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Daily Bible thoughts 575: Tuesday 18th March 2014:

 Micah 1:1- 2

Micah was one of the members of a quartet of writing prophets who burst onto the world scene during the eighth century B.C. (The others were Isaiah, Hosea and Amos.) He prophesied concerning both Judah (the two tribes in the south, with their capital in Jerusalem), and Israel (the ten tribes in the north, having their capital at Samaria). At one point, the prophet Jeremiah’s life was saved by a quotation from Micah (Jer.26:18; Mic.3:12). Who can doubt that God’s Word is powerful? Here are certain other things we can say about The word of the LORD…

  • It comes ‘to’ (and through) real people (1a): It comes to real people with real names (such as Micah) who come from real places on the map; geographical sites (like Moresheth). E.M. Bounds commented that people are always looking for better machinery, but ‘God’s methods are men.’ Are you willing to be a ‘mouthpiece’ for God’s communication to people?
  • It comes to historical eras (1b): …during…reigns… God’s Word breaks into human history. It is unstoppable. The history of the Bible tells us that there are many kings/rulers who put the ear plugs in. They do not want to hear. But God’s Word comes whether it finds the welcome mat outside the palace gates or it doesn’t! The ultimate expression of God’s Word coming into history was when The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. (John 1:14a).
  • It has ‘to do’ with life in the real world (1c): It had to do with what was going on in Samaria and Jerusalem. The Message. God’s Word has ‘to do’ with everyday life on the streets of this world, and, as we shall see, it often is at odds with it; at variance with what is ‘going on’. It confronts it. It comes with force and there is a clash. It raises up a clear standard and states that certain things are plain wrong. The Word of God comes to us where we are. It does not hold itself aloof from dirty, nitty-gritty life lived at street level. It has ‘to do’ with what is being done there. There is a version of the Bible that is called, ‘The Word on the street.’ How appropriate that is!
  • The Word of God will sometimes be ‘against’ (2): God wants to be ‘for’ people. That’s what the cross says. But before God can be ‘for’ any of us, we have to face up to what He is against. He is against all sin, and He calls us to repent of it and trust in Jesus that we may be saved. God will not spare us on this point, precisely because He wants the best for us. He wants us to realise how badly ‘out of plumb’ we are, and He calls us to be reconciled through the cross.

  Prayer: Let your Word be wrapped in my flesh today, and enable me to take it to the streets.

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Daily Bible thoughts 574: Monday 17th March 2014

Psalm 104:19-30

Last evening, as the sun was going down, I looked up and saw a silvery half-moon set against a deep blue sky. Its beauty took my breath away. I was filled again with a sense of awe and wonder. Early this morning I went out for a run. There was a chill in the air, and cars and gardens and roofs and dustbins were iced with frost. The sky was painted in pastel colours. The birds were exercising their vocal chords I passed one or two fellow-joggers, and walkers (and dog-walkers!!) But mostly the route was deserted. There was a peace, a calm and very little traffic noise. It felt good to be alive, and I celebrated afresh the thought that ‘this is my Father’s world.’ Although it is a fallen world, tainted with sin, every part of it seems to proclaim Him. The further away you get from man-made things, the more you can see God in nature.

We are continuing to look at this wonderful Psalm which speaks eloquently of the creator God. See:

  • The orderliness of the world (19-23): There is evidence of design in nature. It has been said that if the earth were a fraction nearer the sun we’d fry; if it were just a little further away we’d freeze. …alternating night and day enables the life of beasts and mankind to co-exist…Creation is a subtly adapted system for the maintenance and enjoyment of life – and this by the direct action of the Creator… J.A. Motyer: New Bible Commentary, p.554.
  • The abundance of God’s ‘creations’ within creation (24 – 26): My wife, Jill, and I watched a stunning nature programme on TV the other night, about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the life forms that live in and around and on it. We saw creatures we didn’t even know existed! We had never seen or heard of them before. What a head-spinning number of creatures God has made. Even if you don’t believe in Him, you surely have to admit that there is a mind-boggling diversity and variety in the natural world. If you believe it all came from nothing, I admire your faith!
  • God’s generous provision for all life on earth (27-30): He is not only creator but also sustainer of all He has made. The creation veritably seethes with activity from the smallest marine entity to the unspeakably terrifying sea-monster, Leviathan itself (Jb.41:1ff.)and the constant bustling of mankind. But (whether they know it or not) all depend on the Creator to provide, exist only by what he gives, are subject to  his sovereign determination of the hour of their death, and life on earth only continues because he wills to renew it. J.A. Motyer: New Bible Commentary,p.554

What a wildly wonderful world, GOD! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, you made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. Oh, look – the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them. All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they’d die in a minute – Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life – the whole countryside in bloom and blossom. The Message.

Prayer: O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works thy Hand has made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, your power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to thee, How great thou art…

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Daily Bible thoughts 573: Friday 14th March 2014:

 2 Corinthians 3:12 – 18

Christianity is not an ‘undercover’ operation (12, 13). We are not in hiding; we don’t wear a disguise. We don’t slink around at the edges of society trying to avoid detection. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. The Message. I like the comment made by John White that Christian witness is about honesty, plain and simple. We are who we are: followers of Christ, and we are not trying to pretend otherwise. We want the glory of the gospel to be reflected in our lives, and we know that this is an ever-increasing glory (18) and not one that is fading away (13). We are going to let our light shine before men and not hide it under a bucket.

However bright the light of Christ may shine out of a Christian life, it will not be seen (not truly seen) or understood by people who are not Christians, until their eyes are supernaturally opened to it (14 – 16). Paul here continues with the veil theme, and he says regarding his fellow Jews that they are unable to see the truth when the Old Testament is read. They are spiritually blind. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, they have an eye-opening experience (16). They can say that once they were blind, but now they can see. (Look how this theme runs on into 4:1-6). We can take heart that someone who we know and love, and who is unable to see the truth about Jesus today (perhaps a friend or neighbour or colleague or relative) may ‘see the light’ tomorrow. Whenever anyone does it is a miracle. Christian conversion is about turning people from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

Once we get to know the Lord Jesus, and we’re in a ‘face to face’ relationship with Him (reflect can be translated behold), we are changed increasingly to be like Him (17, 18). The Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification causes each Christian to shine ever more brightly with the glory of Christ. The literal idea in (18) is that we are ‘transfigured’. The Greek word employed by Paul is one from which we derive our word ‘metamorphosis.’ This big, complicated sounding word describes the amazing process by which a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly. When someone becomes a Christian they commence a similar process. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. The Message.

Each day, you can have your own personal transfiguration as you worship the Lord and yield to the Spirit. Warren W. Wiersbe: With the Word, p.758.

There is a paradox seen in (17, 18). It speaks of the ‘Lordship of the Spirit’, you might say. But where the Holy Spirit is in control of a life there is freedom (or liberty ). There was a lot of talk about ‘liberty’ in the Pentecostal church circles I moved in when I was a teenager. Often, what these dear people seemed to be referring to was a certain liveliness in the preacher (that might make him particularly fluent, and loud!!) or in the congregation (with similar results!). Some years later I discovered that the freedom of the Spirit, according to the New Testament, is a  freedom to become more like Jesus. This will happen when we are under the rule of the Holy Spirit. So when we are most led by Him we will be most truly free.

Prayer: Lord make my life a mirror to reflect your rays into this dark world.

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Daily Bible thoughts 572: Thursday 13th March 2014:

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

There are three phrases in this passage that, I believe, supply the key to understanding it: …will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?…how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness…how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! (8, 9b, 11). The New Covenant is much more glorious than the Old one. In fact it shines with surpassing glory (10b).

Paul here contrasts the two covenants:

  • The Old Covenant brought death (7) in that people broke that which was engraved in letters on stone. To sin is to die. To be sinful is to be in a state of death.
  • The Old Covenant condemns men (9). People who break God’s law are condemned by their actions. In fact they do not so much break it as they are broken by it.
  • The Old Covenant was glorious (9, 10, and see 7), but it was a fading glory (11): a point brought home by looking at the fading glory on Moses’ face (7b).

So what we have under the new covenant is better (as the writer of Hebrews keeps emphasising.)

  • The New Covenant is the ministry of the Spirit (8). As someone said, He, the third Person of the Trinity, is the executor of the God head. So we can say that whatever the Father has planned, and the Son made possible by His death on the cross, the Spirit makes real in our lives. An executor ensures you get what is yours.
  • The New Covenant brings righteousness (9). As the Spirit applies the God-ordained work of Calvary to our lives, we become right with  God (positionally) and we are enabled to live right before men (practically) by the Spirit’s power. Through His sanctifying work we become more and more righteous in life.
  • The New Covenant is one of surpassing glory (10)
  • The New Covenant lasts (11b). Its blessings are eternal.

Let’s realise, today, the enormous benefits of living in these New Covenant days. If you have put your trust in Christ to save you, and if God’s Spirit, thereby, has come to live in you, you have entered an era, a realm of indescribable glory. You have been brought out of darkness and into God’s marvellous light  (1 Peter 2:9; see also Prov.4:18). Take time today to adore the loving God who has so blessed you.

Prayer: Lord, I cannot fully grasp that I am able to see the light while so many grope around in the darkness, but I know that it is due to your sovereign grace.

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Daily Bible thoughts 571: Wednesday 12th March 2014:

 2 Chronicles 36: 22, 23

Our long journey through Chronicles concludes with these two verses. As we take the final steps towards the finish line I want to make these points:

  • God is the Lord of history. ‘History is His story.’ Someone said that He stands behind all the scenes, and He moves all the scenes He is behind. ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands’ and He can give it, or a part of it, to any ‘Cyrus’ He chooses. As the hymn says, This earth belongs to God, the world, its wealth and all its peoples.
  • God is in charge of political changes. He raises up kings and queens etc and he removes them from office. On the chess board of life, the kings and queens are moved by a grand master to wherever He wants them to be. He is able to ‘checkmate every alien purpose that seeks to thwart His plans. The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. Prov.21:1
  • God’s Word will come to pass (Jer.29:10). It stands sure. We may have to hold on to it and stand on it through long years of pain, hardship and disappointment; times when it looks like the promises of God have failed. But let us be patient and persevering, saying to ourselves, ‘Let God be true and every demon a liar!’ A time will come when what our Jeremiah’s have sown in tears will spectacularly come to fruition. Just you wait and see. ‘God says it; I believe it; that settles it!!’
  • God, in His mysteriously wonderful sovereignty, is free to use anyone He chooses to bring about His purposes. He may even use people I don’t like or personally approve of! That’s His right and He doesn’t need my permission!
  • Whatever God gives you, recognise that it is God’s gift, and seek to use it accordingly, as a good steward of the divine generosity. It’s a sacred trust and you will be held accountable for doing whatever God appointed you to do.

While we wait for God’s Word to be fulfilled it is easy for us to get stuck in a rut (and the only difference between a groove and a grave is one of depth). We can settle down into a comfort zone. This is what it was like for many of the exiles in Babylon when the urgent summons came to leave and return home. They had settled down in a new land and built flourishing and prosperous lives there. The call to go back home was challenging and costly. What might God be asking you to do this day that is really threatening your alliance with ease?

All who belong to GOD’s people are urged to return – and may your GOD be with you! Move forward! The Message.

 Prayer: I recognise, Lord God that it is a priority to hear what you are saying and obediently move forward at your Word. Don’t let me cling on to any comfort zone, however cosy it feels.

 

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Daily Bible Thoughts 764: Monday 19th January 2015: Isaiah 65:17-25

Isaiah 65:17-25:

This is a remarkable prophecy. It’s theme is picked up and reiterated in the New Testament ( See, for example, Revelation 21, 22.) Although Isaiah may have had in mind, to some extent, the joy and peace to follow the restoration of Jerusalem and return from exile, it is obvious that he had in mind something greater and far more glorious; a reality that even now is obviously still future tense. The vision of the Bible is immense, and we so often scale it down. God’s purpose is nothing other than a totally renewed cosmos, free from the ugliness of sin, suffering and pain. The allusion to (11:6-9) implies that this will be brought about through the Messiah.

‘’The new is portrayed wholly in terms of the old, only without the old sorrows; there is no attempt to describe any other kind of newness. Hence the familiar setting, Jerusalem, and the modest satisfactions, largely the chance to ‘enjoy the work of (one’s) hands.’ This allows the most important things to be prominent in the passage: the healing of old ills (17b); joy (18-19); life (20…); security (21-23a); fellowship with God (23b-24) and concord among his creatures (25). The point of a hundred years old is that in this new setting a mere century is shamefully brief, so vast is the scale…all this is expressed freely, locally and pictorially, to kindle hope rather than feed curiosity.’’ Derek Kidner: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.669

Prayer: Thank you for the glorious hope you hold out to all your people,

 

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DailBible thoughts 785: Tuesday 6th January 2015: Proverbs 23:19-28

Here are three more sayings of the wise men, from that collection of 30 proverbs that begins at chapter 22:17.

The first is a warning against excessive living, particularly with regard to food and drink (19-21). There are practical reasons for self-restraint. If you go down the route of over-indulgence it will take your money and sap your strength and health. Again, we marvel at the down to earth wisdom of the Bible. If only the world heeded it! This could have saved a lot of people a lot of problems over the Christmas season. ‘’Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk; don’t eat too much food and get fat. Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags.’’ The Message. Live like that for too long and you may well end up featuring in a documentary about obesity or binge-drinking! Perhaps both!!

The second proverb concerns honouring father and mother throughout life, and bringing joy and delight to them (22-24). Live in a way that will make your parents proud, if at all possible. The writer envisages doing this by obeying the ‘’truth’’ (23) taught by parents. For him, this will mean the truth that is in God’s Word, or in agreement with it. This is an important word to us all. Whatever God our Father has shown us we should cling to tightly, and live it. ‘’Buy truth – don’t sell it for love or money.’’ The Message. ‘’Do not sell the truth at any price…It costs something to live by the truth, but it costs even more to abandon the truth.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.429. (See also Proverbs 4:7)

The third is about the danger of falling into sexual immorality and adultery, and the destructiveness of such behaviour (26-28). This is a repeated theme in ‘Proverbs’. The ‘fruit’ may look delicious on the tree, but once eaten it is found to be poisonous.

How many lives and marriages could be saved by this Bible passage alone!

Prayer: Lord, let your Word spread through all the earth, and cause men to hear and heed its wise truth. Thank you Lord that ‘a fence at the top of the cliff is better than ‘an ambulance at the bottom.’ Thank you for your ‘fences’ – lovingly put in place to protect us; not to ruin our fun!

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