Judges 1:1-2:9 + Luke 21:29-22:13 + Psalm 90:1-91:16 + Proverbs 13:24-25
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Old Testament - Today we begin the book of Judges! Coming up in this book, we’ll be reading about Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Delilah, and Micah - to drop a few names. Below is a great map of the judges in Israel that we'll be reading about:
Judges
Author: Unknown
Date: Eleventh century B.C.
Content: The book of Judges covers a period of several hundred years following the conquest of Canaan, during which time the people were ruled by individual leaders called judges or saviors. Their task was primarily military, being to expel the enemy from the land. Throughout this period of Israel’s history there is a tragic cycle to be observed - that of rebellion against God, followed by the judgment of God, usually in the form of foreign invasion. The children of Israel then cry to God for help and a “judge” is sent to save them. This cycle is repeated numerous times throughout the book. Tragically, the people never seem to learn that rebellion against God is a sure road to disaster.
Theme: The grim lesson of Judges is that “the wages of sin is death: (see Romans 6:23). Sin takes many forms, from the sophisticated sins of kings to the barbaric events that close the book, but the net results is always the same: when everyone does his own thing, chaos and destruction are the inevitable outcome. Through it all, however, God in his faithfulness saves the people when they truly repent and turn to him. (Above commentary is from “The One Year Bible Companion” p. 4)
More commentary on Judges is at these two links:
https://bible.org/article/introduction-book-judges
Really interesting commentary is at this link titled “The Role of Women in the Book of Judges." (below is an image of Deborah)
Bible Project: Here is a great video overview of the book of Judges!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOYy8iCfIJ4
An image is below for Judges chapter 1 verses 14 & 15 today: "When Acsah married Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for an additional field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What is it? What can I do for you?" She said, "Give me a further blessing. You have been kind enough to give me land in the Negev; please give me springs as well." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs."
Today in Judges Chapter 2 verses 1 & 2 we will read these words from the angel of the Lord – “I said, “I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars. Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?”” The Israelites disobeyed God back then. Why? Do we disobey God in our lives today? Why do we do this? I have a hunch that maybe sometimes we are simply afraid. Afraid of fully following and trusting God. We may think that God really won’t live up to his promises. At these moments our faith is weak. And we end up disobeying God. Fortunately our inconsistencies do not affect God’s perfect consistency. God never changes. We do. And we can allow ourselves to either be changed by God such that we live in obedience to him – or, we can continue to disobey God and live tumultuous lives. It’s a pretty simple choice. One decision brings an amazing peace that surpasses all understanding and the other decision – grief and frustration. Do we disobey God in our lives today? Why have we done this? Can we instead choose to obey God in our lives? An image is below for Judges chapter 2 verses 4 & 5 today - "When the angel of the LORD finished speaking, the Israelites wept loudly. So they called the place "Weeping," and they offered sacrifices to the LORD."
New Testament - Today in Luke chapter 22 we read in verses 3-6: "Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and they promised to give him money. So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds weren’t around." Sad... Bible.org has a powerful essay on "The Biography of the Betrayer" at this link. Below is a fresco from the early 14th century by the Italian Renaissance Florentine painter Giotto titled "Pact of Judas." In this fresco the two priests on the right discuss Judas's treachery, while the third plots with Judas, who is in the clutches of the devil...
Bible.org's commentary on our Luke readings titled "The Second Coming of Christ" is at this link and commentary titled "Preparations for the Passion of Christ" is at this link.
Psalms - Today in Psalm 91:11-12 we read the words quoted by Satan to Jesus during the temptation in the desert: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” As you read this Psalm, do these words apply to Jesus only? Or to those who trust in the Lord as well? Do you believe that the Lord is guarding you in all your ways? Do you believe this is possible? (I hope your answer is yes) Do you recall Jesus’ response to Satan in Matthew 4:7: “It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” What do Jesus’ words to Satan tell you about these words in the Psalm? Can we believe these words of the Psalmist, and also not put God to the test at the same time? As an example, maybe to just myself :) , is driving over the speed limit putting God to the test? Is deciding to skip church one week (or for many weeks) because we have some chores to catch up on / or fun stuff to do / or because we’re just tired, putting God to the test? Think we just might look like this little guy below to God when we come up with all of our excuses of why we don't go to church...?
Bob Deffinbaugh with Bible.org has commentary on Psalm 90 titled "Place for Pessimism" at this link and his commentary on Psalm 91 titled "A Psalm of Safety" is at this link.
Proverbs - Proverbs 13:24 is true - "If you refuse to discipline your children, it proves you don't love them; if you love your children, you will be prompt to discipline them." The one thing that makes me a bit nervous about this Proverb is that I have a hunch us humans can over-do our discipline. I think there is obviously a difference between loving / godly discipline of our kids and mean / destructive discipline. I pray that we are led by God to know the difference. Yes, discipline is good. Godly / loving discipline. Mean / destructive discipline is not good.
Worship Video: Today's readings reminded me of the terrific worship song "Graves into Gardens:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwX1f2gYKZ4
Do you believe that graves can be turned into gardens? Click here and Believe!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Luke 21:33 NIV
Prayer Point: Pray that you are investing your life in learning and growing in the Word, Jesus, Who will never pass away. Pray that heaven and earth are not distracting you from loving Jesus with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Comments from You & Questions of the Day: Do you agree with our Proverbs today that if you love your children you will be prompt to discipline them? Do you think this same logic applies to our relationship with God, our Father? If God loves us, do you think He will be prompt to discipline us? Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless,
Mike
p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Bible readings at this link.
p.s. #2 - Download a schedule of our Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.
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HISTORICAL BLOG READERS COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
Beginning of Judges! Woo hoo..we get into powerful women like in first part..a woman of the Israelites only had sister siblings. Dad didn't have a son so she got bold as and went and asked for land and extra water area.
I love 91st psalm. Always have .
Judah Judas..I think about how close they were to Jesus..so closed for 3 years and then for Judas to slip backwards. If it can happen to them think it can happen to us?
Wow I love finishing a book and opening a new one! Judges today! Yay and the death of Joshua. Have one more week of Luke. Judas..not sure to be upset with him or feel bad for him. He really allowed Satan to do a number on him and will forever be known for it.
Psalm 90 and 91. Two of my favorite sections. God puts his wings over us and as arrows come 1000 on left 10000 on right but none come near us.
And yes healthy discipline never hurt anyone !
I agree with Ramona on alot of what she said ..blame game! I get that alot teaching middle grades education. No one wants to take ownership for wrong doing. And to be truthful , we at times blame others for our lack of or our laziness to getting around to things! Ouch!!
Discipline..sometimes these children need encouragement and sometimes a reality ck..love our verses today!
Disobedience to God always leads to disaster. By not driving the Canaanites out of the promised land, the Isrealites disobeyed God. This led them to temptations (worshipping other gods, intermarrying, etc.) The Isrealites became their Egyptian captors who drove the Canaanites to forced lanor. This reminds me of the the saying "we may become the company we keep". We have seen how we, especially the young people go astray when we hung out with the wrong crowd. However, God was true to His covenant with His people. He forgave their sins. As the Israelites disobeyed God over & over again, I see myself doing the same thing. Thank God for His mercies that I could ask for forgiveness & start a new day.
I am with you Mike. We need to discipline our children, i.e godly discipline and not destructive discipline. I pray that I have disciplined my children in a godly way, if not all the time, at least most of the time. Also discipline has to come early in the child's life. The hardest part of disciplining a child is when they become teens. Hopefully if we started early, it will not be too hard when they are in their teen years and will be carried when they are away from us. It also help if we pray for them all the time. My heart goes to the broken children, abused mentally and physically by their parents or guardians.
Lily
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I love the one year Bible blog. You often bring an insight that I've missed. Just wanted to comment on the verse in Proverbs today. As a pastor's wife for over 20 years, I've noticed that children do NOT receive much discipline. For the most part few parents discipline their children.
Karla
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These two verses stood out to me today:
Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Luke 21: 34 Jesus says "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
All of us get weighed down by the anxieties or distractions of life that we forget the draw ourselves closer to GOD each day in trying times. I guess because of our human nature we try to deal with life the way we know the best rather than remembering GOD is there beside us to provide for us no matter.
This goes back to Mike's question: Do we disobey God in our lives today? Why do we do this?
I guess again we don’t force ourselves to remember GOD is present with us though we can’t see HIM. I bet if we could physically see HIM everyday like we see our bosses or church priest or anybody else who forces us to accomplish our goals for that day. We would be on our knees trying to pray and asking repentance for our sins each time we disobeyed HIM. I guess we should teach ourselves to remember GOD presence with us only because we are human and humans are creatures of habit and our minds can only fathom what we can touch, feel or see.
Arielle
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As the mother of two adult children I can look back and see where discipline was neglected and see the result. My job was to make people who can fit into society. Anti-social behavior, then, must be gotten rid of. Lying, cheating, greed, laziness-that in adults will get them no-where. Not being able to see the end from the beginning it's always a worry-is it too much? But we want children who are sucessful. Do not exasperate your children, sure. If we have God's Spirit in us, if we are in Him, and He is in us- 24/7; 360 days a year I think we can trust Him to guide us to be disciplining through us out of love. just as we can trust we love our spouses as ourselves, and run our business fairly and justly and so on with every aspect of our life.
Cynthia
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On the subject of discipline,
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp. His teaching is based on Esp. 6:1. We discipline to keep our children in the circle of God's blessing
Also, Raising Godly Kids in an UnGodly World part of Chip Ingram's House or Home series. His teaching is that our goal in raising our children is holiness.
As a parent of 3 under 3, I find myself saying things to my children that I believe God says to me like "I love you and I need to tell you something important" , "I love you so much I can not let you do "x" because you could be hurt", "I love you and I know what is best for you" etc.
Susan
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Do we disobey God in our lives today? Why do we do this? I have a hunch that maybe sometimes we are simply afraid. Afraid of fully following and trusting God. We may think that God really won't live up to his promises. At these moments our faith is weak. And we end up disobeying God. ~ I'm not sure about this one ... I disobeyed the Lord not too long ago. Not because I was afraid, but because I didn't understand and wasn't sure it was Him. What He asked seemed so weird! But now I know I shouldn't doubt it, Gods ways are beyond us and we just should obey Him. I know I have a lot of 'growing up' to do in hearing His voice. During my quiet time with God or my prayers, I know it's Him when I hear Him, but just during the normal things in live - so to speak - I can have my doubts. But to go back to the disobeying ... I'm not afraid to obey Him, but what I'm afraid of is to not have heard Him and obey to somebody else. Does that sound weird to anyone?
Luke 21:33 "Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear". ~ Simply beautiful!!!
Proverbs 13:24 "If you refuse to discipline your children, it proves you don't love them; if you love your children, you will be prompt to discipline them." ~ To discipline children is a good thing, it's a way to make them strong enough in this world. Indeed godly/loving discipline. My cousins girlfriend always tells me I should not raise my voice when Jaden doesn't listen to me. But I do that so Jaden knows I'm very very serious and I'm not happy with the thing he just did. I mean, come on, I don't yell at the top of my lungs! I'm not going all mental to him! He needs to know a difference in my voice. I do it my way, she does it her way ... but I have to admit that Jaden does it better when it comes to listerning. She only believes in being nice and sweet all the time, she thinks children will experience something traumatic when you discipline them. Her children can do anything at any time, well I'm sorry, I don't do that with Jaden! As long as he lives under my roof ... I really and truly believe children need discipline, for their own sakes and ours to!
Mae
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Great readings. I was sad to hear Joshua died....again. didnt they say that at the end of the last book? :p
Anyhow, I think we sin also because we are still in our fallen nature and sometimes we simply let the flesh rule us. I have sinned deliberately and i was very wrong to, it was more lack of fear on my part. i wanted what i wanted, i allowed my flesh to overtake me, i ignored God. I admit it. but i understand wat the blogger meant by being afraid of things God asks us, like to share with someone and i simply get afraid n dont. what i'm afraid of? dont know, but its ridiculous that i am at times. (reminds me of that song by Shaun Groves, Should I Tell Them..."cause i'm unshamed, but i'm unprepared, and just plain afraid..should i tell them that You are the One who has saved me and set up a home here inside. should I tell them that i am a perfect example of all you can do in a life...." its a good song! =)
Another note on satan tempting Jesus...satan knows scripture, he will use it, but twist it to lure us, the same as he tempted Jesus!
yes, i need His discipline and yes parents should discipline their children out of love! You can tell, especially young adults, kids that werent disciplined enough by their parents.
K, a personal thing here. i love my dad so much and God has totally restored him, me, our relationship...but wen i was young, i was punished waaaay too much, for things i didnt even do. My dad came home from work in a bad mood and was angry n wanted to take it out on someone and it was me...(and my older sibling n my mom). But i got it the worst, even he admits it and apologized. the physical abuse affects me a bit to this day but the emotional abuse was much worse tho..had not been for Christ in my life, it would have been irrevocable. As a youngster, my dad was a authority figure and a believer, a respected elder in the church, i assumed he was a representative of God. Was God angry? wanting to beat me any chance He could? did He hate me? did he think i was worthless and had no future as my dad implied about me? I believed it very much so, i tried to take my life at 17. I accept my wrong, I became angry at God, in fact I hated Him and I hated my dad. But I was wrong, but it was also wrong to mislead a youngster into believing God was angry and didnt care about them. When i turned 17, i told my dad i didnt want to go to church anymore, i was old enough to decide and he respected that, but said, thats ok, you wouldnt like heaven anyway, you'd be better off in hell with ppl like you. :((
Out of the blue once, he tried to cast a demon out of me! he thought i was possessed bcos i was an emotional teen! he would try to talk to me and see if i was possessed...that was damaging...am I possessed by a demon? i knew i wasnt, but how cruel!!!! Sundays in my house were the worst days ever, the days of abuse...every sunday. Once, my sis n i were very young, like 6 n 8 and my mom hid us in the bathroom because my dad was angry and wanted to take us to night church n we didnt want to go n he was getting violent, so my mom gave us the key and was fighting with my dad trying to protect us...you dont know the terror i felt, being so young small, helpless in the bathroom crying...and he was trying to break the door down! all to take us to night church, which we were to young to comprehend. I was terrified of church, his anger for so many years, i mean TERRIFIED! once wen i was about 13 my sisters n i were waiting for our mom to pick us up after sunday school, and my dad wanted me to stay for the adult part, i was looking at him and the sun was behind him n i was squinting my eyes i guess and i was swinging my purse around. I was tiny, about 4'11, 75 lbs. to my and my sisters shock out of no where he back handed me across the face so hard i fell over, but my hair got caught in his fingers so that kept me up. Ppl at the church saw and were very upset. he later said i was standing there glaring at him, trying to hit him with my purse, wat???? and right in front of the church were ppl could drive by a see; gee, greeeat witness :/
He would make my older sis and i have bible study...which sounds good, but would have us listen to tapes of the books like Numbers, just names, about 10 minutes long and he would ask us Qs and we didnt know the answers, so he made listen again, we still didnt know..again, up to 5 times, and he was soooo angry at us! we were evil rebellious children to him but we didnt understand those passages! the Bible and church became a place of punishment!!! God was, in my mind, mean! eventually, i wanted nothing to do with God n vowed i'd never go to church again....i was sooo confused as to who God was. fortunately i had my mom who was loving and godly and told me how wrong my dad was. God was nothing like dad! nothing! i was soooo confused growing up! but God worked it all out.
My life, my dad's life turned miraculously....I finally found out God did love me, wasnt angry. So i stand witness God can change hearts, lives, heal the abused and heal the one who abuses. A total 360 change on my dad's part and mine! I dont know why i shared all this, but maybe someone can relate or is going through this.
But, its just past, gone...its still my past but i have no anger, no hatred, i love my dad and wouldnt change dads for the world...no matter all the bad, i'm soooo blesssed to have a godly father! he thought he was doing right at the time, and he did plenty of good things too.
Jenny
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Judges 1-2:9
Series of Compromises
Originally the Isralites went to the Lord, and subsequently there is no mention of going to God, giving Him the glory,, offering sacrifices, etc.
When things got dangerous difficult it became easier to compromise (because the tribes were not relying on the Lord???) then to follow the instructions of the Lord.
[Is that true of you and I today???]
Various "ites" were allowed to stay, regions were left unoccupied, even when stronger the "ites" were utilized as slaves - making life easier for the Israelites. Jerusalem was razed, but not occupied - the Jebusites came back. Tribe after tribe had incomplete or partial conquests.
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Not only did the Israelittes compromise but there were some "character" changes showing up:
They humiliated Adoni-Bezek by cutting off his thumbs and big toes. Just like he had done previously in other wars. Israelites were called to execute judgment not called to humiliate enemies. They were showing signs of becoming like their enemies.
Othniel was a brave warrior, but he was nagged by wife and usurped in the request for land by his wife. Showing a difference between himself and Caleb.
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All in all it was a series of compromises to the Word of God. The angel of the Lord (I believe pre-incarnate Christ) came and spoke.
God always reminds us first of His love and faithfulness to us, then He asks the question:
'So why have you not followed my commands?'
So be it - you want to straddle the fence and compromise - they shall stay and be a thorn in your sides, and their gods a snare to you.
"The word "snare" means a trap with a noose in it which a rabbit runs through and gets caught--and you eat the rabbit. "Their gods shall be a snare to you. Their gods will eat you up, so to speak. They will destroy you as a person." - Ron Ritchie
Thes people did the right thing - they wept, repented, and offered sacrifices. As long as joshua and other elders were alive these people DID serve the Lord.
But what about the Next Generation - how would the compromises made in possession of the land affect them??????
Luke 21
Fig Parable
Luke 21:32 "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." NIV
I can see only three possibilities for the meaning of "this generation", but am open to other suggestions.
- generation of Jesus' time. Cannot be this one as Jesus has not come back yet.
- the generation of the time when the events are beginning to happen (sprout leaves in parable) will not pass away.
- the "race" of man (alternate translation) will not pass before it happens.
But more importantly - "heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
You can bank on it - Jesus is coming back and will set up the physical kingdom of God. Timing is not the issue - HE will be back! We have His Word.
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Regarding Judas
Luke 22:3
"Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve." NIV
"How was Satan able to do that? Well, Judas was ready for him. Our hearts were created to be ruled, and if they are not ruled by God they will be ruled by something or someone else. The gospels show us that this man's heart was ruled first by the world. He had hungered for a political kingdom and had followed Jesus until those dreams were shattered on Palm Sunday. Sometime in the following three days he had gone to the chief priests and betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (see Matthew 26:14-16). Then he was ruled by the flesh. He was selfish, coveted money, and eventually became a thief (John 12:6). And finally he became ruled by the devil." - Ron Ritchie
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Passover Parallels
Jesus ate the Passover meal with eleven of His disciples (see Passover in Bible Times). Just as the priest was to teach, pray, and offer sacrifice, Christ, the High Priest, taught, prayed, and then offered Himself as our sacrifice.
John
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Judges 1:2:9
12 Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations--these that remain among you--and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, 13 know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. (Joshua 23:12-13)
Warning, warning, warning, don’t hang out with the folks I’ve just put out of the land I’m giving you. God couldn’t have been clearer in His instructions to Israel. God was the one who would drive out the people He had dispossessed, not Israel. But the eviction process would stop if Israel stopped obeying the commands of the Lord. How often are we like Israel? Forget for a moment obeying God’s commands, how often don’t we obey the commands of little ole instruction sheet and then blame our failure to get that “stupid” thing working on the manufacture instead of our failure to obey the directions?
The “Blame Game” that started back in the Garden of Eden, in the Book of Genesis, continues today and it is failure to take responsibility for our own breakdowns to obey the “Word of the Lord. Even Moses participated in that deadly game when he failed to follow God’s instructions. God told Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock when Israel found herself in the Wilderness without water but they struck the rock, not once but twice.
Numbers 20:6-9
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD said to Moses, 8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."
9 So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
God told Moses and Aaron that it was their own disobedience that would keep them out of the Promise Land, but Moses told the people it was their disobedience that kept him out, The Blame Game.
Deuteronomy 1:
37 "And the LORD was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, `You will never enter the Promised Land! 38 Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him as he prepares to enter it.
Israel’s reasons for not getting out the inhabitants were as varied as the number of her tribes and families. She failed to clear out her Promise because she failed to obey and follow after God. Let us strive not to make the same mistakes as Israel, let us strive to obey the Voice of the Lord so that the enemies that live in our hearts will be rooted out not because we are so strong, but because our obedience will allow the Holy Spirit in to do the job we are unable to do.
Luke 21:29-22:13
Today’s reading includes the story of Jesus sending his disciples, Peter and John, ahead of Him to prepare the last Passover meal (22:7-10) He will share with them before His crucifixion. How lovely that today, this evening to be specific, at Sundown the Jewish Festival of Passover and then the Fest of Unleavened Bread begins. Jesus became the Pascal Lamb for the entire World so that the Death Angel would pass over the hearts of all those who call on His Name and bring us into eternal life, once and for All. This is no AWESOME coincidence! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world died for you and for me, a great reason to rehearse the story of the first Passover to remind us of what that Passover really means.
Psalm 90-91:16
12 Teach us to make the most of our time,
so that we may grow in wisdom. (Psalm 90)
If ever there was a need to make the most of our time throughout the generations, now is the time. I am inundated by the many voices calling for my attention and most of the time I give the wrong voice an inordinate amount of time neglecting the voice of wisdom to my peril Today the 12th verse of Moses’ psalm becomes my prayer.
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Proverbs 13:24-25
Mike makes a good observation about the use of verse twenty-four. Too often we hear this verse used to justify horrendous physical abuse. But today when I read Mike’s comments I realized that the people who brutalize their children with cruelty disguised as godly obedience are themselves out of control and lacking discipline in their own lives, thus are incapable of disciplining others rightly.
Yet there are a lot of parents who go to the other extreme and do not use any kind of discipline because they say, “It will hurt little Johnnie or Jane’s self-image.” Lack of discipline and abuse seem to me to be different sides of the same coin, neglect. On one side, abuse, the parent or guardian is “getting” off on the cruel treatment of the child. On the other side of the coin the parent is placing their self-interest, not having to expend time and energy in giving their children tools to learn self-control the child will need in the future.
Proverbs 12:1
To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.
As someone who works in a college I know cheating is rampant, and the kids didn’t begin cheating when they showed up on the collage doorstep. If one is cheating to get information, one is not learning the information.
Grace and peace,
Ramona