A Book Like No Other

If we prayerfully read the Bible with our wills open to God, God will give us a deepening faith in Christ and will build our characters.

Conversely, when I fail to read God's Word and pray each day, the wheels pop off my life, my priorities are put askew, I more readily fall prey to temptations and sin, my ego gets out of hand, and I panic in the face of life.

The Bible is like no other book. It is, as the New Testament book of 2 Timothy says literally, "God-breathed," inspired by God, filled with the same grace and power God used to call the universe into being and that He used to raise Jesus from the dead.

Enjoy these thoughts on the Bible from today's installment of Our Daily Bread.

Don't Try Too Hard to Fit In

Here.

It's About Life and Death: Some Thoughts on God's Love for You

Today's Our Daily Bread devotion based on Psalm 117, a two-verse hymn of praise composed of just 30 words in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation I usually use when I read the Bible. David Roper, the writer of the devotion, cites a translation of the passage taken from The New International Version (TNIV) (I've italicized words I want to briefly talk about below.):

¹ Praise the LORD, all you nations; 

   extol him, all you peoples. 

² For great is his love toward us, 

   and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.

   Praise the LORD.

Here's Psalm 117 as rendered by the NRSV (I've italicized the words corresponding to the ones italicized above):

1Praise the LORD, all you nations! 

  Extol him, all you peoples!

2For great is his steadfast love toward us,

  and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the LORD!

The word from the Psalm's original Hebrew translated by the italicized phrases above, is a form of the Hebrew word, hesed. It specifically refers to God's covenantal faithfulness. The word means that God will not break the promises He makes in His covenants.

A covenant is a compact or agreement.

In Old Testament times, covenants were made (or cut) by conquering kings with their subject peoples. "I will be your king," a covenant might begin. "I will protect you from violence and thievery. In response to this, you will pay taxes, obey the laws, and be subject to service to the king."

Israel's God--YAHWEH, I AM--made a covenant with Israel. You see it embodied in the Ten Commandments, which begin, not with commands, but with a promise. "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out the house of slavery..." (Exodus 20:3). Before issuing a single command of His moral law (valid today and for all time, by the way), God promised to be the God, Lord, and Protector of His people. It's only after issuing this promise that He says, in effect, "In response to this gift of grace, I expect you to fulfill the following commandments."

In Jesus, a new covenant has been instituted by God for the whole world. Jesus expresses it in, among other places, Mark 16:16:

The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.

As was true in Old Testament times, when the patriarch Abraham believed in God's promises and God counted him righteous--right with God, free from the debt of sin which would have otherwise have cost him his life for eternity, under God's new covenant, those who believe (or trust) in Jesus, God-in-human-flesh, are forgiven their sins and freed from death in order to live with God eternally.

Jesus puts the same point in a different way in John 3:16-18:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

This is the kind of love--hesed love, covenantal love--that Psalm 117 talks about. "I have done this for you (in ancient Israel's case, the this was deliverance from slavery in Egypt, in Jesus' case, the this is deliverance from slavery to sin and death), now entrust your life to me. 

This is what God's love is like. It's love that calls people away from the sins that will kill them, back to the only one who can give them life. 

It's not sentimental love. It's not mushy love. It's not about feelings. It's about life and death. 

Accepting this love and Christ's authority over your life brings life. Rejecting Christ's love and authority spells death.

Covenant love--hesed--does not smile indulgently on our sins. It demands that we turn from our violations of the ten commandments--every day--and entrust our lives to Christ. (For a good rundown of the ten commandments and their meanings, go here.)

God loves sinners and hates our sins. He wants to love us back into relationship with Him.

But if we choose our sins over God, if we refuse to turn to Him, God is one king who will not force us to obey. 

He tries valiantly to free us from sin (and its rightful consequence, death). Not only did He take on flesh to die and rise for us in the person of Jesus Christ, today He will orchestrate events, encounters, experiences, and send messages to our hearts and minds in order to win us over. (This post may, in fact, be something God is orchestrating in your life this very moment.)

But He will not force us to come to Him.

The message of the Bible is simple: Come to the God made plain to all the world in Jesus Christ. Turn from sin and trust in Him each day. Let God's covenant love change your life and your eternity.

Don't Let the Nasty Bring You Down!

I love today's installment of Our Daily Bread.

When we "go after" those who hate or hurt us, we're engaging in the very behaviors we find so offensive; it doesn't help anything good happen.

Besides that, by patiently enduring the nastiness others throw our way, we may actually learn how we have been wrong as well as wronged.

If we have attempted reconciliation and understanding to no avail, it's better to simply place the offending party in God's hands and move on with our lives.

I'd advise reading all of Psalm 37. It's a treasure trove of insight and inspiration!

¹Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers,
²for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
³Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
⁴Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
⁵Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
⁶He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
⁷Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.
⁸Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
⁹For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
¹⁰Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
¹¹But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
¹²The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them;
¹³but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming.
¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly;
¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
¹⁶Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.
¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide forever;
¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine they have abundance.
²⁰But the wicked perish, and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
²¹The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving;
²²for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
²³Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way;
²⁴though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.
²⁵I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
²⁶They are ever giving liberally and lending, and their children become a blessing.
²⁷Depart from evil, and do good; so you shall abide forever.
²⁸For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever.
³⁰The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice.
³¹The law of their God is in their hearts; their steps do not slip.
³²The wicked watch for the righteous, and seek to kill them.
³³The Lord will not abandon them to their power, or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial.
³⁴Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked.
³⁵I have seen the wicked oppressing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.
³⁶Again I passed by, and they were no more; though I sought them, they could not be found.
³⁷Mark the blameless, and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable.
³⁸But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.
³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
⁴⁰The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

Living wisely is best...

...even when nobody notices.

Believe Me: It is True

"You can call out to God: 'Give me a hand!' and He will rush to your side."(David H. Roper) That's been my experience too. Read all of Roper's inspiration for today.