Resource Manager Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 01 July 2011 1 Samuel 13Isaiah 56; 57Revelation 21; 22 "BEHOLD I AM MAKING ALL THINGS NEW" Many people have become conscious of how we humans are harming God’s creation. Some are desperately trying to do at least something towards rectifying the problem – being provoked by the apparent proof it is causing severe climate change which is starting to affect their lives – and there is every prospect of it getting much worse. In God’s creation nothing was wasted. All that was “waste” served a purpose in some other aspect of his creation, but the present generation, especially in the western world, have created a “throw away” civilisation. Why? To make life easier – but in doing so they have created a problem with all the resulting rubbish and all the effort to bury it! How long to rot away – if it does? And how vital is electricity to our lifestyle! How much pollution is caused in generating it! Our thoughts on this arose from our reading of the final 2 chapters of the Bible and the picture of the ultimate time when “the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” [Revelation 21:4] and a “loud voice” says, “Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more … for the former things have passed away.” [Revelation 21:3,4] The next verse tells us, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new’”. This led us to meditate on the vast extent and wonder of “making all things new” and ponder how much the follies of our human lifestyle have made a “new” creation essential. Tragically verse 8 [Revelation 21:8] tells us there will be a “second death” – which means there is a whole category of people who are raised to life again – but only temporarily. It says, “but as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion … is the second death.” Finally, our Isaiah reading mentions one particular aspect of life in the future age. Twice the prophet states that God says, “my house (temple) will be called a house of prayer for all peoples” [isaiah 56:7] What a surpassing wonder to be there. Any chance of you being there?-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2011 02 July 2011 1 Samuel 14Isaiah 58Matthew 1; 2 "IS NOT THIS THE FAST THAT I CHOOSE" As we know, to “fast” is to abstain from eating for a time, but in today’s Isaiah reading we see that God applies fasting to things other than eating. The people were complaining to God “Why have we fasted, and you see it not?” [isaiah 58:3]. They were expecting evidence of special blessings to follow their fasting. The prophet is told to “declare to my people their transgressions” [isaiah 58:1] He tells the prophet, “they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness … they delight to draw near to God” [isaiah 58:2]. We understand that God saw their worship as just words! Now note God’s answer, “Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure … you fast only to quarrel and fight … Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high” [isaiah 58:4] What does God see as true fasting – what things should true worshippers abstain from - always? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness … Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover him … Then shall your light break forth like the dawn … your righteousness shall go before you … Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am’” [isaiah 58:6-9] In the days of the followers of Jesus there was no command for them to make a practice of fasting. There are just two or three passages (eg Acts 13:3) which indicate fasting occurred, but it was clearly not a law they were obeying, but a freewill decision on a specific occasion. In later Centuries the Church instituted fasting rituals to abstain from certain food on certain days, but such rules have no foundation in Scripture. What God looks for is to see those who genuinely love and fear him showing compassion in word and deed to those genuinely in need. As a result, God told Isaiah, “you will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” [isaiah 58:11] -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2011 03 July 2011 1 Samuel 15Isaiah 59Matthew 3; 4 BEATITUDES Tomorrow's chapter - Matthew 5 - is one of the best known in the whole of the Bible; well, the first 12 verses anyway. These contain a list of 9 circumstances in which one should feel blessed and count as a blessing. None of the 9 circumstances are remotely like those which people count as blessings today. They would use words like lucky or fortunate in talking about what they see as blessings, such as winning a lottery. It is not at all surprising that neither of those 2 words, lucky or fortunate, appear in the Bible! The word BEATITUDE is not in the Bible either, it is used by the church to describe a condition of blessedness, that’s what the word means. The first blessed condition [Matthew 5:3] is to be ‘poor in spirit’. This is understood as one who has a humble or lowly attitude, the opposite of being proud in spirit. The New English Bible puts it in an interesting way - ‘How blest are those who know their need of God’ The next one is a hard saying for many to accept as a blessing! “Blessed are those who mourn”! Do you remember the lesson of the book of Job. His misfortunes led him to seek and know God as he had never done before! If we go through life without any troubles, any testing times, will we have the motivation to really seek a relationship with God? If you are simply taught about God, and reason out that he must exist, we must realize that is only the first stage. We must build upon that foundation and develop a relationship with God. The next one is “Blessed are the meek” – this is the very opposite to being aggressive – think of it as meaning gentle in spirit. But what we need to realize is that in each of these situations that is seen as a blessing, comes a promise of a future. In the case of the meek Jesus says, “they shall inherit the earth.” There is no promise of a place in heaven, what is promised it is a heavenly reward on earth. What an utterly wonderful prospect, but we must all give careful thought to the other six.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 04 July 2011 1 Samuel 16Isaiah 60Matthew 5 "... A SEPARATION BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOD" Isaiah’s message keeps returning to the theme of the need for reality in human thinking about their relationship with God. Belief in God in those days was not like it is with so many today, indeed in some countries today the majority do not seem to believe in any God at all! In Isaiah’s day it was worse than that! How was that? Well, they acknowledged that there was a God, but then their “blindness” caused them to fail to have any relationship with him. This, in God’s eyes was just as bad, if not worse, than a failure to believe he existed! Isaiah starts, Isaiah 59, with the words, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear, but your iniquities have made a separation between you are your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” In today’s chapter, Isaiah 60, he tries to inspire them towards a healing of this “separation.” In Isaiah 60:2 he draws a contrast between their situation and the rest of the people in the world. “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the people.” In contrast, the next words are, “but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations will come to your light” [isaiah 60:3] Notice that phrase “your light”. They, if they have a real relationship with God would shed forth a light in the darkness – a relationship which today is wonderfully established through Christ to become, ultimately, a light to all nations! Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Who ever follows me will not walk in darkness” [John 8:12] In our Matthew 5 reading he tells his disciples, “You are the light of the world … let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father …” [Matthew 5:14,16] For our light to shine we must have a real relationship with God so we “shine” through all we say and do, and as a result will become part of the “light” in the kingdom age. Tomorrow we will read Isaiah 61 and its vision of the Kingdom when “you shall be called priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God” [isaiah 61:6]. To be alive then and serve the Lord in this way – we need to know the Lord now! -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 05 July 2011 1 Samuel 17Isaiah 61Matthew 6 "AND WHEN YOU PRAY" Our Lord makes a number of points about prayer in our Matthew reading today. The major point is that the religious leaders of his day went out of their way to make it evident to everyone as to how religious they were. Jesus said, “they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.” [Matthew 6:5] Our Lord said, that such have “received their reward”! We can see he means they have received a degree of human respect and honour from their fellow human beings. The chapter began with Jesus making the point of the need to “beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven” When we began reading Isaiah the situation of the people was even worse. Isaiah’s message to them from God was, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen” [isaiah 1:15]. We will soon read how Jeremiah is told not to pray for the people of his day [Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14) So how should we pray? Jesus says “and when you pray do not heap up empty phrases” and then comments on those who “think they will be heard for their many words” [Matthew 6:7] And take special note of our Master’s words, “for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” [Matthew 6:8]. This is further evidence that the all seeing Creator tunes into the wavelength of our thoughts! How awesome! How even more awesome will it be when the prayer he taught will be fulfilled! “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” [Matthew 6:10] and today’s prophecy in Isaiah comes to pass, “you shall eat the wealth of the nations and in their glory you shall boast” and we will say “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness” [isaiah 61:6,10] Let us think carefully and prayerfully about our prayers.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 06 July 2011 1 Samuel 18Isaiah 62Matthew 7 "FOR JERUSALEM'S SAKE I WILL NOT BE QUIET UNTIL ..." No city has made its mark on human history more than Jerusalem and today’s reading in Isaiah describes in the strongest terms the climax of that history. When Saddam Hussein “reigned” in Iraq he had plans to bring Babylon back to life – but failed disastrously. If you go to Egypt you see the remnants of the grandeur of the Pharaohs’. In Rome, you will see the ruins, such as the Coliseum, of its glories of long ago; and in Athens, the Parthenon! But Jerusalem stands supreme and we will soon read in Samuel of how David conquered it and it became his capital and his son Solomon made it glorious. It has been the world’s most significant city ever since standing virtually at the junction of the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. Its conquerors have rebuilt and used it - apart from the initial 70 years after the Babylonians destroyed it in carrying out God’s judgements on his wayward nation. In God’s language it is often called Zion and the Jewish movement in the late 19th Century called themselves Zionists when it came into their hearts (obviously God’s doing) to try to re-establish themselves in the Holy Land. These thoughts flowed through our minds as we started reading today’s chapter. “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD” [isaiah 62:1-3]. Jerusalem today is the centre of contention among the nations, it is argued over in the United Nations. Those who know their Bible’s should seek to fulfil verses Isaiah 62:6-7, “You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.” May we carry out David’s wonderful Psalm, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they be secure who love you!’” [Psalm 122:6]-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 07 July 2011 1 Samuel 19Isaiah 63Matthew 8 "LOOK DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND SEE" The prophet Isaiah reflected on how God had acted in the past to help his people Israel, especially how he had delivered them from Egypt.; “so you led your people to make for yourself a glorious name.” [isaiah 63:14] God’s name YAHWEH has the primary sense of meaning “to be” – of becoming the LORD of all the earth! This will complete the establishment of his name, i.e. his reputation. This is in contrast to the “gods” of human imagination; their reputation is based on the legends of the past, the products of human imagination. The next verse says, “Look down from heaven and see …” The prophet wants God to take more notice of what is going on – and act! The end of the chapter should be ignored, it is an unfortunate chapter break. Note the last verse and then the opening 2 verses of Isaiah 64 and see that the prayerful cry to God by Isaiah is one we could – and should – make today – he is asking God to see – and act! “We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who are not called by your name. Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!” However, God’s relationship is primarily with individuals. Isaiah 64:5 is a personal message to us individually and is just as significant today as it was then! “You meet him (or her) who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.” Sometimes the Hebrew word here – Zakar – is translated as “mindful” as in Psalm 8 where David writes, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers … what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” [Psalm 8:3,4] So to “remember” may not be a matter of recalling something we have forgotten, but of being mindful of those things which are very important! Let us joyfully live righteous lives, having our minds full of thoughts as to how we can joyfully serve our God.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 08 July 2011 1 Samuel 20Isaiah 64Matthew 9 ‘FRESH WINESKINS’ Those who do not read the Gospels regularly may be puzzled by many of the things Jesus said. He often spoke in parables, simple stories, but they had a spiritual meaning, a lesson for the ordinary folk “who heard him gladly” [Mark 12:37] but which the haughty religious leaders scoffed at, in their jealousy of his popularity. Their religion was centred on observing the ritual established in the Old Testament era although not always specifically commanded under the Law. They failed to see the spirit of the Law – and the need to come humbly before God, a lesson the last book of the Old Testament particularly teaches. We read today the words of Jesus that “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins and so both are preserved.” [Matthew 9:16-17]. This was a lesson for the disciples of John the Baptist as well as the scribes and Pharisees [Matthew 9:3,14]; the latter were critical that he went in to eat with “tax collectors and sinners” [Matthew 9:10] They were critical that the disciples of Jesus did not practice fasting like they did, indeed, as we read in Matthew 6:16,17 some, and he called these hypocrites, even disfigured their faces to make it evident they were fasting, they added to the Law to increase the times they could boast of their apparent spirituality. So what is the lesson of the “fresh wineskins”? It was tragic if his teaching became attached to the ritual observances that human thinking had created. True religion must flow out from a genuine spiritual “heart” and the rest of the New Testament shows all the endeavours to see that this happened. Yet in the centuries that followed the purity of the “new wine” has so often been polluted. We need to recapture the purity of the “new wine” if we are to participate in “the marriage supper of the Lamb” [Revelation 19:9] as we read last week. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 09 July 2011 1 Samuel 21; 22Isaiah 65Matthew 10 "FEAR HIM WHO CAN DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY" Today’s chapter of Matthew, Matthew 10, contain many very challenging words of Jesus. For example Jesus says, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” [Matthew 10:28]. So the soul is not immortal, nowhere in the Bible does it say that it is! But what is a “soul”? It is a translation of the Greek word psuche and where it occurs previously in Matthew it is translated simply as “life.” [Matthew 2:20; 6:25] Even God is said to have a “soul” – that is, he is alive, a living God – see Matthew 12:18, which is quoted from Isaiah 42:1. Until God raised Jesus from the grave, God and his angels were the only ever-living beings. It is God whom we should fear, he can destroy our life in such a way that we will never exist again. We considered where psuche occurs twice in Matthew 10:39. Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” How do you “find” your life? Back in Matthew 2:8 we read of King Herod telling the wise men “when you have found (same word) the child” come and tell me! Have you found your life? What are you going to do with it now you have found it? Jesus knew that troubles would come on his followers, many of his disciples would lose their lives in their service to his cause. But consider this! First Jesus would lose his life for their sake – and for ours, if we have committed our lives to him. We also considered the previous verse [Matthew 10:38] “whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” God gave Jesus the most challenging cross of all to bear throughout his mortal life – and we understand “cross” as a task to be accomplished according to the talents and opportunities that God puts in our path. It is only those who choose to go through the wide gate who find “the way is easy” [Matthew 7:13] Finally, words which we must also specially note are in Matthew 10:32, “everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father …” We are living in a faithless world, so many are living for the day and its passing pleasures. May there be some who see that your outlook is different and who are attracted by your example and words about your faith – and who by that means learn – as you do – “to fear him who can destroy both soul and body” – and fear does not mean to be afraid of – but to be in awe of all that God is and what he will mean to you – eternally.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 10 July 2011 1 Samuel 23Isaiah 66Matthew 11 "TO WHAT SHALL I LIKEN THIS GENERATION” Jesus said, “to what shall I liken this generation?” [Matthew 11:16] Each generation has had those who search for answers as to the meaning of life. John the Baptist, shut up in prison appears to have wanted reassurance when he sent his disciples to Jesus asking - are you really the one? Notice how Jesus never gives plain ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers! His response was to say, look at what is happening in the light of what God revealed through the prophets. [Matthew 11:2-6] Those with their own agenda of thoughts were offended at him. Their thinking was totally negative largely because he was taking the spotlight away from them. Notice how he mentions Sodom, saying [Matthew 11:22] that if the amazing miracles that the people of Capernaum were seeing had been there the people in Sodom would have responded and it would not have been destroyed. He adds, “I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom than for you” [Matthew 11:24] From this we learn that in the day of judgement it will not be a case of getting a high enough mark, like you need to go to University, but of God seeing how you have responded according to the evidence available to you. No one will “earn” a place in God’s Kingdom. The cities in which Jesus did his miracles failed his kind of ‘test’! [Matthew 11:20-21]. Everyone on the day of judgement will need the mercy and grace of the all seeing judge for he will know the real motivations of everyone’s heart – and will assess those motivations against the background of the circumstances in which they lived. So what did Jesus say about “this generation” – that is, the generation who heard his words and saw his deeds? You can read it in Matthew 11:16-19. They were like children at play who refused to grow up, wilfully misinterpreting his actions, saying he was “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” So what do you think Jesus would say of today’s generation? Scientists have discovered far more about the absolute wonders of creation but refuse to face the obvious meaning of the evidence. The great majority are content with this - just as the generation that Jesus talked to; both refuse to face the evidence that confronts them. In addition, today we have God’s word, the Bible, freely available in every language. This is a blessing so many now scorn, just as the work and teaching of Jesus was scorned. What is your own reaction to “this generation”?-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 11 July 2011 1 Samuel 24Jeremiah 1Matthew 12 "HERE IS THE DAY OF WHICH THE LORD SAID ... " We are reading in Samuel of Saul’s pursuit of David into the wilderness with its large caves, ideal as hiding places. Saul is taking a rest in one and David and his men are hiding in its inner recesses “and the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold I will give your enemy into your hand …’” [1 Samuel 24:4] But his men are putting words into the mouth of the LORD and David refuses to do this – being content to “cut off the corner of Saul’s robe” [1 Samuel 24:5] to later prove to Saul that he had been at David’s mercy. The words of these men with David in saying, “Here is the day which the LORD said …” reminded us of two recent actions of so-called Christians to name the actual day when this world would end! We remembered reading in Samuel 22 that when David first “escaped to the cave of Adullam” that “everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter of soul, gathered to him” [1 Samuel 22:2] So many of his initial followers were those of a doubtful background and sadly there is a comparison with the “Christians” of today who say the “the Lord said” – when he certainly did say or predict any such thing. When David later accosts Saul, showing him the corner of his robe he had cut off (1 Samuel 24:11) David says, “May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.” [1 Samuel 24:12] In God’s choice of the time this is what happened! Now in our days we increasingly anticipate drastic action by God to “judge” this very ungodly world, but he will decide the timing. In reading today’s chapter of Jeremiah 1 we noted how he was told by the LORD, ”Behold I have put my words into your mouth” [Jeremiah 1:9] and then he says, “I am watching over my word to perform it.” [Jeremiah 1:12] And today we are watching to see when God will perform his word about our days – for we are going to read later in Jeremiah that “the fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this.” [Jeremiah 30:24] --------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 12 July 2011 1 Samuel 25Jeremiah 2Matthew 13 "SO IT WILL BE AT THE CLOSE OF THE AGE" Today’s chapter of Matthew, Matthew 13, contains 6 parables of Jesus and at the end of the last one Jesus says, “so it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Matthew 13:49,50] The parables are symbolic stories, thus the “fiery furnace” is a symbol of the end of existence for some – and really - in the end, as God sees things, there are only two classes of people! We read in yesterday’s chapter that Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me.” [Matthew 12:30] Each of the parables in their own way teach the same lesson – that a choice is put before all men and women and “at the close of the age” there will be a time when God will make a decision about the future of everyone. The best known parable is that of the sower sowing seed and the different types of soil (i.e. hearts) into which it (his message) fell and how that seed grew – or didn’t! Another parable is of the wheat and weeds growing together and no action is made to pull out the weeds until harvest time. It is becoming more and more evident that harvest time must be near – although it comes for everyone when they die! The harvest time, said Jesus, in explaining the meaning of the parable, is the time when “The son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” [Matthew 13:41-43] In these days we could add to that saying – those who have eyes to read let them read – and having read – may they, as a result, live their lives in ways that will please the sower.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 13 July 2011 1 Samuel 26; 27Jeremiah 3Matthew 14 "YOU HAVE POLLUTED THE LAND ... YOU REFUSE TO BE ASHAMED" Jeremiah lived and served the LORD as the kingdom came to an end. It had begun with Saul and was established in Jerusalem under David and Solomon. With the building of the Temple and the words God inspired through David and Solomon and the prophets of that era, the nation achieved a measure of spiritual greatness. But now about 400 years later the land of Israel was spiritually derelict! We thought this had a comparison with the printing of the A V Bible 400 years ago and its impact on people at that time and the contrast to today! After various “revivals” under good kings the nation was now spiritually “dead” what a comparison to today. The message Jeremiah brought from God was a denunciation of their spiritual adultery. “You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom” is the message [Jeremiah 3:2]. He continues, “Therefore the showers have been withheld and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed.” [Jeremiah 3:3] The terrible fires and floods we have experienced here in the last 3 years and the world’s other extremities of weather, with tsunami’s, volcanoes and earthquakes appear to be more extreme in such a short time than anything experienced in recorded human memory since Noah’s flood. We ponder this and believe it is an expression of the anger of our Creator! The conviction that a “climate change” is in progress gives the world the prospect of worse things to come. God causes Jeremiah to comment on the unsatisfactory effort the people had been making to worship God. “Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretence, declares the LORD” [Jeremiah 3:10] But for those who truly worship with their whole heart God gives Jeremiah a vision of the ultimate future, a vision which we have good reason to believe will soon be fulfilled. “At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem” [Jeremiah 3:17] Let us make every endeavour to serve God with our “whole heart” so that we will have both the faith to endure the present and then will see the wonder of what is to come in Jerusalem and which will change the whole world. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 14 July 2011 1 Samuel 28Jeremiah 4Matthew 15 "... THIS DEFILES A PERSON" The Jews had strict laws to ensure cleanliness and in some ways they these had become, in the time of Jesus, a ritual - their original purpose had been swamped by this. However, these laws were ignored by the world in general until about 200 years ago; illness and death were high as a result. However there was one good thing in those days – moral cleanliness was high – a state of things caused by the widespread reading of and respect for – the Bible. Strangely, today the opposite now occurs! Physical cleanliness is all important while moral cleanliness counts for little except when there is some scandal in high places, such as in business practice: then the law is applied and those involved feel self-righteous. Our thoughts along these lines were triggered by today’s words of Jesus in Matthew 15. He scolded the leaders, “You hypocrites … this people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me; teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” [Matthew 15:7-9] You may recognise he is quoting words we read last month in Isaiah [isaiah 29:13] He then told them a parable [Matthew 15:11] about how defilement is caused by what came out of human mouths causing Peter to ask, “explain the parable to us.” Jesus replies, “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” [Matthew 15:18-20] The world is full of defilement today; indeed, it is even ‘glorified’ in movies and TV shows. It is remarkable that so many “enjoy” being defiled in this way and we are going to read in Jeremiah how, without the encouragement of TV etc, it was also like that when he lived and which he was told to condemn. In our Bible Education Centre the other day we encouraged a 16 year old lass to come and join us in reading the Bible. We came across the word ‘adultery’ and she asked what it meant! She had never heard the word! Truly a symbol of the spiritual darkness in which the world is stumbling along! -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 15 July 2011 1 Samuel 29; 30Jeremiah 5Matthew 16 "YOU ARE ... THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD" One of our greatest challenges in life is to see all that happens from God’s perspective. The more we read God’s word and meditate on what we read – the more we are able to do that. We can see this happening in the life of David, also in the perceptions of Jeremiah who first protested to God, “I am only a youth” [Jeremiah 1:6]. The disciples of Jesus were in a special category and Peter was their chief spokesman ready to articulate his perceptions again and again, sometimes inappropriately: they teach us many lessons as we see their perceptions of Jesus increase. Our perceptions must do the same! Do they? Jesus had taken them to the far north of the land to Caesarea Philippi [Matthew 16:13] and asked them as to whom do people think he is? There were various opinions, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets? Then comes the challenging question, “But who do you say that I am? [Matthew 16:15] and Peter declares, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Christ, in their language was “Messiah” – the promised Saviour – and “the people were in expectation” [Luke 3:15] of his coming because of the prophesies in their Bible, especially in Daniel. Note how Peter phrased his answer, “the living God” the Creator – and Peter is starting to sense his presence in his life more and more. David, of whom we are reading in Samuel, sensed this more and more until “the last words of David” include the statement, “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” [2 Samuel 23:1,2] and Peter and the Apostles were also to experience this. Peter was one of 3 disciples chosen to have a foretaste of “the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” [Matthew 16:28] when, six days later, Jesus “led them up a high mountain by themselves … and he was transfigured before them” [Matthew 17:1,2] It was an experience impressed upon their memory, for Peter, in his 2nd Epistle writes, “we were eye witnesses of his majesty … when he received honour and glory from God …” [2 Peter 1:16,17] Let us acknowledge and serve God and His Son every day in all that we say, do and think, as the disciples learnt to do, walking in the footsteps of men like David and Jeremiah – then, one day, we will be “eyewitnesses of his majesty.” -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 16 July 2011 1 Samuel 31Jeremiah 6Matthew 17 "ASK FOR THE ANCIENT PATHS WHERE THE GOOD WAY IS" Jeremiah prophesied until the destruction of Jerusalem. His initial calling was in the reign of the good king Josiah [Jeremiah 1:2] “in the thirteenth year of his reign.” Five years later a great “Passover was kept” [2 Chronicles 35:19]. So as a young man he had a good spiritual environment for this king “turned to the LORD with all his heart” [2 Kings 23:25] But then Josiah was killed! It is here that Jeremiah is first mentioned in 2 Chronicles 35:25 where it says he “uttered a lament for Josiah.” The attitude of this good king did not have much impact on the people’s spirituality, for at the great Passover it was Josiah who provided all the offerings. We read in Jeremiah 3, “The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah … Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense …” [Jeremiah 3:6,10] How much ‘spirituality’ today might qualify for a similar comment? After Josiah’s death there was a steep spiritual decline as bad kings with no spirituality at all came to the throne. Most of Jeremiah’s ministry of almost 60 years was very difficult. There is no indication he knew Ezekiel who was probably taken captive 12 years before Jerusalem fell. When we come to read Ezekiel we will see information on the deep spiritual degradation in Jerusalem in those final years, these are messages and visions he had while in captivity. Today we read how Jeremiah conveys God’s message to the people, “Thus says the LORD: Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” [Jeremiah 6:16] The foundation to a true spiritual life is to seek out the “ancient paths where the good way is”! God’s words reveal those “ancient paths” for us today. But do many seek them out? Our seeking must be done with our “whole heart” - that was the failure in Josiah’s good reign. We read on, “I have set watchmen over you, saying, pay attention” [Jeremiah 6:17] and we may ask ourselves, is God expecting us to be watchmen today? We are going to read Jesus’ words about the need to “watch” next week. Another verse to note is Jeremiah 6:19, “… behold I am bringing disaster … because they have not paid attention to my words” Let us pay attention - but the disaster in our days will have a happier ending – for some – for Jesus will come. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 17 July 2011 2 Samuel 1Jeremiah 7Matthew 18 "UNLESS YOU TURN AND BECOME LIKE CHILDREN" Jesus said this – and what are children like? To illustrate his point, we read, “calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them” [Matthew 18:2] and then made the point, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” [Matthew 18:4] A little child is trusting, innocent of the deceptions that adults all too often practise. It reminds us of the spirit that was within David that caused him to grieve so much over Saul and Jonathan. In Psalm 131 he wrote, “ I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.” This teaching of Jesus followed the “time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” [Matthew 18:1] a question that illustrated the continuing rivalry between them: it is probable that their experience into being sent out to preach the kingdom and having the power to heal and even raise the dead that we read in Matthew 10 [Matthew 10:5-14] had left its mark on their attitudes. There was even a dispute among them at the time of the last supper “which of them was to be regarded as the greatest” [Luke 22:24], but the events which followed drove all sense of competition from their minds for the rest of their lives. The words we read today were then called to remembrance and fixed in their minds [John 14:26]. His words had been blunt! “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” [Matthew 18:3]. Jesus did not mince his words; he did not say, you may not enter, but that “you will never enter.” How blunt and uncompromising is the final point Jesus makes in this conversation! “Whoever causes one of these little one who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” [Matthew 18:6]. This was a mode of punishment it appears that the Greeks had for serious wrongdoers! Note how Paul, in his letters, stresses the need for a child-like attitude among believers. See 1 Corinthians 10:32,33 and 1 Corinthians 14:20. “Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 18 July 2011 2 Samuel 2Jeremiah 8Matthew 19 "THEY HAVE REJECTED THE WORD OF THE LORD, SO WHAT WISDOM IS IN THEM?" “You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD …” is how the Almighty addresses Jeremiah in our chapter today [Jeremiah 8:4]. What a message of condemnation he is expected to give! No wonder the situation came when they put this prophet in a dungeon! This book of 52 chapters is not in the chronological order of his ministry of almost 60 years, but it does end by describing the tragic destruction of Jerusalem. There are so many lessons for us for today when again the word of the LORD is being totally rejected - even many churches preach a very anaemic message using just a few texts from the New Testament to mix with humanistic philosophy. Consider how much of what the LORD tells Jeremiah to say could also be said today! God says, “They hold fast to deceit …I have paid attention and listened, but … no man relents of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turns to his own course” [Jeremiah 8:5,6]. Then the message becomes pointed, “How can you say, ‘the Law of the LORD is with us?’ But behold the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie” [Jeremiah 8:8]. Some may not want to recognise how much of this is also happening now in ‘Christian’ circles. Surely now that God’s word is so readily available for all to afford a copy, it is everyone’s responsibility to read it for themselves! Four hundred years ago only the wealthy could do this! The rest had to queue up to read the copy chained in their church. We read how God through Jeremiah bluntly says, “The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?” [Jeremiah 8:9] There is no good wisdom! As we read more next week we will see the attitude toward the prophet. “Come let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise … Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words” [Jeremiah 18:18] This is really what most say about God’s word today! We will not pay any attention to its words. With our own wisdom we will overcome our problems and this world will continue, we do not need God, if there is a God! But “what wisdom is in them?” None! Let us read and meditate each day on the only source of real wisdom. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 19 July 2011 2 Samuel 3Jeremiah 9Matthew 20 "LET HIM WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THIS …" In Matthew today we read of the friction among the disciples of Jesus; this arose after the mother of two of them “came up to him (Jesus) with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him … ‘Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one on your right hand and one on your left, in your kingdom” [Matthew 20:20,21] Why was this request made? The desire for positions of honour always creates jealousy, this is provoked even more when there is boasting. The request made the other ten “indignant.” [Matthew 20:24] Jesus called them to him and told them they should not allow themselves to be influenced by the spirit they saw around them “but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve … ” [Matthew 20:26,27] These words are rather parallel with what we read of the words of the LORD to Jeremiah which we also read today. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD " [Jeremiah 9:23,24] The disciples learnt how to serve their Lord in the right way – and one of those two sons was the first disciple to become a martyr. [Acts 12:2] Let us serve our Lord who died for us. Recall how he described has followers as sheep! He then made the point, “I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” [John 10:10] Let us follow and serve the “good shepherd” and aim to do the things in which he delights. The more we know our Lord the more all human forms of boasting will disappear from our thoughts and we will instead ponder in our deepest meditations what it is to “understand and know” the Almighty. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 20 July 2011 2 Samuel 4; 5Jeremiah 10Matthew 21 "WHATEVER YOU ASK IN PRAYER, YOU WILL RECEIVE, IF YOU HAVE FAITH" This saying of Jesus is really challenging! The natural instincts of our nature can all too easily misuse this saying – and the first step is to understand the situations in which it can apply. James made the blunt comment in his epistle, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” [James 4:3] This saying of Jesus is for those who are really working together with their Lord (see 2 Corinthians 6:1,2) to know and do his will, rather than their own. Our Samuel reading today recounts the dramatic events that follow the death of Saul’s son who had been king for 2 years. David is now accepted as king over the whole nation and he seeks the guidance of the LORD in going against and defeating two efforts the Philistines make to come against him - see 2 Samuel 5:17-25. David asked in faith. What is significant about the statement of Jesus; “whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” [Matthew 21:22] is the context in which Jesus says this. The disciples had marvelled at what happened to the fig tree, “How did the fig tree wither away at once?” [Matthew 21:20] after Jesus said, “may no fruit ever come from you again” [Matthew 21:19]. We see the fig tree as a symbol for Israel (see Joel 1:7 “my fig tree”) and Israel’s leaders were spiritually blind, they were producing no fruit at all for God. But then we noticed the strange thing Jesus said next; “ … if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to this fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen.” [Matthew 21:21-22]. Notice, he is not referring to any mountain, but to this mountain! The mountain alongside and taller than those on which Jerusalem stood was the Mount of Olives. Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives [Acts 1:9-12] and “two men … in white robes” appeared and said “This Jesus … will come in the same way as you saw him go.” Our thoughts then went to the prophet Zechariah for the LORD told him that “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives … and the Mount … shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley” [Zechariah 14:4] The time is surely not far distant as the Middle East situation reaches its climax when those with true faith will pray for that to happen. And when that happens, so will many other things! Will you be praying?-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 21 July 2011 2 Samuel 6Jeremiah 11Matthew 22 "THE WEDDING FEAST IS READY BUT THOSE INVITED ARE NOT WORTHY" One of the more challenging parables of Jesus is in today’s chapter, Matthew 22. Jesus says his kingdom “may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son” [Matthew 22:2]. The “wedding” will see the commencement of the total transformation of life on this earth. Invitations go out but “those who were invited would not come” [Matthew 22:3] and the first application of that is to the Jewish leaders who rejected Jesus. The invitation is renewed, his servants are told to “tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business” [Matthew 22:4,5] They saw more important ways to use their lives than accept the invitation. Worse still, some mistreated the servants who brought the invitation [Matthew 22:6]. The King, meaning of course Jesus, “then said to his servants. ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding as many as you find. And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.” [Matthew 22:8-10] A parallel parable in Luke 14 sees the servants being told to “Go out to the highways and hedges” [Luke 14:23]. We thought of this a few days ago when we received an email from a friend who was visiting Myanmar (Burma) who wrote, “I have been very busy with contacts here … the truth has really taken hold …” But there is a sequel to this parable, it is vital that those who accept the invitation have a “wedding garment” - and one who has not - the servants are to “cast him into outer darkness … for many are called but few are chosen” [Matthew 22:12,14] We are reminded of the words of Jesus in Revelation to believers at Sardis; a situation which is so parallel to today. “You still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white … and I will never blot his (or her) name out of the book of life.” [Revelation 3:4,5] Our daily reading and meditation on God’s word is one foundation towards being among “the chosen” and being clothed with “the garments of salvation” as we read earlier this month – Isaiah 61:10,11. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 22 July 2011 2 Samuel 7Jeremiah 12Matthew 23 "WHO AM I, O LORD GOD?" Do you ever ask yourself this question? In our reading in 2 Samuel 7, we read how David did! When we ask ourselves this question – is it the Bible that prompts us to do so? Those who do not know or read the Bible – if they ask, ‘Who am I?’ – conclude they are but the highest form of an evolved animal and agree, as Paul wrote, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” [1 Corinthians 15:32 – then read the next 2 verses!] We could add to that today, ‘let us travel, let’s buy the latest gadgets,’ etc.! But why did David ask this question – “Who am I, O LORD God?” [2 Samuel 7:18] David had been very successful and “the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies” [2 Samuel 7:1] So David, in his heart, started to think of what he could do for God – which shows he had developed a real conception of what God must be - which began from the time he was a shepherd boy watching over the sheep by night and meditating on the “heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place” which leads him to ask, “what is man that you are mindful of him?” [Psalm 8:3,4] In developing his answer we writes, “you have given him dominion over the works of your hands” [Psalm 8:6] And what are human beings doing today with that “dominion”? What a mess they are making! But let’s come back to ourselves – each one of us must ask ourselves – Who am I? David’s question to himself arose because God had sent Nathan the prophet to him telling him, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” [2 Samuel 7:16]. The vision of this overwhelmed David, especially its reference to a particular son and that God “will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” [2 Samuel 7:13] Coming back to our own need to ask this question – what of the promises made to all those who claim a relationship with that particular son? In claiming a relationship, have we prayed, “Who am I, O LORD God?” Have we felt overwhelmed, as David was, by the vision of what is to come? If we reject that vision as unreal – we cannot leave it at that – we have to ask ourselves – what is real? No fiction writer could have invented the character and words of Jesus we have been reading in Matthew. Let us “enlarge” our hearts, as David did his. Read Psalm 119:32 and the context. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 23 July 2011 2 Samuel 8; 9Jeremiah 13Matthew 24 "AT AN HOUR YOU DO NOT EXPECT" Today our Matthew reading is about the Olivet prophecy of Jesus. As we read this in one of the Gospels every 2 months we may tend to become too familiar with it. As the clouds of trouble and ungodly behaviour multiply in so many countries, we have every reason to be fully alert as to the significance of the words of Jesus to his disciples as he answered their urgent questions to explain what he had said when they were in the Temple. They had been marvelling at the magnificence of the Temple when he had said, “there will be left here not one stone upon another that will not be throne down” [Matthew 24:2] “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and the close of the age?” [Matthew 24:3] were their urgent questions. We see his answer as a two fold prophecy: first about the destruction of Jerusalem and how to avoid being caught up in that destruction – but then the ultimate time of trouble for the world, called “the great tribulation” [Matthew 24:21] at the time of his return to earth. Matthew 24:14 is a saying that particularly demands our attention! “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Only now through the marvels of the Internet, is the “whole world” wired in so that anyone can search for any information they desire, and this includes automated translation facilities to overcome language barriers! So what happens when the end comes? Why is it “at an hour you do not expect”? The most obvious answer is because the message of Christ is no longer believed by the great majority! The Apostle Paul was to write, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them …” [1 Thessalonians 5:2,3]. This implies a time of great trouble, maybe around Jerusalem, but then people think they have an agreement to achieve “peace and security”! But careful Bible readers “are not in darkness … for that day to surprise you like a thief” [1 Thessalonians 5:4] -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 24 July 2011 2 Samuel 10Jeremiah 14Matthew 25 "BOTH PROPHET AND PRIEST PLY THEIR TRADE" After the death of Josiah, the last good king in Jerusalem, there were 25 years of near total depravity among God’s people - until the unthinkable happened! Well it was unthinkable to the mass of the people - that the city and its magnificent temple were to be destroyed. The awesome burden to bring God’s messages to the people fell on Jeremiah. Of course, there were prophet’s (those who claimed to give God’s messages) and priests who ministered in the Temple, but a large part of the burden on Jeremiah was to denounce them! In today’s and tomorrow’s chapters Jeremiah is told, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people” [Jeremiah 14:11]. God’s true prophet is surrounded by false prophets, who, God says, “are prophesying lies in my name, I did not send them. They are prophesying … the deceit of their own minds” [Jeremiah 14:14] “Both prophet and Priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge.” That is, they do not “know God” – what they say is just ‘words.’ During previous generations God relented again and again; now he says, “I am weary of relenting.” [Jeremiah 15:6] We read today of an apparently impassioned plea of the people for God to relent yet again. They say to God, “Have you utterly rejected Judah? … We looked for peace, but no good came … for a time of healing … we acknowledge our wickedness … for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake … do not break your covenant with us.” [Jeremiah 14:19-21] The chapter break might cause us to miss how God responds to this plea. Jeremiah 15 gives God’s response, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight …” [Jeremiah 15:1]. We may not want to see comparisons with the “Christian” scene today. Many Christians today see God as totally a God of love and mercy – some say that he will always and forever be merciful, but can we doubt there is a parallel today with the time of Jeremiah? Let us remember what the Apostle Paul wrote, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” [Romans 15:4] Jeremiah had need of endurance – and so may we, indeed, we already need it, let us read the Scriptures every day. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 25 July 2011 2 Samuel 11Jeremiah 15Matthew 26 “MY MASTER IS DELAYED" Today’s readings bring us to that very disturbing account of David’s adultery with Bathsheba followed by attempts to cover up through given her opportunity to sleep with her husband and when that failed, by the dreadful tactic of organising for him to die. How could David have been so blind to commit such dreadful sins – adultery and then murder! Let’s think about the cause. When someone has total power and you are answerable to no other human, then there is always the potential to misuse that power – given our nature as human beings, all too often things happen which are morally wrong. Our world is full of examples of this by people with the power to do as they please and the ability to cover up wrong-doing. David had achieved so much in his life everything that was humanly possible. He had had great experiences in faithfully serving his God. It is clear he had a very energetic mind; when he was not permitted to build a temple he set about assembling much of the material that would be needed to build it. But there was a strange lull in his activity at the time of his sins. Today’s chapter (2 Samuel 11) tells us that when winter is over it is customary for “kings to go out to battle” [2 Samuel 11:1], this would be to reassert their control over their dominions, yet this time, for some reason, David decided not to go but “remained in Jerusalem” and “sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel” [2 Samuel 11:1]. Here is a lesson for us; it is never time to take life easy when there is work to do in the service of our Lord: and is that not always the case! The Lord has given his servants different talents, abilities and opportunities and when we shirk using these and in a sense think, there is no urgency, distractions have a chance to lodge in our minds – and so many today pander to fleshly enjoyments. We read yesterday in Matthew about the servant who said, “My Master is delayed” and he then “… eats and drinks with the drunkards” [Matthew 24:48,49] . The climax for him was “in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Matthew 24:51] But the Lord “put away” David’s sin: he had proved himself up to this time to be an exceptional servant. Nevertheless he suffered the consequences for the rest of his life. The lesson for us is plain; never ‘take time off’ when there is work for the Lord to be done. And there is always such work. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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