Month: June 2014

The scripture for today, June 10 (6/10), is Proverbs 6:10f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest ~ and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”

Oh!  This scripture really comes to the point, doesn’t it?  Perhaps during difficult economic times for some people, this can be a gentle reminder.  If you can’t work for money, you can work for free.  There is always work to do as a volunteer either in an organization or just by yourself.  All it takes is for you to look around.

Well, if you’re already in the clutches of poverty, what will volunteering do to help the situation?  People will notice you.  They will notice your work ethic, and your cheerfulness, and your thoughtfulness.  They just might tell people looking for someone to hire.  And in the mean time, you are helping others who may be worse off than you.  

That in itself can make you feel rich ~ even if you’re not.

 

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The scripture for today, June 9 (6/9), is Job 6:9-8 found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!”

Job was suffering terribly.  The Bible says he had sores all over his body.  There were other symptoms listed elsewhere in Job that indicate he had a form of leprosy.  Now he just wanted to die.

When we get into a life problem that seems hopeless, do we just give up and say, “God, I can’t go on like this.  Just take my life right now.  It’s too hard.  I can’t do it any more.”?

God knows what you are going through.  God knows that Satan is attacking you.  When things are desperately low, your job is just to hang on.  It often takes God time to shift around a lot of other people’s lives in order to alleviate your pain.

Remember, God hurts just as much when you suffer as when he watched his own Son suffer on the cross.  His Son’s suffering accomplished something wonderful for others.  So too, some day your suffering will somehow in some way accomplish something good.  And ultimately, just by surviving, Satan loses and God wins.

This too will pass.  You may not think so, but it will.  You may think you will never smile again, never want to go around people again, never sing again.  But you will.  Just like Job did.

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The scripture for today, June 8 (6/8), is Romans 6:8 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

We all want to live with Christ, but how do we die with him?  Earlier in this same chapter, God inspired the writer to say this:  “We died to sin….don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead…we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:2-4).

So, just as Christ did a physical action to die for us, we do a physical action to die with him.  And just as Christ’s physical death overcame spiritual death, so our physical action overcomes our spiritual death.  Then we are born again, or as this verse says, we “live a new life”.

Some say this is water salvation.  But it is no more water salvation than the cross was wood salvation.  God put us in a physical world, and God has us sometimes do physical things in order to obtain a spiritual outcome.  Our singing praise songs is a physical thing, but it is no less spiritual in its outcome. Our eating the Lord’s Supper is a physical thing, but it is no less spiritual in its outcome.

Have you died with Christ?

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The scripture for today, June 7 (6/7), is Ephesians 6:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

 “Serve whole-heartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”

God had just previously said that we were to obey our earthly masters (bosses).  But, as hard as you try, sometimes what you may be told to do is very hard to do, especially if your boss is rude, or someone was unjustly promoted ahead of you, or you feel like your boss is being a “slave driver.”

At times like those, do what is asked of you anyway, knowing that you are really doing it for God.  The next verse says, “…because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”

What you do as an employee in a difficult situation does not go unnoticed.  God sees and God will reward you.

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The scripture for today, June 6 (6/), is 1st Timothy 6:6f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”

Still, don’t we all do it?  Compare what we own with what our neighbor owns?  Work and strive to gain more and more?  A long time ago, a man wrote a book called, “How to Want What You Have.”  He emphasized that, to people who are never content with what they have, happiness is always right around the corner.  If we could just buy that object, or get that house, or obtain that promotion.  But once we get it, we are only satisfied briefly before happiness slips away again, and we decide we would truly be happy if we could buy yet another object, or get yet another house, or obtain yet another promotion.  And so we live our lives.

Let us dare to look around us today and tell ourselves, “I have all I need.”

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The scripture for today, June 5 (6/5), is Deuteronomy 6:5 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Jesus said this is the greatest of all the commandments (Mark 12:29).  Interestingly, he didn’t say that any of the Ten Commandments was.  He chose one of the over 600 commandments God gave to Moses in the Old Testament.  It might have been lost in the crowd, but Jesus called it out and gave it special attention.

Although we no longer keep the Old Testament Law of Moses, we do have the New Testament Law of Jesus.  There aren’t as many commandments, but there are some.  Sometimes Jesus’ law repeats something in the Old Law such as the one above.  But it was his choice what to carry over, not ours. Some people don’t even know they’re obeying any of the Laws of Moses.  All we have to do to find out is to read that Law (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and see if we recognize anything we’re doing. The Law of Jesus is so much simpler.  And it is dynamic in its simplicity.

Above all, the crown in the Law of Jesus is to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul and strength.  Today, wear your crown.

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The scripture for today, June 4 (6/4), is Psalm 6:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.”

Sometimes we walk away from God and can’t figure out how to make a turnaround and get our life back on track.  When this happens, look behind you.  Though you are walking away from God, he is still on the right track.  All you have to do is call for him to come get you.

“Turn, O Lord!  Turn!  Deliver me!”

Why would God be so good to someone walking away from him?  Because he loves you and is always listening for your voice.  His love is unfailing.

 

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The scripture for today, June 3 (6/3), is Romans 6:3f  as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life….because anyone who has died has been freed  from sin.”

Oh!  Baptism does all that?  Some people say no, but God says yes.  Indeed, in baptism we obtain a “new life” ~ are born again.  And in baptism we are “freed from sin” ~ forgiven.  Look at it this way:

Just as Jesus died carrying our sins on himself, we die to our sinful nature ~ the part of us that sins and doesn’t care.  Then just as Jesus was buried in his grave, we are buried in our watery grave.  And just as Jesus came up out of his grave the Savior, we come up our of our watery grave the saved ~ with a “new life”, having been “freed from sin.”

Everything works together beautifully ~ hearing, believing, confessing, dying to sin, being baptized.  What an honor and privilege we have been given to imitate what he did for us!  And for those reasons!

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The scripture for today, June 2 (6/2), is Galatians 6:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

In case you’re thinking people should take care of their own burdens, you are right.  But the term “burdens” here refers to overloads.

The main reason this is hard to do is that taking on someone else’s overloaded burdens upsets our daily routine and our peace of mind.  It is inconvenient.

Just remember, it is always inconvenient for those people to have an overload of burdens.  They don’t want them. Many times they didn’t ask for them.  But even if they did ask for them with foolish acts, can we not roll up our sleeves and help them out?

What if Jesus had said, “Hey, it’s not my problem!  Those people on earth mess up their lives all the time.  Why should I leave the comforts of heaven to live among sinners and misery?”  But he didn’t say that.  Thank God he didn’t say that.

Inconvenient for him to take our overloaded burdens to his cross?  Yes.  Did he want to do it?  No.  But he did what was necessary to rescue us.  Do we really and truly want to be like Him?

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The scripture for today, June 1 (6/1), is Psalm 6:1 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.”

This is not only a good request to God, but it is a good request to each other ~ family and friends alike.  When we disagree with someone, do we “back it up” with loud yelling or throwing or hitting things?  Do we believe that our point of view cannot be accepted without a “tantrum”?  Actually, the object of our tantum may react like we want on the outside, but we drive them farther from us on the inside.

This scripture indicates that it is indeed possible to rebuke someone without the tantrum.  In fact, it is more effective.  When we calmly tell someone we disagree with them, it does not raise their blood pressure and put them on the defensive.

Calm rebuke does not mean we don’t mean it; it means we are convinced enough, our point of view does not need reinforcement.  In that case, the other person is more likely to be convinced too.  So today, let us practice while alone saying calmly what we normally back up with a tantrum.  Then, next time we disagree with someone close to us, we will be ready.  Ready to not rebuke in our anger.

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