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Daily Bible thoughts 576: Wednesday 19th March 2014:

There are unmistakable messages here:

Sin leads to judgment (5): Sins have consequences. The punishment may be a long time coming (because God is patient and merciful), but it will arrive. There is cause and effect in this verse: …because of…because of… This coming national tragedy has a cause.

Cities and nations can be adversely affected by sin (6): Samaria and Jerusalem are mentioned, but it could be applicable to London, New York, Paris, and Rome etc. Jacob (Israel) and Judah are referred to, but these words could apply to the U.K., the U.S.A., France and Italy etc. Nowhere escapes God’s all-seeing vision and no-one is immune to His judgment. Cities in the Western world could become heaps of rubble (8) as well. We don’t want to see this happen. It’s a terrifying prospect. But if we persist in our wilful rebellion against God there will be a price to pay.

God’s judgment is a terrible and fearful thing (3, 4): This is a powerful picture of God coming with enormous power to deal with His errant people, and nothing and no-one can stop Him. Psalm 104: 32 describes God in these terms: …he who looks at the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

Sexual sin will be punished (5, 7): Of course, there is much more to sin than sexual sin, and all sin is sin. But there was an abundance of sexual immorality/promiscuity in Israel and Judah in Micah’s day. You ask, ”So what is Jacob’s sin?” Just look at Samaria – isn’t it obvious? And all the sex-and-religion shrines in Judah – isn’t Jerusalem responsible? The Message. However, as you can see in that quote, the bad sexual stuff was linked to false religion, and that was the real problem. They were worshipping pagan gods who were okay with this kind of living. (You might say they lived that way themselves.) A religion will only ever be as good as its gods, and these gods were bad. The religion actually taught that it was fine to have sex outside of God’s boundaries. It was expected and permitted as part of the worship. So it was a very popular religion. (This reminds me of the second half of Romans 1, which says, in effect, that people don’t like the true God who has revealed Himself in nature, so they swap Him; they trade Him in for gods who will give them the thumbs up to do what they like. But Paul also emphasises that there is a major cost to doing this.) When you consider the tidal wave of immorality in our sex-sodden society, you have to say that it also is linked to idolatry. The media reflects the popular culture, and to some degree helps to shape it. It is full of illicit sex. When do you see a normal, faithful marriage between a man and a woman represented on a T.V. drama? Hardly ever! The sexual sin we see everywhere, on the television, at the movies, in the papers and magazines etc. is linked to the idolatry of self. People want to be their own gods, establish their own boundaries, and basically say what goes. They may call it freedom, but they will pay a terrible price both here and hereafter if they do not repent and trust in Christ. Sin brings us to our own because.

Prayer: Lord God, I acknowledge that your way is right and best. Help me to always remain true to this conviction, and banish the tempter by your grace.

March 19, 2014 0

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.

March 14, 2014 0

Daily Bible thoughts 556: Wednesday 19th February 2014:

2 Chronicles 35:1- 6

After the commitment had been made; a definite decision to be wholly God’s (see the end of chapter 34), it was time for celebration (1). But let it be noted that celebratory acts of worship that do not have such radical dedication behind them are mere froth on the surface of the church. At the core of the Passover festival lay the slaughter of the Passover lamb. The death of this animal foreshadowed the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross (1 Cor. 5:7). It is a paradox that the suffering of Jesus for mankind has given us the greatest ever reason to celebrate. (We need to ensure, by the way, that our celebratory type meetings are to the LORD and not just a chandelier swinging knees up for our own personal enjoyment! Let’s keep the God focus sharp.)

(2)We believe in the ‘priesthood of all believers’: i.e. that every Christian is a ‘priest'(1 Pet. 2:9; Revelation 1:6), having a.) the right and enormous privilege of access to God’s presence through the sacrifice of Jesus (Hebs. 10:19ff.), and b.) a unique ministry with which to serve the Lord. But I don’t know a single ‘priest’ who couldn’t use some encouragement in their life of service. So let’s be proactive in seeking to lift people up. Who can I encourage today? It’s a terrible thing to ask someone to do a job in church life, but then show no interest in them and what they are doing.(Gordon Macdonald writes beautifully about his wife, Gail: Having learned the discipline of aggressive thanksgiving from her mother, there was rarely a week in my young wife’s life when she did not write or connect with at least 20 people to express her gratitude about something. I came to see this exercise was part of her spiritual disciplines. It was as if she awakened each morning and asked, ”Who can I elevate today by spotlighting something generous they’ve done?” From her I learned the significance of written thank you notes. I do not exaggerate when I tell you that, more than once, I have seen people approach Gail and pull out from their wallet a thank you note she wrote them ten years ago. The Thankful Exchange: Leadership Journal, pp. 75, 76: Fall 2013 )

(3) Josiah exhorted the spiritual leaders to fulfill their calling with servant-hearted devotion to God and His people. He saw that it was essential to their ministry that they, and all the people, should know the presence of God: Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built (3). It was also vital that all that they did should be governed by the Word of God: …according to the directions written by David king of Israel and by his son Solomon (4)…doing what the LORD commanded through Moses (6). In addition, they must never forget that they needed the Passover lambs as much as anyone else, for they too were sinners. They had a special work to do, but they were not superior to others.

These must remain as great priorities for those of us in the contemporary church, i.e. that we are firmly founded on the Holy Scriptures, centred in the cross, and continually seek the manifestation of God’s presence by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: ‘Come Lord Jesus, pour out your Spirit we pray…pour out your Spirit on us today.’

February 19, 2014 0

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,

January 1, 1970 0

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!