Tag Archives: Religion

Daily Bible Study

October 26, 2021 Bible Study — Serve Others, Even Onto Death

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 9.

When Jesus predicted His death and resurrection the first time He also warned us that anyone who wants to be His follower must be willing to face death as well. Then when He predicted His death for the second time a short time later, He tells us that in order to be great among His followers we need to serve others.  I think this connection tells us something about the degree of sacrifice to which we should be willing to go in order to serve others.  In the first instance, Jesus tells us that if we fail to do as we know He wills because of fear, we will suffer that which we fear, but if we face our fears and do as God wills, even to the point of experiencing death, the joy we receive will be more than worth it, and God will reward us with eternal life.  A similar thing holds true when we serve others.  If we humbly serve others without thought to fulfilling our own desires, the honor and joy which God will bestow upon us will exceed anything pursuing our own desires could have obtained.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 25, 2021 Bible Study — The Demon-possessed Man Sought Out Jesus, Not The Other Way Around

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 8.

From time to time when I read the story about the demon possessed man on the opposite side of the lake from Galilee I am struck by the fact that he met Jesus when Jesus stepped off the boat.  So, Jesus did not go looking for him, he went to meet Jesus.  Then he demanded to know what Jesus wanted with him (OK, it was the demons which were possessing him, but my point still holds).   Jesus did not seek out the demon-possessed man to make him change, to drive out his demons, it was only after the demon-possessed man sought Him out that Jesus was able to help him.   While we are called to seek out the lost, there are some who can only be helped when they seek us out.  I have several friends who have chosen self-destructive lifestyles and this passage reminds me that I cannot help them until they are ready to be helped.  Of course, that time may come with them accusing me of being hateful for telling them that their actions are self-destructive.  I must pray more and harder for those friends.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 24, 2021 Bible Study — Forgive And You Will Be Forgiven

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 6-7.

The way Luke presents the two stories about the Pharisees confronting Jesus over the Sabbath indicates that he wants us to see a common theme between them.  Both of these stories remind us that we should not allow a rigid adherence to rules, even otherwise good rules, prevent us from caring for ourselves or doing good.  We should take a day each week to relax and worship God, but there is nothing wrong with doing things on that day which bring us joy and there is never anything wrong with doing things which improve the lives of others.

I feel like I need to write about Jesus’ instructions that we love our enemies and the story about the woman who anointed His feet.  My thoughts about them are linked, but I am not sure I am going to be able to actually put that in writing.  When Simon the Pharisee thought that Jesus should not allow the woman to touch Him, Simon was doing exactly what Jesus meant when He told us not to judge others. I want you to consider Jesus’ response to Simon here.  He called him out for what he was thinking about the woman.  It appears to have worked, because how do we know what Simon was thinking?  Clearly we know because Simon became a Believer and told this story on himself.  Simon thought of this woman as the “other”, one of those whom he did not need to love because they had put themselves outside of the acceptable by their actions.  Let us not make the mistake Simon made.  Let us make sure that the “others” know that God loves them and that nothing they have done is so bad that God will not forgive them.  And let us not hold the sins which God forgives against them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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October 23, 2021 Bible Study — There Are No Shortcuts To The Kingdom Of Heaven

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 4-5.

Years ago I came across a commentary on Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness which said that they represented shortcuts to bringing about social change, ways in which Jesus could change the world without going through the suffering which awaited Him.  The problem with these shortcuts is that they do not work.  In rejecting each of those “shortcuts” Jesus explained part of why they don’t work.   First, Satan offered Jesus the solution of changing things by meeting people’s material needs.  By changing stones to bread, Jesus could feed the world and no one would need to be hungry anymore.  Jesus’ answered that temptation by telling Satan that the problems of this world were more than a lack of food.  So, next Satan offered Jesus political power over the whole earth, all He had to do was worship Satan.  Jesus answered that temptation by telling Satan that his price was too high.  In order to acquire that much political power one must give up being a servant of God, one must give up one’s integrity.  An author I love had one of their characters say, “It does no good to obtain your heart’s desire if the price you pay is your heart.” (that is a paraphrase).  Finally, Satan offered Jesus the option of forcing God to prove Himself.  Jesus answered that temptation by telling Satan that God is not magic which we control.  Ultimately, Jesus’ answer to Satan’s temptation was that there are no shortcuts to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Many of the problems in our society result from people falling for one of these three temptations.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 22, 2021 Bible Study — God Reveals Himself To Those Of Whom The World Takes Little Notice

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 2-3.

I will always remember my father reading the beginning of Luke 2 every year on Christmas Eve before we opened our presents (we did that on Christmas Eve because we went to one of my Uncle’s house for Christmas Dinner with all of my Dad’s family).  I love the fact that God sent His messengers to announce the birth of His Son to shepherds in the field, not to kings or other members of the elite.  Then, when Jesus’ parents took Him to the Temple for to be presented to God, it was not the priests and Levites to whom He was made known.  No, it was Simeon and Anna to whom the Holy Spirit revealed who He was.  Like the shepherds, Simeon and Anna were not people of great notice.  Even today, God generally first makes His announcements to those of whom the world takes little notice.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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October 21, 2021 Bible Study — An Orderly Account

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 1.

I really like Luke’s introduction to his Gospel.  First, he acknowledges that others have written accounts about Jesus’ life and that he was not relying solely on his own observations.  Then he writes that he has carefully investigated the events and will present an orderly account of them.  In many ways, Luke’s account of Jesus life here in this Gospel and his account in the Book of Acts represent the first presentation of events in a way which we today are used to seeing events recorded.  While Luke’s theology influences what events he chooses to record, he records them in the order in which they happened to the best of his ability to determine.  In many ways, Luke answers the argument I hear many unbelievers make for questioning Jesus’ existence.  That argument is: if Jesus existed and did the things which the Gospels say He did, how come there is so little mention of him by those who were not Christians?  Luke’s answer is, if you saw what Jesus did and thought it was significant, how can you not be one of His followers?  Or, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis: if you saw the Jesus recounted in the Gospels, especially Luke’s, you could only reach one of three conclusions.  He was either a liar and a fraud, or He was crazy, or He was the Son of God.  If you concluded that He was one of the first two, there was no reason to mention His existence in anything you wrote.  However, if you concluded He was the third option, then you had no choice but to become His follower.  Luke wrote this Gospel in order to convince those already drawn to Jesus’ teachings of this last option.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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October 20, 2021 Bible Study — The Poor You Will Always Have With You

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 14-16.

Every time I read the story about the woman who anointed Jesus with oil I always feel like there is more to it than I am seeing.  Perhaps someone reading this blog will be able to provide me such an insight.  So, I get one clear message from this story: we should not feel that our every thought, action, and expenditure must be to help the poor.  Further, sometimes we should do things to show our love to those around us.  Jesus made a point that wherever the Gospel is preached the story of what this woman did will be preached.  Which suggests that the message of this story is critical.  I was going to stop with that, but I had one more thought on this story.  When Jesus told those saying that she should have sold the perfume and given the money to the poor, He quoted from Deuteronomy 15:11.  The context of that verse tells us that we should give to the poor generously, that we should not be tightfisted towards them.  This woman was acting in a generous open-handed manner, while those rebuking her had a grudging heart.

I want to write a bit about chapter 16.  After much thought over the years I have become convinced the Mark ended his Gospel at verse 16:8.  I believe that the rest of chapter 16 is an accurate account, but was added to the Gospel from other sources.  I really think that Mark intended to end his Gospel with the cliff hanger of the women fleeing from the tomb, bewildered and afraid.  He wanted us to come away with the feeling that early that Sunday morning those who followed Jesus were bewildered and afraid, not just the women.  He wanted us to see the contrast between how they acted later and how they felt that morning.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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October 19, 2021 Bible Study — Give To God What Is God’s

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 12-13.

Some years back I read an article which gave some insight into the account of when Jesus was questioned on whether Moses’ Law allowed for paying tax to Caesar.  It made particular point about the fact that the coin used to pay the tax had Caesar’s image upon it (there was a lot more to the article than that, but that is the point which always brings me to my thoughts on this account).  So, when Jesus tells them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s He makes a very profound statement.  Jesus was clearly pointing out that the coin was made by Caesar (or, at least, at Caesar’s command) in his image, making it his.  On the other hand, each and every one of us was made by God in His image.  Therefore we belong to God and should surrender ourselves to Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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October 18, 2021 Bible Study — Who Is In Charge?

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 10-11.

I know this will come as a surprise to those who regularly read this passage, but I am not sure where I am going to go with this today.  I will start with Jesus’ commentary on marriage and divorce.  He tells us that at creation God made humans male and female and for this reason a man leaves his parents and is joined with his wife.  From that He concludes that one should not separate that which God has joined.  I think this speaks pretty clearly to several issues in our society today.  Then we have the account of parents bringing their children to Jesus, which His disciples thought was a waste of His time and attempted to block.  Jesus rebuked them for that and told them that they needed to receive the kingdom of heaven in the same way that children do.  I have seen many debates on what that means, but I have always seen it in the context of later in this passage when Jesus told His disciples that anyone who wants to be great in God’s kingdom must serve others.  So, in the same way that children generally do not think of themselves as being in charge, we too should not take the attitude that we are in charge.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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October 17, 2021 Bible Study — I Do Believe, Help My Unbelief

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 8-9.

I want to start by Jesus’ use of yeast as a metaphor for hypocrisy.  Here He makes it clear that a little bit of hypocrisy can spread through, and transform, a group just as much as the righteous acts of a small number can transform society around those who do them.  However, the part of this passage which resonates the most with me is the account of the father who brought his son to Jesus’ disciples for healing.  The disciples were unable to heal the boy and the father was beginning to lose hope.  When Jesus told him that anything was possible for the one who believes, the father responded, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”  That has been my prayer for many years.  I know that my faith is less than it should be, but this story leads me to believe that it is enough, and my prayer is that God cause it to increase.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.