For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 3:9-10

    If we use the wealth which God gives us to do His will, and thus honour Him, He will see that all of our needs are met and more.

Psalm 10:16-18

    Yesterday I read the portion of this psalm which discussed the fact that the wicked believe they will face no consequences for their actions. The portion I read today reminds us that God hears the cries of the hopeless. He will hear their cries and will comfort them. God will bring justice to the fatherless and the oppressed. If we have fully put our trust in God, mere people will no longer terrify us.

Matthew 9:1-17

    I wonder if the story of the paralyzed man in today’s passage contains part of the explanation of why we see so little healing in the Church today. Jesus recognized that the man’s first need was forgiveness of sin. It is worth noting that the passage does not say Jesus saw the man’s faith, rather He responded to the faith of those who brought the man to Him. Do we have the faith to bring our sick friends to Jesus?
    It is also worth noting that the teachers of the law responded to Jesus offering the man forgiveness by questioning His authority to do so. It was then that Jesus healed the man. Jesus demonstrated that He had the power to offer forgiveness by healing the man. In the same way, the Church today needs to show that it has the power to offer God’s forgiveness by healing the people around us. I fear that I have too little faith for this, but I will continue to ask God to give me faith.
    The story of the calling of Matthew, and what followed is important. First, Jesus called as one of His disciples a tax collector. That was bad enough, a rabbi not just accepting as his disciple one of the hated tax collectors, notorious sinners all, but actually calling the man to become His disciple. But Jesus than proceeded to hang out with the sinners who had been the tax collectors friends before he became His disciple. Surely, He should have called Matthew to have nothing to do with those sorts any more. At the very least, He should have shown His disdain for such people by having nothing to do with them.
    Instead, Jesus went and partied with them, telling those who complained that the healthy do not need a doctor. The important lesson for us here is this, how are we going to preach the Gospel to sinners if we do not know any? We see throughout the Gospels that not only was Jesus willing to go to parties thrown by sinners, He was enough fun at those parties that sinners kept inviting Him! Yet He never stopped calling on them to repent. If the “sinners” you know think you are boring, you are not following Jesus’ example.

Genesis 26:17-27:46

    In this passage we see again the issue of marrying local women. First, we are told that Esau married two local women and that those women made life miserable for his parents. Then, further on, we have Rebekah tell Isaac that she would rather die than see Jacob marry a local girl. While this was partially a ruse to get Isaac to agree to send Jacob out of Esau’s reach, it seems likely there was enough truth to it for Isaac to believe it. I am still not sure what lesson we should take from this, but it is something I need to think about.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 3:7-8

    Never think that you know better than God. We may not understand why God tells us to do (or not do) some of the things He does, but if we follow those instructions we will be healthier and happier than if we do not. We may think we know better how to serve God than He does, but, if so, we are wrong.

Psalm 10:1-15

    The wicked are convinced that they do not need God, that they will never need God. They are convinced that nothing bad will happen to them, that they will never be called to account for their actions. For that matter, they are convinced that there is no one to call them to account. However, they are mistaken. God will call them, and everyone else, to account for their actions. The helpless may put their trust in Him and that trust will be rewarded. God will defend the fatherless. He will ensure that the wicked suffer the consequences of their actions.

Matthew 8:18-34

    The story about the man who said he would follow Jesus after he buried his father is directed at every single one of us. When we feel God’s calling in our life, it is wrong to put off following that call until some milestone in our life is past. Let us follow God’s call NOW.
    When the storm arose on the boat, the disciples were in a panic. They were not in control of their fate. Jesus’ response tells us the correct response to such situations: turn to God. Things may seem to be spinning out of control, but regardless of how things seem, God is still in control. There are two things we need to remember. No matter how wild and woolly things seem to be, God is in complete control. Second, no matter what we think, we have never been in control, and we never will be.
    The thing I noticed today about the story of the two demon possessed men is that they approached Jesus. He did not go to them. This reminds me of many who reject Christianity. The two demon possessed men came to Jesus and began screaming at Him, asking to know why He was interfering with them. Yet, it was not He who came to them, they came to Him. In the same way some people today ask Christians what we think of their behavior, then become angry when we tell them that we believe it is self destructive. They accuse us of interfering in their lives, when it was they who approached us.

Genesis 24:52-26:16

    Once Abraham’s servant had found Rebekah and reached an agreement for her to marry Isaac, he wanted to return with her immediately. Her family wanted her to stay for a short while longer. Abraham’s servant insisted on leaving at once. I am not sure of the significance, but I believe it is related to the reason Abraham did not want Isaac to move back to that area.
    It appears that Rebekah had similar problems conceiving, or perhaps, carrying to term, that Sarah had had (although not as severe). Isaac plead with God for her to have children. When she finally did become pregnant, it was with twins. The account tells us that the two boys struggled with each other from the very beginning, even in the womb. We quickly discover that each of the parents, Isaac and Rebekah, had a different favorite between the two boys. Perhaps as a result, perhaps for some other reason, Esau became someone who lived in the moment and had little thought for future consequences. Jacob, on the other hand, became a plotter, seeking to use momentary advantage for long term gain. We should emulate Jacob’s interest in the future, without emulating his deceptive nature.
    Today’s passage ends with Isaac following the example of his father and lying about the fact that Rebekah was his wife. If nothing else this shows us that even those who are held up as loyal servants of God sometimes fail to trust in Him to protect them.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 3:1-6

    Let us never forget the teachings we find in the Bible. If we practice loyalty and kindness in all of our dealings we will earn favor with both God and man. The next stanza of this proverb is most important:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Those two parts fit together perfectly. We must trust in the Lord with all our hearts and seek to do His will in all we do, but we cannot depend on our own understanding to know what His will is. It is only by listening to others who are also seeking to do God’s will that we can hope to truly discern what His will actually is.

Psalm 9:13-20

    I beg of God that He save me from the troubles that I will face. I beg this of God so that I can praise Him. The reason I wish to be rescued is so that I can continue to do His will. The wicked seek only to accomplish their own will and will be trapped by the troubles their actions bring them. Those who seek only to do as God wishes will be rescued by God. Let us praise Him for all He has done.

Matthew 8:1-17

    Today’s passage is three stories of Jesus healing people. Later in the Gospels Jesus tells His disciples (and through them us) that they will perform the same sorts of miracles He did and more. Yet, I do not see healing happening very often in the Church today. I do not know why, but I am convinced that our failure to see more miraculous healing says something is wrong in the Church today. I am convinced that part of the problem is that we do not really expect to see miraculous healing. Another part of it is our failure to discern the Holy Spirit’s leading. This is an area I struggle with.

Genesis 23-24:51

    There are a lot of things in this passage about trusting God and how God will provide us guidance. However, what struck me today was Abraham’s vehement insistence that Isaac not return to the land of Abraham’s ancestors. There are hints throughout the story of Genesis that Abraham came from a community which shared worshiped God, but there are also suggestions that there was something “wrong” with that community.
    We have Abraham sending his servant to his relatives back where he came from to get a wife for his son from among his relatives. This suggests that there is something about them that makes them a better match for Isaac than the local people (this theme is brought up again with Jacob and Esau getting married). However, there is something about them that leads Abraham to not want his son to live among them. I am not sure what this means for us, but it is something I think is worth some thought.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 2:16-22

    It is wisdom that will keep you from entering into a sexual relationship with an immoral man or woman. If they were willing to break their promises to former promises, what makes you think they will keep their word to you? That lifestyle leads to loneliness and death. Instead of following after the immoral, follow the example of the righteous. It is the righteous who will live a good life, dying surrounded by those who love them.

Psalm 9:1-12

    I will sing praises to the Lord and tell anyone who will listen about the marvelous things He has done. God will shelter the oppressed and offer refuge when trouble comes. Whatever troubles you face, God will offer you a refuge and solace for your sorrow. This psalm words it so well. I cannot do it justice.

Matthew 7:15-29

    Jesus tells us that we can identify false prophets by their fruits. This passage is often used to say that we should judge people by their actions, not by their words. While I agree that we should judge people more by their actions than their words, that is not what I see Jesus as saying here. I believe that Jesus is telling us that we should judge people, especially those who preach and teach, by the results they produce rather than the intentions they claim. And when it comes to judging a preacher, this is not just a matter of judging the results of their actions, but the results of the actions of those they acknowledge as their disciples. If someone claims to preach peace, but numbers from among their followers keep turning to violence, we can judge that they are not really teaching peace (at least, not the way most people define peace).

Genesis 20-22:24

    We know that Abraham was a man of great faith. Yet on two occasions, he was afraid that the local ruler would kill him so as to take his wife Sarah. This passage recounts the second of those occasions, when Sarah was 90 years old. Rather than trust in God’s protection, Abraham told the partial truth, that Sarah was his sister (actually, she was his half-sister). As a result, the local ruler, Abimelech took Sarah to be one of his wives. Despite Abraham’s lack of faith in this instance, God intervened to return Sarah to him completely unharmed. This is a reminder to us that everyone has shortcomings, even Abraham did. Yet, God will act on behalf of those who love Him and seek to serve Him.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 2:6-15

    It is the Lord who grants wisdom. God is the source of knowledge and understanding. Those who are honest and righteous gain common sense as a natural result, because God designed the Universe that way. If we seek wisdom and follow where it leads, we will find and come to know God. If we seek God and follow where He leads, we will find and know wisdom.

Psalm 8:1-9

    Every time I look into the night sky I am reminded of God’s majesty and power. Yet, because of this psalm, I am also reminded how much He loves me. But not just how much He loves me, how much He loves every single individual. It is interesting because this psalm combined with the night sky reminds me that I am little and insignificant. Yet I am also reminded that God wants me to use what little insignificant power which I possess to help those around me. I will praise God for how He has made the Universe to remind me that I am loved and that I am to love.

Matthew 6:25-7:14

    Today’s passage looks like three different pieces, and in some ways it is. However, these three pieces fit together. Jesus tells us not to worry. Just look around, birds do not farm, or otherwise gather and store up food, yet God provides them with food to eat. Wild flowers do not spin, or otherwise manufacture clothes, yet are they not more beautiful than anything we could hope to buy? God knows that we need food and clothes. We do not need to worry about how we will get them. God will provide our needs.
    One of my favorite verses is right here in Jesus’ teaching us not to worry. Instead of worrying about food and clothes and shelter, let us seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. If we pursue God’s kingdom with the same energy and urgency we are used to spending on satisfying our physical needs and desires, we will find those physical needs being met without us seeming to put any effort into them whatsoever.
    The next piece of this lesson is that whatever standard we use to judge others, that is the standard by which we will be judged. I never realized before how closely this fits with something my father taught me. My father taught me not to trust someone who is sure that everyone is out to betray them. That person is sure that everyone is out to betray them is because they will readily betray others. In many ways, that is what Jesus was teaching from the opposite perspective. We will judge others by the standard by which they can best judge us. However, my father would have been quick to point out that there is more to Jesus’ teaching than the reverse of the lesson from my father to which I just referred. Jesus was telling us that if we judge others by the standard by which we would like to be judged we will find ourselves living as people who deserve to be judged that way.
    Then there is the third piece of this. If we do not ask, we will not receive given. If we do not seek, we will not find. If we do not knock, no one will open the door for us. On the other hand, if we ask, we will receive; if we seek, we will find; if we knock the door will be opened for us. Let us ask God for wisdom. Let us seek God’s kingdom and righteousness. Let us knock on the door to our neighbor’s heart.

Genesis 18:16-19:38

    I have always loved the story of Abraham bartering with God over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham starts by questioning God’s justice and fairness.
“Will you really destroy 50 righteous people just because they live among wicked people?”
To which God replies that if He can find 50 righteous people in Sodom, He will not destroy the city. Abraham than asks, “Well, what if you are only a few short of that number?” Again God replies that if He finds even that number, He will not destroy the city. This continues until Abraham gets God to agree not to destroy the city if there are even 10 righteous people there. At which point, Abraham does not feel that he can argue any further.
    I do not really believe that if Abraham had not argued with God and there had been 10 righteous people in Sodom that God would have destroyed the city. However, it does not mean that it would have been OK for Abraham to not make the attempt. When we see trouble coming we should do everything in our power to save those in its path, just as Abraham did here. We should beg and plead with God to turn aside the coming destruction. We should care that people are going to suffer and desire to relieve them of that suffering, even if they brought it on themselves. Sometimes that caring means telling them that their actions are going to bring them suffering.
    There is another important lesson here. As wicked as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were, God agreed to not destroy them if He could find TEN righteous people in them. I do not know how many people lived in Sodom, but it was probably many more than 1,000. However, if it was only 1,000, that would mean that it only takes 1% of the population to be righteous to save a city from destruction. Think about that. It does not take many people to actually make a difference, to save a city. It only takes a few righteous people to keep a society from degenerating into a mire for which the only solution is destruction. As bad as things look around us, there are still a few righteous people in this nation. Just as Abraham did, let us pray that it is enough, but when we find ourselves in the situation Lot was in, let us stand up for righteousness.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 2:1-5

    Let us seek after understanding and insight as if they were valuable treasures, because they are. If you truly seek those two things you will learn to fear the Lord and gain knowledge about God. Knowledge of God and fear of the Lord are an integral part of understanding and insight. All too many people seek to find understanding and insight apart from God and reject any that involve Him.

Psalm 7:1-17

    Let us turn to God for protection, remembering that we will have to face the consequences of our actions. If we have sinned those consequences will be negative. If we do not repent of our sins, it will go even worse for us. It is only when we repent of our sins and turn to God that He will offer us protection from those out to destroy us.

Matthew 6:1-24

    The first two teachings in this passage can be summed up by saying, “Do not put on a show about being righteous.” We should not give to charity in order to be recognized for it. We should not do good deeds in order for others to say how good we are. In the same way, we should not fast so as to attract attention and receive recognition for how righteous we are. Rather, we should do our best to keep others from being aware of our good deeds and self-sacrifice. Whether others see it or not, God knows what we do and will reward us accordingly. There is a limit to how stringently we should follow this instruction, because there is value in being a good example as well.
    Jesus then warns us against valuing and accumulating material wealth. If we put our efforts into acquiring wealth, we will make wealth the center of our universe. If we put our efforts into acquiring knowledge, we will make knowledge the center of our universe. If we put our effort into serving the Lord, the Lord will become the center of our universe.

Genesis 16-18:15

    We have another story where it would be easy to choose one or another of the people as victims of circumstance. We could blame Sarai for mistreating Hagar. We could blame Abram for not controlling the situation. We could blame Hagar for being contemptuous of Sarai. It is quite clear that all of the individuals in this story bear some of the blame for how it turned out. After Ishmael was born, Abram asked God to apply His promises to Ishmael. God responded that Ishmael would be blessed, but Sarai (renamed Sarah at this point) would bear Abram a son. It would be through Sarah’s son that God’s promises to Abram would be fulfilled.
    This passage reminds us of the importance of being patient and waiting for God to carry out His promises. When we try to make things work out our way, we generate many problems we could have avoided by waiting for God to show us His plan.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 1:29-33

    Those who refuse to listen to facts which do not support their beliefs, who do not fear the Lord, are rejecting wisdom. Wisdom is there for us to learn, if we start with fear of the Lord and accept knowledge, even when we don’t like what it implies. If we reject wisdom we will end up being destroyed by our folly. Those who listen to wisdom, and thus fear the Lord, will live in peace and have no other fears.

Psalm 6:1-10

    The psalmist wore himself out praying to the Lord. He did not give up. He continued to cry to the Lord, even as his troubles mounted. In the end, God heard his prayers and answered them. Let us follow the psalmist’s example and cry out to the Lord in our troubles. Let us turn to Him. He will hear our prayers and answer them. However, let us not forget to be listening so that when God answers our prayers we will hear Him.

Matthew 5:27-48

    Jesus continues His teachings about what it means to righteously keep the Law. It is not about obeying the letter of the Law. Rather it is about the spirit of the Law. The Law says that it is wrong to commit adultery. Jesus tells us that even looking at someone with lust is committing adultery. Both involve looking at others as mere objects to satisfy our desires. Jesus goes on to say that even though the Law says a man may divorce his wife by giving her a letter saying so, it is wrong to do so. If a man divorces his wife, he causes her to commit adultery. These two teachings taken together set a very high bar for sexual fidelity. They also set a standard for Christians on sexual behavior. If the Church had held itself to these standards, we would not be having the conversation with society about “gay marriage”.
    Jesus goes on to teach about the honesty, justice, and love. Jesus tells us that if we do not lie, ever, there is no need to take vows to support what we say. If people can trust that every time we answer a question our answer is the truth to the best of our knowledge, they will not need to ask us to take an oath that we are telling the truth. Further, if we are willing to lie in the first place, why should they believe our oath that this time we are telling the truth?
    The next teaching is one of the hardest: “do not resist an evil person.” There is more to it than this, but part of what Jesus is saying here is that we should not let others provoke us. Let them continue to abuse us rather than rise to the bait, but make it obvious. His instructions here are more than just not retaliating. Jesus tells us that if someone strikes us on the cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone forces us to carry their burden one mile, carry it two. I have a situation I deal with where someone I work with frequently tries to get me angry so that I respond defensively and attempt to strike back at his accusations. I need to learn not to rise to his bait.
    Jesus tells us that it is not enough to love our neighbors, we need to also love our enemies. It is important to remember that love is not just an emotion. It involves action. If we love someone we will actively work to promote their well-being. That is a very difficult thing to do. It is so easy to passively stand aside and allow our enemies to suffer harm. Jesus tells us that if we can, we should take action to prevent that harm.

Genesis 13:5-15:21

    When Abram and Lot arrived in Canaan they soon ran into a problem. Their herds were too big to share the same pastures. As a result, their herdsman were in constant conflict. Abram sought a solution and suggested to Lot that they separate. Each going their own way. Abram gave Lot first choice. Lot chose the territory that appeared to be better land. As a result of his choice, Lot ended up getting caught up in a war and taken captive. In the meantime Abram had prospered and formed alliances. He was no caught up in the war, but was able to launch a retaliatory raid to rescue Lot. It is important to realize that the consequences of our choices are not always apparent when we make those choices.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 1:24-28

    Wisdom is there for us if we are willing to listen. If we seek wisdom, we will find it. However, it is too late to seek wisdom once things have gone wrong. If we wait until we are in trouble to seek wisdom, no amount of wisdom will allow us to escape our problems. Seek to act wisely before things go wrong, otherwise it will be too late.

Psalm 5:1-12

    If we wish for God to hear our prayers and listen to our cries we must be sure to pray to no one, and nothing, but Him. He takes no pleasure in wickedness and will not tolerate sin, neither should we. I was going somewhere else with this, but that caught my attention. In our world today there is a lot of talk about tolerance, and the importance of being tolerant. There is something to that. We should be tolerant of others. However, we should not be tolerant of sin.
    Back to discussing how this psalm applies to our lives: God will destroy those who tell lies and detests murderers and deceivers. If we do not put such things away from us we will be unable to approach God. Fortunately, because of God’s great love we can enter His House and worship Him. And verse 8 will be my prayer:

Lead me in the right path, O Lord,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Make your way plain for me to follow.
I struggle to see the path which God wants me to follow, but I know that He will make it plain to me if I but trust Him. God will drive away those who are too proud to admit their sins and turn to Him. But He will spread His protection over those who turn to Him for refuge. I will sing joyful songs of praise to Him.

Matthew 5:1-26

    This passage contains the Beatitudes and I am not going to write much about them today. Except to say that I like the way the NLT translates them as a change of pace from the way we usually read them, “God blesses…”. It reminds us that all blessings come from God. However, I generally prefer the traditional way of translating them, “Blessed are…” because it reminds us that being blessed for those things is built into the Universe.
    What I really want to focus on are the teachings which come after the Beatitudes. Jesus uses the example of salt for how we should live several times. It really is a great metaphor for being a Christian. If we, as Christians, are not different from those around us, what good are we? But it is not enough to be different. We need to be different in a way which transforms the people around us into something better than they would be otherwise. You should observe your non-Christian acquaintances behaving in a better, more “Christian”, way the more time they spend with you. This will only happen if you are open about your faith and how it governs your behavior. In order to maintain our “saltiness” we must let our light shine. We cannot serve the Lord by hiding that we seek to serve the Lord.
    Jesus goes on to tell us that the Law of Moses is not going away. God’s basic laws are here to stay and if we want to have a good life we need to follow them. Those laws exist for a reason and ignoring them because we don’t like them will end no better than ignoring the oil in our car because we don’t like it. However, we cannot obtain righteousness by making a big show about how much better we are than others. The purpose of the law is not to distinguish who is better than who. Rather the purpose of the law is to teach us how to have a good life and avoid pitfalls and unhappiness.
    Finally for today, Jesus gives an example of what He means about the Law. The Law says that someone who kills someone else is subject to judgement. Jesus tells us that if we allow our anger to control our actions we are no better than a murderer. If we are in the midst of worshiping God, or anything else, and realize that someone has a gripe with us, we are to drop what we are doing and go resolve the issue.

Genesis 11-13:4

    I have heard many interpretations of the story about the Tower of Babel. Several of them made good sense to me. However today when I read it two things struck me (I find it interesting that I seem to usually break things down into two parts). The first thing is that if people work together and communicate with each other effectively, they can accomplish anything to which they set themselves. That looks like two things, but they are really two parts of the same thing. A group will not remain united if its members do not communicate with each other. Nor will its members continue to communicate with each other if they stop being united in purpose.
    The second, and more important, lesson is that if we attempt to do this without putting God at the center, our communication and unity will fail. If our focus is not on serving God, no matter what other common goal we share, we will seek to advance OUR understanding of that goal and OUR personal interests, rather than the goal as shared by everyone. As that happens we will start to interpret what others say as agreeing with our understanding, rather than actually listen to what they say. In addition, we will start to word what we say so as to disguise how what we say goes against what the other person wants.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 1:20-23

    Wisdom is there to be found by any who seek her. It is not hidden and we do not have to go to far away exotic places to find it. Wisdom is there in our every day life just waiting for us to pay attention. No one is condemned to remaining foolish unless they choose to be so. It is up to us, we can choose to listen to wisdom or choose to ignore it.

Psalm 4:1-8

    The psalmist calls out to God when he needs relief from his troubles. He reminds us that God sets aside His faithful servants. Let us stop turning God’s glory into shame. It is time to give up delusions and false gods, those things which promise to give us what we want if only we turn to them rather than God. I will spend my nights searching my heart and seeking how I can better serve God tomorrow, rather than let my mind wander on to how I can satisfy my own pleasure.
    The people of this world are seeking to follow the one who will give them prosperity and worldly pleasures. I will follow God because the joy of doing His will is greater than what I can get from material things. I will not let prosperity nor poverty distract me from seeking God’s face.

Matthew 4:12-25

    As I read the passage today, I saw something that had never really registered before. The passage tells us that when Jesus heard that Herod had arrested John the Baptist, He left Judea (where Herod ruled). I had read that before, but it was always just a comment about the order in which things happened. However, today I realized that Jesus left Judea because He (and probably His disciples) thought that Herod might follow up the arrest of John the Baptist by arresting Him. This tells us more than just that. Why would Jesus (and others) think that Herod might follow up John’s arrest by arresting Jesus? The answer is because people at the time viewed Jesus as being a leader of the same movement of which John was also a leader. There are other indications later in the New Testament that suggest that the followers of Jesus and the followers of John the Baptist considered themselves part of the same movement well after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Genesis 8-10:32

    Five months after the flood began, the Ark came to rest. It was another two and a half months before other mountain tops became visible. After forty more days, Noah released birds to see if there was dry ground. Seven days later, he released a dove. This dove did not return until the end of the day. When it returned it was carrying an olive branch. After another seven days, Noah released the dove again. This time it did not come back. At this point, Noah has been in the Ark, with his wife, three sons, and their wives (and maybe grandchildren) for over nine months. The passage tells us that Noah stayed in the Ark for over a year, until God told him it was time to leave it. I am not sure I would have been able to wait any longer after I saw that the ground was basically dry at around ten months. This passage reminds us of the importance of patience and waiting until God tells us that it is time to act.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 1:10-19

    The writer warns us against those who see easy money in taking advantage of the innocent or unwary. They may seem like easy prey, but not everyone who appears to be unwary is the easy mark they appear. Those who seek to ambush the unwary will, sooner or later, find themselves caught in the trap they laid for others.

Psalm 3:1-8

    Our enemies may say that God will not rescue us, but we can sleep safely in the knowledge that He will indeed do so. I will put my trust in God and seek to allow His Spirit to guide my actions. Then I will be confident that He will rescue me from all dangers.

Matthew 3:7-4:11

    When the religious leaders came to where John was baptizing, perhaps to be baptized (the text is unclear), John called them out. They had not come in response to his message. Rather they had come in order to feel superior to those they felt needed to heed his message. They did not need to repent, they were teachers of the law. John was having none of it. They were not better than anyone else and their heritage would not save them.
    When we read this we often think of the Pharisees and the Sadducees as the hypocritically religious. That is not wrong, but there are others who are not traditionally religious who fall into the same category. The Pharisees and the Sadducees thought they were better than everyone else. They felt that the “common people” should listen to them and run their lives according to the rules which they, the Pharisees and Sadducees, laid down. But those rules did not really apply to them. Oh, it was important to put on the appearance of obeying the rules, but they did not have to actually follow them, just appear to do so.
    You can spend a lot of time trying to figure out who the Pharisees and Sadducees of today are. I will tell you the only important question to ask yourself: Am I a Pharisee or a Sadducee? If your response to that question is, “Oh no, I am much better than they were.” you are one of them. If on the other hand, you read the passages and either wish you had it that together (even with the condemnation they receive), or worry that you are one of them, you are, at least, on the path to NOT being one of them. I talk with someone from time to time who spends a lot of time identifying who the modern Pharisees are, the thing is, it is always some group with which he disagrees. When he does that, I always get the feeling that he is being one of them.

Genesis 5-7:24

    We have here the account of Noah building the Ark to prepare for the flood and then of the flood itself. I remember that as I was growing up, and since, hearing Noah described as a man who stood up in the face of ridicule for following God. As I read this passage today I realized that there is nothing in this story to make us think that anyone took any particular note of what he was doing. I actually think it likely that Noah was off somewhere away from everyone else, except for his family. How else was he able to get two of every type of wild animal. In addition, if he was around other people, they would want to know what he was doing. When he told them, most of them would have laughed at him, but some would have wanted to stop him and made efforts to destroy the Ark before it was completed.