Tag Archives: 09/15/15 Bible Study

September 23, 2015 Bible Study — Happy Anniversary to My Lovely Wife

For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Today my wife and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. I am so grateful both to God and to her for these 15 wonderful years. I pray to God that we have many more together.

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Proverbs 23:29-35

    If you spend your time trying all the latest wines, beers, or mixed drinks, you will suffer for it. I don’t think there is anything I can say to add any clarity to what is said here.

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Psalm 67

    Yes, I will make this my prayer today. May God’s saving power be known to all people throughout the entire earth. May they come to know and praise God. Then, and only then, will there be peace on the earth.

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Ephesians 2

    None of us have any place to boast about our salvation. It was a free gift from God given to us when we were still enmeshed in sin. He did not give it to us as a reward for our righteous behavior, because if salvation was a reward for righteous behavior no one would receive it. No, God recreated us in, and through, Jesus so that we could do good things. The good things we do are not ours to boast of, rather they are God’s doing. I do not do good things because I am a good person. Rather the good things I do are a product of God’s Spirit working through me.
    God, having given us salvation, is now joining us together into a Temple in which He may live. The purpose of this unity is to bring glory to God. We are not called to unity to make people feel better about themselves. We are not even called to unity to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Those are both valuable things, when done in service to the purpose for which God is bringing us together. That purpose is to glorify God. We do not bring glory to God, by proclaiming that sinful behavior is not sinful. However, we need to remember that we are called to confront ALL sinful behavior, not just sinful behavior we find distasteful.

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Isaiah 41:17-43:13

    As I read Isaiah recounting God’s call for the idols to tell us what they had done long ago, I am reminded that scholars and archaeologists frequently question the historical accuracy of the accounts in the Bible. In the early nineteenth century, it was the accepted “truth” that the Assyrian Empire had never existed, that the Biblical writers had invented it to make points about God’s power. Even after the discovery of Nineveh there were those who questioned the accounts given here and elsewhere of the Assyrian siege and withdrawal from Jerusalem, but those have now been confirmed. The idols worshiped by the skeptics had failed to reveal what had happened long ago, just as God had said that they would. Yet the Bible told us of those events. There is a similar call for those idols to tell us what will happen in the future. Before 1948, those who do not accept the Bible and God’s power would have told you that Israel would never again exist in Palestine. Yet, here in Isaiah, God proclaimed that one day He would bring His people back to the land He had promised Abraham.

    There is another theme in this passage which I want to touch on because it struck me as I read this. At the beginning of Chapter 42, we are told of God’s chosen servant, who will not shout, or raise His voice in public. This is a prophecy about Jesus. However, I felt the Spirit talking to me. We are not called to shout, and scream, and stamp our feet. We are called to calmly, gently, and firmly work to bring justice.

September 15, 2015 Bible Study — What Are Your “Credentials”?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 23:13-14

    Parents, discipline your children. Corporal punishment will not kill them, and it may teach them a lesson which will save their life.

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Psalm 59

    Yes, each morning I will sing God’s praises. I will sing with joy about God’s unfailing love.

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Galatians 2:1-16

    Paul continues the argument he started in yesterday’s passage by pointing out that when his teachings were challenged by others, the Apostles sided with Paul. The point here being that Paul, having learned the Gospel primarily through studying Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit, had a better understanding of that Gospel than some people who had learned it by listening to the other Apostles teaching it. The lesson here is that listening to the Holy Spirit is more important than credentials. We in the Church have gotten too caught up with the idea that our pastors should have the correct credentials. Paul points out that even Peter, who was the first to recognize that the Gospel was meant for the Gentiles as well as the Jews, got caught up in the error being promulgated by the “credentialed” teachers.

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Isaiah 19-21

    Isaiah predicted in this passage that there would come a day when Egypt and Assyria would ally with Israel and worship the Lord. I believe that this prophecy will still come to pass.