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Bible reading for July 7 -- 8 July 7 -- Jeremiah 3 and Matthew 17 July 8 -- Jeremiah 4 and Matthew 18 ================    "For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: 'Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts...'" (Jeremiah 4:3-4a) RETURN TO THE LORD (ch 3). Judah's unfaithfulness to God was like the breaking of a marriage vow. They needed to repent with a whole heart and to forsake the idols they worshiped (made of stones and carved trees, vv 9-10). Like children we can be superficial with our repentance, saying a quick "I'm sorry" and then going back to our routines. Like Judah we should be honest and thorough in dealing with our sin. We see these admonitions reflected in the NT, for example, in James 4:1-10. He writes, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded"...

  Bible reading for May 31 -- June 1 May 31 -- Isaiah 32 and Rev 2 Jun 1 -- Isaiah 33 and Rev 3 Take some time today to pause, remember, and thank God for the many soldiers who died in military service for our country. Here's the USAF band performing Dvorak's "Going Home" at the National Cemetery in Culpeper, Virginia. ================    "Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land." (Isaiah 32:1-2) LOOKING FOR FEW GOOD MEN (ch 32). Don't we all long for good leadership? Good leadership in homes, in businesses, in the church, in communities, and in the nation? How much suffering and misery comes from corruption, bribery, conflicts of interest, immoral decisions, unjust laws, bribery, and favoritism.  Whether leadership is weak or overbearing, all of the people s...

"God is ultimate reality. The revelation that his nature is Trinitarian brings us the knowledge that personal relationships are ultimate reality, and are blissful. The revelation of his character brings us the knowledge of how we may go about establishing our relationship with God and with one another more perfectly, by loving God with all our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves, by giving ourselves in personal communication to one another, by absolute fairness and faithfulness in our dealings with each other, and by being mindful of the order and priority which God has created, so that our relationships may flower with the bliss that God intends for us in our friendship with him and with one another." ~ Broughton Knox, The Everlasting God