Tag Archives: Proverbs 18:14-15

Daily Bible Study

July 5, 2015 Bible Study — Victory Comes From God

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 18:14-15

    If you wish to understand how the world works you need to acquire knowledge. If you wish to follow the path of wisdom you will seek out knowledge. There is a corollary to this. As you acquire knowledge you will come to understand the world better and develop a desire to understand it even better. As you seek out knowledge you will gain wisdom, which will lead you to seek even more knowledge.

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Psalm 3:1-8

    As I read this I was reminded once more of what has been going on politically, and in the courts, in the U.S. recently. All too many Christians have been relying on Congress and the Supreme Court to save them. This psalm reminds us that victory comes from God. It is time to stop asking the courts and our government to save us from those who are enemies of our faith. It is time for us to turn to God for rescue. Our enemies may think that God will not act, that God cannot act, but they are mistaken. If we put our trust in Him, God will keep us safe from all of our enemies, no matter how badly they outnumber us.

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Acts 23:11-35

    When Paul’s enemies realized that they could not beat him in debate, they stirred up a riot to attempt to kill him. When that was broken up, they discovered that they could not defeat him in a legal setting, so they conspired to kill him. They even included some of the authorities in their plot. However, God did not wish Paul to die in this manner and arranged for their plot to be revealed. We will face similar plots, perhaps not to the extent of seeking our deaths. However, God will foil such plots until such a time as He can use them to advance His Kingdom. Let us put out trust in God and not fear those who can merely harm our bodies. They will have no power over us that is not given to them by God.

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1 Chronicles 1-2:17

    I always struggle with understanding the point of the genealogy at the beginning of the 1 Chronicles. I know there are those who find great meaning in them, but I rarely do. When I went back and read over it one more time, I had the thought, “What is the point of the list of kings of Edom?” It then occurred to me that at some point archeologists may discover inscriptions which place one or more of these kings into historical context.

Daily Bible Study

July 5, 2014 Bible Study — God Will Use Our Actions To Serve His Purposes

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Day lily (35)

Proverbs 18:14-15

    People can maintain a positive spirit even in sickness, but once one’s spirit has been crushed, everything is a trial and no joy can be found in anything.
    Those who are wise will always seek new knowledge wherever they can find it. Let us never be content that we know all that we need to know.

Day lily (36)

Psalm 3:1-8

    No matter how many enemies we have, no matter how hopeless our situation may seem,, if we cry out to God He will answer us. If we put our trust in God, we may lie down and sleep knowing that we will wake up in safety. If we serve God, it does not matter if we are surrounded by uncountable numbers of enemies He will bring us to victory. If we seek to do God’s will, we cannot fail.

Day lily (39)

Acts 23:11-35

    The night after Paul was taken into protective custody, God revealed to him that he would preach the Gospel in Rome. The next morning, some men who were angry with Paul and wanted to kill him made a plan to do so. Some of those in power in Jerusalem sympathized with their goal of killing Paul, but did not want to be directly implicated in his death (and did not have the power to carry it out directly). The two groups plotted together to come up with what they were sure was a full-proof plan to accomplish their goal. They failed because of circumstances outside of their control. No matter how well-connected, no matter how clever, those who seek to bring us harm are their plans will only be successful in furthering God’s agenda.
    Those who plotted against Paul, sought to stop him from preaching the Gospel message. However, rather than doing so, they actually facilitated him preaching the Gospel to those to whom he would otherwise never have had the opportunity to preach.

Day lily (40)

1 Chronicles 1-2:17

    As I was reading this listing of genealogy, I was struck by verse 10:

Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, who was the first heroic warrior on earth.

The NIV says the Nimrod “became a mighty warrior on earth.” And the New American Standard Version says that “he began to be a mighty one in the earth.” In Genesis we are told that Nimrod was the founder(or at least an early ruler of) Babylon. In addition, Genesis tells us that Nimrod founded the city of Nineveh. This reference to Nimrod is a foreshadowing of the fall of both the Northern Kingdom to Assyria and the Southern Kingdom to Babylon.

Daily Bible Study

July 5, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

1 Chronicles 1-2:17

     This passage is part of why I started this blog. I really have trouble reading passages like this and getting anything out of them. Yet, from time to time, I will hear a sermon preached where the speaker draws some important lesson out of a passage like this. The passage starts by giving the lineage from Adam to Noah, with no side branches, which makes sense since only descendants of Noah are alive today. Then the passage lists descendants of each of Noah’s sons. Interestingly, there is very little detail on the descendants of Japheth. There is significantly more detail on the descendants of Ham and what peoples descended from Ham. Finally there is Shem. Here there is little more detail than for the descendants of Japheth, except for the branch that leads to Abraham. Here it gives a straight line to Abraham except for three side lines. We are given all of the sons of Shem. We are told the descendants of one of the sons of Shem who was not an ancestor of Abraham. And we are told the descendants of Joktan who is midway between Noah and Abraham, but not an ancestor of Abraham.
     Next we are told of Abraham’s sons, with a little detail given on his sons other than Isaac. This is followed by some detail on the descendants of Esau, who were the Edomites. Finally the passage closes with information on the descendants of Judah leading to David.

Acts 23:11-35

     The passage starts by telling us about the vision Paul had the night after he spoke to the Sanhedrin. In the vision, Paul is told that he will preach the Gospel in Rome. The day after Paul appeared before the Sanhedrin a group of forty men took an oath to kill Paul. They conspired with the leaders of the Sanhedrin to get the Roman commander to bring Paul out of the fortress to appear before the Sanhedrin again. However, Paul’s nephew overheard their plans and went to tell Paul. When Paul heard of the plot, he sent his nephew to the commander. When the commander heard of the plot, he immediately sent Paul to Governor Felix (I’ve always liked that name, probably because of the Felix the Cat cartoon) in Caesarea with a strong escort. The commander writes a letter to the governor laying out the circumstances of Paul’s imprisonment.

Psalm 3:1-8

     This psalm is written about David’s thoughts when he fled from his son Absalom. The vast majority was sure that he would suffer defeat. He tells us that even when defeat seems sure, if we turn to God, He will rescue us. We need not fear any number of enemies when we put our faith in God.

Proverbs 18:14-15

     The first proverb tells us that when the body is sick, one can soldier on, but when the spirit is crushed, people become overwhelmed. No one commits suicide because they are sick, they commit suicide because their spirit is broken.
     The key to intelligence is being willing to learn. There are many who believe that intelligence is an inborn characteristic and there may be something to that. But more important than any inborn gifts is the desire and willingness to learn. I have known people who during their school years were always in the advanced classes, but in adulthood gradually seemed to become progressively more stupid. On the other hand, I have known people who were in the slow classes in school, for good reason, who as they got older seemed to get smarter and smarter. The former were those who, as they got older, became convinced that they had learned everything they needed to know. The latter were people who, despite how much effort it took them to learn anything new, were always seeking to master new knowledge. The proverb tells us that the intelligent are always listening for new knowledge.