For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 22:5-6

    Sin will lead us down a path with many painful obstacles and traps. If we value our lives we will avoid sin so as to avoid that path and those obstacles and traps.

Psalm 41:1-13

    God will protect and preserve those who care for the weak and the poor. When times of trouble come upon them, God will rescue them. If we have the integrity to admit our sins, both to ourselves and to God, He will heal us and protect us from our enemies. We will know that God is pleased with us by the fact that our enemies do not triumph over us. Let us praise God all the time in all we do.

2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11

    Paul had planned on visiting the Church in Corinth. However, he heard about the situation he wrote about in 1 Corinthians 5 and decided not to visit, instead he wrote them a letter. His decision here can be a lesson for us. Paul decided to write rather than visit. He knew that if he went to Corinth at that time, people would react defensively to what he had to say. By writing, he could choose his words with more care and people would need to think about what he had said before they could respond. If Paul had said what he had to say in person, he may not have worded it as carefully, and people would have responded out of how it made them feel before they had time to think about the merits of what he said. Let us remember the importance of thinking about our words before we speak them, or commit them to writing.
    Paul then addresses the issue he had written about. Once the sinner had repented of his sin, the Church should embrace him once more and welcome him back among them. We should lovingly discipline those who sin in the congregation, then forgive them and welcome them with open arms when they repent of their sins.

Job 23-27:23

    Job complains that he cannot find God to present himself before Him in order to make his case. Yet Job reminds us that if we listen to the words of God and store them in our minds, we will be able to stand before Him to face His judgement. Let us hold God’s words as more valuable than even food. Job wishes there were scheduled days of judgement when the wicked who oppress the weak and the powerless would face judgement for their actions. However, he recognizes that even so, God will bring judgement against them.
    Bildad responds to Job’s claims to innocence before God by asking rhetorically who can be truly right and good when confronted by the goodness of God. Bildad makes a good point here, however Job’s answer is one we should remember. How is pointing out their sinfulness comforting to someone who is suffering? There are times for pointing out someone’s sin to them, but that time is not when they are suffering (unless they are continuing to commit sins which are compounding their suffering). What is gained by pointing out to the man suffering and dying from AIDS that his previous actions led to his condition? Is it not better to seek to offer him what comfort we can?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 22:2-4

    No matter if we are rich or poor, God is our Creator. None of us can claim to have made ourselves, we are what God made us to be. If we are rich, let us use our riches to help those who are not. If we are poor, let us remember that the rich are no less God’s creatures than we.
    It is not cowardice, but wisdom, to take steps to mitigate risks. Only fools ignore the dangers and continue without altering their path. They will suffer the consequences.
    Those who fear the Lord are humble because they recognize that God is the source of all that is good.

Psalm 40:11-17

    Without God’s help our sins will overwhelm us. We need God’s grace and power to turn aside from our sins. However, those who seek God will rejoice and be glad as His power allows them to overcome sin and live righteously. If we yield to God’s power, those who wish to see us fail will be shamed.

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

    We will experience troubles and difficulties as we seek to follow God’s will. If we suffer for following Christ, suffering some of the same pain which He experienced, we will also experience the comfort and joy which He experienced. The troubles we experience, and the comfort God provides us from those troubles, allow us to comfort others who experience troubles. There will be times when the difficulties we face are greater than we can bear. When that happens we must turn our lives and troubles over to God, becoming fully dependent on Him. God will deliver us from troubles which are beyond our ability to cope, showing us that the tasks He sets before us can only be accomplished through His power, not by our own human strength.

Job 20-22:30

    Job’s friends became so caught up in convincing him that his suffering was a result of his sins that they forgot that the purpose of their visit was to bring him comfort. This is all too often a human failing. We become more interested in winning the argument than accomplishing the purpose that led us to make our original point. Let us keep our eye on the prize and remember that God will offer comfort in times of trouble to anyone who turns to Him. Let us do likewise.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 21:30-31

    No matter how well you know the situation, how wisely planned your actions, no matter how well-crafted and chosen your words, your plans will fail if they are counter to the will of God. We need to prepare for the battles we will face, but recognize that, no matter how well prepared, victory will only come if we are fighting on God’s side.

Psalm 39:1-13

    When we strive to avoid sinning by what we say, remaining silent is not an option. Let us speak only that which is good and cry out to God for His forgiveness and guidance. Our lives are short, we have but a little time to do God’s will, let us not waste it.

1 Corinthians 15:29-58

    Paul continues his arguments for believing in the resurrection of the dead. He points out that if we do not believe in the resurrection than we may as well live by the philosophy of “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” If this life is all that there is, we may as well seek all the pleasure we can find and put no effort into anything else.
    Paul then addresses another argument about the resurrection. When we are raised from the dead, our bodies will be different than the bodies we have on this earth. Our current bodies break down and decay, they are subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. However, the bodies we will have after the resurrection will be imperishable, no longer subject to breakdown and decay. It is when this transformation happens that Christ’s victory over death will be fully realized. We will see a place where death and decay no longer hold sway over life.

Job 12-15:35

    Job responds to the lectures he receives from his friends by reminding them that he knows what they know, that he is every bit their equal. He has seen what they have seen and understands what they have understood. He asks his friends to hear the arguments he would like to lay before God. Job tells them not to meet his arguments with lies and warns them that God will call them to account if they do.
    I always struggle with the middle portion of the book of Job. I know there are important things to be learned here, but it is hard to be sure what, since at the end of the book God confronts most of the characters in the book for what they said. However, today I noticed something important. Job warns his friends against lying in order to make the case against him. We should be careful not to ever attempt to make the case for God and the Gospel with things that are not true.
    When we come to offer comfort to those who are suffering, let us always be honest and truthful. We should not attempt to make them feel better by telling them things that are not true, nor should we attempt to convince them to accept the Gospel as a sure fire relief for their physical suffering. Further, we should not have the attitude that we are better than they or wiser than they. We are all equal before God. It is more important that we allow those who are suffering to express their pain and anguish than it is to offer them answers to their troubles.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 21:28-29

    These two parables are more closely linked than they at first appear. Those who rely on the word of the wicked will believe and testify to things which are not true, but those who listen carefully will be able to distinguish between the bravado of the wicked and the confidence of the righteous. The wicked will put up a false front while the righteous will think carefully before assessing a problem.

Psalm 38:1-22

    The psalmist recognizes that he is suffering because he sinned against God, but has turned back to God and begged His forgiveness. The wicked will seize upon our every misstep and attempt to use it against us in order to discredit whatever good we have done. If we confess our sins and turn to God, He will come to our rescue and aid us in accomplishing His will.

1 Corinthians 15:1-28

    In this passage Paul gives us the core of the Gospel message, without which everything else is worthless. Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day. If there is no resurrection from the dead than the Gospel message is null and void. If no one rises from the dead, than Jesus did not rise from the dead. If those who preached the Gospel from the beginning were lying about the resurrection, than they are liars, not teachers of a great moral philosophy. Moreover, while the message being taught by Paul and the Christian Church today has value to us in this life, if this life is all there is, it is a terrible tragedy to accept suffering in order to be faithful to the message.
    However, Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. As a result, all of those who worship and follow Him will be raised from the dead when He returns. When the time is fulfilled and everything has been made subject to Christ, He will make entropy (which is, in a way, another word for death) no more.

Job 8-11:20

    The book of Job is a great example of the importance of reading the Bible through regularly. Job’s friends say some things which have the ring of truth. Job’s friends repeatedly tell him that if only he would confess his sins and get right with God, all would be well. Certainly, it is good advice to tell someone to confess their sins and get right with God. However, Job repeatedly asks them to point out what sins he had committed. Job goes further and tells us that it is not possible for anyone to be truly righteous before God. Job asks the question that we all ask at some point, to one degree or another, wouldn’t we be better off if we were never born if we are going to suffer this much? This part of Job is the perfect counterpoint to the point which Paul was making about resurrection in today’s passage. Life is truly not worth living if this life is all that there is.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 21:25-26

    Lazy people are killed by their own desire. They do not wish to work in order to satisfy their desires and expect others to provide for them. The righteous work hard in order to give towards the needs of those who are unable to provide for themselves.

Psalm 37:12-29

    The wicked plot against the righteous and prepare their weapons in order to bring them down. However, the weapons of the wicked will be turned against them. The righteous may have little, but they are better off than the wicked with great wealth. The wealth and power of the wicked will not last, the Lord will strike them down. The only path to security is to follow the Lord. If we turn from sin and do good, God will bless us and keep us safe.

1 Corinthians 14:1-17

    Paul spends the entire passage explaining that while speaking in tongues (or as the NLV puts it “special sounds”) is valuable, it is much more valuable to speak in words which the audience can understand. There are times when the Holy Spirit leading us to express ourselves through words that neither we nor those around us can understand will lift us up and bring us closer to God. However, seeking out such experiences can interfere with us receiving guidance from the Spirit and imparting it to others. Let us accept speaking in tongues if the Spirit gives it to us, but let us seek the Spirit’s guidance in ways which we can comprehend and communicate with others.

Job 1-3:26

    Reading the introduction to Job reminds me of recent reinterpretations of the temperance movement. Many of the influential members of the 19th century temperance movement were industrialists who became quite wealthy. I have read in recent years the claim that they supported the temperance movement because having a sober workforce was good business. However, this overlooks the fact that many of those who opposed the temperance movement, who encouraged the poor working class to drink heavily, were also industrialists. The former left writings which indicated that they believed that if their workers remained sober, those workers would be able to better themselves. The latter left writings which indicated that if their workers remained sober they would leave their employ, increasing the industrialists costs as they sought replacements. The evidence suggests that the industrialists who supported the temperance movement early on did so because they were concerned for the well-being of their workers and became wealthy as a result (this changed as people began to see this result).
    Back to the Book of Job, Satan basically claimed that Job was only righteous because righteousness made him wealthy and if he lost his wealth he would abandon righteous behavior. When that did not happen, Satan claimed that Job was only righteous because he was healthy and if he lost his health he would abandon his righteous behavior. Job is a model for us. When his wealth was lost Job responded:

“Without clothing I was born from my mother, and without clothing I will return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Praise the name of the Lord.”
Then when he lost his health, he responded (I will use the NIV here), “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
Job’s response is that of those who are righteous because it is the right thing to do. Let us seek to so live our lives.