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Bible reading for weekend March 5 -- 7 Mar 5 -- Job 34 and 2 Corinthians 4 Mar 6 -- Job 35 and 2 Corinthians 5 Mar 7 -- Job 36 and 2 Corinthians 6 "Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable. For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly." (Job 36:26-28)  GOD WILL BE JUSTIFIED (ch 34)  Elihu continues his speech.  God will not act unjustly. In the end his will and his actions will be seen as true and just. "Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, 'That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged'" (Rom 3:4). Some have used the argument that the existence of evil in the world negates the existence of God by showing either his lack of power or his lack of goodness. Evil has not been destroyed, so God must not exist. But the important word "yet" must be inserted. Evil has not yet been de...

Bible reading for Jan 4-5.  Jan 4 -- Ezra 4 and Acts 4 Jan 5 -- Ezra 5 and Acts 5 "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12) ================    DEALING WITH OPPOSITION. One of the more hurtful things I've experienced as a believer is to have my words deliberately twisted and my motives maligned. Perhaps it was in something I've written or spoken, but to have my words (or actions) deliberately misinterpreted and publicly misrepresented is very painful. Such hostility is seen in both of our readings today. In Ezra the adversaries of the Jews write a cunning letter to the Persian emperor, and government suppression stops the temple rebuilding project. And in Acts we see the early church being opposed by the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Throughout history God's work on ear...

Bible reading for weekend September 26-27.  2 Samuel 22-23. "Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: 'The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.'" (2 Samuel 23:1-4)  SIGNATURE PSALM (ch 22) . "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies" (vv 22:2-4). This is a nearly-verbatim parallel version o...

Bible reading for Aug 3.  Judges 17. "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6)  STRANGE RELIGION. The people seem religious, but their faith has become a mash-up of outward forms and superstitions. They use the covenant name of God ( YHWH , usually translated "LORD" in modern versions), seek God's blessing, and honor a Levite as priestly. But look how bizarre all this has become: making metal images and household gods, building a shrine, hiring the Levite to be a paid holy man, and trusting all of this to gain prosperity. The sad irony of this, as would be seen by later Jewish readers, is that this young Levite comes from Bethlehem in Judea, the future home of King David and the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2). Verse 6 sums it up: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." It is not that these people were planning to be idolaters, it is that, given all their c...

Bible reading for June 26.  Deuteronomy 31. "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6)   TIME FOR COURAGE. Moses will soon die; Joshua will take leadership of the nation (vv 1-8). As they enter the land the Israelites are outnumbered and outclassed militarily. The call for strength and courage (vv 6, 7, 23) echoes throughout Scripture for all of God's people (Josh 1:6-9; 1 Chron 22:13; 28:20; 2 Chron 32:7; Acts 23:11; Phil 1:20; Rev 21:7-8). "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" (Eph 6:10) . It takes strength from the Lord to do his will and to stand fast against the lies of Satan and the hostility of the world. Mark Twain once wrote, "Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear." So it is. And we find courage and strength to overcome fear by God's promises and presence.   ...

I have been reading in the Gospel of Mark recently.  I've been impressed how eternally relevant and fresh his Word is.  And in Mark, Jesus utters some very brief statements that bring amazing comfort, or questions that bring sharp conviction.  The Holy Spirit applies them as powerfully now as he did then.  I need to hear these brief -- but eternally relevant -- words often: For comfort and courage:  "Son, your sins are forgiven." (Mark 2:5 ESV) "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." (5:34) "Do not fear, only believe." (5:36) "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." (6:50) “All things are possible for one who believes.”  (9:23) "Go your way; your faith has made you well." (10:52) For conviction and searching the heart:  "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" (4:40) "Why are you making a commotion and weeping?"  ("The child is not d...

"But the ways of the world are cruel. Its cruelties have assumed finer forms, but this refinement has made them more intolerable. In former days there was much that reminded people of the sanctities of life, that made them think of higher things, and kept eternity before their eyes. All this is mostly gone. In the busy life of the world today there is little to keep in memory the things that are holy and eternal.  "In public life all thought of God is ignored. In some places church-bells are no more rung. Few days of prayer are appointed. God’s name is no more spoken. No memento mori  ["remember that you will die"] any more reminds us of death. Cemeteries are turned into parks. Sacred things are scorned. That which in private conversation and in the public press gives tone to theories is the delusion that heaven reaches no higher than the stars, that death ends all, that life without God is more apt to bring prosperity than life in the fear of the Lord. The habit ...