January 29th One Year Bible Readings

Exodus 8:1-9:35 ~ Matthew 19:13-30 ~ Psalm 24:1-10 ~ Proverbs 6:1-5
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Old Testament - Today in Exodus chapters 8 & 9 we read about many of the plagues!   I've got to say, for some reason the plague of frogs really resonated with me in today's reading.  I'm not sure why - but for some reason I could really envision frogs being everywhere...  and how disgusting this would truly be...

An interesting thing I read in a commentary today is that the plagues in some ways were direct attacks on the Egyptian "gods".  For example, the Egyptians had a god named Hopi, who was god of the Nile river.  Hopi couldn't stop the river from turning to blood. They had a cow-goddess named Hathor, who couldn't stop the livestock from dying.  They had a sun-god named Amon-Re who couldn't stop darkness from coming over the land. (in tomorrow's readings).  God's plagues were going after these false gods - and showing to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and the Hebrews too I think, who the one true living God is, was, and forever shall be.  Did you ever stop and wonder if there were masks out there that depicted the various plagues of the Exodus?  Me neither.  But they exist!  :)

Chapter 8 verses 18 & 19 stand out: "Pharaoh's magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered all the people and animals. "This is the finger of God!" the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh." The magicians tricks were beginning to fail!  They realized that God was creating the plagues with their exclamation, "This is the finger of God!"  God's name & fame was becoming known.  Have you seen or experienced the finger of God in your life?  Below is a super-sized image that will give you an idea of the grossness of the plague of gnats:

Chapter 9 verse 16 is powerful: "But I have let you live for this reason--that you might see my power and that my fame might spread throughout the earth."  In the New Testament, Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:17, which we'll view in context here from Romans 9:14-18 - "What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden."   Wow... great stuff in this Roman's verse... it does not depend on our desire or effort, but on God's mercy.  Do you believe in God's mercy?  Will you relinquish any of your own desire or efforts over to God's mercy?  As you probably have seen by now, I'm trying to cover many of the plagues in today's readings with images... so now I give you pharaoh and the flies!  :)

Exodus chapter 9 verse 20 is also powerful, as we read about some Egyptians beginning to believe in God: "Some of Pharaoh's officials believed what the LORD said. They immediately brought their livestock and servants in from the fields."  How about us today?  Do we believe what the Lord says?  Like these Egyptians in this instance, do we then also immediately do what the Lord says?  In verse 27 Pharaoh finally confesses his sin: "Then Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron. "I finally admit my fault," he confessed. "The LORD is right, and my people and I are wrong."  Though he doesn't stay repentant for long.  How about us - do we confess our sins to God - and then not stay repentant for long?  Can we instead confess our sins to God and make a complete U-turn - go completely in the other direction and not look back?  Below we have the plague of hail - and I guess that fire is from the lightning strikes.

Bible.org's commentary on the plagues of Exodus titled "The Finger of God" is at this link.

New Testament - Today in Matthew 19 we read some challenging verses about the Rich Young Man.  I have read some commentaries say that we don't need to take Jesus' words literally that each of us must sell all of our goods and give to the poor.  However, these words in context to this rich young man were indeed to be taken literally by him - and he knew it.  He wouldn't do it.  Jesus called him to do this, I think, because the young man's "stuff" was an impediment to his relationship with God.  Perhaps the young man literally valued his stuff more than God.  So - while the commentaries say that we don't have to take Jesus' teaching to this young man literally, I do think we should keep in mind that Jesus may ask of us something along these lines.  Jesus may ask us to pack up and become a missionary.  Or maybe he'll ask us to leave a high powered, high paying job, to go serve the poor in our town.  Or he may ask us to not spend our money on luxury items, but to invest in micro credit loan programs in third world countries.  So - while this may seem like Jesus was asking a lot of this rich young man, keep in mind that Jesus asks much of each of us.  And really, Jesus simply asks us to follow him.  Will you follow Jesus?  No matter the cost?  No matter what you have to "give up"?  Will you follow him?  Below is a painting by Heinrich Hoffman from the late 19th century of Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler:

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Matthew chapter 19 titled "Wealth and the Kingdom of Heaven" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 24 is a beautiful Psalm!  Check out this brief snippet of commentary on this Psalm from bible.org: "The Israelites have returned from a battle with the Canaanites. They are proceeding up to the sanctuary on the holy mount to give praise to Yahweh for the great and mighty victory in battle, carrying with them the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of Yahweh’s presence with them. As they approach the gate, they are met by the Levites who function as gatekeepers. It is their part to ask who may enter the sanctuary of the Lord; and it is the priests’ part to answer with the stipulations from the Law. Whoever meets these qualifications may enter and fellowship with Yahweh... The psalm then concludes with the worshipers calling to the gates to make way for Yahweh to come in to His sanctuary, for why should the King of Glory stoop to go under a doorway? "  This quote is from, and there is much more commentary on Psalm 24, at bible.org at this link.  (also, any Chris Tomlin fans out there will definitely recognize this Psalm - on his CD "Arriving" I think the 2nd or 3rd to last song is called "King of Glory" based on this Psalm - it's the best song on this overall fantastic CD in my humble opinion! :)

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 6 verses 1 through 5 were intriguing to me.  I guess my first thought was that getting our own selves in debt is bad enough - but then to be a guarantor for our friends debt?  Well, these verses certainly warn against doing this.  Let us avoid debt!

Worship God:  Today's readings in Psalm 24 reminded me of the Chris Tomlin & Jesse Reeves song "King of Glory." Here's a great story behind the song and the song itself too, performed live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M59h6hDG40Q

Do you know our King of Glory?  Click here for Glory!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." Matthew 19:29 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray that you will place your relationship with Jesus and spending eternity with Him about all else.

Comments from You and Questions of the Day:  Based on the Proverbs verses today about debt, does anyone have debt-relief resources, websites or books you could share with everyone in the Comments section below?  I've heard Financial Peace University is good and I hear there are some other good Christian financial management / debt relief books & seminars out there.  I'm personally not that familiar with them - well, I did run sound once at a church for a 4 hour session on one of these seminars once, and it was quite good....  it's amazing how wise it is to get out of debt and to save $.  I've often heard that it is wise to give 10% of your income and save 10% of your income with each check that comes in.  What's your reaction to this type of formula?  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

[Ramona]

Exodus 8:1-9:35

Irrational, Illogical and Unreasonable, that is the mental state of the latter Pharaoh. That is the state of someone’ mind who is in sin, in this case, deep in sin. According to the writer of Proverbs, he is a fool because a fool cannot be reasoned with or even see reason (Prov. 12:15;17:10,16;26:12).

The first time we see these three character flaws in the Pharaohs is when the order goes out to have all the male infants killed. From a business and economic point of view that is a stupid move. Egypt’s economy was based on slave labor thus the death of all the males would over time deplete your work force. Now we see the current Pharaoh, or it’s the same ole’ Pharaoh, but now he is an older fool, actually increasing his own people’s misery, the people he is suppose to be protecting. I don’t know but I hope if I had had an up close and personal relationship with a bunch of frogs, I trust that I would begin thinking about the power, or precisely the lack of power my gods, were showing and rethink my belief systems. And if asked for a timetable to get rid of said frogs, I wouldn’t say tomorrow, I would say, “Right Now! Thank you very much.”

Now regarding God hardening Pharaoh’s heart bear with me as I use an illustration. In Biblical Text, both Old and New, soil and or the ground has been used as simile for the heart of man. We find this in the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3-9,19) and in the Prophets Jeremiah (4:3) and Hosea’s (10:12) writings. God can either harden your heart, like Pharaoh, or soften your heart, like the Apostel Paul, based on the condition of the soil and the environment you allow yourself to live in.

Two people can have a garden separated only by a fence. One person constantly “works” the soil and keeps it watered, the other does not. Seeds are sown in both patches of land. When the sun (Son) comes up and it is in the heat of the day, the seeds sown on the soil that is worked will produce a crop of what has been planted, but that same sun (Son) will cause the unworked unprepared ground to harden further giving the birds a firm table to eat from.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Raeann]

The 10-10-80 rule, 10% to the church, 10% to an emergency fund and 80% to live off of each month, I know of no one who can only live OFF of 80% of there income.

[John Culp]

That picture's not a gnat. It's a mosquito. It would be bad to have zillions of those everywhere, too.

[Billy Bain]

Anyone can live off 80% of their income. The proof is, if you got a 20% reduction in income, you would not cease to live? You would adjust your lifestyle. It's not the high cost of living that defeats us, it's the cost of living high.

[Charlotte King]

You can live off of 80% of income if you trust God .He will give you aplan to get out of debt. Always paid yoursef first. As for the plagues, I thought about the plagues thats in our world today, earthquakes, floods, and etc. Is God speaking to us now?

[Chris D]

For me, the 2nd 10% was easy. That was mine and I thought it "guaranteed" the security I wasn't going to get from work. The 1st 10%--the first fruits--well I was pretty much agnostic at the time and money was my god, so that was mine, too. (And in my wallet it would stay.) It wasn't until I trusted in Jesus (in my late 40s) that I WANTED to give back to Him and I finally understood that it was only through the gifts He had given me that I was able to breathe, work, love, earn and live. So I experimented ... to see if I would miss the money, and to my surprise and excitement, I didn't. Instead, I got joy. Oh, some months are leaner than others, but we always make it. It's not the legality of the tithe, but the desire to tithe. It has given me a wonderful freedom. I pray I will never tithe because of the law, but that I will always tithe because of the heart. (One of my children taught me a great lesson on this when she tithed on a gift I gave her. My first thought was 'I've already tithed on that money. You shouldn't too.' --- Was I ever wrong.)

[Alli]

This portion of scripture stood out for me today:
Exodus 8:25-26 (King James Version)

25And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

Here we see Pharoah telling Moses and Aaron that it is not necessary to leave Egypt [type of the world] to sacrifice to God...it could be done right there in the land...This reminds me of how some people view Christianity today, they fool themselves that they can be in/of the world and still give their lives to Christ [sacrifice]...but this way of thinking I believe is an abomination to Christ.

Alli

[John A.]

bajo,

"Interestingly, God's original plan was for Moses to go it alone."

That is interesting can you elaborate on this?

[John A.]

Matthew 19:30

30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Want to see my pride rear its ugly head. I used to think this meant that if you were a late in life convert you could rank high in heaven, and if you came to Christ at an early age and screwed around with Christianity you would be in the back of the ranks.

Conveniant for me. I was a late in life convert. This is a dangerous example of looking at a verse in isolation, and seeing it through your eyes and perspective. HOWEVER I WAS DEAD WRONG.
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Verse in context.

Good Rule to follow: Always look at verses in context of what God is saying or responding to in His Word. THEN make an application.

Peter asks - 'Hey we gave up everything for you - what is our reward?'

Jesus replies - you will get this, others will get a lot to, and all will have eternal life.

Then verse 30 and an unfortunate chapter break as the next parable explains everything a lot clearer.

30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

So what is Jesus saying? Well, if you are in a race there is a winner, second, third, etc. But Jesus says that many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. Huh? How can this be.

THE ANSWER: When there is a tie. Everyone wins, Salvation is given equally. No Christian is better than another in heaven. Everyone is perfect. Will someone be more or less perfect than another? No. Everyone gets eternal life and lots of perks.

Some will have different jobs or blessings, but the idea here is no one is better than another.

Remember, Peter seemed to be angling for some goodies based on their original commitment. He will get the goodies, and others will get their goodies. But it is not because Peter is better than any other Christian in heaven, but because of God's sovereign choice and His abundant grace to us.

[John A.]

Exodus 8 and 9
Sorry there seems to be a problem with double posting??????

Plagues (cont)

I believe Mike is posting a chart tomorrow that will list each of the gods of Egypt that each plague was directed at in Egypt. If not - I will post a link.
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Hardened Heart

Yesterday I posted that there were three Hebrew Words used for english harden - "qashah, chazaq, and Kabed".

Today's readings:
Frogs - Pharaoh's heart was kabed (unresponsive/hard). This was his nature. He is playing games with God promising to let people go if frogs elimianted. He was lying. He got away with it - no reason to be responsive.

lice - Pharaoh's heart was hardened (chazaq). It grew hard from its predisposed position. Why? magicians told Pharaoh this was the finger of God (Elohim - powerful creator) of Israel, and Pharoah considering himself a god was not going to bow down to this testimony. Out of pride his heart was allowed to harden. God letting Pharaoh be Pharaoh.

Flies - Pharaoh's heart was hard/unresponsive (kabed). Why? He had agreed to let Israelites go and worship, lied and got away with it. No reason to be responsive as he figured he had gotten over on God AGAIN.

Cattle died - Pharaoh's heart was unresponsive (kabed). Maybe because this plague did not affect Egyptian's directly???? Not sure. But Pharaoh's heart did not respond.

Boils - This is the first time that it says the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. Different tense and connotation. Why? Pharaoh had been playing a con game with God. His heart was still full of self. I believe the Pharaoh experianced boils also - this seems to be the first time that Pharaoh was directly affected by a plague. God hardened his heart because he was not going to allow Pharaoh to submit under fear. Submission is accepted when one turns back to the Lord with a repentant heart. Ex 9:17 states that Pharaoh exalts himself before God's people and God and will not let them go. This was to be a thorough lesson to the world (Egypt), Satan (pharaoh symbolically), and the Israelites that no one stands up to God and wins. No one who rejects God and stands on their own rank and power wins, no one plays con games with God and wins. God would not allow Pharaoh to submit out of human emotion.

Hail - Pharaoh does an amazing thing. Pharaoh admits he sinned, he and his people are wicked, and God is righteous. Pharaoh seeing the light? Nah, it is just more of the game playing. Pharaoh has stepped up the ante saying whatever he believes it will take to get relief from hail. His heart???? Unresponsive and growing yet again hard due to his predisposed position of self and pride. He lies, gets away with it, and HE SINNED AGAIN. Pharaoh missed the mark, chose not to go down the right path. He was unresponsive because he got away with it, and hardened because that is God allowing Pharaoh to be Pharaoh.

[John A.]

Matthew: The Rich Young Man

21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Some people think this verse means everyone has to become "poor" - give all your money away - and then you can be saved, or continue in your walk down the path of Christian maturity for sanctification.

I disagree with that analysis. I believe everyone has one thing closest to their heart. One thing that can keep them from salvation. One thing that is closest to their heart that can block advancement in your Christian walk.

God is sovereign and His will will be done in salvation and conforming us into the image of Christ. God is also patient, and until we come to realize what that one thing is and release it (give it up) - perhaps He is just patiently waiting for that moment to start shaping the clay on the potter's wheel in earnest.

For the rich man that one thing close to his heart was money. If Jesus had turned and pointed to someone else it may have been power. For another drinking. For another gambling. For another lust. etc. Each person has their own favorite "want to hold onto" item. Perhaps more than one.

For me at salvation - the thing closes to my heart was independance. I was willing to admit I was a sinner, repent, accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, but I still wanted to run parts of my own life. I was willing to give God most of my life (will), but a few things I wanted to stay in control of while here on earth. It took two weeks of praying before I finally admitted to God - OK, enough. You win. My whole life is yours do with it as you will. Run my life for me. That night - I knew I was saved. There was no doubt in my mind. God gave me peace, joy, and the Holy Spirit, healed me from debilitating mental illness, and removed two of my addictions.

It did not end there. Shortly after salvation, it became clear to me, that God wanted something else I was holding onto in my heart. Privacy. I really did not like people. Would rather be left alone. God just kept putting people in my path that needed interaction. I kept refusing to interact. Got really convicted to the point that I gave up my privacy, and God has had me working with people Christians and non-Christians ever since. Actually quite enjoy it at this point.

Is something holding you back from coming to Christ? Pray about it to God, and ask Him to reveal it to you. Give it up - so you too can heave eternal life. Not happy with your Christian walk. Same advice, go to God and tell Him you really want to know. I pray that God will reveal it to you, and you will joyfully take up your Christian walk.

There is nothing we can do to earn Salvation. Nothing we can "do" to conform ourselves into the image of Christ. The point of this post though is - there may be something you need to give up.

[Raeann]

"But many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first."

[Rita Paren]

our devotion this day has been one of the many reminders for me to continue serving the Lord as a full-time missionary.:) times can be so tough but our Lord Jesus never changes!:)

Matthew 19: 29-30

"29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then."
His promises are true.let us continue to cling onto His promises and perfect plan in our lives. indeed, He is the King of Glory.the One whom we should serve and give glory for who He is in our lives!

[Joyce]

The King of Glory psalm is also the text to part of Handel's Messiah. I have sung the Messiah, so I have this memorized. :-)