For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    I don’t think there is any way to say it any clearer than the proverb writer. Righteous living is rewarded with life. Wicked actions are rewarded with more sin and ultimately with death.

    Those who are kind to the poor will be rewarded. God will rescue them when they are in trouble. If we use what God has blessed us with to aid those who are struggling in life we will live safe and secure. Let us turn to God and confess our sins when troubles strike. Even if everyone else betrays our trust, God will judge us fairly.

    Once more Jesus asked His disciples to feed a large crowd and once more they asked how they can feed this many people. It had not been that long since they witnessed Jesus feed the five thousand. In the meantime they had witnessed Jesus perform many other miracles. If the disciples, who were with Jesus every day, struggled to understand the power He commanded (and which He had delegated to them), is it any wonder that we have trouble believing that He can work such miracles through us?
    On the other hand, we do have the writings telling us of these things. There is something to be said for being able to read about what Jesus did. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to do any better. We can read about all of the miraculous things which Jesus did, and we can read about how He promised that His followers would be able to do even more. Yet we still find it difficult to believe that God will perform such miracles through us.

    The beginning of this passage says that “On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves.” The translation notes say that could be translated as “you must fast.” This is a reminder to me that I do not fast enough, nor do I deny myself in other ways enough. There is spiritual and physical benefits from fasting and other forms of self-denial. From time to time I have attempted to learn the spiritual discipline of fasting. It is one of two ways in which I am still struggling with my spiritual life. I do not pray as much as I should, and I do not fast (occasionally I will fast for half a day, but that is not really fasting). I will continue to strive to learn to do this, but I have never been very good at self-denial of any sort.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The godly use their words to provide healing and help others make their lives better. The wicked use their words to conceal their intentions and to distract people from their violent actions. How do you and I use our words?
    The second part of this proverb gives us a good tool to analyze our actions. If you find yourself arguing and quarreling all of the time, it is a safe bet that you are not acting in love. Rather, you are allowing hate to control your life. Those who are acting in love let offenses pass. As I wrote this I realized it tells us a lot about some people in society today. Those who are easily offended by what others do and say are allowing hatred to rule their lives.

    This is another one of those psalms which I see as expressing my thoughts about God so well. First it tells what I have experienced:

    I do not think that I ever noticed before that Jesus lead the disciples off to a secluded place right after the Twelve returned from their ministry tour. This suggests that the preaching of the Twelve had increased the interest in what Jesus had to say. Reading this today it made me reconsider my thoughts about mega-churches. I have never been a fan of such congregations. I feel that we should be part of a group where we can recognize that someone is a newcomer. However, it is clear that Jesus attracted huge crowds, which tells me that there is a place for such things.
    When the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away so that they could go get something to eat (did they perhaps say this because they themselves wanted to eat and did not have enough to share with everyone?), He told them to feed the crowd themselves. The disciples response was that they could not afford to do so. Not only did they not have enough money to do so, but they would have to work for months to earn enough money to do so. The lesson of this story is that where there is a need, we should share what we have and count on God to provide.
    It is worth noting that Jesus did not do this in a quiet way. First, He had the whole crowd sit down in groups. Then in front of the entire crowd He took the five loaves and two fish, blessed them, then broke them and distributed them to the disciples to give to the crowd. Everyone saw what He was doing, and how little food He started with.
    The passage tells us that the disciples were amazed when Jesus walked on water and stilled the winds because they did not understand the significance of the feeding of the five thousand. I think that we struggle with the significance of the feeding of the five thousand today. Certainly, part of the significance is in the title of today’s blog: “Share what you have, God will provide.” There is more to it than the way we normally interpret that. God will provide in ways which defy our understanding of the laws of nature.

    I am still struggling with these passages in Leviticus. I really believe that there are things here that make them worth reading over and over, but I am having trouble seeing it right now. The one thing I saw in this was that we should express our gratefulness to God when we are healed from illness. Not just in a minor, personal way, but publicly and in an expressive manner.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The wise are happy to listen to what others have to say, in the hope that they might learn something. Fools are too busy telling everyone what they already know to learn anything new. The result is that the fools will fall flat on their faith, tripping over obstacles that others had tried to warn them of.
    Those who are clear and honest about their goals can walk safely, but those who dodge and weave in an attempt to conceal their intentions will be exposed for the liars they are.

    Let us confess our sins and acknowledge to ways in which our suffering is a result of those sins. It is only when we do so, and truly regret our sins, that we will be prepared to receive God’s healing. That healing may not come at once, but let us remain silent before God until He sends us that healing. Let us not complain when we suffer because of our own sins.

    In today’s passage we have two people who are desperate for Jesus’ healing power. We have a father who asked Jesus to heal his daughter and a woman who believed that just touching Jesus’ robe would bring her healing. The woman discovered that there is more to receiving healing from Jesus than just touching His robe and going on your way. Even though she just wanted to touch His robe and move on, healed, Jesus demonstrated that He truly cared about those He healed. Even if we do not ask for it, Jesus will take the time to acknowledge each and every person whose life He touches.
    Jairus was willing to face the ridicule of those around him to see his daughter healed. When the crowd laughed at Jesus, Jairus did not waiver. Even after it was reported to him that his daughter was dead, he continued to have faith that Jesus could heal her. Those who brought the news of her death told Jairus to stop bothering Jesus, there was nothing He could do now. Jesus told Jairus not to be afraid, to just have faith. That message is for us as well. In the face of death, we need not fear, we just need to have faith.

    This passage contains instructions regarding what food the Israelites were allowed to eat and how to treat a woman after childbirth. It was not a revelation to me that the food rules were common sense instructions on how to avoid sickness. With a little thought it becomes clear that the instructions on what animals to eat, or not eat, and on handling the dead bodies of such animals, are health related. There may be exceptions, but there are many animals that fit the description of those they were not allowed to eat that present health risks if eaten.
    The thing that caught my attention was that, by declaring a woman “unclean” for a period of time after childbirth, this passage gives a new mother time to rest and recover from childbirth AND time to bond with her new baby. In addition, by giving extra time for the birth of a daughter, the passage encourages a mother to spend more time with a daughter than with a son. This is significant in a society which often held women and girls as of less value than men and boys.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The godly will be blessed by everyone except for the wicked who will say one thing (something good), but do another(something evil and violent). People will have fond memories of the godly, but will only remember the wicked in order to curse them once more.

    The psalmist reminds us that the godly teach right from wrong. The thing about this is that in order to teach right from wrong you need to know right from wrong and in order to know right from wrong you need to believe that there is a right and wrong. I will put my hope in the Lord and He will show me right from wrong. Then, perhaps one day, I will be able to teach that to someone else.

    Yesterday I talked about the seeds in the parable of the sower. There I talked about how we do not know what tools God may use to break up the hard ground of someone’s heart. Today’s passage talks about how a farmer scatters seed and the seed grows without any further intervention from the farmer. The farmer does not need to understand how the seed sprouts and turns into a plant. It will do it whether he understands or not. In the same way, we do not need to understand how the Holy Spirit will use the “seed” of the Gospel message we shared with someone to change their hearts. Let us scatter the seed of the Gospel message to all around us, praying for the Spirit to nourish that seed and cause it to grow.

    On the very day when Aaron was ordained priest, and his sons along with him, two of his sons were killed for their failure to closely keep God’s commands. It is hard to imagine how difficult that must have been for Aaron. I struggle with finding meaning in this passage, but there is one thing that does come through clear. When the Bible talks about fearing God, it is not being figurative. We should fear God such that we are hesitant to do anything which we think might displease Him.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    I am not sure it is intended, but these two verses seem to connect laziness with wickedness and hard work with righteousness. This connection is not one-to-one (that is, not everyone who is lazy is wicked and not everyone who works hard is righteous) but there is definitely a link between these things. Oftentimes people resort to evil because they are unwilling to do the hard work necessary to acquire the things they want. On the other hand, part of being righteous is working hard so that we have the resources to meet the needs of those unable to supply for themselves.

    What an appropriate reminder this psalm is when the news is about the Christians who were killed for their faith in Libya.

Rather than turn from their rage, those who committed this act embraced it. They allowed their anger to dictate their actions and harm was the result. But God is in control and they will be destroyed. Let us not follow their example so as to not follow them to their end.

    C.S. Lewis wrote that when it comes to evaluating Jesus we have three choices. Either He was who He said He was, the Son of God, or, He was crazy, or, He was evil. In today’s passage we see that the writer of the Gospel of Mark thought the same way. He tells us that at one point Jesus’ family came to take Him away because they thought He was crazy. At about the same time, the teachers of religious law said that He was evil, possessed by the Devil.
    Jesus refuted both of these claims by pointing to the results of His actions. The first thing to remember about Jesus is that He claimed great power and authority. Jesus points out that the way to evaluate Him was to look at the results of His actions. If He was serving Satan, His actions would clearly result in greater evil. Instead His actions resulted in greater good. Further, anyone who was crazy would be unable to act in a manner which was consistently good. We would be able to see how His actions were erratic, sometimes healing, sometimes harming.
    Finally, Jesus points out that the greatest sin is attributing the actions of the Holy Spirit to evil intentions. Those who attribute the good actions they witness to the evil motives of those who perform them will never be able to see how the Hand of God works in the world. I frequently see people condemning actions which have good results because the person who performed those actions had “evil” intentions. Those same people will forgive actions which have terrible results because those who performed them had “good” intentions. It is important for us to recognize that when good things result, it is because of the actions of the Holy Spirit. If someone claims to have good intentions and the results of their actions are good, we should accept their claim and give glory to God.

    I have heard wonderful sermons preached from this passage and am always impressed by the insights gained about our lives today. However, when I read these passages today all I could think was about how hard it was to meet the sacrificial regulations of the old covenant.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    A father will be proud when his son demonstrates through his actions that he is wise. On the other hand the consequences of her son’s foolish actions will bring grief to a mother. It is not just the wisdom which brings joy to a father, nor the foolishness, in and of itself, which brings grief to a mother. Rather it is the results of these characteristics in their offspring which has the result the writer is talking about.

    The wicked do not fear God and in their arrogance are convinced that they are not truly wicked. The psalmist reminds us that no one truly believes that they are evil, no matter how dark the sins they commit. There are those who claim that they can be moral without believing in God. What they forget that if there is no God, there is no standard by which to declare one thing good and another evil.

    I have always been struck by the fact that Jesus spent time with sinners. This passage not only mentions it, but emphasizes it. Reading this passage it is clear that we are called to spend time with, and be friends with, those who are sinners. We are not going to convince those who think they are righteous that they need Jesus. Only those who know that they are sinners will be open to the Gospel message. Jesus let the sinners of His time know that He was not “too good” for them. We should live likewise.
    Today many people think that Christians are boring, wet blankets. It is clear that the sinners of Jesus’ day did not think that of Him. They invited Him to their parties and He went. No one invites a wet blanket to their parties, at least, not a second time. Yet it is clear from the Gospels that the partiers of Jesus’ day wanted to spend time with Jesus and wanted Him at their parties. They thought He was fun to be around. Do the “sinners” of today think that we are fun to be around? Do they want us at their parties?

    Under the old covenant, the procedure for receiving forgiveness for sin was a burnt offering. This is an example of the lengths people will go to obtain forgiveness from their sins. It gives an example of how psychologically difficult it is for us to accept God’s forgiveness and move on from our mistakes. Sometimes in the Church today we make forgiveness too cheap. We forget the point I made in yesterday’s study. Jesus calls us to go and sin no more. Sin is not something to be taken lightly. Yes, God will forgive us, but every sin we commit, no matter how minor, still damages us. Look at the effort the Israelites went to in order to receive God’s forgiveness. This was not because God was vengeful. Rather it was because it was a necessary reminder of how damaging sin is. The problem with such procedures is that they lead us to believe that we can “fix” the damage sin does. Only the Holy Spirit can repair the damage we do to ourselves when we sin.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Foolish behavior appeals to those who are ignorant (lacking in knowledge). Such behavior appears to offer sweet rewards, but it disguises the dangerous consequences of following its path. Those without foresight see only the short term advantage, neglecting to take into account the long-term results of their actions.

    This psalm reminds me of a passage from a book I read (although I no longer remember what book it was), “You can tell more about a person from his enemies than from his friends.” If the various people and groups who have set themselves up in opposition to someone are consistently evil, that someone is almost certainly doing good. If we have enemies like those described by the psalmist, who are treacherous and hate us without cause, who plot against innocent people who mind their own business, we can be sure that God will come to our defense. It may seem to take Him a long time, but He will do so.

    I am struck once again by the fact that Jesus healed many sick people who were brought to Him and cast demons out of the demon-possessed. The change in those He healed was sudden and dramatic. He told us elsewhere in the Gospels that we would perform similar miracles. Yet we rarely see such dramatic healing in the Church today (at least, not in the U.S.). I do not know why we do not see miraculous healing in the Church today, but at least part of the answer is that we do not expect to see such healing.
    Another thing that struck me as I read this was Jesus casting out demons. I am convinced that those we call mentally ill today would have been called demon-possessed in Jesus’ day. Whether the fist century understanding is more accurate than ours today, or vice versa, is really irrelevant. What is relevant was that Jesus was able to address those with these sorts of problems every bit as effectively as He was able to cure the physically sick. The Church today should be casting out “demons” from those suffering from such problems just as it should be curing the sick. In both cases, when we look at what Jesus did we see two important factors. The first is the actual removal of the infliction which the people were suffering from. The second was Jesus instruction to them to go, and sin no more. And perhaps this answers the question as to why we do not see more healing in the Church today. We do not put enough emphasis on the second. The Church spends a lot of time calling people to repentance and accepting God’s forgiveness, but not much time telling them to go and sin no more.

    The passage describes in detail the nature of the offerings which the Israelites were to present to God. When we offer something up to God it is to be the best of what we have, not something we weren’t going to use any way. When we give of our time it is not to be, “Well, I did not have anything else to do then, so I may as well give my time to God.” When we give money to God it is not to be, “Well, I have this money left over after I paid my bills and did the other things I really wanted to do.” Let us give to God from the best of what we have, not from what is left over.