Tag Archives: Psalm 78:56-64

April 8, 2015 Bible Study — Decide For Yourself What Is Right

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 12:24

    The path to leadership is hard work. If you want to be a leader, work hard. Those who are lazy end up being forced to do work that few would choose for themselves.

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Psalm 78:56-64

    God is forgiving and will give us many opportunities to turn from our selfishness and rebellion. However, if we continue to rebel against Him our sins will eventually bring His judgment down upon us. This is true of us as individuals and as a people.

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Luke 12:35-59

    When Christ returns will He find us doing the work to which He called us? We do not know when Christ will return, therefore we must be prepared all of the time. I find it interesting that Jesus contrasts the faithful servant who feeds the other servants with the wicked servant who beats the other servants, feeds himself, and gets drunk. The lesson here is that we are either faithful servants who are providing for the needs of our fellow servants, or, we are evil servants who are abusing our fellow servants while satisfying our own wants.
    Jesus goes on from that to tell us that He did not come to bring peace on earth. Rather, He came to bring division. He tells us that families will be split apart over what they think of Him. He goes on to tell us that the source of this division is our unwillingness and/or inability to decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. I have read this passage many times and I do not think I ever noticed before that Jesus said that one of the reasons for our divisions was our failure to decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. This is an important point. We are not to rely on what a priest, or a pastor, or a reporter/commentator, or a politician (I could go on, but I think you get the point) tells us is the right thing or the wrong thing. We are supposed to listen to the Holy Spirit and figure it out for ourselves. He is not telling us that we should not listen to those people, but we should make up our own minds as to what is right and what is wrong.
    This can be easily interpreted as moral relativism, but Jesus is not saying that right and wrong are subjective. He is telling us that we cannot excuse our failure to do what is right by appealing to authority.

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Deuteronomy 32:28-52

    Moses promises that God will give justice to those who are His people, those who serve Him. He will extract vengeance against those who oppress His servants. We do not need to seek revenge for the harms we have suffered. God will pay back those who deserve it.

April 8, 2014 Bible Study — When My Master Returns, Will He Find Me Faithfully Carrying Out His Instructions?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 12:24

    The route to becoming a leader in any endeavor is to work hard at it. Those who work hard rise to positions of leadership, those who are lazy end up serving others.

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Psalm 78:56-64

    If we rebel against God time and again and worship things other than Him, His patience with us will run out and He will leave us to suffer the consequences of our actions.

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Luke 12:35-59

    Jesus warns us to be prepared for His return. We do not know when that day will be, but let us carry out His will every day until He arrives. I want Him to find me doing His work when He comes on that day. We must not allow the apparent delay in His return to make us complacent and lazy in doing the work which He has set for us.
    Jesus goes on to tell us that He did not come to bring unity, rather He came to divide people. Families will divide over His teachings. Each one of us must decide for himself what is right. We cannot just yield that judgment to some authority figure. We cannot go along with what others say is right just to avoid strife and division. Jesus has called us each to make our own judgment as to what is right. If we wish to be faithful servants of Christ, we cannot accept as right the beliefs of those who oppose Christ.

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Deuteronomy 32:28-52

    Moses’ song continues telling us that we are foolish and senseless. All too often we fail to heed God’s commands and despite our desire to serve Him we allow ourselves to fall into the hands of His enemies. Let us not seek to exact revenge from our enemies because God has reserved that right to Himself. When our strength is gone and we can no longer stand on our own, God will come and lift us up. He will support us. God will avenge those who have been oppressed. He will repay the oppressors for their actions. He will repay those who strike down His servants out of hate for Him. Let us rejoice because God will take vengeance against those who do evil. He will cleanse the land of evil and populate it with those who honour and serve Him.

April 8, 2013 Bible Study — Which Side Are We On?

     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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

More fencing in Schnecksville
More fencing in Schnecksville

Deuteronomy 32:28-52

     In today’s passage, Moses continues the song he taught the people of Israel. He says that despite suffering the results of their sins the people of Israel would continue to sin and to suffer. Yet the time would come when God would stop punishing His people and allowing their enemies to dominate them. God will repay those who hate him. He will punish those who persecute His servants. When Moses completes the song, God instructs him to go the Mount Nebo and look out across the land of Canaan, which God is giving to the people of Israel. There Moses will die and join his ancestors.

James plans his next move
James plans his next move

Luke 12:35-59

     Jesus tells His disciples to be ready and prepared for His return. We must be ready at all times because He will return at a time when He is least expected. Peter then asks Him if this illustration is just for the disciples or is it for everyone? Jesus’ answer is interesting. He tells Peter that a faithful, sensible servant will be given authority over other servants and responsibility for feeding them. He goes on to say that a servant who knows what the master wants and fails to do it will be punished more harshly than a servant who fails to do what the master wants because they did not know. Jesus concludes this teaching by telling His disciples that those to whom much has been given are expected to do more.
     Jesus then tells His disciples that He has come to bring a fire onto the earth, a fire that He wished was already burning. He goes on to say that He did not come to bring peace, but rather division. That families would be divided over Him, some would support Him and some oppose Him. I think what He is teaching here fits in with His earlier teachings where at one point He said that whoever is not against us is for us and elsewhere that whoever is not with us is against us. Everyone needs to make a choice as to what side they are on. Are they for Jesus or against Him?

Yet more fencing in Schnecksville
Yet more fencing in Schnecksville

Psalm 78:56-64

     The psalmist tells us that despite suffering the results of their sin the children of Israel continued in their rebellion against God. They turned to the worship of other gods, gods that had no power. In His anger God allowed their enemies to overrun them and kill them. Today’s psalm sums a common problem of the human condition, all too often we fail to learn from our mistakes and continue in the sins that got us into trouble in the first place.

Still more fencing in Schnecksville
Still more fencing in Schnecksville

Proverbs 12:24

     Those who work hard become leaders, those who are lazy are enslaved by others.