For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 3:16-18

    Wisdom offers us a long life and wealth. They are ours to have if we embrace wisdom and hold to her tightly. This does not mean that everyone who is wealthy is wise, nor that everyone who is poor is foolish. Different people are called to different places in life and wisdom helps them make the most of the opportunities they are given.

Psalm 13:1-6

    Our troubles may make it seem as if God has forsaken us, but it is more likely that they are because we have forgotten Him. If we trust in His unfailing love, we will rejoice because He has rescued us. “I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me.” How true that is.

Matthew 10:24-11:6

    I never really thought about today’s passage in the context of discussions we often have about Church unity. In this passage Jesus tells us that if we love anyone or anything more than we love Jesus we are not worthy of Him. He says this right after telling us that He did not come to bring peace. In other words, if we love Church unity more than we love Christ, we are not worthy of being His Church.

    At the end of the passage, John the Baptist’s disciples approach Jesus and ask Him, on behalf of John, if He was the expected Messiah. Rather than directly answer their question, Jesus told them to tell John what they had heard and seen. He then summarizes what they would have seen: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and good news is preached to the poor. That is the standard we have to live up to, if the Church is not doing those things it is failing in its mission.

Genesis 31:17-32:12

    As soon as Laban learned that Jacob had left with his wives and flocks, he set out after him. From the description it appears that Laban intended to stop Jacob by force. However, the night before Laban overtook Jacob he received a dream warning to leave Jacob alone. Laban proceeded to claim that if Jacob had only told him he wanted to go he would have thrown a farewell party for him and sent him on his way. In their confrontation, Jacob once more gives credit to God for his success.
    Jacob goes on to meet his brother Esau. He makes all of the plans he can to ingratiate himself with Esau. He sends a gift flock on ahead of the rest of his flocks and family. He then divided his household into two groups, so that if Esau attacked one the other could possible escape. Yet after making all of his plans, he does not rely on his skill or planning. Rather he turns to God and asks for his protection. Let us follow his example and plan for the troubles we face in this life as best we can, but recognize that we depend on God for our safety.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 3:13-15

    Wisdom is more valuable than any treasure you can obtain, silver, gold, or jewels. Nothing on the face of this earth which you may desire is of more value than wisdom. Make gaining wisdom a higher priority than gaining anything else. There will be time enough for other things after you acquire wisdom, and even if there isn’t, you will be better off with wisdom than with those other things.

Psalm 12:1-8

    I read this psalm and it seems as if the psalmist is living today. It is a reminder that the Bible applies to us today as much as it did when it was written.

Matthew 10:1-23

    It is tempting to take Jesus’ instructions to the Twelve when He sent them out as THE model for evangelism. This would be a mistake, because Jesus gives different instructions for evangelism elsewhere. However, it is A model for evangelism. There are times and places where this is how we are called to preach the Gospel. There are however some things in Jesus’ instructions here which do apply to us in every circumstance.
    Jesus tells us that we are going out as sheep among wolves. Therefore we need to not be naive. We need to be aware that people are going to attempt to take advantage of us
and we should not let them do so. However, we can allow them to think that they are taking advantage of us. We should be aware of the ways in which people are attempting to manipulate us and not allow them to do so. However, there is we do not need to reveal that we know they are attempting to manipulate us until they try to get us to do something that does not fit in with our mission.
    Jesus goes on to tell us that we will be arrested and face persecution. We will be brought before judges and rulers. This will give us an opportunity to preach the Gospel to some who would not otherwise listen. When we are in that circumstance we should not worry about what we are going to say because the Holy Spirit will guide our words. I do not think Jesus is telling us not to plan out what to say when we know in advance that we are going to speak in front of a hostile audience. Rather, He is telling us not to worry about what to say when we are put on the spot. I know that on several occasions I have been in a circumstance where to this day the only explanation I have for the words I spoke was the Spirit of God (quoting verses I have never memorized, saying things I had not realized I believed, etc).

Genesis 30-31:16

    When Jacob decided, with God’s guidance, that it was time to leave Laban and return to Canaan, he did not claim that his wealth was the result of his hard work. Rather he credited God with being responsible for his success. Yes, Jacob claimed to have worked hard, but he acknowledged that all of his hard work would have been for naught if God had not aided him. Do we have a similar attitude? Are we willing to work hard in the knowledge that any success we have will nevertheless only come as a gift from God?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 3:11-12

    We should willingly accept it when God disciplines us. His correction and discipline is evidence of His love. If He did not love us He would allow us to continue in our sins until we destroyed ourselves with them. Instead, God disciplines us in an attempt to turn us from the path of destruction.

Psalm 11:1-7

    The psalmist makes a point that is easy to overlook because of his poetic language (well, at least, I overlooked it for years). If we truly mean it when we tell people to trust in the Lord, why would we warn them to flee to safety to avoid the actions of the wicked? Yes, the foundations of law and order in our society may have collapsed, but God still rules from His Temple. He still controls all that happens. Our society may have abandoned law and order, but God never will. If we put our trust in Him, He will provide for our safety.

Matthew 9:18-38

    Today’s passage contains three more stories about Jesus healing people. We have the synagogue leader’s daughter, the woman who has suffered for twelve years, and the two blind men. In each case the people approached Jesus because they believed that He could heal them. We have the synagogue leader, desperate for healing for his daughter, the woman, who merely wanted to touch His cloak, and the blind men, who wanted His mercy. In each case it was their faith that resulted in their healing. Yet we also have the story of the man who could not speak. He was brought to Jesus and we are told nothing about those who brought him.
    The synagogue leader was willing to face ridicule: the people laughed at Jesus when He arrived at the house. The woman was desperate for Jesus: she just wanted to touch His cloak. The two blind men wanted mercy: they had faith that Jesus’ mercy was all they needed. Let us follow their examples.
    As Jesus continued to travel, preaching and healing as He went, He saw how there were so many people with great needs. The needs were too great for one person to address, even if that person was Jesus Christ. He then tells His disciples, and through them, us, that the harvest, the work to be done, is great, but there are few workers. They, and we, are to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers. Every time I read this passage I am challenged. Yes, we are to pray for God to send more workers. However, we are also the workers whom God has sent in response to the prayers of those who went before. Are we doing the work for which we have been sent? What more should I, can I, be doing in order to bring in the harvest?

Genesis 28-29:35

    When Esau heard that his father had sent Jacob, his brother, away to their mother’s people to find a wife, he finally understood how much his father did not like his wives. So, he went and took one of his half-uncle Ishmael’s daughter as a third wife.
    As Jacob began his travels we can only imagine what he must have felt. He was leaving his father’s protection, traveling to live with relatives he had never met. In part he was making this trip because his twin brother wanted to kill him (with some justification). I doubt his emotions were positive. He was probably feeling a little lonely and fearful (perhaps even a lot). Then he had a dream where God promised to protect him and make him prosper. Reading this it seems like for the first time Jacob really thinks about God. How often are we surprised into the realization which Jacob came to when he awoke? “God is in this place and I wasn’t even aware of it.” Are we aware that God is living in our midst? How often do we think about where we live and work and think, “God is in this place”?

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.