June 29th One Year Bible Readings

2 Kings 15:1-16:20 ~ Acts 19:13-41 ~ Psalm 147:1-20 ~ Proverbs 18:4-5
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Old Testament - In 2 Kings 15 today we read about several kings in very short order!  The thing that amazed me was that things were obviously going from bad to worse in the northern kingdom of Israel with the kings, whereas things appeared a bit more stable in Judah (for this chapter...).  2 Kings 15 opens up with Uzziah reigning in Judah for 52 years - whereas Israel I think has 6 or so kings during Uzziah's reign, most of whom are assassinated!  We will see how this all plays out over the next couple of days in our 2 Kings readings.  There are definitely some ramifications coming for Israel based on how things are going down in these days.  Verses 13 & 14 today really showed how tough it was to be king in Israel in these days - "Shallum reigned in Samaria only one month. Then Menahem son of Gadi went to Samaria from Tirzah and assassinated him, and he became the next king."  Reading about Shallum only reigning one month reminds me of how the hearts of men and women are sometimes - that very thing in our world which we seek so strongly, sometimes can be our very downfall.  I have no doubt that Shallum wanted to be king very badly - he assassinated King Zechariah in public in verse 10!  And yet, becoming king for Shallum did not give him control over all things - he himself was killed just 1 month into his reign.  This all makes me think about us today - is there anything in this world that we are striving after that may not be all that it's cracked up to be?  Might we risk "gaining the whole world, but losing our soul" in some of our pursuits?  Is there anything in this world today that you are pursuing that you are putting above your relationship with God?  If so, will you let it go?  Will you focus primarily on your relationship with God first and foremost?  Will you follow the truths of Matthew 6:33 - "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  Let us not be greedy in this short and precious life!

In 2 Kings 16 today King Ahaz of Judah messes up big time...  Whaddya think about his idea to remove the bronze altar from the Temple and install an altar that was designed in Damascus?  Think God will be happy about this?  Essentially King Ahaz swapped his security in God to placing his security in King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria and his pagan gods.  Stay tuned to upcoming readings...  Again - I come back to our lives today.  Are we ever similar to King Ahaz in doing something in our lives that we know is not pleasing to God?  Do we know what is right and what is wrong and sometimes choose what is wrong?  Why do we do this?  Can we stop doing this?  If so, how?  Might it help us to stop doing wrong things if the #1 priority in our lives today were God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?  What is the #1 priority in your life today?

New Testament - Wow - strong readings today in Acts 19 verses 13 to 16 about the power of Jesus' name - and how to incorrectly try to "use" his name too - "A team of Jews who were traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus. The incantation they used was this: "I command you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!" Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But when they tried it on a man possessed by an evil spirit, the spirit replied, "I know Jesus, and I know Paul. But who are you?" And he leaped on them and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and badly injured."  Jesus' name is the name above all other names - but we should never try to "use" Jesus' name as an incantation or spell.  We can call upon Jesus believing that he and his power will be there with us.  But we should not call upon Jesus' name as if His name was "magic" in some way.  It is holy.  It is not magic. When is the last time you called on Jesus' name? How has calling on the holy name of Jesus ever changed a situation in your life?

Sad stuff that Demetrius stirs up the Ephesians against Paul for one primary reason - his pocketbook.  Paul's preaching of the one true living God was cutting into D's profits of handmade gods.  And so D called on patriotism and loyalty to Artemis to go against Paul's truthful teaching.   I wonder if we in our lives today ever choose our finances over God?  Have you ever chosen finances over God? How does this play into your giving/tithing?  An interesting note from today's readings is that the temple of Artemis in Ephesus was one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World".  Jesus obviously is the One wonder of the entire world - ever ancient, ever new.  But fyi the temple of Artemis may have looked something like the first image below, and then the second image is modern day ruins of the Artemis temple that we read about in today's Acts readings:

I just found a good image too for the amphitheater ruins from today's readings in Acts  where things got a bit out of hand with the crowd, until the mayor simmered things down:

Bible.org's commentary on today's Acts readings titled "The Evangelization of Ephesus" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 147 was thought to have been written for Levitical singers on the happy occasion of the dedication of the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem - see Nehemiah 12:27-43.  Psalm 147 was divided into two Psalms - verses 1 through 11 and 12 through 20 - in the Septuagint, the pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament.  However, the Hebrew text has the Psalm as one whole Psalm.  Verses 10 and 11 are an incredible middle point of this Psalm that stood out to me today: "The strength of a horse does not impress him; how puny in his sight is the strength of a man. Rather, the LORD's delight is in those who honor him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love." These verses remind me that God really is not impressed with our shows of "strength" or "independence."  God is much more impressed when we are dependent on Him.  Are you honoring the Lord with your life today?  Do you put his hope in his unfailing love?  Or do you rely on your own strength?

Today in Psalm 147 I liked verse 15 a lot: "how swiftly his word flies!"  Indeed, it is true!  I pray God's Word, the Bible, is flying swiftly (and powerfully!) in your life this year!

Proverbs - I love Proverbs 18 verse 4 - "A person's words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook."  Have you ever received words of life-giving water from someone?  Have you ever given words of life-giving water to someone?  I love the analogy of true words of wisdom being as refreshing as a bubbling brook!  So true!

YouTube: Today's Psalm reminds me of the MercyMe song "How Great is Your Love:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Giwd-i4QNk

Do you know how great God's love is for you?  Click here to find out!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." Psalm 147:11 TNIV

Prayer Point: Pray that you have a healthy fear of the LORD today, and forevermore. Pray that you are putting your hope in the LORD's unfailing love above anything else this world might offer.

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]

II Kings 15-16:20

So many kings so little time to know them all. The history of Israel’s kings and its people can be summed up in Proverbs 28:2

2 When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers,
but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.

I’ve heard it stated that one must always find out how an organization or entity began because the threads of the motivation that gave it birth will always be woven through out it’s existence. Israel’s was birthed out of rebellion, Jeroboam took ten of the tribes out from under the rule of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, and she continued in that rebellion throughout her existence with her kings as drum majors. If I compared my life to Israel how many kings have I allowed myself to follow, few or many. As a Christian my only king should be Jesus any other ruler brings chaos and strife, and many regime changes.

I find it interesting that nothing is really said abut King Uzziah, who reigned for fifty-two years, in this book. His place in this volume seems to be used as a time line to contrast his reign with the multiple numbers of kings Israel had which was five to one.

The other thing I noticed when Judah’s kings are introduced, at least the good ones, it states that what they did was pleasing to the Lord and then that “But” word enters the picture.

15 4But he did not destroy the pagan shrines, where the people offered sacrifices and burned incense

Is this representing the toleration of sin and its ultimate effect? Had they become so comfortable with deviant life style choices apostasy was accepted? If you play with sin it will play with you. Maybe at first it looks cute because it is small like a little baby lion. Then it grows up and eats you out of house and home, and then eventually it eats you: Dinner anyone?

Acts 19:13-41

I’ve always chuckled when reading about the seven sons of Sceva and their encounter with the evil spirit. Thier method must have worked for a while because if this incident happened when they first began their pseudo ministry, it would have been their last missionary trip. I wonder what tipped off the spirit that these guys were not entitled to use the name of Jesus. How can I apply this to what is going on today with false preachers, AKA, “Jack-leg preachers” and ministries?

Both the sons of Sceva and Demetrius share the same problem, love of money. The seven boys were probably collecting for their efforts and Demetrius was concerned that folks turning to Jesus would substantially decrease his revenue stream.

I’m wondering if we may be giving Demetrius too much credit for starting the riot. Yes, he may have used words to incite the crowds but if the crowd wasn’t receptive to his words and the emotions that are fed by manipulation, there would not have been a riot. The mob allowed themselves to be incited. God gave each person something called free will. We chose to allow ourselves to be carried along by emotional appeals or to allow our brains to critically think over situations we may find ourselves in and make choices based on truth and principles. Life is all about choices.

Psalm 147:1-20

5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!
His understanding is beyond comprehension!

I need to remember this verse every time I cry out to God, “Lord you just don’t know what I’m going through!” Not only does He know what I’m going through His understanding about my situations is far and away higher than my perceptive insight if I have any.

Proverbs 18:4-5

One of the stronger themes that run through this wonderful book is the power of words: The words we speak to ourselves, the words we speak to others, and the words spoken to us by others. In fact, in order to favor the guilty or to condemn the innocent, words must be spoken over and into the lives of people.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Raeann]

How DOES it feel to be HALFWAY through the Bible?

[John Culp]

The seven sons of Sceva are an example of taking the Lord's name in vain. They were using the name of Jesus as a magic word, a spell that would cast out the demons, when they were not believers in or followers of Jesus. They took it and used it in vain.

Too often Christians assume that taking the Lord's name in vain means to simply say the all too familiar curse phrase "God damn." That certainly often is a casual, disrespectful use of God's name, and its use in that way is not to be encouraged. But the Bible is also full of examples of Godly people asking God to condemn the wicked and punish them, which is what that phrase really means.

There are a lot of examples I could come up with of using the Lord's name in vain, but to cut right to the point, the worst is to claim to belong to Christ when you don't follow Him. In the King James translation, Exodus 20:7 says "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." There have been many, and surely will be many more, who "take" the name of Jesus for their own advantage, who have not allowed Him to take over in their lives and have not tried to follow Him and do His will. They have "taken his name in vain," and will not be held guiltless, that is saved, by their false profession. Of them Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 (back to the NIV) 21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

And Paul warned Timothy in 2Timothy 3:1-5 1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Having a form of godliness but denying its power is taking the Lord's name in vain. Appearing to be a godly, churchgoing, upright person, but not sincerely worshipping God and seeking to do His will. The third commandment in Exodus 20:7 warns that such people will not be forgiven. Jesus warns in Matthew 7:23 that He will drive them away from His presence. Paul warns us (through Timothy) to stay away from them so we don't fall into their hypocritical ways.

We need to be very careful to keep God in first place in our hearts and in our lives so that we never need to worry whether we've "taken the Lord's name in vain." In the words of 2 Peter 1:10-11, 10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[Colleem Grace]

Psalm 147:4, 5–
“He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!”
Isaiah 40:26 - Lift your eyes and look into the heavens: Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not a single one of them is missing.

For man, the number of the stars is absolutely beyond our capability. But every one of those stars God has not only counted, but He is very familiar with them; He has a name for each! Should this surprise us? After all He created each and every one of them! "His understanding IS INFINITE"

If you go out on a very dark night, away from the city lights, look up at the stars; I must remind myself that the same God that put those stars in place also made me. I praise Him for His mighty power! Praise the Lord! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting! It is an encouragement to me to think about God’s power and care in creating the universe; every detail mattered to Him in His design….from the number of the stars in the sky to the hairs on my head. I am also deeply encouraged today as I remember that just as my God can knows each star by name, He knows my name and He cares deeply for me. Sing out your thanks to the Lord; sing praises to our God.