my burg

  What to pray for others             Sometimes we are at a loss about what to pray for other people. Thankfully, God knows what they need, and the Holy Spirit is interceding, as well. But we can learn to move past our common prayers (like, "Lord, be with them," and "Lord, bless them") to include some of the things the Apostle Paul prayed for his fellow believers. Here are 18 requests, gleaned from Paul's prayers* in his NT epistles:   1.             Give thanks for God being at work in them for salvation and growth. 2.             Pray that they would know God’s will with all wisdom. 3.             That they would walk worthy of (live up to) their calling. 4.             For God to enable them to live a life pleasi...

Bible reading for weekend Nov 19 -- 21 Nov 19 -- Amos 8 and Luke 3 Nov 20 -- Amos 9 and Luke 4 Nov 21 -- Obadiah and Luke 5 ================ "In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old..."  (Amos 9:11)  THE HARVEST HAS COME (ch 8). There's a wordplay in the first two verses: "summer fruit" (Heb., qayits ) and "the end" (Heb., qets ). It's an illustration that the summer has ended and the harvest -- not what they expected -- was upon them (cf Jer 8:20). Their life of affluence and leisure was about to come to an end. At the fall of Samaria (capital of Israel) in 722 BC, the people would be exiled and scattered among the other nations. They would experience a "famine" of God's word in that God's prophets would no longer come to them (like Ezekiel did for the Jews in Babylon) nor would they have the strong group identity that come...

Bible reading for weekend Oct 1 -- 3 Oct 1 -- Ezekiel 34 and Psalms 83-84 Oct 2 -- Ezekiel 35 and Psalm 85 Oct 3 -- Ezekiel 36 and Psalm 86 ================   "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." (Ezekiel 36:26-27) BAD SHEPHERDS, GOOD SHEPHERD (ch 34). Ever since King David, the first shepherd-turned-king, the leaders of Judah were designated as shepherds, who were called to exercise oversight and care for God's people. They were to feed, guide, care for, and protect the flock of God. Generally, they did this poorly (vv 1-10). Where they failed, God himself would step in (vv 11-31). Over 18 times in this chapter God says, "I will..." or "I myself will...", that is, he will be the shepherd who seeks, gathers, feeds, and protect...

  Bible reading for Aug 30 -- 31 Aug 30 -- Ezekiel 2 and Psalm 38 Aug 31 -- Ezekiel 3 and Psalm 39 ================   "But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house." (Ezekiel 3:27) A COMMISSION (ch 2). Like Isaiah before him (Isa 6), and his contemporary Jeremiah in Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called to be God's prophet. Like the Apostle John (Rev 1:17) he is overwhelmed by the glory of God. The term "son of man" (v 1, 3, 6, 8)  means a human, a man, someone with a human nature. When Jesus later uses that term for himself (Matt 24:30; 26:64) it is in reference to Daniel's use of the term of the being (human) who comes from heaven (Dan 7:13-14). Like many of the prophets Ezekiel will also find that people will be not receptive to his message. But he is not to be afraid, but rather to be o...

  Bible reading for Aug 11 -- 12 Aug 11 -- Jeremiah 39 and Psalms 13-14 Aug 12 -- Jeremiah 40 and Psalms 15-16 ================    "For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD."  (Jeremiah 39:18) THE CITY FALLS (ch 39). The year is 586 BC and the city of Jerusalem falls to the Babylonian forces. The city lasted a year and a half under siege. King Hezekiah, many years before, had strengthened the city walls and had diverted a water source into the city, so that the city could (hopefully) outlast a siege. In the case of a siege, if it dragged on long enough, the invaders might run out of supplies, give up, and go home, or in this case, the invaders stayed while the people in the city suffered from famine and sickness. Finally, the walls are breached and many people are slaughtered or enslaved. Jeremiah is given his freedom by the Babylonian off...

Bible reading for weekend June 25-- 27 Jun 25 -- Isaiah 57 and Matthew 5 Jun 26 -- Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6 Jun 27 -- Isaiah 59 and Matthew 7 ================    "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" (Isaiah 57:15) IDOLATRY IS DESTRUCTIVE (ch 57). In contrast with the everlasting covenant of peace that God offers (ch 55-56), the people had been putting their trust in the various false gods and idols worshiped at the high places. The people were involved with ritual sex there, and even child sacrifice. They had deserted the Lord and did not remember him (vv 8, 11). Idols cannot save (v 13). If we do not destroy them, they will destroy us. God looks with favor upon the contrite (v 15), and they will experience his peace. But those who do not forsa...

Bible reading for January 11-12  Jan 11 -- Nehemiah 1 and Acts 11 Jan 12 -- Nehemiah 2 and Acts 12 ================    "Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" (Nehemiah 2:3) REBUILDING THE WALLS. We begin a new book, Nehemiah, about a man who leads the third wave of Jews returning from Babylon to their homeland in the fifth century B.C. A few years previously Ezra made the same trip, and worked on restoring national worship. Nehemiah will focus on rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem for the city's security and dignity. But the central concern for both Ezra and Nehemiah was the rebuilding of God's people. In the first two chapters we observe Nehemiah's prayer (and his heart) for his kinsmen back in their homeland. He embraces his people's failures as his own, and since he is a man of high position in the Persian empire, he asks for success in helping his fel...

Bible reading for January 6-7  Jan 6 -- Ezra 6 and Acts 6 Jan 7 -- Ezra 7 and Acts 7 ================    "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel." (Ezra 7:10)  EZRA. The Persian emperor Darius decrees and supports the work of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem (chapter 6). The prophets Haggai and Zechariah (we'll read their words when we get to the Minor Prophets) encourage God's people during this time. Chapters one to six are related to the first return under the leadership of Zerubbabel in 536 BC. Ezra, priest and scribe, arrives in the second wave of returning exiles in 458 BC (chapter 7). Nehemiah will be in the third group in 445 BC.  See my chart above.  THE LORD IS ACTIVE in the rebuilding of the nation. Note how he "stirs up the spirit" or "turns the heart" of people. And three times we are told that the "hand of the Lord" was upon Ezra (7:6, 9, 28). C...

Bible reading for Dec 17.  2 Chronicles 19-20. "Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD. He is with you in giving judgment. Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes." (19:6-7) THE MATTER OF JUSTICE (ch 19).   Chronicles gives us a nuanced view of the strengths and weaknesses of the kings of Judah. Jehoshaphat did well in certain areas and not well in others. (Much like many of the Lord's people today!) He had a compromising friendship with Ahab, which tacitly gave approval to attitudes and actions the Lord hated. For this he is reproved. Jehoshaphat did well, however, in having a heart for justice being exercised in the land. Biblical justice, as opposed to some notions of social justice today, generally did not involve actions for or against categories of people. It had to do with a fair application of the law of God. Specifically, indiv...

Bible reading for Dec 14.  2 Chronicles 15-16. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him." (16:9) A GOOD FIRST HALF. Chapters 15 and 16 fill in the blanks of the shorter account of King Asa's life given in 1 Kings 15. There he gets a good report on his 41-year reign, but here we learn that his earlier years were better than his latter. At first he was zealous to seek the Lord (15:2-12) and made many good reforms.  But later, when crisis came he began to rely more on human ability, ingenuity, and power. He was trusting man rather than seeking the Lord. Was he tired or disillusioned? Was he giving in to public pressure to be more pragmatic? For some reason his confidence faded and he did not seek the Lord with zeal.  KEEP SEEKING. Twice the Apostle Paul wrote, "Let us not grow weary of doing good" (Gal 6:9; 2 Thess 3:13). Over time we can lose our zeal to seek the Lord...

Bible reading for Dec 1.  1 Chronicles 29. "Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly." (29:9) GREAT JOY.   For a brief moment in Israel's history, the king and the people were united together in God's work for God's glory. Such free, whole-hearted willingness to obey, along with uncoerced generosity (vv 5, 9, 14, 17-18), was rare under the old covenant, and is the hallmark of the new covenant (Ps 110:3; Ezek 36:26-27; 2 Cor 8:1-5). Fullness of joy is the result of God's grace (vv 9, 22; cf Isa 9:3; Gal 5:22; 1 Pet 1:8). And just as King David provided gifts for his son to build the temple, so the Lord Jesus gives gifts to his children, that they may build up his body in this world (Eph 4:7-16).  PRAYER. Before we finish the chapter (and book), we should read his prayer in verses 10-19. Spend a little more time there. It is the Lord's will tha...

Bible reading for Nov 23.  1 Chronicles 18. "So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people." (18:14)  WHAT'S WRONG WITH THANKSGIVING? Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. It's so satisfying to have an entire day just to give thanks to the Lord and to enjoy his many blessings of family, friends, and good food. Sadly, this year due to the pandemic many will not be gathering in person with family and loved ones. But every year the sad problem with Thanksgiving remains the same -- the joy and gratitude don't last for very long! It's a precious, short period of time when we are all together, thankful to God, satisfied, content, getting along with each other. For a brief moment all seems right with the world! For a brief moment... and then the squabbling returns, the complaints, the discontent, and selfishness and greed and unhappiness. For a moment -- for some briefer, for some longer -- we see how happ...