For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
You will be happier if you act wisely and with good judgment, even if that means giving up an opportunity at wealth and prosperity. The more you live a life of virtue the less tempted you will be to do evil. As a result, you will avoid dangers which others face on a daily basis.
Take your troubles to God, cry out to Him for rescue, but when you do so remember that you will need to be honest with Him, those around you, and yourself. God will not rescue you if you are one of the liars, if you are one of those who attempt to use deceit to get ahead. Seek God’s peace and He will give it to you.
At some point, not long after the Resurrection, some of the disciples went fishing without Jesus. They fished all night and caught nothing. At dawn someone (Jesus) called out from shore and asked if they had caught any fish. When they answered, “No,” He told them to throw their nets out the right hand side of the boat. When they followed His instructions they caught so many fish they could not haul the nets back into the boat. When the disciples got to shore, Jesus had some fish cooked over a fire and some bread waiting for them. He told them to bring some of the fish they had just caught and served them breakfast.
I recounted that much of the story in order to highlight what struck me. The disciples fished all night and caught nothing. At least three of those present were professional fishermen (Peter, James, and John) and at least a couple more were familiar with fishing. Yet until they followed Jesus’ command, they were unable to catch any fish. However, once they followed His instruction they caught more fish than they could have imagined. Then, when they got to shore, they discovered that He did not need them to catch any fish at all. This is such a great example of God’s grace and our service to Him. No matter what we do in God’s service, and no matter how good at it we are, we will only be successful if we do it God’s way. Then, we will be successful beyond our wildest imaginings. And, no matter what we do, God does not need us to get it done. God does not owe us anything for our having done it.
That being said, God has a job for us and He wants us to do it out of our love for Him. An important part of that job is to focus on doing that job and not worry about what job He has for someone else.
David took a page out of Saul’s book as he returned to power in Jerusalem by refusing to allow Shimei to be killed for cursing him when he fled from Absalom. It is interesting how angry King David was with Abishai, his nephew and Joab’s brother. Abishai’s interest appears to have been to protect David’s honour. This whole encounter suggests an ongoing argument between David and his two nephews.