reveals the very Lordship of Jesus to us long before He walked on water and stilled the storms of the disciples - this for me is such an awesome revelation of Jesus' power in advance - yet even with presumably knowledge of this Psalm, the disciples still weren't overly convinced even after Jesus did indeed calm the storm. But as Mike also pointed out, we shouldn't wait until our own storms to praise Him for what He can do, but rather continue to praise Him for what He has already or is continuing to do in our lives. Storms are but a test of how well we've listened to what He's taught us thus far, and how much have we understood about His revelation to us of Who He is! There's a wealth of difference in knowing about Him to actually knowing Him personally. And sometimes He will use some pretty major storms in our lives to keep reminding us of that fact, and to push us into sticking closer to Him than ever. Blessings, Romayne

[JD]

Reading Psalm 107 I was struck by the phrase, "his love endures forever." The word endure stood out so I looked it up in a dictionary. The definition is, to carry on despite hardships, to bear with tolerance, to suffer patiently without yielding. How luck I am that God loves me, "his love endures forever." When I make it hard for him to love me, he is tolerant and he loves me with all his patience and without yielding. WOW.

[Pam]

Jesus was not gentle when it came to making God's temple into a den of thieves. He overturned their tables and chased the livestock and vendors out of the Lord's house of prayer.

I need to keep the proverb in mind all the time.. a gentle answer turns away wrath.. I have times when my mouth runs away with me at full volumn only for me to regret my foolishness. Thank God for being patient with me.

Love y'all
PAM

[Mae]

It is so true that one of the best ways to truly know and love God is through prayer. Simple prayer. 5 minutes a day. Do you pray to God 5 minutes a day? When the storms of life come, do you cry out for help to Jesus? Do you know that he will always be there for you in the midst of the storm? ~ It is defenitly true that one of the besst ways to truly know and love God is through prayers. It makes me feel so close to God when I pray. When I talk to Him, ask Him things, praise Him, talk in tongues to Him. I'm still in a learning process to pray good. I have my prayers in the morning at home, I'm trying to get my schedule like that so I can join prayermeetings in the morning at church. In the morning I pray about 15 minutes, in the afternoon 30 minutes up till 45 minutes and in the evening 15 minutes again. That's what I do on a regular daily basis. Of course I have my quiet-times with God when I have specific things. Storms of life or just to thank Him for saving my life. I do believe that He is always there, no matter what.

If someone were to describe you, would they describe you as a "gentle" person? Would you want to be described as a gentle person? ~ Hmmm ... they probably would not describe me as a gentle person. I know I'm not gentle. I'm kind and have a big heart, but I don't think that's to describe as gentle. Jesus wasn't gentle all the time, He could be hard to the people that needed someone to stand up to them. Jesus was always right and had reasons to be hard to some people. He wasn't hard to punish people, but to open their eyes. He was never unreasonable.

I think we always have to follow Jesus in what He did and what He does. Jesus is how we are suppose to be.

[Jenny]

Some passages that stood out:
1 Sam 10:6-7 "and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you."

Saul hiding among the baggage was very humorous!

John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him."

Ps. 107:1 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (I'm singing it!)

Prov. 15:1 "1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." --This for sure have I found to be true!!