For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 11:5-6

    If you are honest and upright your path will be clear. Those who attempt to get ahead by lies and deceit will find themselves under ever heavier burdens.

Psalm 54:1-7

    I will put my trust in God. He is my helper who rescues me when trouble abounds. I will make offerings to Him, not in an attempt to bribe Him, but as a statement of thanksgiving. I have nothing to give God that was not already His. I will offer it back to Him because I am grateful for all that He has done for me.

Mark 15:1-47

    When Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews, he expected Jesus to make some grand pronouncement, perhaps about how the people would rise up to avenge His death. Instead Jesus responded with what was essentially a shrug. When the crowd arrived to ask/demand that Pilate release a prisoner as had become his tradition, he was reminded of the throngs which had followed Jesus into the city the previous week. He expected this crowd to ask for Jesus’ release. He was caught by surprise at their refusal and demand that Jesus be crucified. He didn’t really care, so he took the course of least resistance.
    If it was not for the way the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes the connection to Psalm 22 I do not know if I would have noticed them here. Nevertheless there are clear references to Psalm 22. There is the obvious one when Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”. But there is also the reference to the soldiers dividing His clothes and dicing for them. There is also the reference to the crowd mocking Him and saying that He should save Himself in terms very reminiscent of the psalm.
    Marks account of the Roman officer reacting to Jesus death is even more striking than in Matthew or Luke. This soldier would have seen Jesus before Pilate and when the soldiers had mocked Him before bringing Him out to be crucified. The officer made his statement based on how Jesus behaved all through this day. Do we conduct ourselves in such a manner when we face trouble that people see God in us?

Numbers 15:17-16:40

    There is a bit of simple politics in all of the times when Moses’ authority was challenged, but Korah’s is the most blatantly so. Korah used his position as a leader among the Levites to attempt to acquire more. Korah questioned Moses’ right to stand in authority over other Israelites, yet strove to use his standing as a Levite to stand above them.
    Korah made some legitimate points when he asked why Moses had authority over others. However, he made it clear that he was not really looking for an answer to that question. Rather Korah was questioning Moses’ authority in order to take it for himself. It is not inappropriate to question authority and to hold those with authority accountable. However, when we attempt to use holding authority accountable as an excuse to not be held accountable ourselves, we risk being judged by God.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 11:1-3

    I am a firm believer that those who choose to deal with others honestly and fairly will do better in the long run than those who use deceit and false measures in an attempt to gain advantage. Good people allow honesty to guide them. They choose their actions and their words so that they can honestly answer when questioned. Those who are treacherous and choose dishonesty will find that the lies they told to save themselves bring about their downfall.

Psalm 52:1-9

    Knowing that this psalm is about Doeg the Edomite, who killed the priest (and his relatives) who unknowingly helped David when David fled King Saul really sheds a light on its meaning. I have known people like Doeg, and like that described in the psalm, people who brag about doing wrong. The psalmist is correct. God will strike them down, making them an example of what happens to those who trust in their wealth and power rather than God. Meanwhile those who trust in God will thrive.

Mark 14:22-52

    Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is another model for us when we pray. He asked God to rescue Him from the suffering He knew was about to come. However, He also prayed that God’s will be done, not His own. When we pray we should similarly seek that God’s will be done, not our own. The key is not the words, but the attitude. Jesus knew that He was about to face excruciating suffering. He did not want to face that suffering and asked God to take it from Him. Yet, if that was God’s will Jesus was willing to face it. That is the difficult thing for me, being willing to face excruciating suffering if that is God’s will.

Numbers 11:24-13:33

    We have two more examples of ways in which it is possible to resist God’s will. The first is Aaron’s and Miriam’s jealousy about Moses’ position. They thought that they should have a coequal role with Moses in making decisions. God clearly demonstrates that He has chosen Moses as His primary spokesperson. The passage suggests that Moses was too humble to confront them himself. There are two ways to look at this. The problem with Aaron and Miriam arose because Moses did not assert himself sufficiently in the role which God had given him. Or, Moses was correct in leaving it to God to sort out when Aaron and Miriam asserted their equal authority with Moses. I would suggest that the latter is the lesson we should learn from this. It was not up to Moses to assert his authority over others. It was better to allow God to demonstrate who had God-given authority in this situation. If Moses had chosen to assert his authority, the decision would have come down to who had the greater force of personality (and could have led to ongoing attempts by Aaron and Miriam to reverse the situation).
    The second example of resisting God’s will was the report given by most of the returning spies. The people were stirred up by the reports of how powerful the people living in the land were. This in itself was not the problem. However, when Caleb attempted to convince the people that they could be victorious, the other spies argued that they could not take the land. The other spies were realistic, but had failed to exhibit faith. The question that they did not ask was, “Is it God’s will that we take the land?” It is valuable to make a realistic assessment of the obstacles in our path. However, we need to recognize that if the task is one that it is God’s will we undertake, our success, or failure is in His hands.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 10:31-32

    Read this proverb, then think about what you say. Is what you say helpful and wise? Or are your words perverse and destructive? The words we speak come from within our hearts. They are what determine if we are clean or unclean. Therefore choose your words carefully.

Psalm 51:1-19

    I will cry out to God for mercy, for I have sinned. But if God will purify me from my sins, then, and only then, I will be clean. There are several parts of this psalm which have been used in hymns and songs of praise. Perhaps the most insightful part of the psalm is verses 12 & 13:

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
If we confess our sins and admit that it is only by the action of God that we obey His commands, then we can teach His ways to those who have rejected Him. That is when sinners will listen to us preach the Gospel and return to God. We do not convince others to follow God by pretending that we think we are better than they. Let us admit to them that we have sinned against God and it is only because of His unfailing love that He cleansed us.

Mark 14:1-21

    I always struggle with identifying the lesson of the story about the woman who anointed Jesus. My struggle is not because I have a problem with the story, but because I am not quite sure what the message is. I will take a shot at expressing what my thoughts on it are today.
    I think the message of this story is that it is never a bad thing to do something nice for someone. Even if the money so spent could have been used in other, “better” ways. As I think about it, I think it fits in with my thoughts about understanding what Jesus means when He tells us that the first shall be last and the last first. We need to allow others to do things for us. If someone chooses to honour us in some way, we should not refuse to accept the honour. On the other side, we should honour those who do the Lord’s work and hold them up as examples. We should do nice things for them to show our appreciation for their sacrifice.

Numbers 10-11:23

    When I first read through this I thought I was going to write about the silver trumpets, but I was unable to get those initial thoughts to come together into a comprehensible whole. However, as I read through the passage again I saw something else I have rarely thought about in the context of this passage. The Israelites began to complain about their hardships and difficulties. They forgot how much better they had it than when they were slaves in Egypt. It is one thing to crave treats and luxuries. It is another to complain because God does not provide us with such things…especially when He has saved us from a situation much worse than merely being bored by the food we have to eat. It is OK to desire small luxuries, but we should learn to be content that our needs are being met.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 10:29-30

    Those with integrity can rely on God’s directions and instructions to show them how to live safely and security. On the other hand those same directions and instructions are an obstacle and detriment to those who do evil.

Psalm 50:1-23

    The psalmist says it much better than I ever could. God does not need, nor does He want, our material possessions. He wants us to be thankful for all that He has done for us and for us to obey His decrees as we have promised. The wicked may pretend to care about doing what is good and right, but God knows the truth. They may think that He will not hold them accountable, but God is merely giving them time to repent and turn from their wickedness.

Mark 13:14-37

    Jesus continues His prediction about the destruction of the Temple and the end times. This account is in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). When I was growing up in the 1970s people in the Church spent a lot of time reading this passage and other prophecies of the end times trying to figure out when Jesus would return. My father spent a lot of time studying Scriptures about the end times, but he always pointed out to those who thought they had it figured out that all three Synoptic Gospels quote Jesus as saying that no one knows the day or the hour. Over time all of those who made predictions about when Jesus would return were discredited and people in the Church lost interest in studying about the end times (the economic recovery of the 1980s and the end of the Cold War contributed to that loss of interest). Over the last few years I have begun to feel like the Church is not spending enough time studying the end time prophecies in the Bible.
    Today as I read this passage it struck me that the root of that concern is addressed here. Jesus tells us that we should learn a lesson from the fig tree. When it begins to sprout leaves we know that summer is near. In the same way when we see the sorts of things Jesus prophesied about the end times (and that are recorded elsewhere in the Scripture) we know that His return is near. Taken by itself that statement does not sound like an imperative command. However, as soon as He finished that prophecy Jesus told a parable about His return. As part of that parable He tells us that we must keep watch because we do not know when He will return. We have been given tasks to complete before His return, we need to have a sense of urgency about completing those tasks. One way to gain that sense of urgency is to study the prophesies of the End Times and realize how many of them are being fulfilled today. Time is running out, are we going to complete the tasks we have been assigned?

Numbers 8-9:23

    A year after leaving Egypt the people of Israel celebrated the Passover a second time. Only those who were ceremonial clean were allowed to take part in the celebration. Some of those who were ceremonially unclean came to Moses and asked why they should be prevented from celebrating this feast. Moses’ answer was that if someone was ceremonially unclean, or on a journey to a foreign land, they could celebrate the Passover after their time of purification, or upon their return. This provides us with an example that our focus should not be on the calendar, but rather on the meaning of the celebration.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 10:27-28

    If you truly fear the Lord you will live a godly life. Striving to lead a godly life causes one to avoid behaviors which shorten your life and to engage in behaviors which extend it. The wicked do the opposite. I feel like when I write these things about the proverbs that what I am writing is just restating what the writer said. Then I realize that in the past I had read these as “magical” formulas. If you did as God desired, He would magically extend your life and if you were wicked He would magically shorten your life. The proverb writer is not writing about anything magical, or even miraculous. It is just the way the world works.

Psalm 49:1-20

    We need not fear when enemies surround us. They may trust in their wealth, but I will trust in God. No matter how wealthy someone is, they will die. Their wealth will not buy them an escape from the grave. Our only hope to escape from the grave is God. He is capable, and willing, to ransom from the grave those who please Him. Those with great wealth may build monuments to their name, but in time even those will fade away.
    There is no reason to be dismayed when the wicked grow wealthy. Their time will come. Sooner or later they will die. They will take none of their wealth with them.

Mark 12:38-13:13

    I don’t think I ever noticed the connection between Jesus warning against the religious leaders’ actions and the widow’s donations before. Jesus warned His disciples to be wary of the religious leaders because they did things for show, to appear righteous, but out of the public eye they were willing to cheat those who could not fight back (in particular, widows). Then Jesus used one of those whom the religious leaders would cheat as an example of generous giving.
    Jesus tells us that we should be wary of those who put on a show of their righteousness and generosity. They are likely doing so to cover up their corruption and deceit. On the other hand He commends those who have little, but are willing to give what little they have in order to further God’s Kingdom. Is what we give to the Lord’s work out of our surplus? Or, are we willing to tighten our belts to further the Lord’s work and/or help others? There is nothing wrong in giving out of our surplus, but those we should commend and look up to are those who sacrifice in order to do God’s work.

Numbers 6-7:89

    The vow of the Nazirite is described in today’s passage. I am somewhat surprised that more attention is not paid to this vow. What is described here is not actually a specific vow. Rather it is a type of vow. Those who take this vow have determined to make some specific dedication to God. The passage does not say what type of thing would inspire someone to take a Nazirite vow. However, the accounts we have of people who lived by such vows suggest that it was likely some kind of act in service of God. For example, John the Baptist lived his whole life under like someone who had taken a Nazirite vow. When Paul was arrested in Jerusalem he was accompanying two men who had completed such a vow. Those who take such vows are making a very public statement that they are willing to sacrifice in order to serve God.