Verse of the Day 4/13

Through the Bible - 1 Samuel 13-14, Luke 14:25 - 15:10

 

Good morning,

If you were to ask the members of your small group, Bible study, or even people on the street to name the 10 Commandments you'd probably get most of them.  We asked the 7th grade junior high boys the question in crossings the other night.  The terminology may not have been as it is written, but they had a pretty good grasp of what is required, such as one response of "you shouldn't cuss".

The group didn't name the first one, which is often overlooked, or at least comes towards the end as all of the "easy" ones are checked off.

For today's verse we'll go to Exodus 20 where we find the 10 Commandments.

Ex 20:2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.    NKJV
Any time you lay down the ground rules for something, you normally start out with what is most important.  Such is the case here.  All of the others hinge upon the acknowledgment of God, putting Him first and having no other gods before Him.

 

Notice that the verse does not say "a god" or even "the God", but He is your God.  This fact doesn't hinge upon what we think of Him or how we react, whether we accept or reject Him.  The fact still remains, He Is, the LORD your God.

 

If we live with this thought first and foremost in our minds how would it change how we live?  Consider these words from "You are My King" (Amazing Love).

 

Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
Amazing love, I know it's true
It's my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You

 

Tomorrow's New Testament reading will be in Luke 15, the passage on the prodigal son.  Today's thoughts should be kept in mind if you decide to read that passage.  I'd encourage you to do so.

 

2 Cor 5: 14 Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.  NLT
 

Blessings,
Mike

Ex 20:1-18

20 And God spoke all these words, saying:

2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 "You shall not murder.

14 "You shall not commit adultery.

15 "You shall not steal.

16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."   NKJV

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Verse of the Day 4/12

Through the Bible - 1 Samuel 9-12, Luke 14:7-24

 

Good morning,

Many of us ( if not most) have asked God for a sign at some point in our lives, most often when seeking direction on making an important decision in our lives.  The pharisees in Luke chapter 11 asked for a sign as well.  They asked it to test Jesus and His authority.

Luke 11:16 Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. 17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.    NKJV

 

Today's verse comes a little further on in the chapter where Jesus spoke out against the pharisees and the crowd for questioning His authority and ignoring His message.

 

Luke 11:31 "The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.   NLT

Henry Wansbrough writes," the sign of Jonah is understood as His preaching of repentance.  Jesus' own preaching of repentance is compared to that of Jonah.  The difference lies in the response: the men of Ninevah responded to the preaching of Jonah, by contrast to the present generation.  Similarly, the Queen of Sheba responded with her admiration to the wisdom of Solomon.  Both will come forward at the judgement in witness against those who failed to respond to the one who was greater than the wisdom of Solomon and more forcefull than the preaching of Jonah."

 

The Pharisees fussed about ritual cleansing rather than generosity. They were more concerned about the minute details of tithing than sharing God's love,  They sought recognition and important, high visibility seats in the synagogue and functions instead of reaching out and lifting up those in need.

.

The Pharisees were indifferent to the words of Jesus unless he would give them a sign.  Jesus was trying to correct the viewpoint or world view of the  Pharisees,the listeners of that day and readers today.  Instead of questioning His authority in your life, take Him at His Word and He will reveal Himself to you.

 

Luke 11:28 Jesus replied, "But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice."   NLT.
 

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Luke 11:29-33

The Sign of Jonah

 

29 As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, "This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. 30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God.

 

31 "The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.

NLT

Verse of the Day - weekend 4/10

Through the Bible - 1 Samuel 3-8, Luke 13:22- 14:6

 

Good morning,

In yesterday's verse, part of Jesus' prayer to the Father we saw that eternal life is about knowing God.

The thoughts from that verse brought a song to mind "I Want to Know Christ" by Larnell Harris, which brought me to Philippians 3:10 which is today's verse.

Phil 3:10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!  NLT
The verses are powerful and sobering.  Paul exemplified the words in these verses as did many of the other apostles who were martyred for their faith in Christ.

John MacArthur writes, "To know Christ is not simply to have intellectual knowledge about Him; Paul used the Greek verb that means to know experientially or personally.  It is equivalent to a shared life with Christ.  It also corresponds to a Hebrew word used of God's knowledge of His people (Amos 3;2) and their knowledge o Him in love and obedience."

I'll post the words to "I Want to Know Christ".  How do you relate to them personally and experientially?  Think about them for a time, sing the song if you know it in preparation for worship this weekend.

I know that I know that my life is redeemed
I know I have found what some only have dreamed
I hold in my heart the pearl of great price
Dear God, hear my cry
I want to know Christ

I want to know Christ
I keep Him before me
I lift up my eyes
I drink in His glory
I press toward the goal
His goodness unfolds
March on , oh my soul
I want to know
I want to know Christ

I know that my path is the way of the cross
So I count what I gain and forget what I've lost
In pain there is joy
In death there is life
Dear God, hear my cry
I want to know Christ

And the things that entangle me
I lay them down
All the treasures and trophies of life
Let them be lost
Only let me be found in Christ
For I want to know
Yes I want to know

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Phil 3:7-17

 

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

 

Pressing toward the Goal

 

12 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

 

15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.  NLT

Verse of the Day 4/9

Through the Bible - 1 Samuel 1-2, Luke 13:1-21

 

Good morning,

Our Pastor Bob's sermon last week was "Make Jesus Famous".  It's not that He is not already famous or that He needs us to make Him famous, but it should be foremost in our hearts that we make an effort to tell others about our Saviour, to praise Him and make His work in our lives known to others.  In the sermon Bob gave the definition of a fan, "an enthusiastic follower".  Having seen the NCAA championship game last week, the stands were full of fans wearing the school colors with painted faces and colored hair making it known to those around them who it was that inspired them.

 

A true fan also knows a lot about his team.  I've always been a big Cubs fan.  As a kid I knew their line up and the batting averages. ERA's , and all the important information about the players.  I would use that information to stick up for, defend, and root for the team.

 

For today's verse we'll go to John chapter 17 where Jesus prays for Himself, His disciples, and for all believers.  In today's verse He gives us a definition of what eternal life is, and is all about.

John 17:3 And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.  - Amplified Bible

 

Reading the Amplified Bible makes it easy to draw the correlation to "being a fan".  A  fan of Jesus wants to know, perceive, recognize, become more acquainted with, and gain more understanding of His Saviour.  He won't grow tired or become bored with it.  His heart will not crave or miss the things of this world, he will be too busy finding our more, rooting for, and praising the Three in One - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

John MacArthur gives this definition of eternal life as it applies to this verse and John 3:15-16, "It means literally "life of the age to come" and refers, therefore, to resurrection and heavenly existence in perfect glory and holiness.  This life for believers in the Lord Jesus is experienced before heaven is reached.  This "eternal life" is in essence nothing less than participation in the eternal life of the Living Word, Jesus Christ.  It is the life of God in every believer, yet not fully manifest until the resurrection." (Rom. 8:19-23, Philippians 3:20-21).

 

Have you become a "fan" of Jesus?  I'm not talking about something on Facebook, rather in your heart.  Are you learning more about Him and "Making Him Famous" to others in your life?

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
John 17:1-6

 

Jesus Prays for Himself

 

17 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.    NKJV

Verse of the Day 4/8

Through the Bible - Ruth 3-4, Luke 12:35-59

 

Good morning,

I would say that most, if not all of us,think of ourselves as amateur weather forecasters.  How many times have you said or thought """it feels or even smells like rain today" and grabbed a jacket or umbrella as we headed out the door?  We may see the cumulus clouds building on a summer afternoon, feel the humidity in the air, and predict that we'll have thunderstorms later in the afternoon.

For today's verse we go to today's New Testament reading in Luke 12 where Jesus has something to say about this to His listeners then and now.

 Luke 12:54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, "When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, 'Here comes a shower.' And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, 'Today will be a scorcher.' And it is. 56 You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don't know how to interpret the present times.   NLT
We started the week looking at what God said to Solomon about turning to Him that the land might be healed.  When we look at the social landscape in our country today, we can't help but see what is going on but how much are we doing to turn our hearts and those of our families, friends and relatives towards Him?

We have the history of the last, bloodiest century, we have the biblical records of the attitude of societies in the Old and New Testaments and still do little change the course of our lives and those of our families, friends, and relatives.  Where are we to begin?

John Calvin wrote, "This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture: truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father."

As we get to know Christ better, He may work through us as He did through the Apostle Paul:

Acts 26:17-19  "'I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.'   (from THE MESSAGE.)

What will you put on as you head out the door today?

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Luke 12:54-13:1

54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, "When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, 'Here comes a shower.' And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, 'Today will be a scorcher.' And it is. 56 You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don't know how to interpret the present times.

57 "Why can't you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 When you are on the way to court with your accuser, try to settle the matter before you get there. Otherwise, your accuser may drag you before the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, who will throw you into prison. 59 And if that happens, you won't be free again until you have paid the very last penny."   NLT

Verse of the Day 4/7

Through the Bible - Ruth 1-2, Luke 12:4-34

 

Good morning,

In yesterday's devotional Solomon had been involved with and paid attention to all the details as the temple was being constructed.  But God spoke to him after it's completion about what was really important for His people, paying attention with their hearts humbling themselves,  praying and seeking His face, and turn from their own ways.

For today's verse we'll go to Luke 10 to the account where Jesus visits Martha's home.  Martha had been caught up in the details of preparing a meal for her special guest while her sister Mary sat at Jesus feet, listening and learning.

Luke 10:41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."   NKJV
How many of us are the same way?  So focused on the task at hand that we lose sight of what is truly important, those opportunities to learn from Jesus in close settings.

In his commentary Henry Wansbrough writes, "In Christian tradition the two sisters have become the symbols of the contemplative and active life, the lives centered respectively on prayer and translating prayer into action.  This builds on the assumption that the parable is contrasting two ways of prayer, it would be more accurate to see it as contrasting two ways of attentiveness.   Luke does not suggest that Martha's service is wrong.  To begin with he uses the same for service that used for the service of the seven who are appointed to serve the poor of the faithful in the early community ideally described in Acts.  Furthermore,  when the Greek literally has 'Mary has chosen the good part', this does not imply that Martha's part is bad.  It is simply that comparatives (better, worse, etc.) are rare in the Gospel Greek.  Jesus language was stark and uncompromising."

 

You can apply this thought of attentiveness also to the parable of the Good Samaritan earlier in the chapter.  The priest in that parable was on his way to the temple for service, so focused on that and the need to keep clean that  he passed by on the other side of the road, avoiding the possibility of becoming "unclean" but being inattentive to the things of the heart, mercy and compassion.  The despised Samaritan chose the better option, turning aside from his own way, and in that case helped the man in need.

 

What kind of attentiveness to we show in our lives?  Is there a balance?s

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Luke 10:38-11:1

Mary and Martha Worship and Serve

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."   NKJV

Verse of the Day 4/6

Through the Bible - Judges 20-21, Luke 11:37-12:3

 

Good morning,

If you followed yesterday's reading you would have read the following verse:

Luke 11:7  So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.  - Amplified Bible

 What is it that keeps us away from asking, seeking, on knocking on God's door?  Too many times it's endless activity.  We get so caught up in the business of the day that we don't find, have, or take the time to communicate with God, many times even during activities that we would consider serving Him.

 

For today's verse we'll go to 2 Chronicles 7 where Solomon had been busy with the construction of the Lord's temple, a noble, an important task.  But the most important thing for Solomon and for us was what God said to him at night after all the activities of the day(s)  had settled down.

 

2 Chronicles 7:14  If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

    ¹⁵Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place.   - Amplified Bible

 

We've just come off of a great holiday, Easter, with it's celebration of what the Lord has done for us.  But now that the busy-ness is over what is it that we seek?

Is it to come before the Lord in humility, in prayer, longing for Him, repenting from being caught up in ourselves and turning towards and seeking, following Him?  The same things required of us are required of a nation that is to follow God.  If His people won't do it, surely the nation won't.

 

John MacArthur writes, "on the other hand, if the church is fit to receive God's blessing, the whole nation will be the beneficiary of that, because the Word of God will be proclaimed with power, God will add to His church, and spiritual blessings of all kinds will result.  And those are the truest blessings of all."

 

May we pray and live with open eyes, attentive ears and with such a heart.

 

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

 

2 Chron 7:12-21

God's Second Appearance to Solomon
(1 Kings 9:1-9)

12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying,'You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.'

19 "But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.  NKJV