My Journey Through The Bible

Deuteronomy 7 – 9

Verse 7:9 talks about the covenant with Israel:

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

I read this and wonder if this is limited to a thousand generations and when that will happen. For your peace of mind it’s been about 4030 years since Moses wrote this and considering a generation today is approximately 25 years, we are only 161 generations since this writing. Even if we defined it by 10 years we are just over 400 generations, so we will not see it happen in our lives. Or this was to tell the people that they are safe and can comfort in being under God’s love.

Verse 8:3 caught my eye because of the last part:

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Notice those were the same words Jesus said to Satan when tempted in the wilderness. I have to wonder about Jesus’ early life and if He was in the scriptures all the time or if He had God in his ear or since He was God He knew the scriptures. Either way we need to understand the energy within us and that the body needs the bread, but our souls need the Word of God. We eat to maintain our bodies; we study to maintain our souls.

Verse 8:5 brings me comfort:

Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.

Sometimes we think of God as a unyielding tyrant ready to spank us for any infraction. We look at how some of the stories seem to be minor “infractions” of the Law which result in extreme punishment. I think what God is teaching us is that no matter if its murder or a “little white lie,” both are equal in His eyes. At the same time one has to wonder if that statement is true since the penalty for most “major” infractions is death, where minor ones can be covered by a sacrifice. What do you think?

Verse 9:5 ensures that they understand this favor is not because of their “righteousness”:

Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob

That is a KEY POINT we need to understand, we are saved by grace and not by what we do. We need to understand God’s standard of “righteous” is unobtainable. No matter what we do will not change our relationship with God other than maybe rejecting His salvation. In that instance it could be lost, based on what I have read in the Bible over the years. I think the key to works is we do them to please God and not to earn “salvation points”. We do them because we want to help others, we want to do what is right and we want to show God’s love to the world!

1 Peter 4 – 5

Verse 4:2 opens with a difficult charge:

so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

This is a very easy very to endorse, but is difficult to live by unless you remain closely connected to Christ. Some of the most influential and dominant figures today have been publically humiliated through scandals from drifts away from their faith. It’s not hard and can snowball very easily. People think of the devil sitting around every corner ready to snare us in a trap, which may very well be, but more often than not it’s just our “natural instincts” that get us in trouble. It is either that or just not thinking and “going with the moment” that will have us getting trapped.

Christianity is so different than what is considered normal that it requires constant attention. Our “natural” selves look to help ourselves and continuing our family, but to live the life Christ has in mind for us is not always easy. Now the atheists and pagans I know will argue the attributes of Christ are not lived by the church or the people and there are more compassionate people who do not believe. They point to a long history of hypocrisy in the church to discredit the church and following Christ.

History tends to over emphasize the bad parts and forget the overall purpose. Salem Witch Hunts, the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition are events that get thrown in our faces as low points in the church and why there is not a need. We don’t consider that the Witch Hunts or the Inquisition could have been addressing real threats and just got out of control. We don’t consider the Crusades were overwhelmingly a defensive action against a Muslim Caliphate. Either way we need to work hard to follow this one verse and should make that a focus in our lives so we avoid being tagged a hypocrite.

Verse 4:8 is another poignant verse:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Unfortunately that was what caused the social revolution of the 60’s to get out of control. They took the written meaning of “agape” and applied it to “eros” during the sexual revolution. They infiltrated the minds of Christians with the idea love was what God wanted and therefore if we could not “love the one we want, love the one we’re with.” (Steven Stills, 1970) In this case I do believe Satan twisted the meaning of agape love and eros love into a carnal lusting, where the “love” was for “getting off” and not serving the other person.

They key here is learn the true intended meanings of verses like this, otherwise it can be twisted into God says “it’s ok to have sex when we want, since I love sex.” Agape love is a deeper sense of commitment there eros which is more of a physical attraction. We would never mean eros when saying we love our parents. But that is how the words get twisted and on needs to do “due diligence” in reading the scriptures. Hence why I press to read your Bibles, use the “instant theologian”, Google, for looking up key words. I searched “1 Peter 4:8 in Greek” to find out it was agape love they were talking about. The key is when studying don’t let emails, Facebook and Twitter distract you!!

I will post verse 5:5 without much comment since it’s important to take in:

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Agape love for others put them above your own needs, desires and wants. THAT is what is different about Christians over non-believers. Where allowing the government to tax us and “feed the poor” is compassionate, a Christian should really remove his cloak and give it to the person in need. Christianity needs that personal involvement to show those that following Christ is different and is something they want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXTJ0SFNovE

Acts 15 – 16

Verses 15:8 & 9 have the Jews debating on how the Gentiles should follow the Law:

8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

I still have this question some 2000 years later, how much of the Law applies to us who came to Christ without being Jews. Most churches teach the Ten Commandments and the tithe, but beyond that we tend to dismiss the Law. It’s full of sacrifices and blood which Jesus fulfilled, and eating rules that are not valid today with refrigeration. If you dig into the Law you will notice much of our “secular” legal system is modeled after the Law. You know those court that are not allowed to display the Ten Commandments are based largely on the Hebraic Law.

Verse 15:20 confirms the common believe we should ignore the Law:

but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

Now I do believe we are not bound by the Law, but it doesn’t hurt following it a little closer than what today’s church says. The Law is not a bunch of sins which will result in a separation between God and man, but rather a set of guides that are there to ensure we live a full life with God. The food laws are ones that a dismissed because of Peter’s earlier vision, but many contend these are the best foods for our bodies. I can say I had ham for the first time in months and what came out of my body was repulsive. I’m not saying I follow the food laws perfectly, but avoid shellfish, fish without scales and pork. Those are simple and seem to work, also we try to buy from the outsides and avoid processed foods.

I’m still over weight and have difficulty with sweets, but am working on that. Being in the south I have always found it ironic that pork BBQ is the “staple” for church dinners. But verses like this are clear that it’s not my problem, it’s not a sin and I will enjoy the fellowship and eat alongside them, just not much. Again the Law is our guide for the “full life” that Jesus promised us and not a list of sins. I often wonder if that has always been the intention of God, but the leader misinterpreted much of the Law as rules and not guides.

Verse 16:18 is an interesting story since it had Paul and Silas jailed:

And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

First this slave girl had a spirit of “divination” which were making her masters money. Paul had her mocking him for quite some time and out of pure frustration he calls out his spirit. Well her masters got mad since their gravy train was worthless. This is like having a friend who can pick stocks with 100% accuracy or lottery number. If that “gift” was gone you would be upset, since a lifestyle revolves around this easy money. So off to jail for Paul and Silas, where God frees them but they do not leave. In the process they are able to bring the jailer to salvation.

We have to remember that the money is not the key, but rather the heart!

Zechariah 1 – 7

Verse 1:16 opens with God returning to the people:

Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.

First this implies that He actually went somewhere, which is impossible. Now He may not have revealed himself to the people of Israel during a period of time, but by His nature He is always around. His outrage this time appears to be directed more at the people who have invaded their land and less at them. Either way, it’s time to rebuild the temple.

Some historical references are necessary since many of the events seem similar to the chapter before, Haggai. Haggai was used to get things started while Zechariah was used to keep things going. Where Haggai just kicked some butt and moved on, Zechariah needed to keep the people motivated. I say this because you will notice the same cast of characters in this story including Zerubbabel. I tend to focus on this king since I heard a television sermon, years ago, about Zerubbabel rebuilding the temple. When I followed up in scripture I could not find the wording used in the lesion and still have not to this day (three versions, hoping ESV is close).

I focus on it since the preacher made a great point, but he appears to have modified the scriptures to fit his message. It was disconcerting to know a man who is followed by so many had to do that. So I search for Zerubbabel saying “rebuild again” in the scriptures. Ironically I have no idea what the sermon was about anymore, it’s been so long, just the scripture.

Verse 2:11 is part of the first vision Zechariah had:

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

Read Zechariah with two filters on, one looking at the historical period and how he was focusing on the present. The other is looking at the future and creating the temple for the Messiah. The more you read, the more you understand why the Pharisees had the image of Jesus being a mighty warrior. They expected the Messiah to be much grander than who they got in Jesus. Like today if Jesus came in jeans and a tee, most of the “church” leaders would reject Him because He was not on a chariot coming from the heavens on a cloud.

In this verse you will see God appears to be opening the “narrow path” for “many nations” and not just the Israelites. In looking at what Jesus did, we see how significant this vision is when applied to his time here on earth. As you read the visions you will see the all seem to repeat in Paul’s Revelation. We have seen them from time to time come up in other visions. I find it interesting how God uses this imagery and wonder if it would remain the same today or if it would be like Rommel riding a panzer tank.

Verses 7:9 -10 remind the people how they should be living their lives:

9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

We need to watch ourselves today when getting into this poverty battle. I know the “entitlement” system we have today is being done wrong and only rewards those in need. But we should not do away with it because the system is faulty, rather we should look at becoming more active in improving the world we live in so poverty can be a minor issue. I think part of the reason the government “had” to step in was the “church” after decades of battering by the forces of evil could no longer care for the numbers.

I don’t know if this is right or not, but the turn of the century seems to be when things changed. We became “industrialized” and lost our communities to the factory. Only one need was being filled and all others were transported into the town. People lost contact and then the information revolution happened where you see people at dinner all “talking” to others on their “smart phones” never engaged with the person across the table.

Where “community” worked with the poor, the widows, the orphans and “sojourners” now we are so disconnect for everyone that the needs are not seen and often ignored. We “pray” for them to find help and salvation when what they really need is US (and not the United States, but the man in the mirror) to make them a sandwich and devote time to them. We need to learn to use the system in place to better humanity and not oppress it!!

Ecclesiastes 7 – 8

Verse 7:5 gives us some great advice:

It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.

How often do we get criticized over almost anything we do? How often do we actually listen to that criticism? Often times we reject any form of critique on what we do because of pride, we really need to reflect on that. One of the greatest problems to man today is the inflexible mindset we tend to get into. Instead of finding a solution to a problem we are more concerned in making sure we win with our idea.

Hey it may be the best idea in the world, but unless we can communicate that to someone without blowing our tops it’s worthless. The art to getting things done is not leading without compromise, but to lead towards the best solution. That is where the wise come in and thrive. If we set aside our pride and listen to them, we will learn how to “just get along.”

Verse 7:15 is one of those verses I think we all have experienced:

In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

We read our Bibles every day, read it through a few times even. We go to church any time the doors are open and teaching is happening. We work hard with amazing ethics, yet our friend who doesn’t believe in God drives up in his new Porsche after selling a company he built up that in essence loots pension funds. We all have that buddy that cannot fail and seems to have it all, while openly calling you a fool for following this “God” that no one has ever seen.

Does that mean quit and follow him? No, we are all on this earth for a short time. Remember the story of the beggar (Lazarus) and the rich man who died (Luke 16). The gist of the story is this beggar who was full of sores was seated next to Abraham, while the rich man who had it all was tormented in hell. Now should we wish this on our rich friend? No!!! Help show him the fruits of salvation and hope that he gains from your sharing.

Verse 8:15 kind of says it all:

And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

Why not be happy? Really, many of Bob Marley’s songs talk about this exact mindset. We really need to be joyful about life no matter if we are in poverty or riches. Traveling on mission trips to other parts of the world gives you an ability to see this first hand. You see families living in shacks and playing with a flat soccer ball all having huge smiles, yet the guy with the Porsche is angry and bitter all the time. Who has it right? Who really knows the meaning of joy and life that God intended for us here on earth?

Look for the heros helping, the ones running into the smoke. Through the evil actions of a few, we must see the overwhelming good of many!

Psalms 131 – 133

Verses 131;1 & 2 are basically the whole Psalm but should be looked at together:

1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvellous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quietened my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

This is almost counter intuitive to our faith. We get a giddy and excited sometimes we end up going off on some odd tangents. We all tend to do this in our faith journey and it’s justified by being “on fire”. This may be wonderful for the “churched” but is difficult for the “un-churched” really understand. Many just look at us a kooks laying on the ground babbling nonsense to an unseen God.

Also, we have to understand that as we grow with God that we must be weaned from Him. Our dependence on Him controlling everything needs to stop as we grow in Christ and we need to start helping others. I am not saying we lose our excitement for God, but we just need to take it to the next level and learn to share with others. Sometimes we just need to calm our souls and quiet our hearts, not only to sustain the passion but sometime we just need to wait. As you know being a child Christmas Eve, excitement causes time to stop, so keep the joy but calm the heart.

Verse 132:13 is the focus of this Psalm:

For the LORD has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:

I read entries like this and understand the importance of Israel, but have a tough time imagining God locked to only Zion. My idea of God is not being encapsulated into one spot. That would be making God in our image! We must realize that God’s attention may be drawn to Zion, but he is everywhere still. A “dwelling place” implies that he “rests” there which confuses me in a way, since God is not bound to a body why would he need to “rest”.

At the same time it is clear God rested after the 6th day. So maybe He really needs a time to relax. Although, I can’t imagine that God needs to or does, I know “working” my brain every day makes me physically tired. So maybe God does rest in his “dwelling place”.

Verse 133:1 is a great observation I wish we could all follow:

Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity

This is something we all realize at one point or another in our lives. The problem is we seem to be hardwired for competition to survive. We need to win which is in conflict with this statement. So why does the Bible stress unity where we appear to be hardwired to live in conflict? First this “hardwired” state is more for survival than for winning in the board room. Although one could argue that is survival also! We apply competition for food to everything and that causes conflict. I think God’s intention is for mankind to not live as savages, but in unity. To fight that “hardwired” mode and help others while helping yourself.

Ezra 1 – 5

Every time I start Ezra I think of the band Better Than Ezra, whose roots appear to come from a Hemingway novel and not the Bible. Aside from that a famous motorcrosser from Georgia, Ezra Lusk, comes to mind. It’s just one of those Biblical names that is rare and sticks with you once you hear it.

Verse 1:2 sets the stage for the book of Ezra:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

By this time the temple needs to be rebuilt and the people of Israel are returning to their land as captives and subjects to other rulers. The Lord stirred in the heart of Cyrus king of Persia the idea of rebuilding the temple. I find it strange how the people who fear the result of a unified Israel under God could allow a temple to be built. But at the same time how many years has it been since some great triumph of God occurred.

This brings up and interesting question, but what would it take for the world to believe in God? What would God need to do? I say nothing at all. Sure He may get everyone believing for a little bit, but remember the Israelites watched the Red Sea part and were making a golden calf and worshiping it a short time later. So in this case, like every other, Cyrus either forgot the past or explained it away as misfortune.

Verses 4:4 & 5 shows that everyone was not on board with the king:

4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed counsellors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

How many times are our plans being undermined? This happens today with people in business and the home front. Someone is not onboard with the original decision, they can make waves and try to undermine the act. Most of the time people are not reasoned into a decision or the justification is not clearly explained causing a split in the people. I wonder if this “split” would have occurred if they would have had a hand in the decision or if the ultimate decision was more in their hand.

We see this happen in business and marriages all the time, people don’t communicate well under pressure. The world would be a better place if more people would learn to communicate and be flexible. Now in this instance Cyrus had a inspiration from God while I am sure these people did not have the same insight.

Verse 5:16 talks about the foundation being laid:

Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’

Interestingly this foundation took two years to construct and as we saw met great resistance. I wonder how long it would have taken if everyone was “on the bus”? We don’t realize how much easier life would be if we took things serious up front and communicated what needed to be done and get everyone “on the bus” before starting. This may be a great model for how not to get things done.

Deuteronomy 4 – 6

Verses 4:1 & 2 opens with instructions before entering the Promised Land:

1 And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.

Interesting how the Torah has been kept whole within Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is the basic foundation of all three religions. One can see the roots all stem from Abraham and his forcing the promise of a child with God. Now I wonder if all three religions have kept this “whole” or if it’s been modified for their perspective? I assume all three have kept it whole and honor the texts as Holy.

I find it interesting that these same words are in revelations. I often wonder if it implies the book of Revelations since the only complete part of the Christian Bible at that time was the Torah. So often we get lost in the current construction from the Council of Nicaea and miss many of the other writings. The Gnostic Gospels and the Apocryphal are so often ignored. We are taught that these books are sometimes false and have many flaws. Often they are this way because the original documents were so difficult to assemble they were dismissed. Are we to explore as historical or holy documents?

Chapter 5 reiterated the Ten Commandments with verse 5:7 stating things out:

“‘You shall have no other gods before me.”

I am on three different tangents here with the first being “gods” that are worshiped are only parts of the true God. I think we are not to worship other god’s because they are only representations of parts of God. Think about it, if God is everywhere than He is thunder. So Thor is not a god, but only God that someone has made into a compartmentalized god. Second is “gods” are not real, but merely idols that are not real. Like Thor they may represent an attribute of God but are not God. Also, verse 8 covers idols so this may not be the meaning here.

Finally I want to step “into it” in saying these gods are real. I’ll continue to pick on Thor, or the god of thunder, and consider that he is real. God commanded one of his angels to manage the discharge of static electricity in rain storms. And us worshiping this angel would be missing God altogether. Another theory that ties closely into this, is the gods mentioned here are the fallen angels with Satan. Satan has created gods in this world for us to get side tracked away from the one true God. Either if they are fallen angels or angels of God, Satan is the one twisting us to worship someone other than the one true God, the only uncreated one.

Verse 6:5 lays down the greatest commandment:

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

If you look at the footnotes in Matthew 22:36 – 40 where Jesus is answering “what is the greatest commandment,” you will see this verse mentioned. Jesus of course one ups it and makes it more difficult by saying you must love others as yourself. Notice how this happens every time Jesus is asked about the Law. He makes sure that people understand how God’s standard is above the words. We are too live on a higher standard. The Law say “you shall not commit adultery.” Jesus makes sure you understand that lusting in one’s heart is the same thing. He raises the bar!! So we know it is impossible to keep the Law, but it is not an excuse for us to ignore it. We should use it as a guide for our lives! Sure Jesus fulfilled the ultimate sacrifice, so we don’t have to slaughter a herd every time we mess up, but we MUST still confess.

1 Peter 1 – 3

Verse 1:3 is the core to Christianity:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

We are born once through our mothers, but the second rebirth is more of our core.We cast aside the old us and renew in Christ Jesus, it’s like our souls are reborn. What we have become living in the world changes on an instant and the best analogy is birth. Our souls are reborn into eternal life with God. Think about the term “born again” and really think about how this works for you?

To become “born again” it’s as easy as ABC. Accept Jesus as your Lord and savior. Believe he is who he says and came to this world to die for our sins. Confess your sins and transgressions to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. After this it would be a good idea to pick up the Bible and read as much as you can. Start in the Gospels then move to the first 5 books called the Torah. Or follow this study guide, it does a great job matching Old Testament and New Testament events so you will understand them better.

In this case Peter is addressing his writings to the Jewish people. So much of what is said in this book may be difficult to understand without reading the Torah. That’s why it’s best to jump around and learn everything you can. Finally find a good Bible based church that matches your worship “style”. Verify everything said with the Bible and understand you may “grow” out of a church that worked early on. Many times adjustments should be made for changes in your family.

Verse 1:13 is a call to prepare for you representation to the world:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

We often times need to really prepare our minds for action. The problem with not being prepared is we get slammed with difficult questions or our actions are judged. Unless you are prepared to address these issues, you will often either get defensive or shut up in fear of saying the wrong thing. Both can have disastrous effects in a person gaining salvation. This is why one must live with Jesus and learn as much as we can. Don’t feel you need to read everything before you can witness, just be aware that you need to be careful either way.

Chapter 3 has the famous “Husband/Wife” verses which are great to read as long as you read and do your role! Don’t try to force the others role, they will respond when you do! Now look at verse 3:9 and see how God works different than human nature:

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

We think of the “eye for an eye” analogy being how we should live. Exodus 21:24does say that is how we should repay for doing wrong, but in Mathew 5:38 Jesus starts to turn that notion or Law on its head. We don’t need to live with revenge on our minds, since that emotion tends to consume us. We need to turn human nature on its head and live the way we want to be treated by God. Do you wish to be forgiven by God? Then do the same to other people!

Acts 13 – 14

Verse 13:10 is a warning we must all be aware of:

and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

A man named Bar-Jesus was preaching a different doctrine from the truth and Saul/Paul called him out for this grievous action. I read this and wonder how many “Bar-Jesus’” there are in the world today. How many are preaching and twisting the Word of God to their own pursuits? This is why it’s critical not to just sit in the pews and be feed whatever the preacher says. Unless you have read and know the truth, you may be subject to being led astray.

I know there is the “theology” that “once saved always saved” but after reading the Bible through three times I cannot say that with confidence. Now some would say we need to be in constant preparedness with confession or our souls are destined to hell. I tend to believe more that we can reject Jesus after being saved and lose salvation. There are verses that support both of these ideologies. I will say that the “once saved” crowd has argued that those people who reject Christ after being “saved” were never really “saved”.

The answer to this is difficult and could be interpreted many ways. But the key with not following a modern “Bar-Jesus” is to know the truth. I am not going to argue minor doctrinal points between Catholics and Protestants, but rather stay focused on the Bible and you will not be led astray. Believe me when I say this, there are Satanist and Luciferian in all denominations of the modern church today trying to lead followers of Christ astray and either never obtain salvation or lose it. The ONLY way to protect yourself is to read the Bible on your own, don’t get lost in the nuts and bolts details but discuss and explore any confusion with others.

Verse 13:45 shows the other problem the “faith” has:

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

I get concerned that when Jesus’ appears to the church as a humble man in blue jeans and a white tee there will be many church leaders who reject Him again. Think about it, the Pharisees of the time knew all the signs and could see all the prophecies being fulfilled in Jesus yet they still rejected Him. Why? I believe two reasons here with the first being Jesus did not fit their preconceived image of the Messiah being a mighty warrior. Second it really upset their status quo. If Jesus was the Messiah then their “norm” would be upset and the life they knew would be forever changed. People don’t like radical change.

So if Jesus were to come today is jeans and a tee, would the modern leaders reject Him as a “Bar-Jesus”? He definitely would not fit into the “image” of Him riding from the Heavens on a chariot with clouds of thunder. So would the Christian church lead people away from salvation or would they embrace the man who returned, just not in “their” image? These are tough questions to ask, but are ones we need to find in scripture so we do not “miss the boat”!

Verse 14:19 shows the persecution that Christians went through:

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

How would your faith stand up to a potential stoning? Would you be inclined to follow Christ knowing you would be harmed or killed? Today we keep silent because the ACLU does not allow us to display the 10 Commandments on the steps of the court house whose laws are so entrenched in the Jewish Law it “ain’t even funny”. We back down and cower, yet Paul returned the next day from whence he was stoned and continued to preach! DON’T BACK DOWN, WE ARE NOT BEING STONED!!

Is it John 3:16? Matthew 22:37? This video makes an awesome argument for Genesis 1:1, because in all honesty if we don’t believe God is above all than the rest is just a story book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_-E2OfFjpg

Haggai 1 – 2

Haggai is a short book yet interesting to read. The basic message is “don’t put off today what you can do tomorrow.” Verse 1:6 starts us seeing the Israelites trying to fill their lives with things:

You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

When we fall into a time where we focus on stuff, we never seem to be satisfied. We walk away from God’s word and intentions for our lives and nothing seems to work out. We may save 10% and live on 90%, but that missing tithe seems to change our perspective. We go from learning to live within a budget to fudging and not following God’s financial principles.

We don’t follow God’s farming techniques and allow the land to rest every 7 years and the land becomes over farmed. We then add the “nutrients” into the soil that we think the food needs to grow. We get “healthy” looking food that lack many of the minerals that have been leached from the soil.

Verse 1:9 continues with Haggai pointing out that the people put themselves before God:

You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.

The saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” comes to mind. We think it’s best to keep our house in order, and then focus on God. The tithe is a classic example of this lack of obedience where we try to get our financial life in order so we can then tithe, when what God wants is us to tithe and then get our house in order.

We live like this and then somehow think that living outside God’s bounds will somehow result in blessings. We think if we get our house in order, then we can get God’s, will work better than the other way. People of all times seem to miss this message that “good intentions does not equal (!= for you programmers) obedience. Putting off your willingness to obey ends with us missing out.

And believe me I am struggling with this today. I have stopped tithing for a few months trying to get my house in order. The resulting chaos has been less than fun. For some reason the extra money vanished into daily expenses instead of going into debt as intended. My heart was in the right place, but my resulting actions went outside God’s plan. I need to become obedient again! (and note NOT tithing is not a sin, it’s just puts us outside God’s guides for living).

Verse 2:17 explains why we have hardship and what we should NOT do:

I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD.

Often our response to “hardship” is to pull closer to God, yet other times we turn away or ignore God. We should not turn away from God or his guides no matter the situations. We are to remain focused on Him first no matter if we are in good times or bad. Heck the world is ever changing, some for the good and some for the bad. We cannot look at every hiccup as God’s thumb coming down on us.

We need to understand that people’s evil is often the cause of our pain. Many of us are “floundering” through this latest financial melee, it’s not God causing it but other men. Sure if we had followed God’s 10/10/80 principles we would not be suffering as much but it would still be hard. Often we look at natural events as God’s thumb coming down on us. I have heard more often God “punished” New Orleans or Japan, rather than that’s the way the earth was designed. To keep the swamps clean or to have the “purple mountains majesty” we need some significant natural occurrences.

The key is that it doesn’t matter if its God made, manmade or just a natural occurrence, we need to honor God today. Don’t fall on Him when things are bad!! In our own lives the friends we keep and live with are often the ones who are there for us in a time of need. It’s the same with God, the better we know Him when things are good, the more He will be available when times are bad.

Ecclesiastes 5 – 6

Verse 5:10 hit home to me:

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

It’s not that I feel like I “love” money, I just obsess over it constantly. My attention is being brought to how much we spend verse how much we take in verse how much we pay off each month. Fortunately since 2008 we have been paying down debt and not adding to it. But our cash flow stinks and we have to watch every dollar. I hope that once the finances get straight, things will go better but I has been a difficult walk.

The biggest difficulty has been sharing the urgency with my wife. We both think we are spending fine, but end up devouring money that should go to pay off debt and I then over compensate by overpaying expecting that money to happen each month. Often it doesn’t and instead of communicating that we need to adjust there remains an unspoken conflict. Which when it does get brought up for discussion, things get ugly. Hence why I am reading Crucial Conversations so I can learn to control my temper and hopefully control the level during a discussion.

Verse 5:15 is one of those Biblical “clichés” that is often used:

As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.

Bet you didn’t realized that came from the Bible, or maybe figured it was one that is often associated with the Bible, but not really there. When you think about it, this is true. Our striving for things is folly since we cannot take it with us. Although one can argue that the pursuit is to help our children after we die. But in reality often money may not corrupt the person making it, but often corrupts the offspring who live in the umbrella of it. I think of Paris Hilton, born to Richard Hilton of the Hilton Hotel fame. She was constantly in the news for parties and sex tapes living the reckless life of someone who never really earned a dollar but has access to millions.

Verse 6:3 is brutal but true:

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

I know many who live their lives toiling to make that extra buck and may seem happy but are in misery. They often live to work and work to live, nothing else matters. They family and happiness suffer for personal gain. Often the funeral says how great they were, but few cry because no one knew the person. They only knew his work and his money. It was as he didn’t really live at all.

Now I say this with a father who works at 80 and wonder if he is not doing the same thing. At the same time his “work” is teaching young Marines how to fly the FA-18 fighter. How cool is that! His “job” keeps him sharp and young. His worry is not about making money, but rather helping the men become better pilots. His joy appears to be in the relationships and the results. That may be the correct way to look at things! We are not told not to work, just don’t make it our focus.

Psalms 128 – 130

Verse 128:1 is the theme for the first Psalm:

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!

We read fear and often apply different definitions to the word. Most of the time I think we tend to apply the tradition definition of believing something is dangerous. God is not dangerous in any way. We do not need to fear him in this way, but rather give Him a healthy dose of respect. If we look into the translations we find that our one word translation is actually 8 different words in Hebrew and I am sure a few in Greek and Aramaic.

We need to give God respect and understand that He could rain down wrath if we blow it. But I really think we should fear Him like we fear our fathers. Now I know there are should who rightfully fear their father, but most it’s more a fear of the punishment for the error we did and not an underlying fear, but love. When we do wrong we should pray for kind and loving correction and be joyful that God to the time to do so.

Verse 129:2 is something we start thinking in our old age:

“Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.

I read this and wonder if the pain they are talking about is growing pains or pain of our age. This past weekend was spent hacking brush with a machete for hours each day. I was worn out and tired each day and felt accomplishment for the work done. The thing I noticed this morning was not sore muscles but sore joints. I never notice that in my “youth” so is this what the Psalmist is talking about?

One looks at verse 3 talking about their backs being plowed reminds us of the damage Israel’s enemies have done. Not fatal, but constantly there as a reminder. Much like Jesus’ “stripes” from the whip, that remind us of the suffering He endured for our salvation. The Psalm could be read from many points of view, an individual, a nation or as Jesus. We all tend to feel the pain of our youth as we get older. The joints that hurt the most on me today are the ones I injured racing motorcycles when I was younger.

Verse 130:3 reflects on petitioning God:

If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?

None of us could stand the test before God if it wasn’t for the sacrifice of Jesus. The Old Testament is there for us to fully understand the implications of what happened on the cross. We can hear this story a thousand times and unless we understand the context of the time, it’s difficult to understand why God sacrificed His son. We live in sin no matter how good one may be on the outside. Personally, “mental attitude sins” are my problem. On the outside I may appear to be living right with God, but pride, envy, greed and lust raise their ugly heads often in my mind. That may be the same for others, we all fall short of a true relationship with God.

This is why it’s important to understand the significance of the “blood sacrifice” from the OT. We get caught up in today and how we would never kill a defenseless lamb to cover our sins, because we have lived under the grace of Jesus for 2000 years. But live in their time and all is more easily understood. They symbol of Christ on the cross is clear to the people of that time. We need to read and learn so it is clear to us today. Make the first source of information and truth the Bible, not your second, third or last.

2 Chronicles 33 – 36

Verse 33:1 introduces a new king:

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

First thing that caught my eye was how young he was talking the throne; imagine any 12 year old becoming president. He is not the youngest one to become king of Israel, but his longevity was what surprised me especially after the next verse. Most kings who are “evil in the sight of the Lord” don’t last 55 years. King Manasseh had God’s wrath hit him, but unlike most kings who puffed up and got proud, Manasseh repented.

Verse 33:12 is where he does this:

And when he was in distress, he entreated the favour of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

Good news is God allowed him to flourish and restore the damage that they had done. The people followed although in verse 17 it appears they are not quite doing the sacrifices right, but only the “the Lord their God!” When reading stories like these and having just read the recounting of why Moses was not allowed into the Promised Land I wonder about the definition of “repentance”.

Did Moses do it wrong or was his “sin” worse since he ignored God directly? I though all sins were the same in God’s eyes, so why did Moses repenting not gain him access to the Promised Land? Consequences are the only thing I can figure, I am sure Moses was forgiven, but the consequence for his disobedience was no entry to the Promised Land. Now Manasseh was running blind as we see in the next chapter when King Josiah takes control, at 8 years old!

Eighteen years into Josiah’s reign they start to rebuild the temple. In verse 34:14 they find the book of the Law:

While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses.

Josiah was repentant and tore his clothes after hearing the word of the Lord. He is realizing that the Lord’s wrath will be greatly poured out on the people for drifting from God. But once again in 34:27 the Lord forgives:

because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.

God forgives after true repentance and keeps the kingdom whole for a time. I read this and wonder if our asking for forgiveness is “contrite” and we really need to understand the consequences of our sins and really repent. But once again after Josiah’s death Judah declines and the kingdom in chapter 36 is taken over by Persia and I believe that Israel remains under the control of other powers than the Jewish people until after World War II. As history unfolds we may be seeing “end times” happen before our eyes … we’ll see as we read on.

Deuteronomy 1 – 3

We start the last book of the Torah, or the Law. As with all the books of the Law, there is history mixed in with the regulations so it reads much easier than say the 5931 pages of “Obamacare”. Moses wrote the legal parts in the Torah so they were understandable to most people unlike Obamacare. Verse 1:6 is preparing the people to enter the Promised Land by telling them the history of how they got where they were:

“The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain

Initially as you read on it’s hard to tell if they are starting to make the same mistake again or are they retelling the story of why they were wandering the wilderness. In verse 1:28 the story is clearly what happened before:

Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”

Starting in verse 34 you see God’s penalty to Israel is a repeat and shows that Moses is retelling the story of why they were in the wilderness. History is not repeating itself here; rather Moses is retelling the story of how they got there. Verses 3:25 & 26 have Moses pleading to enter the Promised Land:

25 Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.

I have always been bugged at this story since one event kept Moses from the Promised Land. Why did God not show grace and forgiveness when Moses asked for it? Fortunately we do not have a “direct connection” like Moses had with God, because I am sure if God told us to do something that was clear we would face similar penalties. Think about it, not only did Moses ignore a direct command from God by striking the rock, but he took credit for the resulting water.

In a way Moses made himself a god, which is a big no-no with God. Try not to make the same mistakes because really life is not always about us. I watch people work hard to their grave and get buried with nothing. I have also seen people live a life of privilege where everything came easy to them, only to be buried with the same things. I think we need to understand that some events in our lives may be because we are “helped” along by God and we need to give credit and not take it.

James 4 – 5

Verse 4:1 poses an interesting question to ponder:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

Think about any quarrel you have been in and how it was fueled. One or both had their passions amp up and escalate to an argument.Now there are times where one could justify this conflict, but in most cases we allow our emotions to rule valuable relationships. This is most common in marriages where we allow our passions to rule an argument. I know this has been the way in our marriage, where things often escalate beyond control over stupid things.

We see this in the churches where they split over minor “doctrinal” issues. If that wasn’t the case then why are there so many denominations of the Christian church today? The root of the church came from Jesus and the 12 disciples, then 431 and 451 had the first two major splits and then it goes on from there. The majority all come from quarrels within the church on the interpretation on Jesus’ words. Check out the Wikipedia page titles “List of Christian denominations” and you will be amazed at the large number of variations that have happened.

Is this really what Jesus intended or is this just the makings of Satan? Is the message the Dutch Reformed Church in Botswana that radically different from the Ministries of His Glory? I want to believe that these were not splits to water down the Gospel, but rather to more to reach a larger audience. Where I could sit and listen to someone pick apart the details of a specific verse others would be lost and leave a message like that. My friend Pat is the perfect example, I went to the church he was saved in and was shocked at how anyone could enjoy being yelled at for an hour, but it worked for pat. Different strokes for different folks.

Verse 4:14 reflects on our lives:

yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth used this concept in Act 5 where he said: “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow”. We are all just a flash in time when you think about it. As we age life seems long and we hope to make an impact in this world, but really when you look at this over history our contribution to mankind is nothing. When you realize even the great leaders like Solomon legacy is long forgotten and still being discovered by archeologists.

Solomon said the same things in Ecclesiastes and least we forget that only in very rare situations will our words be remembered. Today with digital media, I wonder if anything will be found in 100 years. Sure if it can survive, it may all be “out there” still, but will need to be dug up just like the temple of Solomon. We need to remember that our lives here are to ensure that as many people will experience the life after death with Jesus.

Verses 5:4 & 5 are haunting to me today:

4 Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

I could go on and on with calculations of “inflation adjusted” dollars verses pay and how we are getting the short end of the stick. I could fall into the wealth envy of the Occupy movement and turn this around pointing to the 1% and how “they” have done this for decades. I read this last chapter and wonder if there are “end time” prophecies here or if they are just “normal” warnings for day to day life. Honestly if you look at how the fed is printing money and funneling it into the banks who are dispersing amount their board, one could see that this is signaling the end. What was often a “nationalized” problem has become global reaching almost everyone who has a stake in the “world’s economy”.

You have to ask yourself is James warning us about what is happening, because it always has, just not to this scale. Or is he prophesizing the end?

Acts 11 – 12

Verse 11:2 kind of reminds me of today:

So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

Guess the term “circumcision party” reminded me of today’s political parties. I have gotten questions like this before when talking about friends who are atheist or pro-choice. It’s almost like I shouldn’t associate with people who are outside my core beliefs. Well God made the Gospel not for the Jews alone and we are not to huddle in our close knit churches. We are to shine the light on a hill.

I believe it is scriptural not to get too close alone, or you may slip into these beliefs. I know I had a “season” where I did not release my beliefs but rather put them on a shelf. I am sure his friends had this concern and Peter explains his vision and what God is doing outside the Jewish community. We need to keep to our core but share with those who do not know.

Verse 12:7 Peter had an amazing event happen to him:

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.

So often I dream of this happening to me! An angel will come down and say “you are free” and the shackles of debt will be off me. The big difference here is Peter was falsely imprisoned and I put these shackles on myself. Imagine sitting in jail and having the doors fly open and be able to walk free without a struggle, would you do it? Or like Paul would you remain and show the jailers your intentions are pure and not deserving of bondage? If I had an angel of the Lord telling me to do something, I would most likely do what they asked and assume they also took care of any record of the incarceration!

One thing that gets confusing in this chapter James is martyred in chapter 12 leaving one to wonder who wrote the book of James since this appears to have happened before the writings happened. Also, verse 12:12 mentions a John whose mother was Mary and was also named Mark. I assume this is a different John than the brother of the martyr James, but it’s not clear.

Verse 12:23 ends these chapters with the death of Herod:

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

It almost implies the worms started on him before he breathed his last breath. How icky is that? Herod’s death was punishment for his role in Jesus’ death. Although Pilate actually had him crucified, Herod returned him when he could have had him freed. If you study the “apocrypha” or the books that did not make it into our current Bible, you’ll find blame was placed on Herod. The Gospels are written to place the blame of the Jewish leadership of the time, this often was considered to appease the Romans since they still occupied the lands. In the end, Jesus dies for our sins and Herod dies because of his acts.

Zephaniah 1 – 3

Sometimes we read these warnings from verse 1:2 and wonder if they will ever happen:

“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

Honestly I have a tough time taking warnings like this serious.There seems to be quite a few in the Bible, but this one actually seems direr than the rest. Even Revelations talks about destroying 1/3 and not “everything”. I wonder if this would happen or if this is just God being melodramatic. Think about growing up and how we often did stuff that was going to end playtime forever, and it eventually came back. Is God just so frustrated at this point He is over reacting?

We are made in God’s image and therefore maybe it’s normal to get so angry that we may over react. I often wonder if that is just normal parenting He is modeling here. He has raised mankind to a point that either we get it or not, kind of like our adult children.

Verse 1:5 has a “god” Milcom mentioned which I Google’d to see who it was. As expected this is the name of an ancient Ammonite god. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) Milcom is mentioned as one of the greatest warriors of the fallen angels. Think about how upset God is when other gods are worshiped. I just assumed they were not real but just false idols which are now being replaced by Ferrari’s and Gucci’s. But I am now starting to believe these false gods actually exist in the shadows and were the fallen angels with Satan. I will have to research this more.

Verse 2:3 talks about redemption:

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;
seek righteousness; seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.

If God was to “sweep away everything” would that not include the righteous as well as the evil? I wonder if people who write these “inspired” words don’t embellish the interpretation slightly. Did God really say to Zephaniah He was going to destroy everything? Either way it’s a warning that is repeated over and over again in one form or another that we should take it serious. If we don’t take this on a global scale, then we should on a personal one.

So far last time I checked we all die, even Jesus died. These bodies are not designed to live forever like our souls. There are two thoughts of death, either that’s it and we are dust or there is an afterlife. I believe a mix, the redeemed live forever with God where those who are not die in the lake of fire. So the afterlife happens, and hell is where the lost souls are ended.

Verse 3:20 appears to be addressing Israel:

At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.

I think end times have changes slightly with Jesus, no longer will it be just the Jews! I often wonder if a Jew is faithful to the Law will they be included in the end. I know the “Christian” response is no, but what if the righteous among them are would that be wrong? I believe they must accept Christ, but think they still may hold that special relationship and favor without this “salvation” we have.

Ecclesiastes 3 – 4

Verse 3:1 opens with Solomon reflecting on time:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

It goes on to compare the seasons to almost everything in life including birth and death. The phase “a time to die” I believe originated here and has in recent times been used as movie, album and book names. I am sure it’s been used other places but this was what Wikipedia had listed under “a time to die”, interestingly they did not mention Ecclesiastes in their list (I added it today).

We have to realize that we cannot all live in spring or summer, seasons have to happen. Granted we strive to live in “paradise” where it is an endless summer, but even in places like Costa Rica there are “seasons” of rain. This planet was not designed to be a static world, but rather dynamic. Think about how the shifting of tectonic plates causes massive earthquakes while at the same time being the reason for the “purple mountains majesty.” There is a time for everything and we must learn to accept it and “go with the flow” which may be literal in the case of a flood.

Verse 3:14 had Solomon laying the foundation of “conservation of energy”:

I perceived that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.

God IS and always was, in the law of “conservation of energy” which states that the amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The energy may change state and appear to be taken away or added, but in reality it’s just taken away from say the wood and added to the heat. The energy may leave or enter earth my just dissipate across the universe, never being destroyed. How cool is it that Solomon was saying the same thing that scientists “discovered” in the nineteenth century.

Verses 4:2 & 3 explore if life, death or never being born would be best:

2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Solomon is going deep into the true meaning of life and death and exploring if it would be better to not have existed at all. Now is Solomon exploring the innocence of the child or the fact it would be better not to have existed at all? Evil would not exist if there were no one to do it, but at the same time good would not exist either. I think he is more exploring the innocence of a new born having never seen evil as being good.

Solomon has written some depressing Psalms and books in his later life. Here a person of wisdom and having lived a life of privilege is writing some dark passages. If you study Solomon and the occult, I think you will see the root of his depression. Apparently in his later life when he allowed his wife to influence his relationship with God was the turning point. He went to worshiping other gods and have been said to have written many incantations in raising demons that are used today. Maybe Solomon is the Biblical link to these worlds and realizing that went into depression in his later life.

When we read about the lesser “gods” in the Bible, maybe they are actually true. Maybe these lesser gods are more demons of Satan? I think there is a difference between idols, which today take the form of cars, houses and expensive toys and the gods being worshiped then. I think they are still with us and are an issue today, we just ignore them and attribute them to being just statues and not actually being a real influence.

Psalms 125 – 127

Verse 125:7 opens with a question that was raised in my head:

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.

This could become one of those “church clichés” that are difficult to really absorb. Sure when times are good and things are humming right along, it’s easy to be “like Mount Zion” in our walk. But let an untimely death or betrayal enter the mix and suddenly the mountain becomes a mole hill. We question God the “why’s” and “how’s” of what happened. Our faith gets kicked around when these answers don’t come quickly and God seems less real.

This is what our faith should be, not what it is by default. Everyone has times when they hit lows and question God, that is life. Even great pastors I know admit to having “winter” seasons where they have to preach each week but are not “feeling it”. We somehow think that being a mountain of faith is easy, when it’s far from that.

Using the mountain analogy, we look at them majestic over the horizon through every natural disaster and they remain solid. The mountain endures everything that is thrown at it with courage. Sure the mountain shows the scars or torrid floods and massive earthquakes, but it still endures like we should. Endurance is what the mountain teaches us, not going with the flow.

Verse 126:4 is one of those verses I pray often:

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like streams in the Negeb!

How all seem to want their fortunes restored or just happen. We tend to forget the “thou shalt not covet” commandment and want more stuff. I know when we see the new Porsche 911 pull up next to your dented and old Civic, that is ready to turn 200k, it’s easy to want. Is that “coveting” or desire? You don’t want to take that specific car from the driver, you aren’t jealous he has it and you don’t, yet you still want. I am still working on the true Biblical idea of wanting more verse breaking commandments, I just know I have prayed for our family fortunes to be resorted more than once.

Verse 127:2 had me wonder:

It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

I had to take a double take on this since it appeared “ok” to not be ambitious. Then I saw who the Psalmist was, Solomon. The one who is credited with Ecclesiastes and the words “everything is meaningless”. This shows that just because a person may have the faith of a mountain that they do not get in a funk from time to time. Often I wonder if what I do each morning is a waste of time, I can read the Bible before bed and sleep in each morning if I took this a Biblical truth and not an example of a prayer.

Just a quick note … verse 127:5 had the line “Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” I wondered what a “quiver” was and had to comment. It’s a archer’s case for holding arrows, so this is an analogy to being prepared for battle.

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and not a pagan goddess of fertility. Ironically this custom of bunnies and eggs all came about because of marketing. In the second century, Christian missionaries trying to make Christianity more attractive turned pagan festivals into Christian holidays.

Unlike Christmas, we know based on historical record that this is the correct basic time when Jesus died and therefore it’s accurate to remember Jesus’ death and resurrection. But we should really consider all the other customs that are associated with this day. Mystical bunnies and embracing a candy laced eating orgy should really be reconsidered for a more reverent day of reflection.

Now to maintain transparency and honesty, we took our grandchild to an Easter egg hunt at a church and though it was ironic they were sharing the Gospel before the “hunt” and opportunity to sit on the Easter Bunny’s lap. I will give bonus points to anyone that can find in the Bible the reason we call this Easter.

Google quickly finds the goddess’s name is Eastre of Eostre which Easter is derived from. As much as it seems innocent, I think sitting on a bunny’s lap at church asking for presents has some moral problems we may want to address.

2 Chronicles 29 – 32

King Hezekiah is the subject of these chapters. Like most kings who do good in the eyes of the Lord, as we will see he eventually falls short. Verse 29:3 opens with him restoring the temple:

In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.

I find it interesting that the temple system went into such a state of disrepair. Here the people of God just drifted away from His laws. They refused to acknowledge His existence or worship Him. They did realize there was a greater power, but searched other places for that power.

People tend to consider Christianity and Judaism the same thing, chasing after something that doesn’t exist based on a lack of knowledge. At the same time as I explore for truth, I find it all points to God. When all is said and done we will all find the truth, it’s just what our state will be with God that’s the concern.

Verses 30:19 & 20 show results of the effort:

19 who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” 20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

Here King Hezekiah in a rush breaks some rules to celebrate Passover. It shows the monumental task he took deciding he was going to reopen the temple. It didn’t just require repairs, but priests needed to be consecrated before they could perform sacrifices. Also, the sheer number of sacrifices required to atone for the sins of the people was enormous. King Hezekiah knew it was wrong, but did it anyway and asked for forgiveness.

The Lord granted his request and knew his heart was in the right place. It kind of reminds me of an old saying; “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” We do this often in our lives with God; we push the envelope of His will for our lives. I know for the longest time I honestly believed it was my “destiny” to return the “family fortune”. The depression crushed our family’s wealth and created a hole that has been slow to even start digging. I have no idea it that is God’s will in my life, but I constantly would “help” God playing the lottery and waiting for Ed McMahon to appear with my check.

At the same time if I would have followed God’s 10/10/80 plan from the start we would have at least a larger portion that the debt hole we are in now. It’s all about following the will of God and knowing when it’s right to push the envelope. In King Hezekiah instance leading the people back to the Lord allowed for a few short-cuts.

Verses 32:25 & 36 have the King slipping up:

25 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. 26 But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

And notice when he sees the errors in his ways, he makes a quick correction and repents. That is what God is wanting from us. He knows we cannot walk this world perfectly like his Son, but we can fix things before they get out of hand. That is why Jesus said lust is just as bad as adultery. If we allow those feelings to take over our thoughts the more difficult it is to correct the action. Often thoughts become actions and sever damage is done. If we can stay on top of our sins and truly repent our lives would follow God’s will greater than drifting.

Numbers 34 – 36

Numbers, like much of the Torah after Exodus jumps between the written law, stories and technical details. Verse 34:6 expands on those details of the border:

“For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.

This chapters details of the borders of Israel and then provides a list of tribal chiefs. These parts can seem dry and uninteresting but have a wealth of knowledge. Interestingly the borders described in this chapter are very close to the present day ones. You can find images on the web that show the various scriptural descriptions of the borders and how they exist today. I wonder how much scriptural support there is for the current borders.

Verse 35:11 talks about the cities of refuge:

then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.

It’s interesting how the laws develop for manslaughter verse murder. Where murder is a capital offense, manslaughter is still a punishable offense. We have laws on the books today that are very similar. I find it interesting how most of our legal system has its roots in the Bible, yet people want to remove God from everything. Why not rewrite the laws while they are at it, since they are very much the same.

Verse 35:27 is something that Jesus changed:

and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.

Imagine you are driving too fast and someone pulls out in front of you and they die. This is a case of manslaughter or “negligent homicide.” Although technically different they have are similar in punishment. The example I gave was “negligent homicide” where manslaughter would be more of an accident from say a fit of rage that resulted in death. It all stems on ones state of mind.

Interestingly prior to this verse the Bible gives specific definitions of when this unplanned rage becomes murder. If a death would have been manslaughter but the person hit someone with a specific object, like an iron tool, than the count would be raised to murder. That gets into the specifics of the law. Unlike the legal system today it was detailed, but relatively simple to understand.

Now the point I was trying to make about what has changed since Jesus is “forgiveness” and grace. Think about the “avenger” who is one that lost a person. The Law states you may lay in wait and murder this person if they leave the city of refuge. In this instance it would be considered “justifiable homicide” and no charges would be brought against you. Today it would be conserved murder since it was planned. But Jesus taught us to forgive and this lacks that teaching. Why would someone be allowed to harbor a grudge for potentially decades and be allowed to kill?

The remainder of the book goes into marriage laws. The details here did not interest me. How about anyone else?

James 1 – 3

James is my favorite book in the Bible because it’s short and to the point. There are few flowery stories for illustrations, just hart hitting statements that cut to the point. Verses 1:2 & 3 talks about trials we have in life:

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

In two verses James is talking about when life gets tough and how we should be thankful. He also explains why we should be thankful. Often when we read short verses like this they become more cliché than fact. We hear them and instead of strengthening our faith we end up getting upset. We argue they do on understand what we are going through right now. I argue we don’t understand what they went through. As Christians today our “persecution” is prayers being banned in school or the Ten Commandments being removed from a courthouse, where they were jailed and often put to death.

So “quit yer’ belly achin’!!” Learn to be at peace with any trial knowing the end result will be more faith or a better understanding of God. I know the argument is always why would God allow this or that to happen, but we have to take a larger look and realize the ultimate design is to get us closer to Him.

Verses 1:19 & 20 are one of those passages I have to remember over and over again:

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

For those who have known me a long time, it has taken decades to learn this. The first time I read this passage was in the parking lot of X-Games Skatepark in Duluth when it first opened. I was waiting for Devon to finish a session in the park and figured I would read something in the Bible. The first book I decided to look at was James since it was short. Did not realize how powerful it was and each time I read it I get something new or am reminded (as here) of something I forgot.

This blog is not here so you can get great spiritual truths from me, but rather get inspired to pick up the Bible and read! I am an idiot just guessing at what God is saying, you really need to do it yourself. Believe me it’s a daunting task, but if you start with James and avoid the OT for a little, you will see how easy it is and do it!!

Verse 1:22 is something that is argued often by many:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

The standard argument to not doing this is we are saved by faith and not by works so therefore we cannot “earn” our way into heaven. The Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons who dedicate time to talk to people get ridiculed by other faiths for trying to earn their way into heaven. I disagree! They are DOING the word and spreading the Gospel, not just sitting in church and praising God.

Sorry this is a touchy point to me and I feel this is critical in our walk. Our faith is “dead” is we do not act upon it. Let’s be perfectly clear that a person who lives mission work all their life and walks according to God will have the same stature as the murdering rapist who gains salvation in the “chair”. But at the same time I would hate to have to answer to God having been a Christian for 40 years and having done nothing for the “kingdom”.

Get connected to local missions in your area. Work with the homeless or just give someone encouragement while paying for their food or giving a GENEROUS tip. Don’t be secretive unless you have a note to give them so they know this was from God and not you. Remember also, the more you do is not to bring GLORY to you but to God. Don’t form a BRAG-A-MONY about how many mission trips you have been to in Africa, but rather just do them for God’s glory.

As you can see I am not into the two other chapter and have eaten up time and the blog. So read on your own and see what inspires you today. Some hints: 2:14 (expands on the last verse), 2:19, 3:1, 3:5 and 3:15 & 16.

Acts 9 – 10

Verse 9:3 starts the conversions of Saul/Paul:

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Saul is blinded on his way to persecute Christians and is converted. I know all of us would love something that clear to show us the right way, but we have to learn through faith. Interesting how science expects us to believe in energy without seeing it, yet ridicule us for believing in an unseen God. When we provide evidence they shoot it down. Maybe that’s what we need today, Richard Dawkins to be blinded on the road to a speech about his beliefs! This would be a miraculous event that I suspect would be “poo-poo’ed y science anyway.

Verse 9:26 is the natural result of someone like this converting:

And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

Honestly wouldn’t you be suspect that he was trying to infiltrate the group so he could identify more Christians to persecute? As you know I would be one of the first to question, but also one of the easiest to convince. I tend to release my preconceived dogmas easier than most, since I will continue to question until I find the truth. I believe this is why many Christians grow “stagnant” in their growth, since they just accept what is being fed them.

I questioned the “trinity” for decades since I would not accept this since the Word of God said more that Jesus was the Son of God and therefore different. Eventually I resolved this and now believe it completely and could explain it through quantum mechanics and energy. I know it would have been easier to just accept this as truth, but I needed to know and found out the truth. Funny thing is the more I question to more I find the majority of the Bible to be true, even the first chapter!

Verses 10:12 – 13 is a story I debate a bunch:

12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

Interestingly this happens three times and Peter refuses each time. Now this is trying to directly get Peter to sin against the Law by eating unclean things. What God was trying to illustrate to Peter is not that a slab of bacon is ok to eat, but rather that things have changed in relationship to the Law. This was less trying to get Peter to eat pork, but rather to realize it was ok to believe in God and not follow the Law to the letter. This is where I get into conflict with how we are to obey the Law. Reason being is often we have preachers saying to obey the tithe and then serve pork barbecue at the church social. This shows the problem with the Law and following it too the letter, it becomes a legalistic document that no one can follow and many hunt and choose what they want to follow. I look at the Law different, sure there are many sins that are NOT to be done, but even still many have a death penalty associated to them which we have relaxed. Where I stray for many is this is not a pick and choose thing, we are asked to follow what has not already been fulfilled by Jesus. At the same time it’s not a sin to not tithe and it’s not a sin to eat pork.

What not doing those do is not have you living life to the full. You need to learn to budget to tithe and manage money properly. If you master this you can live more freely to follow God. If you eat God’s foods you will be healthier and be able to serve God to your full potential. That is where the Law should be considered, not as rules but rather guides.

Habakkuk 1 – 3

Verse 1:4 seems to be where we are at today:

So the law is paralysed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.

It seems like this always eventually becomes the case as is happening today. In the early 1990’s we were in a similar banking crisis called the “S&L Scandal” where banks were making risky loans and regulators and politicians were paid off. Bill Black and his team put thousands of bankers in jail. They learned there lesion and pushed more money and influence so this time around no one is being touched even though BILLIONS have been looted from the people. No one cares anymore in power, because what Habakkuk saw thousands of years ago is happening again.

I have personal experience with the bankers and a corrupt system. Not to get into the details our case was ignored and the system was perverted for the side of the bank. Even though I have mounds of evidence and precedence that what they did was wrong, they had three lawyers doing research during the trial to find an obscure case that appeared to support their argument. In review it didn’t match this case, but mine did. The result was the lawyers and banks won, I did not appeal and lost $40,000.

Verse 2:20 is often ignored by us:

But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.

We need to ask questions and strive to know the truth, but we also need to know when we are to submit and be quiet. God is sovereign over all and often we forget that. Instead of being in awe we complain about our everyday tasks in life. Sometimes we just need to submit and realize we have to clean the gutters, patch the roof and go to work for “the man” to live a full and happy life. A lottery win will not help! What will is hard work, no debt and generous giving to others; interestingly if we just were silent we would see that in the Bible.

Verse 3:18 ends with a great comment:

yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

How many times do we really do this? Again I point to the cleaning gutters and hard work mentioned previously to gain joy. We need to be happy with our “lot” in life, be it swimming in cash or living on the help of others, our joy should come from the salvation received in our Lord, Jesus!

Ecclesiastes 1 – 2

Although Solomon does not explicitly identify himself in these writings, after reading the first two chapters you will agree with most of the scholars that he wrote this book. Solomon is in a funk and is writing his reflect some intense introspective looking at his life. Verse 1:2 opens with looking at vanities:

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

Solomon looks at the vanities in life and puts them into perspective with everything. We tend to live our lives without really thinking of the true “big picture”. We get self-absorbed or “vain” in our view of the world, instead what we feel is importing is all about us. Not saying that this is wrong, but when you look at life from what happens in the end and we are just dirt. Sure our soul and spirit will live on, but the bodies we have today are plant food for tomorrow.

Verse 1:8 is something that can be argued to a point:

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

One would say in the past 100 or so years there has been more new stuff created “under the sun” than from the time of Moses to 1900. But consider how this “evolution” has happened, what has changed? Technology has made life easier to get things and do different type of work. Really the major change has been how we communicate, travel and kill people. At the same time if you look at the legal system, literature, art and other aspects of life you see the roots have not changed since this was written. People have advanced, yet the same basic desires drive them, so this is still true in a sense.

Verse 2:16 really makes a great point:

For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!

As we read these words you have to remember they are almost 3000 years old, so even though Solomon is dead we still have his enduring words. Most of us just die and become dirt but a few have their words, images or thoughts live forever. Also, one must realize that although the body is not going to survive our souls will. So again Solomon is partially correct, but makes a great point.

Verse 2:26 is fun to look at the different interpretations:

For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

The phrase “striving after wind” is interpreted in many different ways. You find “chasing” (NLT, NIV), “grasping” (NKJV), “spitting into” (The Message) and “feeding” (CJV) as different interpretations of “striving”. No matter how you look at it, what you do, it all is like fighting the wind. The wind will not change no matter what we do. The only person recorded to have calmed the wind was Jesus, and he still lives today.

Psalms 122 – 124

Verse 122:9 is David’s thanks for Jerusalem:

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your good.

As you read through the Psalm remember this is a pray by David expressing his joy over Jerusalem. As with much of the Psalms we really should not be looking for any great spiritual truths in these writings but rather use them as examples of how we should pray to God. I don’t believe we should recite them “from the heart” for our prayer time, but instead model them after the Psalms.

The great thing with the Psalms is you can find almost any mood or need found in them. There are 150 prayers or songs to the Lord that help us gain that connection to God. We have hundreds of others throughout the Bible to help guide us to a personal relationship with God. The most famous are the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 23 and the prayer of Jabez. Now I will say that Jabez went unnoticed until Bruce Wilkinson wrote a book about that short prayer buried in a Israel’s genealogy.

Verse 123:3 is something I believe every generation prays:

Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.

I believe everyone has the feeling at some time that this is the end of civilization as we know it. In recent times I am sure the “roaring 20’s” and the “Great Depression” were points when many said the end was near based on society. The horrors from WWI or WWII were other times when I am sure Christians were saying prepare for the end. Today I have seen educated people say our president is the anti-Christ and to prepare. What’s the truth in all this? That Jesus will pick the time and day, and NOONE will know when that is. The “warning” signs will always be there, since the world is what it is.

Verse 124:6 caught my attention:

Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!

Here David is thanking God for not allowing his enemies to win. The analogy of prey and being devoured is interesting since we often don’t look at ourselves that way since most of us will never face a lion as his next meal. We are “safe” from these encounters these days since most predatory animals are not comfortable in cities or suburbia. Interestingly as we encroach on their environment we hear more and more of mountain lions eating the neighbor’s dog. I personally have stood outside my home and see coyotes walking down our road in from of our house.

I think from all these we need to learn to give thanks to God and learn to do it our way. Granted it’s difficult to top Psalm 23 at a funeral. The best approach is to read and pray these models and expand on them, and not by stringing a bunch together. Rather talk and pray to God like you would your father. You don’t have a script you follow each time you talk with him, that would get BORING!

2 Chronicles 25 – 28

Verse 25:2 kind of sums up the state of many in the church:

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.

How many of us have done this before? I know many times in my walk with God I was with Him and did what was right, just was not all on board. Heck I think even the great leaders today can say the same thing. It’s easy to get this way, especially when things are going as YOU planned them.

King Amaziah had things going his way, God was blessing him and he was winning in life. He followed God and did what was right sending the men from Israel back and fought only with men from Judah. But the spoils of war won him over and he set up the captured gods and worshiped them.

Today our gods take the form of cars, clothing, fine wine, houses, and status. The idols that Amaziah was chasing were just big fancy trinkets that took his attention away from God. Funny thing is we all say we would not do this, but most tend to drift to the trinket and not God. More often than not I am praying for “financial peace” so I can get what I want, add another distraction to life. I pray this time the trinkets don’t steal my attention away from God.

Verse 26:19 has God punishing pride:

Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense.

Uzziah seems to have taken the same path as Amaziah did. He followed God early on, but as success happened instead of thanking God he started to take the credit. In this case his pride was his downfall and worshiping himself more than God. Ironically his pride was punished by a disease of the skin that made one ugly. He was quickly “put in his place” and punished.

Amaziah and Uzziah both were showing the downfalls of 2 of the 7 deadly sins. Greed was Amaziah’s downfall and pride as Uzziah’s. These 7 sins are listed in Proverbs 6 expands on the 7 deadly sins and Paul expands on them in Galatians 5. My only concern is they are called “deadly” and Paul explicitly says in Galatians 5:21 that we “will not inherit the kingdom of God” because of them.

Do these supersede salvation? The “once saved, always saved” mantra seems to get blown away here. I can take “lust” alone and see the potential eternal damage it may be doing to the church. If Paul is right and these are “mortal” sins and not “capital” sins than Satan has won with internet porn. I know many “Godly” men who are trapped in the clutches of this addiction. Maybe if everyone took Paul serious, that market would be crushed, we would stop ordering “biggie” fry’s, we wouldn’t care about the 1% or we wouldn’t elevate ourselves above God.

Are we ready for judgment day? I wonder just looking in the mirror how my standing is with God. I can look at my life and see where each of these 7 “deadly” sins have taken control of my life. Lust, desiring sex over relationship, gluttony, not stopping on the treats, greed, desiring more money, sloth, spending more time surfing than working, wrath, blowing up at minor things, envy, seeing the car I want driven by some punk kid or pride, thinking I am worthy of a higher position within the company than I have all have crept into my life this week. How are you doing?

Numbers 31 – 33

Verse 31:4 gets into that area where God supposedly “condones” wars:

You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.

God said this so war at times is ok. Although I often wonder if today that still applies. At the time the Israelites were the “chosen” people where today we are all technically fall under that umbrella. So is it ok the fight those who reject God or follow a different god? How about follow God but differently? Christians and Muslims come to mind initially, but how about Catholics and Protestants? This is where the fine line is with interpreting the Bible; you really need a whole Bible view to really understand the meaning and nuances.

In this case, these are the words of God. Moses had that connection and it grew by faith. I honestly would have a difficult time doing anything God spoke to me, since it would take me some time to be convinced. Gideon had that same question and used a fleece to test God when he was asked to go to war. So when it comes to the lives of others, being very sure is not wrong. It took a burning bush for Moses to finally get the connection and decipher what was his voice and Gods!

Verse 32:13 had me re-reading the chapter a few times:

And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone.

The more I read the more I understood this was more a history of how they got to where they were and 32:14 expresses some concern of where they are headed:

And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel!

The saying on shampoo bottles, “wash, rinse, repeat,” comes to mind. We just keep finding more ways to get in trouble with the Lord. We can either wander in the wilderness or attach to God and learn from His Word. I am not saying reading the Bible will help you be sinless, but it will help you discern sin better and avoid it at all costs. So again read your Bible and follow Jesus closely!

Verse 33:55 is a sharp warning to the people to follow God’s orders:

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.

I read this and wonder if the people really understood the consequences 3500 years later. If you “preview” what happens, they eventually fail at this and to this day people are laying claim to their land and being a thorn in their sides. Sometimes not doing what God commands have impact on your week, month or millennium! I wonder today, after 200 years of being in God’s grace if we have not blown it? Since the Civil War era this country has been on a coordinated fall. Sure the people rise up and their faith becomes strong for a moment, like on September 12, 2001. We as a nation rose up and became one, but years later the agents of discontent have worked their magic and we have split again. No longer one nation under God, but rather one nation under “me”.

Hebrews 11 – 13

Again this reading is doing a great job tying together the chapters. We read Acts 7 yesterday that was Stephen’s speech giving a synopsis of the history of the Israelites. Stephen tied the history to the eventual blindness of the people who killed Jesus. Chapter 11 Paul talks about faith and ties it into the history of the Israelites. There are few places in the NT where this is done, and we have back to back readings of them.

Verse 11:1 opens with a definition of faith:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

What is your definition of faith? Webster’s is a “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” I think Paul did a great job nailing this down, but the difference between Webster’s definition and Paul’s, is Webster’s stops while Paul expands on why this is true in our faith. We have a book that many call a fairy tale and others call the written word of God. Some just consider it historical text with some lavish stories. I tend to look at it as the written word of God with some historical references thrown in for our understanding. No matter how you look at it, the Bible expands on faith and shows it in practice.

I think Abraham is the epitome of faith. He waited till he was 100 years old before his promise was kept. Now granted he wavered a bit and the waver is still causing repercussions today. Verse 11:17 describes the pinnacle of his faith:

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,

Here his “promise” was held off for decades and at the close of his life, God asks him to sacrifice the one and only son. He proceeds without question! By faith he knew that God was in control and the promise would be kept one way or another. Because of his obedience God blesses him with the nation of Israel.

Verse 12:14 has Paul encouraging everyone and focuses on what we should all strive for:

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

This opens a huge discussion on war and what God’s opinion of it is in light of statements like this. How many people have died in the Bible alone in the name of God? How many have died since in the name of God? Is God really blessing these battles or is it something we should avoid at all costs?

The 60’s generation really started the twisting of scripture to promote peace. The reason I said twist is most were using scripture to throw in the face of the “establishment” without belief in them. It’s amazing how you can snip contextual things from the Bible and form almost any argument you desire. Slavery is one of those that many use to discredit the Bible, but when you LEARN the context it’s not “forced bondage” like the late stages of slavery in the states, but rather an “indentured servitude” where the people earn their way to freedom with a skill. Today we call them “interns”!!

Acts 7 – 8

Acts 7 is a speech from Stephen which outlines the history of the Jewish people. In a short time he goes from Abraham to Solomon building the temple. Verse 7:24 reminds us of one of Moses’ flaws, his temper:

And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.

This has him set away because the people no feared him and did not know if he would kill them or not. After 40 years away God determined he was ready and he returned to save the people from slavery and lead them to the Promised Land. Once again his temper flared up and he lost his opportunity to go into the Promised Land, teach us to control ours.

People read the OT and sometimes just used snippets as stories to make a point. You have to take the whole think in context to understand and see that it all points to Jesus. This is what Stephen is pointing out as he concludes his speech. Verse 7:52 is where he ties it together and points out what they did:

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,

When they heard this they “were enraged” and stoned Stephen to death. In verse7:60 he dies with class:

And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Could you do this? Just before breathing your last breath, ask God to forgive the people who killed you! That is an example of grace and forgiveness that Jesus wants in all of us. We should not look for vengeance, but let that be in God’s hands. We should learn to follow Stephen’s lead and learn how to truly follow Jesus, not necessarily to death but to say what needs to be said and show grace to those who harm us.

Verse 8:3 introduces us to Saul, later know as Paul:

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

We often forget that the man, who wrote most of the New Testament and laid the foundation on how we assemble and worship God in the Name of Jesus, persecuted early Christians. Now one thing we also forget is he doing what he thinks is right based on his knowledge of Hebraic Law. We also forget that this man was a person well versed in the Law and traditions of the Israelites, not just a butcher. So he knew scripture and enforced it the way he understood it at that time. The example we learn here is no matter how far we slip away, like the father waiting for his son to return, God will be there with open arms!

Nahum 1 – 3

One of my favorite OT books is Jonah where he prophesizes against Nineveh, they repent, God spares them and Jonah sulks. It’s a great story about repentance and our view of what is fair verse God’s view. But have you ever noticed that this great and powerful city no longer exists? Rome, Athens, Jerusalem, Tyre and Cairo all still exist in one form or another, but Nineveh is gone other than ruins of a city once great that was taken over and ransacked.

This gets us to Nahum, a prophet some 100 years after Jonah prophesized about Nineveh. One would think in that short of a period they would have not forgotten the stories of how God was going to destroy them, but in repentance they saved the land. But in a generation or two all these stories are forgotten and the return to their evil ways.

Verse 1:3 talks about the nature of God:

The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,
and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Sometimes we forget this and think God is ready to punish us at a minor infraction. Often we try to personify God and make Him in our image and since many of us have short fuses, we assume God must also. At the same time, unless you truly repent, YOU will end up the way of Nineveh. I know there are a bunch of people who feel repentance is just saying “forgive me for I have sinned” but lack true repentance. I was that way in college. I would sin, confess, and repeat. True repentance does not continue to repeat to the point that the confess part of the loop is forgotten.

Verse 2:8 is an interesting analogy:

Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but none turns back.

Think about the story of the little Dutch boy who saved the town buy putting his finger in a hole in the dyke. He saved Holland and eventually they fixed the dyke, but it illustrates that small holes may be fixed, or repented, but eventually the water will eat away to the point where there is no stopping the water. This illustration is awesome in describing how sin and corruption eats at the core and eventually will start events that cannot be stopped.

Like the small hole in the dyke, if sin is addressed quickly it can be plugged and save the land. But let sin go and it will start eating away and the hole will become larger. Now it takes more than a finger to stop the water! Eventually, as with Nineveh, the erosion in non-reversible and the city will crumble, like the dyke.

Verse 3:5 is just one of those verse I got a chuckle from:

Behold, I am against you,
declares the LORD of hosts,
and will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.

Mardi Gras comes to mind where there is no shame when it comes to getting beads. A “celebration” that was started to eat rich foods before Lent since that was a time of sacrifice. Now it’s a time to drink, have sex with anything that moves and ignore God completely. I often wonder if the levees breaking in New Orleans during Katrina were this prophecy being repeated. Although New Orleans still exists, today with its same debauchery for Fat Tuesday, one must wonder was this a warning that was ignored.

Eventually we will be in shame for our actions and God will judge. Be ready! Don’t just accept the salvation of Christ, but ensure that when you sin you confess. 1st John 1:9 is not a do once and all is forgiven. If you sin, you need to confess it! Don’t fall into the trap of forgetting this, because you will drift away from you relationship with God!! Repentance is a difficult concept which is more than words, pray to understand what it means and live it.

Proverbs 31

Verse 31:3 is a warning to kings:

Do not give your strength to women,
your ways to those who destroy kings.

Today this is difficult to do; women and men are considered equal to the point of fighting side by side. Men have become emasculated in a way because the roles are not clear anymore, other than childbirth. I look at Katy’s complaints in our marriage how I think it’s normal for her to build barns and rebuild motors. Often she complains about how I am not doing my job as the man and taking on these projects.

I don’t think this is the warning that the Psalmist was giving here, but that was my first “thought” reading this. I believe the Psalmist wants the kings who read this to understand how a woman can destroy your purpose. Throughout the Bible we have examples of men blowing their purpose by letting the dangly between their legs do their thinking. David and Samson are just two examples of men who let a women destroy their purpose.

Verses 31:4 & 5 highlights another pitfall in life, alcohol:

4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine,
or for rulers to take strong drink,
5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

This is not one of those verses where God says do not drink, but it is one that highlights why you should not drink in excess or on the job. Now since kings are on the job 24/7 drinking is not a good idea, especially to excess. This extends to other “medications”, including marijuana and cocaine, which have taken the place of booze for many. We need to give our employers 100% and in the case of a king, the people are technically his employer.

I think of Henry the Eights and the three verses I highlighted. He had 6 wives, 5 of whom he beheaded. I wonder how many were damaging his ruling as king and how many were because he was clouded by booze? He was known for excessive eating and drinking, so it could have been a combination.

Verse 31:10 starts a laundry list of qualities of an excellent woman/wife:

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.

Often we are trying to find the “perfect” wife when she is there all along. Does God have that perfect wife selected for you or is there compatible mates that are perfect. Either way the key to keeping that jewel is to ensure you don’t think you are king! I have seen marriages crumble because of the “other” failing in their marriage. When you dig down to the root, it really is both parties. Instead of communicating and respectfully addressing issues while noticing your own, most marriages disintegrate to a major fail by one or both.

I read the remainder of this Proverb and wish to dedicate it to my wife of 22 years. We have lived a wild ride and are in no way a model for how to do marriage right, but we have survived by loving each other and working through the problems. Our lives change and we just adjust to each other’s quirks for the season. We may not be a perfect match, but we work to keep things together realizing there grass is not greener on the other side of the fence … it’s the same grass only thicker, before we get to chewing it down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8RqbXwjtdE Classic video from 12 Stone’s Cliche series, by Whitestone Motion Pictures. This does one of the best jobs explaining John 3:16 in less than 5 minutes.

Psalms 120 – 121

These are two very short Psalms which I did not pull a whole bunch of insight or even generated many questions, so excuse if this is a quick “Thought” today. Verse 120:2 asks God for deliverance:

Deliver me, O LORD,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.

I read this and wonder how many times people have prayed this. Unfortunately, unless we stay confined in our own little world this will never happen. Once you enter into the world you will find the “lying lips” are everywhere. You need not go any further than a used car lot. I remember our last Civic which was “perfect” and although not a used car lot, he was a dealer. It has been through some accidents, and needed a new head, catalytic converter and sensors.

Sure one would say I should have checked it out better, but it appears they pulled this one off the lot so not to sour the lots reputation. Oh well, maybe I should pray this prayer more often to protect me from people like that.

Verse 121:7 falls in a similar vein of thought:

The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.

I don’t know anybody who this has happened to. No one is immune from evil in this world, even Jesus was tempted by Satan in his life on earth. We can ask to be delivered from evil, but realistically we will not be kept from it. This is a nice line to dwell on and hope for, but it’s something we need to realize is not a doctrinal truth.

One trap people get into reading the Psalms is they look at them as doctrinal truths. So you read a line like this and pray it, expecting to have all evil kept from your life. But in reality, life keeps moving and evil persists. This often causes one to backslide and feel the Bible is wrong.

Well you cannot do that! The Psalms are “examples” of prayers people have prayed, not doctrine to live by. Much like the Lord’s Prayer is a model; it is how we should pray and not necessarily truth. The Lord’s Prayer, which was given to us by God, is more realistic that many of the Psalms. We get hung up on the Bible being 100% true and should realize that “lying lips” and “evil” is all around us. We should pray for discernment more than isolation since that is more realistic.

2 Chronicles 21 – 24

Verse 21:6 says it all:

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Jehoram is not following what his father Jehoshaphat did;instead he killed the rest of the family to ensure there was no rival for the throne. That’s just messed up!! You notice this is a common thread among the kings of Israel and Judah, they either walk the way of God or they stray wildly. Interestingly as you read on God does not destroy the house, since He made a promise to God. Glad God honors His vow’s or the line of Jesus would have been destroyed because of one fool.

Verse 22:10 has Jehoram’s son Ahaziah dies and has his mother ruling:

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah.

No one seems to point out that lack of sexism here with a woman ruler. The Bible is said to be a “sexist” documents putting women down, but here one obtains the highest position in Judah. Her power grab was by killing all the heirs and claiming the throne! She missed Joash who was snuck away and hidden from her by Jehoshabeath, Jehoram’s daughter.

Seven years later, Joash is presented before the people and made king. Athaliah freaked out and was quickly put to death. Joash ruled for 40 years and followed the lead of the priest Jehoiada and cleaned up the land.

Verse 24:28 happens when the people start to drift from the Lord:

Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’”

This unfortunately is the end to Joash since he has Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah killed. Jehoiada prays for the Lord to “avenge” his son’s death, which he does. It’s amazing how quickly we hear something that we don’t like and instead of listening and changing our ways. I think some of the keys you need to get from these writings is don’t drift from God!!

Numbers 28 – 30

Verse 28:2 starts off a string of offerings:

Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’

The “offering” is something I get to help feed the Levites, but think of the numbers that this would generate. If all 12 tribes of Israel offered 1 lamb in the morning and one in the evening, the priests would have an excess and that does not seem logical. Notice they only talk about a pleasing aroma and not actual food for God, which tells me this “daily offering” is to feed the priests. Again if everyone did this they would have 1.2 million dead lambs every day for food. That seems a bit much.

I look at “offerings” today and it’s much different since we no longer provide meals for our preachers, but rather cash so they can survive. If there is excess much of it is used to “further the kingdom” so I wonder if the excess is used in that way. Also, if you think about the numbers, how do they keep the supply continuous? That would mean the people would have to have a few billion sheep since they stay pregnant for 5 months, so to keep the herd supplying food and sacrifices would also require an immense amount of land.

The “Food Offering” could be for daily consumption and not for the Levite priests also, the scriptures are not clear of where the food goes, because I can image God eating 1.2 million lambs when he does not have a body that needs food to begin with. Sometimes I ask too many questions and go down some rabbit trails trying to figure out the logic and purpose for the sacrifice.

Chapter 28 and 29 are devoted to the offerings required by God for each special event. It goes into each holiday and what the sacrifices are for each. This does not get into other offerings and sacrifices for sins, blessings and the like. It seems like the priests of the day were more butchers than ministering to the people.

Verse 30:2 shifts and starts talking about vows:

If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

I have seen this change over the decades where a “man’s word” meant something to the point where you wonder if it means anything today. Today the theme is more CYA (Cover Your Ass) that doing what you said. Now in the business world this is a problem in more ways than one. The boss makes a unrealistic promise and the “underlings” need to ensure this happens. Now the “underlings” were never consulted on how long or if something could be done, so they become bitter and see how a promise is a burden on them.

On and on this goes to the point where we are making promises to our children and not keeping them due to business obligations. Is it a problem with our word, or with an over stimulated society. Think of the responsibilities and duties then verse today. I am not saying they did not have crises’ and problems, but today we overload our schedules to the point where there is no down time. The car, the cell, the internet and the like have improved our ability to do more in less time that instead of more leisure like the “dream” we overload with more things. And when traffic ties us up or the internet goes down our lives are put in a “tail spin”!

Hebrews 8 – 10

Verse 8:6 opens with a “better” covenant:

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

God has always placed us in a covenant with Him, the problem is if the covenant was obtainable or not. In studying of the Bible I believe this is a question that has been watered down significantly today. There is a belief that once you accept Christ there are no ties to the Law and its covenant. Also, as Gentiles we were never bound by the Law, so it should not matter. But Jesus never said he came to remove the Law, but rather to “fulfill” it.

What is the “New Covenant” anyway? Well that could be a title to a book all in itself, but in a nut shell we are saved by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus. No longer are we to spill blood for redemption of our sins, only confess them to Jesus for the price he has already paid. That’s the simple part, now how does the Hebraic Law apply to Gentiles who accept the saving grace of Jesus’ sacrifice?

I am still searching for that answer, but currently believe the Law was never meant to be a book of sins, but a majority of it was a guide to living life to the full. If we followed the financial principles, eating and other aspects, not as a legalistic set of rules, but as a guide, we would live life to the full as Jesus promised. Now do we have to do this? Nope and God will not “smite” us, but our health and financial position will not be what He had planned for us.

Verse 9:22 shows us the significance of Jesus’ death:

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

If Jesus was on this earth to eliminate the Law his blood would never had to have been shed! The key is He was the last sacrifice to cover the sins of past, present and future; all we need to do is confess them in His name. This is something that blew away the old system, since much of the sacrifice was to actually feed the Levites. That may have been an underlying reason for the resistance, who knows!!

Verse 9:28 is the reason why we need not worry:

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

We get all freaked out over the second coming that it will be horrific. Guess what happens in the end? We win and live with God in paradise!! Why are we cowering awaiting his return? And it may be soon, if you follow the Saint Malachy’s prophecies concerning the pope. Just saying the accuracy is amazing and Cardinal Bertone matches the final pope, so see him obtain the position of Pope and we could be in store for front row seats!!

This reading today is so hopeful since it shows the connection between the Hebraic Law and the New Covenant. It takes some time to read and re-read, but do it so you can understand the real and true significance to Jesus’ life here on earth. Also, if you have never read the Bible in full, I would start with Hebrews. It is very confusing for a new believer, but it will provide the glue so as you read the rest and return it will become clearer.

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Acts 5 – 6

Verse 5:1 has a story I am not clear on:

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property

The story goes that Ananias sold his property and held back from giving all of the proceeds to the church with Sapphira’s knowledge. Now from verse 4:32 said this group of followers agreed “the things that belonged to him was his own.” So when Ananias held back some of the share of the home sale it was wrong. When questioned both hedged and lied, for that they both died.

I get nervous with stories like this since we start things like a tithe, and decide it is God’s. Then we stop, are we to die? Or if we lie about it, is that our punishment? Either way, I get nervous. Also, we are trying to sell a home, so this makes me wonder should I tithe the sale, the profits or everything? This really confuses me since death is the punishment for the act. I believe this is different since Ananias and Sapphira had pledged it all, so they could live in a “communist utopia,” but lied about the money.

This gets used often to “guilt” people into tithing saying it’s all God’s anyway. Often Ananias is used as what happens when you hold back the tithe, when in actuality he was holding money that was way over the title. They had pledged all their money for building the kingdom, so holding back some was not right. Today that is used as an example of all the money being his, when in this instance it was all his because of a pledge. One can read this and think everyone needs to surrender all to the church, where as it’s more an example of not doing what one says. No matter how you interpret it the end result is devastating.

Verses 5:19 & 20 describe the apostles in jail:

19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

What landed them in jail in the first place this angel is asking them to do again. This event enraged the Pharisees enough to want to kill them. To calm them down into not doing something rash, Gamaliel spoke sense into them by pointing to history. He talked about the others who had quickly risen to greatness only to fall away just as quick. Verses 5:38 & 39 is his summation:

38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

If something is of God it’s impossible to stop, sure it may be slowed but ultimately God will prevail. If Gamaliel could see where the movement is today I believe he would be amazed. Think about how this grew from a small group in Israel to being followed over the entire globe. Sure we see numbers implying the message of Jesus is failing to other “religious” movements, but I believe that is using the numbers falsely to discredit followers of Jesus. We cannot let the popular belief of the day move us into changing what has been tried and true for over 2000 years.

Verse 6:2 confuses me a little since the comment arose from conflict about widows being neglected:

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

This is something that is common in many of the churches today, especially as they grow. Suddenly groups get missed because the jobs are great and the workers are few. I have heard this before in many churches where the people grumble about not being served by the leadership. In all honesty it is a problem that is correctly addressed here. The leaders must lead, and the “flock” must follow. Following as a Christian is not “consuming” church, but being the church and serving where the needs are. Instead of grumbling that you or someone you know is not being helped, grab the bull by the horns and help!!

Micah 1 – 7

Verse 1:3 expresses the fear of most children awaiting punishment from their father:

For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

Remember when you really did something wrong and were told to wait until daddy gets home? I sure do! Well this is on a global scale where mankind has just blown it and God, our father, is coming to punish us. We see there are a few times when God needs to slap Israel upside their head to get them back on track with following His ways. Micah is prophesizing one of these instances. The next 1/3 of the book goes into the sins of Israel.

Verse 3:2 goes into some of the problems Israel has with justice:

“Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin from off my people
and their flesh from off their bones,

Justice is gone when people pervert it! This is when evil wins out in the courts and good falls by the wayside. I often wonder if this is one of those times in history. The only time the “good” win is if they have tons of money, a high profile case or a possible huge settlement and someone will step up to represent them; otherwise the system will lose to the evil. I wonder if this a prophecy for the people 750 years before the coming of Jesus or us today?

Verse 5:2 answers this question by a prophecy some 750 years prior:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

If you were to hear this before Jesus, one would assume King David would be returning. I think that is where the confusion of the Messiah came with the people of Israel, since David was a warrior that defeated enemies by force. David even passed the building of the temple to his son Solomon since his hands were bloody. We read this today and place it in the context of history and see it pointed to Jesus.

Now we build on this and have to wonder if history is repeating itself? We are awaiting the second coming of Jesus and seem to be falling into this road of despair. Are we starting to hate good and love evil again? I look at Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged where the hero is John Galt, trying to restore freedom and markets. At the same time if you look at the underlying purpose of this book as a possible hand book, this “good” is ultimately “evil” ushering in a New World Order. The book is gaining popularity as the book seems “prophetic” in its talking about a corporate controlled government body. I have a tough time with the “handbook” theory, but am trying to figure out how “evil” is in the “good” of this book.

In reading Micah you see three parts. This first are the sins of the people. Then next is the punishment on the people. Finally you see the hope of God’s love. Now the question is like the previous book of Jonah, is there hope for redemption if true repentance is done? I pray that revelations becomes one of those books people sulk about not happening!!

Proverbs 29 – 30

Verse 29:1 provides some retrospective to how we live life:

He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

How many times do you get reproved each day? How to you respond each time you are reproved? Do you even know what it means to be reproved? Let me answer the last one first, since reprove is not a common word today. According to Merriam-Webster to reprove is “to scold or correct usually gently or with kindly intent.” As I have changed over the years my discipline has become more like this and less like a volcano. Unfortunately the response is a “stiff neck” since the volcano rarely was accepted and that is what is expected still.

I think the biggest key here is to grow and accept punishment as a learning experience. Honestly I my life I can only think of one specific time I was punished and did not deserve it. One time I was trying to find my seat in class and since there was a substitute teacher many of the kids swapped assigned seats, someone was in mine and I waited for them to move. They didn’t and I was tagged as a disruption immediately and sent to the principles. Otherwise, all other times had merit and learning associated with them. Key is to realize there is almost always a reason and to learn why so not to repeat.

Verse 29:20 is a great lesion I am still learning:

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Those who have spent time with me know that I still have not learned this completely. I tend to open my mouth and just start talking. Most of the time the only harm I cause is confusion because I will usually start a stream of though in the middle or end without setting up the whole thought process. Often these comments seem out in left field and require significant time to unpack how I got there, when being silent would have saved everyone the heartache of my mindless ramblings. Now where this becomes a problem is when insults or opinions are hurled in a non-diplomatic fashion.

This is really where the problems come and often we can dig ourselves into a deep hole. I can’t think of specifics right now, but I know my words come back to “haunt” me years and sometimes decades after they were vomited out, reminding me of the damage a thoughtless word can cause. Similar to the carpenter’s motto of “measure twice cut once”, we should think twice so not to cut at all.

Verses 30:8 & 9 has an interesting prayer:

8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

Often times we ask for riches or fame and never receive them. This causes us to question God and wonder why he blesses Charlie, but not me. Also, we assume that the riches bestowed on Charlie are a blessing and not a curse. If we have just what we need than our relationship with God is not interrupted or distracted. God says he will give us what we can handle and maybe we can’t handle a lottery jackpot! Think about how your life would quickly become filled with idols or toys that would eventually rip you away from God. You would ask “Who is the Lord?” At the same time God does not want you to the point of justifying stealing to survive. So maybe we all need to remove our expectations on what we want and be happy with what we have.

There are so many levels you could look at these verses on, but I think the key is don’t envy. That is a trap that most damages our relationship with our Father in Heaven. Wanting is what drives us to work and excel, obsessing quickly drives a wedge in relationships with friends, family and God. Once they blessings arrive, if they arrive too early, they become a distraction away from God. Suddenly that weekend in the country outweighs the desire to worship God in church. Be satisfied and thankful for what you have … NOW I MUST DRILL THIS INTO MY HEAD!!!

Psalms 119

With 176 verses this is the longest chapter in the Bible, but actually reads very fast. The theme is common for the most part with its opening statement in verse 119:1:

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!

In the Christian church we tend to ignore the Law, since the common interpretation of “fulfilling the Law” is ending it altogether. Although every time Jesus spoke directly about the Law he actually “upped the ante.” The “tithe” is everything not just 10% and looking at another woman in lust is adultery are just a few examples of this. Although the Law has many sins outlined and Jesus did end the sacrificial system, most of the Law is there to help us in our daily lives and not to become a legalistic pile of regulations.

As Christians we should understand the legalism of this and not get sucked into it. Take the food laws, we can eat pork without sinning but it’s not the most optimum food for our bodies. We don’t have to tithe and save 10%, but when glitches come in our lives we will not be prepared if we ignore this money management concept. So even not “living under the law” we should still honor it by following the parts that Jesus did not “fulfill” in total. But just remember, as I understand it, most of the Law is designed to give us a better life not burden us with unnecessary regulations.

Verse 119:9 asks a great question and answers it immediately:

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.

This is why goals like reading the Bible through is so important since you learn the reasons for much of what happens with Jesus. Having read it cover to cover, random books and a structured study I think the structured studies are the best. Since they tend to keep ties the Old and New Testaments together when things are fresh in your mind. Often a small detail you read in the Torah 6 months prior may be missed in Mathew, where much of the studies seem to tie it together so OT and NT stores tie together.

Verse 119:90 gives us hope with we are in “winter” with God:

Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.

We often tend to forget God is always with us during times in our lives. We us terms like “being in the desert” or “being in winter” to describe times when we feel we are separated from God. In reality we are not noticing Him or not digging deep enough to see Him. God is not our genie that we summons whenever we need to be healed or need cash. He is not our celestial ATM ready to bail us out of every mistake we make. No often times God need us to learn something before going forward.

I have been on a 15 year path with trying to understand and live financial management. For the first 10, God seemed to be an ATM where when we were running low or had a big settlement the needed cash just seemed to be there. But that did not change my spending behaviors, and thus peaked in 2008 where we were overloaded with debt and needed a miracle. The “miracle” came in the form of a job at way less than my “income potential” and a Dave Ramsey’s CD set. Dollar by dollar and day by day the debt just kept going down. After 5 years I am still without a significant raise yet the credit card debt is 90% down from the peak of $171k and should be gone by the end of the year. See God appeared to be silent, yet he was waiting for my “getting it” before the “floodgates” open.

Verse 119:105 is one of those verses I just recently heard and cannot figure out where:

Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.

Was it a billboard, a reading prior or a recent sermon I can’t remember? I just know it was familiar and I see why. This book should be our guide to life and not just a night stand decoration that periodically needs dusting. It ones I notice in my men’s group are not the fresh new Bibles, but the ones with the bindings falling apart and tons of notes in the pages. Those men often are the “Bible App” I wish to be some day. They seem to have a scripture for anything at the tip of their tongue.

What does this say to us? READ YOUR BIBLE!!

2 Chronicles 16 – 20

Verse 16:1 caught my eye for couple reasons:

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

First thing that we notice is there is a conflict between “brothers” of the Jewish faith. How can this be if God had been with all the tribes then why do the fight. I know Judah was separated to maintain the promised line of David and that “split” came under a conflict between rivals who believed they should be king. I just wonder why this happened. Also, not like we have ever seen this in the UK with Protestants and Catholics recently.

Second, notice how later this “conflict” causes other problems with Asa’s relationship with God. We see in verse 16:7 God is angry at Asa for not having faith and creating an alliance with Syria. I think of this today and wonder if the alliances Israel have formed is causing problems? Are there any alliances in the Middle East right now with Israel?

Finally, I focused on the building of “Ramah” and wondered what that meant. Initially I believed it to be a wall, but a quick search of Google finds it to be a city. It appears to be a strategic location to protect the other tribes from Judah.

Verse 17:3 introduces on of my favorite kings:

The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,

Jehoshaphat did good in the eyes of the Lord, but that is not why I like him. My foolish like is from the phrase “jumpin’ Jehoshaphat”! I did a quick study on that phrase and apparently it did not “arrive” until 1866 in a novel by Thomas Mayne Reid. I just assumed there was some “Biblical” support for the phrase, but it seems to be more a euphemism for Jesus and Jehovah. The Biblical support could come from Jesus jumping at an egregious sin or the spirit of King Jehoshaphat being one of the “mighty ones” who has come to judge. Unfortunately that is one of those phases that people assume to be Biblical, but is not.

Verse 19:7 is part of Jehoshaphat’s reforms to the “court” system:

Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes.”

This is an order to the judges to ensure they judge fairly. We wish this was the case today, but sadly with my two cases it was not. The first was against UCB in a case where they tried to move their “position” before mine. I represented myself and had precedence that showed it was not allowed. They produced something that said what they did was allowed but not for a change in “position”, I lost and the three lawyers they had against me won. In this case “partiality” was taken to the one with more money. The seconds was an appeal that was ignored because of a technicality they would not allow, and was again given to the lawyers and not overlooked for logical reasons. Both cases have jaded me on the “system” today and how we have drifted from Jehoshaphat’s charge.

Now what really caught my eye was the capitalization of Lord and God. Notice “LORD” is all caps where “God” is just the first letter capitalized. I wondered why that was. This is not just in the ESV but also the NIV and KJV so there is more to it than just an interpretation. This appears to be a translation of God’s name, YHWH or as some translations have it “ADONAI” (CJB) or “Jehovah” (ASV). Either way I think we should be less casual reading that and assume it has a greater meaning.

Numbers 25 – 27

Verse 25:4 is the retribution being handed down from God:

And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

Once again a group of Israelites are worshiping other God’s and going outside their nation.They are nearing entering the Promised Land and still they drift. I read this and wonder if mankind can be restored ever! Think about it, they saw the Red Sea part, they saw the pillar of fire and smoke leading them, they experienced the plagues and yet they still drift. How can we today be expected to follow a God that when He does show Himself is quickly explained away by science or chance, if someone who walked on dry ground where there once was water can’t?

Granted we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, our faith is tried and tested differently than those who walked in the face of God. I am concerned about the way things are going with the acceptance of sin and debauchery in our churches. We question a lifestyle or an act and immediately get slammed for judging and have our own sins thrown back in our faces. What is right and what is wrong, I get lost so often these days also but pray we don’t get judged harshly by God.

Chapter 26 has a census being taken and in verse 26:62 they count the Levites:

And those listed were 23,000, every male from a month old and upwards. For they were not listed among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel.

Then the leaders of the church used the “tithe” to live on and expected that to be the case until death. My uncle, father John, is a Catholic priest and currently lives in a home in Los Angeles. He never has owned much other than a car and a few items. The church took care of the ministers of the word. Many other denominations have drifted from this practice and often you see mega-churches where the preacher has very large land holdings. Am I saying one church has it right over another? No, but just wondering what is right in God’s eyes, or if both work?

Verse 27:18 has God preparing who will lead the people into the Promised Land:

the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.

Since God made it clear that Moses will not enter the Promised Land, He is preparing Joshua to lead them. Think about how many years it took to raise up Moses to lead the nation of Israel. God is not going to get to the Jordan and say “ok, Joshua take over!” He realizes that making Joshua capable of leading the people will take some time.

I often wonder if we jump too quickly into trying to lead before learning how to lead? I know I have often wanted more responsibility before I am ready and quickly get humbled. My company hired me as a junior engineer and with 30 years’ experience. I have just expected to get promoted the last few years without it coming, instead as I branch get a more “global” view of our product I realize how little I know about the other pieces. I have become an expert on a chunk, but not on the whole. Should I quit and look for greener pastures or work to become that leader I expect I should be? I think the answer lies in this story!

Hebrews 5 – 7

Verse 5:2 is discussing the high priests:

He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.

We are all human and cannot approach others like some superior being.Doesn’t matter what our position is in the church or business, if we let pride enter we blow our witness. I am not sure if the writer was pointing out the flaws of the Levitical system or warning against the new church, but either way it’s an important point. One cannot be impatient, loathing or indigent when ministering to people spiritually lost. If one does, that easily sets them up for a fall.

Look at the many fallen priests of the mega TV churches or even small local churches. When a priest falls, especially one that places themselves on a pedestal. We are all weak and need to acknowledge that, especially when ministering to the unsaved. Otherwise our past has a way of catching up with us. I know this is true raising children when they discover your past. Is it better that they find out or if you are up front? Same with a church, if you make it clear you are changed in Christ then that is the key to showing people what they are missing.

Verse 5:14 is a verse that constantly gets me thinking:

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The writer is talking about how as we grow we cannot be living on milk alone, eventually we need solid food. This is true with our spiritual growth. If after 20 years of being a Christian you are still studying the Gospel, then your spiritual growth is stunted. I think the key is to ask questions and grow from there. For a long time I questioned the “trinity” and was just told to accept it since people much smarter have figured this out. Well that is wrong, if we question we should search. It took me 6 years to resolve the “trinity” and to accept it as truth. So am I eating solid food questioning or would I have already been on it just accepting?

Verses 6:1 & 2 have us moving forward:

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

One can read this two ways, either that we need to move from elementary teaching that are listed or that they are what we need to be focusing on after our initial learning. In today’s church this the foundation of dead works and faith towards God is all the basics they preach. Mostly because you get so many fresh faces that you cannot scare them with perceived occult acts, like healings. At the same time this list seems to be the doctrine that one needs to move past. It almost seems like the early church was teaching the basics, which including laying hands and resurrecting the dead!! Since they was not 2000 years removed at the time of writing the people had fresh memories of Jesus and the disciples doing just that.

Now 2000 years later many of these teachings are considered “meat” and not “milk”. We look at healings as advanced connection and resurrections are impossible. Our idea is to pray for the doctors to do the right thing, where the doctors were not doing this then. Also, if this is “milk” than what is “solid food” anyway? I think we can all learn, but need to be open to even more in our relationship with God!! There is more than just … fill in your “blank”.