Verse of the Day 6/30

 

Galatians 6:9-10   And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ¹⁰ So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.   English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Yesterday's verses began with "walk in wisdom towards outsiders".  In  The Message  paraphrase, today's verse ends with  "starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith."  We are to be doing good, doing God's work, ministering to His people while being ambassadors to everyone.  Doing good to all should  be our  motive.  We should  have in mind in any situation, what is the  right  thing to  do, the best thing  to do, the good thing to do.

In Charles Swindoll's paraphrase of this he writes,  "You  wrongdoers, go ahead and keep doing wrong.  Just see  what  happens…. As for you righteous and holy saints, keep practicing  righteousness, keep being  holy – and you'll  get your reward in  due  time."  We aren't to be concerned about how someone may seem to be "getting  ahead" by doing  wrong and for certain we shouldn't be joining  in with them.  Our job is to be like Arte Johnson from an old  TV show where his common line was,  "just  keep a goin' " , with a slight  alteration we  might  say  "just keep a doin' good."

 

Farmers may become discouraged when they do all the work and they don't see the crops growing as they should.  But  they don't stop.  They keep  a goin' expecting  to  see a harvest at the  end of  the season.  So  it should  be with us.  We may  not  see results of  our efforts, our  good  works now, but God does, and  He'll  see to it that  they'll produce a crop in the  end.

 

 

Blessings,

 

Mike

 

 

 

Galatians 6:6-10The Message (MSG)

⁶ Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.

^7-8 Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

^9-10 So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.

 

 

Follow the verse of the day at mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Verse of the Day 6/29

 

 

Colossians 4:5-6    Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.⁶ Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Today's  verses begin with the  statement "walk  in wisdom", if  this were in  the psalms you might have a "selah" after that, which means to pause and  think  about  that.  The passage begins with a few words that help us to understand how to go about that.  Verse 2 "pray diligently,  stay alert, with your  eyes wide open in  gratitude" .  My devotional Bible  has  a note  on this  passage  that "the  gospel of God's grace fuels the  Christian life in three ways, in prayer; in  partnership; and  purpose."

 

Notice also  that the verse says that we are to  be this way with  "outsiders",  those  who  are  currently outside of  the faith.  It  is a given that we are to act  this way with fellow believer.  Aside from outward  appearance, our words  are probably the first thing  someone will notice  about us.  If  it  is full  of  venom,  it  will  be noticed  and it  will  be hard to  change that  first, lasting impression.  Our speech  should  add, give flavor to and  be beneficial as salt is to food.

 

In my devotional reading  this  morning I read Proverbs 11:3 which  spoke  of  the integrity of the  "upright".  Walking in wisdom will  also  mean  walking  with  integrity.  Integrity is  being  the  same  person no  matter  where  we are,  whom we are with, wherever we  are, it  is about character.  Pastor Greg  Laurie  writes, "The stand you make today will determine what kind of stand you will make tomorrow. Character is not some mystical thing that you have no say in. You decide what principles you will live by, what road you will take."

 

We're in this together, let's make the  most of  it, the  best of  it,  "use our heads" (The Message) walking  in wisdom,  in prayer and  in partnership with  others.

 

Blessings,

 

Mike

 

 

Colossians 4:2-6The Message (MSG)

 

Pray for Open Doors

2-4 Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don't forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I'm locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I'll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.

 

5-6 Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

 Follow the verse of the day at mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Verse of the Day 6/28

 

 

Exodus 15:1-2

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,

"I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
    the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
² The Lord is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father's God, and I will exalt him.  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

In  our  worship  service  this  past  Sunday we  sang the hymn "Be Still My Soul".  Whenever I  sing it  one line always stands out for me, it is the  line "be still my  soul, the wind and  waves still know His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below".  The hymn came to  both  my wife Jean  and  I  at different  times in some of the darkest hours  of our life. They drew us  to  Him and now serve as a reminder  of His  presence.

 

Our men's Bible  study just  completed  a video series about the Exodus and  today's verses were the  focal point of  the last study.  The  picture is  of Moses and  the  people  of  Israel facing the Red  Sea which they had  just crossed on  dry ground  but then God caused to  swallow up the enemy that had been pursuing  them, Pharaoh and his  army.  This song of triumph on that  shore also  looked  to God's  power over  the  wind and  the waves, and the  people rejoiced  in it.

 

The song pulls from  the  New Testament passage in Mark  4, where Jesus  had  just  calmed  the  storm and the disciples said to  one  another, "who then  is this, that even  the  winds and the sea obey Him?".  The answer was the same  for Moses, the disciples and for God's people of the  Old  and  New Testaments and  us today.  This, is our God.  The  One who  alone has the  power to do these things, for  us.

 

If our souls are troubled this morning  in world in a sea of trouble, may we call on Him  to  calm our  seas and at the same time  to wipe out those things that would  keep us from Him.

 

 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"⁴¹ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"  Mark 4:40-41   English Standard Version (ESV)

Take a  few minutes and perhaps sing a song in your heart or out loud, one like "How Great is  Our God", "Our God  is  an Awesome  God" or "Great is Thy Faithfulness" in worship to  this God who is "my God".

 

Blessings,

 

Mike

 

Exodus 15:1-8The Message (MSG)

15 ^1-8 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to God, giving voice together,

I'm singing my heart out to God—what a victory!
    He pitched horse and rider into the sea.
God is my strength, God is my song,
    and, yes! God is my salvation.
This is the kind of God I have
    and I'm telling the world!
This is the God of my father—
    I'm spreading the news far and wide!
God is a fighter,
    pure God, through and through.
Pharaoh's chariots and army
    he dumped in the sea,
The elite of his officers
    he drowned in the Red Sea.
Wild ocean waters poured over them;
    they sank like a rock in the deep blue sea.
Your strong right hand, God, shimmers with power;
    your strong right hand shatters the enemy.
In your mighty majesty
    you smash your upstart enemies,
You let loose your hot anger
    and burn them to a crisp.
At a blast from your nostrils
    the waters piled up;
Tumbling streams dammed up,
    wild oceans curdled into a swamp.

 

 Follow the verse of the day at mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Verse of the Day 6/26

Ecclesiastes 2:11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.  English Standard Version (ESV)

The other day I had quoted a couple of stanzas from the hymn "A Mighty Fortress".  One line that has stuck with me for a few days was "let goods and kindred go".  Normally, when we think of the word kindred, we think of family.  I don't think that Martin Luther was telling us to let family go, more likely it was "goods" and their like, their family, other possessions, virtually anything else that would take up time and resources and keep us away from the greater pursuits in life.

Solomon was one the wisest and richest men that the world has ever known but he was not immune to going after the wrong things.  He chased many things and came to the realization of today's verse.  Without God, without Him in first place, it is vanity, a chasing of the wind.

Whenever I read this verse and spend some time in Ecclesiastes, I also think of the Steve Green song "A Chasing of the Wind" which asks a question that each of us should ask ourselves and will be asked of us at the end of our days.  For some it will be "why did you live without Jesus".  May it not be said of us.

All achievements, all possessions    All with time return to dust    Only God can be our reason    For deep and quiet trust    He will guard us from the dangers    That gladly make men fools    Apart from Him and all His meaning    All things fail as they begin    And hearts deceived    Can only know    A chasing of the wind    A chasing of the wind        Why do we live without Jesus?    Why do we waste another day?    He is the life that sustains us    The only hope for us today    So tell me, why do we live    Why do we live without Him?

At the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon has good advice for us, perhaps his wisest statement, literally saying the sum of all things, all his great wisdom and wealth, is this:

 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13English Standard Version (ESV)

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Ecclesiastes 2:11-14The Message (MSG)

I Hate Life

¹¹ Then I took a good look at everything I'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.

^12-14 And then I took a hard look at what's smart and what's stupid. What's left to do after you've been king? That's a hard act to follow. You just do what you can, and that's it. But I did see that it's better to be smart than stupid, just as light is better than darkness. Even so, though the smart ones see where they're going and the stupid ones grope in the dark, they're all the same in the end. One fate for all—and that's it.

Verse of the Day 6/24

Luke 12:15  And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."    English Standard Version (ESV)

You hear much mentioned of Wall Street in today's news, it has often been a topic in speeches by this year's presidential candidates.  The statement made by Michael Douglas in the movie "Wall Street" comes to mind, where his character stated "greed is good".  Today's fairly long passage in Luke 15 deals with the topic.  The Bible teaches us how to overcome, how to defeat greed, seek His kingdom first (v.31) and to let goods and money go (v.33).  Not an easy thing to do.

Behind all of this there needs to be an awareness, as the verse says, we need to "be on guard" against greed and covetousness.  Greed it wanting desiring, hoarding wealth and possessions.  Covetousness is wanting, being jealous of and seeking ways of attaining what others have, no matter what it may cost.

That thought of "letting go" brought to mind the old hymn "A Mighty Fortress", in particular the fourth stanza which states:

That word above all earthly powers, 
no thanks to them, abideth; 
the Spirit and the gifts are ours, 
thru him who with us sideth. 
Let goods and kindred go, 
this mortal life also; 
the body they may kill; 
God's truth abideth still; 
his kingdom is forever.

The greed and covetousness is replaced by the Spirit and "the gifts", I take it the gifts or fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22).  

What is standing between us and a right relationship with God?  We are called to let them go and - " Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you."   Luke 12:31English Standard Version (ESV)  Or as stated in The Message below, "Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself."

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Luke 12:31-32The Message (MSG)

^29-32 "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.