June 23rd One Year Bible Readings

2 Kings 4:18-5:27 ~ Acts 15:1-35 ~ Psalm 141:1-10 ~ Proverbs 17:23
~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~
~ Listen to today's Scripture on OneYearAudioBible.org or DailyAudioBible.com (podcast) ~

Old Testament - Interesting readings in 2 Kings 4 about the Shumanite woman, her son and the prophet Elisha today!  You'll note that in verse 20 her son dies, and in verse 21 she places her son on Elisha's bed - in part so that no one will know that her son died.  As she gets to verse 22-24 she is saddling up on a donkey to go straight to Elisha without anyone in her family knowing her son had died!  Below is a painting by Rembrandt from 1640 titled "The Departure of the Shumanite Woman":

As the Shumanite woman nears Mount Carmel Gehazi, Elisha's servant, comes out to greet her and still she won't even tell him that her son has died!  She says everything is fine.  She wants to deliver the news first and directly to Elisha!  I like this woman's focused faith.  She knew that Elisha delivered the Word that she would have a son in previous day's readings, and now that her son had died, I think she had faith that Elisha, being a prophet in relationship with God, would be able to revive her son.  Do you have a focused faith like this when it comes to your relationship with God and Jesus?  Do you always take your problems directly to the One who can truly revive you?  Below is an image of Elisha and the Shumanite woman by artist C.F. Vos:

Did anyone else notice that at the end of chapter 4 today Elisha busted out with a miracle that seemed to foreshadow Jesus' loaves and fishes miracles??  Very cool to consider the parallels between Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 and Elisha feeding 100 here in chapter 4 verses 42-44: "One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, "Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat." "What?" his servant exclaimed. "Feed one hundred people with only this?" But Elisha repeated, "Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat, for the LORD says there will be plenty for all. There will even be some left over!" And sure enough, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised." (That's Jesus below, not Elisha :)

In chapter 5 we get to the story of the healing of Naaman.  I found it very interesting that Naaman needed to humble himself and wash up in the waters of the lowly river Jordan!  Know anyone else that did some "washing up" in the river Jordan??  :)  Maybe all of us somehow need to humble ourselves and symbolically be washed up in the river Jordan to receive true healing?  Below is a portrait by artist Guy Rowe of the prophet Elisha with Naaman washing in the river Jordan:

Bible.org's commentary on today's Second Kings readings titled "The Shunammite's Son Resurrected" is at this link, "Death in the Pot" is at this link, "The Miracle of the Bread" is at this link, "The Healing of Namaan" is at this link, and "The Sin of Covetousness" is at this link.

New Testament - Peter's teaching at The Council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 verse 11 is one of the most important verses that all of us should really meditate upon and know and believe: "We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the special favor of the Lord Jesus." Do you believe Peter here?  Do you believe this to be true?  Does this simple message of this little button below ring true to you?

Bible.org's commentary on today's Acts readings titled "The Jerusalem Council: The Gospel Defined and Defended" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 141 is a beautiful prayer of David's - praying for deliverance from the wicked and their ways.  Verse 4 is powerful - "Don't let me lust for evil things; don't let me participate in acts of wickedness. Don't let me share in the delicacies of those who do evil." Is this a prayer you could incorporate into your prayer life?   What might be some examples of "delicacies of those who do evil"?  Will you pray to God to avoid these "delicacies" and "treasures" that will ultimately fail you?

Proverbs - Proverbs 17:23 today teaches us: "The wicked accept secret bribes to pervert justice." This should be a reminder to each of us to never accept bribes!  Bribes always pervert justice...

YouTube: Today's readings in Acts remind me of MercyMe's song "You Reign:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-bxXEqGFqg

Do you know the One who reigns?  Click here to meet the King! 

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat of their delicacies." Psalm 141:4 TNIV

Prayer Point: Pray that your heart is not drawn to what is evil. Pray that you take no part in wicked deeds. Pray that you do not eat the delicacies of evildoers.

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]

2 Kings 4:18-5:27

I’ve always loved the story of Naaman for two reasons, the first reminds me of why it is important to keep a humble spirit no matter how high and mighty we get, and the second shows me that people who are honest and truthful see and hear the news about God and change their direction.

Naaman couldn’t understand why the prophet didn’t come out of his house to meet him and then became thoroughly offended when a “servant” gave him the message to go wash in the dirty Jordan river. Anger and being incredulous will not stop God from working in ones life if a teachable spirit is within. If Naaman’s men found him unapproachable and beyond reasoning, they would not have been able to encourage him to go do what the prophet told him to do. If Naaman had had a strong sense of “entitlement”, he would never have listened to the “lowly” servant girl and gone to Samaria. To be able to lay aside preconceived notions and to admit, even if only to oneself, there can be some solution to a problem other than the one already thought out means pride has to be set aside.

Too often, we look up to our church’s leadership instead of looking to God. Naaman went looking for an appointment with a prophet and failed to get one, what he did get was an appointment with God. I wonder how many of us miss God because we become offended when the preacher/pastor/priests doesn’t do what we expected him to do or say so we throw out the instructions because the “preacher/pastor/priests didn’t grant a personal meeting and wave his hands all around.

Acts 15:1-35

The verse that has captured my imagination is verse two,

2 Paul and Barnabas, disagreeing with them, argued forcefully and at length.

It is O.K. to disagree on matters. If we are willing to listen to what others have to say, disagreements cause us to think about what we really believe and help us to hone our reasoning skills. Yet some would call that rebellion. Truth will always stand firm no matter what is thrown it’s way. If we are willing to honestly debate an issue and are open to change if we are wrong, arguing forcefully, like Paul and Barnabas, will always yield serendipitous results for all parties in the debate. To take advantage of the find we just have to stop wearing our feelings on our fingertips and put them aside ‘cause how we feel about something and what is truth, more than likely is not synonymous.

Psalm 141:1-10

I wonder if David wrote this Psalm when he had a strong desire to take vengeance on his enemies, specifically when Saul was chasing him. When reading this for today’s reading I got a deep sense of desperation. David would not strike back at Saul because he said Saul was the Lord’s anointed. Although Saul was trying to kill him, David made no offensive attacks to strike back.

Because David was always on the run, he was unable to go to a formal worship service in the Tabernacle.

2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

When someone is attacking you for no reason, our nature is to “bad mouth” them, “talk them down,” but David writes,

3 Take control of what I say, O LORD,
and keep my lips sealed.

No matter what was being said about him or done to him, David seems to say I won’t do to him what he is doing to me, assassinating my character. When I am wronged, I have to fight a sense of entitlement that says I have the right to pay them back. I want to pay back evil for evil and it is a struggle that I don’t always overcome. In order to pay back evil for evil, I believe we take on the character of the currency we use, malevolence

4 Don't let me lust for evil things;
don't let me participate in acts of wickedness. Don't let me share in the delicacies
of those who do evil.

When we set our hearts to give “pay back,” unless someone stops us we go headlong to our destruction.

5 Let the godly strike me!
It will be a kindness! If they reprove me, it is soothing medicine.
Don't let me refuse it. But I am in constant prayer
against the wicked and their deeds.

David goes on to finish this Psalm by saying with a certainty, those who are pursuing him to destroy him will be themselves destroyed because their actions set traps that ensnare them.

Proverbs 17:23

I grew up with secrets, people keeping many secrets, and I will not participate in things done “under cover.” If you’ve got a secret, don’t tell me. Keeping secrets takes too much work and it tires you out trying to keep everything undercover. Eventually the cover will be blown off and what would have been a tiny little scandal if confessed when the incident first happened because a “Perpetrator” (Perp-walk) on the evening news for the world to see. Transparency is the only way to be.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Raeann]

GOD'S HOUSE
Arrive at church at eight
Say hello to everyone as I walk towards the Sanctuary
The Pastor gives the weekly announcements
Greet everyone in the pews
Sing hymns and listen to the chior
Pastor gives a sermon
Say the Lords Prayer
Pastor says the Benediction
Leave the Sanctuary
Say hello to the pastor at the door

Get cookies in Fellowship Hall
Go back to the Sanctuary to pass out programs
Say hello to people as they walk past the Sanctuary doors
Pass out programs as people enter the Sanctuary
Close the Sanctuary doors when the Praise team begins to sing

Walk through the church towards the nursury
Stop in Fellowship hall to get cookies for the nursery
Say hello to Merredith and Beth
Play games with Austin and Nathan
Play with McDonald food
Play with horses in barn
Pick up cars, toys and dolls fifty times LOL

Austin and Nathan's moms arrive to take them home
Talk with them for a few minutes
Everything is going good with both of them
Everyone leaves the nursery

Now it is time to start picking up and organizing the toys on the shelves
Once that is all completed
I can sit and read my Bible for the rest of the time in the nursery
Leave church at half past eleven
An active morning in GOD'S HOUSE