Key verse
Ecclesiastes 8:12 - Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God.
James
Patience - that is one thing that I find is hard to come by. Once I decide on something, I want to go and do it right away, perhaps even if I'm not ready yet. Fortunately, I've got people around me who keep me down to earth, most of the time! It's a good reminder to know that "the Judge is standing at the door". I realize that statement was directed to those who grumble, which I do on occasion as well, but I think it can apply to any situation. After all, God is omnipresent, everywhere all the time. Life application? Be more patient today!
John
Historical lesson:
Apparently, the Samaritans had built a temple on Mount Gerizim, which (this is getting a bit ahead of the reading) the Samaritan woman said was the mountain on which they must worship, although the Jews say they have to worship in Jerusalem at the temple there. The Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch as the scriptures, and their version commanded worship on Mount Gerizim. Here is part of the contention between Jews and Samaritans.
Jeremiah
Poor Uriah... He prophesied the truth just like Jeremiah, and yet he died and Jeremiah lived because of his connections at the temple.
There certainly isn't much lasting satisfaction in being a false prophet. Hananiah died within a year of his false claims.
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
The fiftieth post!
50th Post!!! Congrats for tracking with me so far! Let's hope it can only get better from here.
Key verses
Key verses
Jeremiah 23:23-24 - “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah
Beware the false prophets!
Ecclesiastes
7:28 really stuck out to me because apparently Solomon couldn't find one upright women among any. I think this may stem from the fact that he married all foreign women who would not have followed his religion or believed in the one true God. This makes sense because he had 300 wives and 700 concubines, thereby equaling 1000.
I read this from the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary and thought it was an interesting take, although a little bit of a stretch: one man-that is, worthy of the name, "man," "upright"; not more than one
in a thousand of my courtiers (Job 33:23; Ps 12:1). Jesus Christ alone
of men fully realizes the perfect ideal of "man." "Chiefest among ten
thousand" (So 5:10). No perfect "woman" has ever existed, not even the
Virgin Mary. Solomon, in the word "thousand," alludes to his three
hundred wives and seven hundred concubines. Among these it was not
likely that he should find the fidelity which one true wife pays to one
husband.
James
If you were thinking of hoarding wealth, James 5:1-6 should make you think again! Don't store up your treasures where moth and rust can destroy, or thieves can break in and steal.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Lord willing
Key verse
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
James
Where's the connection between saying that you will do something, Lord willing, and knowing the good you ought to do and not doing it? In 4:17, James writes "Anyone, then [suggesting a connection between what he previously said], who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
Here's something from Barnes' notes:
The particular meaning then would be, "that he who knows what sort of views he should take in regard to the future, and how he should form his plans in view of the uncertainty of life, and still does not do it, but goes on recklessly, forming his plans beastingly and confident of success, is guilty of sin against God." Still, the proposition will admit of a more general application. It is universally true that if a man knows what is right, and does not do it, he is guilty of sin. http://bible.cc/james/4-17.htm
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
James
Where's the connection between saying that you will do something, Lord willing, and knowing the good you ought to do and not doing it? In 4:17, James writes "Anyone, then [suggesting a connection between what he previously said], who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
Here's something from Barnes' notes:
The particular meaning then would be, "that he who knows what sort of views he should take in regard to the future, and how he should form his plans in view of the uncertainty of life, and still does not do it, but goes on recklessly, forming his plans beastingly and confident of success, is guilty of sin against God." Still, the proposition will admit of a more general application. It is universally true that if a man knows what is right, and does not do it, he is guilty of sin. http://bible.cc/james/4-17.htm
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Potter's House
Key verse
John 3:8 - The wind blows wherever it please. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
Jeremiah
Thoughts on chapter 18, about God as a potter.
God's unchanging nature does not mean that he cannot change his plans. His love for all mankind means that he will change his plans for us if we act in accordance to his will. If we go outside his will, then he will guide us back or we will suffer the consequences. Now those who believe in such doctrines as predestination and fate may see this as God's plan never changes, but what he says he will do and what he ends up doing were all a part of the final scheme anyway. Regardless, we know that if we ask forgiveness, God will grant it to us.
James
According to a footnote in my Bible, the priests had to wash their hands and feet before approaching God in the tabernacle. James exclamation "wash your hands, you sinners" therefore makes sense, as we should cleanse ourselves, and make our hearts right with God as we come to him.
Ecclesiastes
If you are struggling to make sense of Ecclesiastes, consider reading "Living on the Ragged Edge" by Charles Swindoll. I have just started reading this book and it is very useful. It explains how Solomon, having the money and freedom to do as he pleased (as he was the king), was able to experience everything under the sun, just as we would like to do sometime. Wouldn't you appreciate the opportunity to break free from societal pressures and just do what you want, without a care in the world? That's what Solomon did, and he provided us with his journal. But what he found out was that a relationship lived "horizontally", without a focus on God, was worthless. We have to be right with God, and do our best to live "vertically", for life to make any sense and to get any sort of lasting satisfaction.
John 3:8 - The wind blows wherever it please. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
Jeremiah
Thoughts on chapter 18, about God as a potter.
God's unchanging nature does not mean that he cannot change his plans. His love for all mankind means that he will change his plans for us if we act in accordance to his will. If we go outside his will, then he will guide us back or we will suffer the consequences. Now those who believe in such doctrines as predestination and fate may see this as God's plan never changes, but what he says he will do and what he ends up doing were all a part of the final scheme anyway. Regardless, we know that if we ask forgiveness, God will grant it to us.
James
According to a footnote in my Bible, the priests had to wash their hands and feet before approaching God in the tabernacle. James exclamation "wash your hands, you sinners" therefore makes sense, as we should cleanse ourselves, and make our hearts right with God as we come to him.
Ecclesiastes
If you are struggling to make sense of Ecclesiastes, consider reading "Living on the Ragged Edge" by Charles Swindoll. I have just started reading this book and it is very useful. It explains how Solomon, having the money and freedom to do as he pleased (as he was the king), was able to experience everything under the sun, just as we would like to do sometime. Wouldn't you appreciate the opportunity to break free from societal pressures and just do what you want, without a care in the world? That's what Solomon did, and he provided us with his journal. But what he found out was that a relationship lived "horizontally", without a focus on God, was worthless. We have to be right with God, and do our best to live "vertically", for life to make any sense and to get any sort of lasting satisfaction.
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Linen Belt
Key verses
Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12 - Two are better than one, because they have good return for their work: Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.
James 3:9-10 - With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
Jeremiah
Chapter 13 opens with a symbolic story about how useless Israel has become to God because of their unfaithfulness. When a belt is buried and not used for the purpose of holding clothes around the waist, it is useless! Even so, when Israel doesn't obey God and participate in a relationship with Him, they are rather useless in that relationship. Can you imagine what Jeremiah must have been thinking when he had to bury his belt to make a point? Perhaps by this time he knew that such actions would eventually have meaning, but on first glance, I would wonder, what in the world does this have to do with anything?
John
Jesus' mother's persistence is interesting. Here is the Messiah, saying, please, don't ask anything of me just yet, but his mother tells the servants to do whatever he tells them anyway. Don't mothers know best?
Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12 - Two are better than one, because they have good return for their work: Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.
James 3:9-10 - With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
Jeremiah
Chapter 13 opens with a symbolic story about how useless Israel has become to God because of their unfaithfulness. When a belt is buried and not used for the purpose of holding clothes around the waist, it is useless! Even so, when Israel doesn't obey God and participate in a relationship with Him, they are rather useless in that relationship. Can you imagine what Jeremiah must have been thinking when he had to bury his belt to make a point? Perhaps by this time he knew that such actions would eventually have meaning, but on first glance, I would wonder, what in the world does this have to do with anything?
John
Jesus' mother's persistence is interesting. Here is the Messiah, saying, please, don't ask anything of me just yet, but his mother tells the servants to do whatever he tells them anyway. Don't mothers know best?
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Faith without deeds
Key verse
Jeremiah 10:6 - No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.
James 2:26 - As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Jeremiah
One thing we can learn from Jeremiah is perseverance. People are plotting to kill him so that they don't have to listen to his message from the Lord, and yet he still relies on God for safety and continues to speak.
James
I think what James is getting at here is not that you have to do good works in order to be saved, but that good works are a natural outcome of true salvation. If we truly believe in Christ, we should believe in what he taught, and follow through on his teachings. Therefore, true faith cannot come without good works.
Jeremiah 10:6 - No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.
James 2:26 - As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Jeremiah
One thing we can learn from Jeremiah is perseverance. People are plotting to kill him so that they don't have to listen to his message from the Lord, and yet he still relies on God for safety and continues to speak.
James
I think what James is getting at here is not that you have to do good works in order to be saved, but that good works are a natural outcome of true salvation. If we truly believe in Christ, we should believe in what he taught, and follow through on his teachings. Therefore, true faith cannot come without good works.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Am I your Favourite?
Key verses
Jeremiah 7:18-19 - They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
Ecclesiastes
God has set eternity in the hearts of men. This phrase reminds me of Blaise Pascal's statement that we all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts. We're longing for something more, something that lasts.
Jeremiah
Gilead was actually known for its medicinal herbs, renowned for the healing power of the plants that grew in that location.
James
Is it favouritism to pay more attention to your friends than any others at a party or gathering? I think the favouritism James is speaking about here is when you pre-judge someone by their appearance and then end up treating someone poorly. If you genuinely like someone better, is it wrong to treat them better than others, so long as you are also treating the other people well?
Jeremiah 7:18-19 - They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
Ecclesiastes
God has set eternity in the hearts of men. This phrase reminds me of Blaise Pascal's statement that we all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts. We're longing for something more, something that lasts.
Jeremiah
Gilead was actually known for its medicinal herbs, renowned for the healing power of the plants that grew in that location.
James
Is it favouritism to pay more attention to your friends than any others at a party or gathering? I think the favouritism James is speaking about here is when you pre-judge someone by their appearance and then end up treating someone poorly. If you genuinely like someone better, is it wrong to treat them better than others, so long as you are also treating the other people well?
Friday, October 15, 2010
Applying the word
Key verse
James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Logos
Key verse
James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
John
The gospel of John was written in the late first centuray AD and addressed the popular gnostic/Greek idea that Jesus was fully God but not fully human. John's theme, therefore, is proving that Jesus is both God and man.
The term logos really speaks to yesterday's reading, but I will post about it here. Logos had both a Greek and biblical heritage as being the "divine creativity" of God or the "divine ordering principle". Identifying Jesus as Logos indicated that Jesus existed at the beginning of time with God, and that Jesus also embodied the divine order or truth of the world. -Archaeological Study Bible
James
It's interesting that for one so popular and revered in the early church, James would have such a short book. Compared to Paul, James takes up very little space in the New Testament. And yet, his letter does not lack anything in terms of theological lessons.
I appreciate James 1:12 because it helps debunk the myth of the prosperity gospel. James says that the man who perseveres under trial will receive the crown of life. I understand this to mean that anyone can suffer, regardless of the level of sinfulness (though we are all sinners on the same level in the eyes of God). We won't avoid troubles if we give money or time. We should give ourselves to God simply because he first gave himself to us, and even when we run into trouble, as it says we will in John 14, we can persevere and win the prize at the end of time.
Ecclesiastes
This verse, 1:18, is from yesterday, but I found myself thinking a little more about it today. I related it to the old maxim "Ignorance is bliss." Sometimes, ignorance is bliss and knowledge is pain, when knowledge forces us to act in a way we might not want to, or when we learn unpleasant truths about the world or about ourselves.
I think pleasure and laughter are quite useful, and can tie right in with the joy of the Lord. Solomon seems a little on the negative side here....
James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
John
The gospel of John was written in the late first centuray AD and addressed the popular gnostic/Greek idea that Jesus was fully God but not fully human. John's theme, therefore, is proving that Jesus is both God and man.
The term logos really speaks to yesterday's reading, but I will post about it here. Logos had both a Greek and biblical heritage as being the "divine creativity" of God or the "divine ordering principle". Identifying Jesus as Logos indicated that Jesus existed at the beginning of time with God, and that Jesus also embodied the divine order or truth of the world. -Archaeological Study Bible
James
It's interesting that for one so popular and revered in the early church, James would have such a short book. Compared to Paul, James takes up very little space in the New Testament. And yet, his letter does not lack anything in terms of theological lessons.
I appreciate James 1:12 because it helps debunk the myth of the prosperity gospel. James says that the man who perseveres under trial will receive the crown of life. I understand this to mean that anyone can suffer, regardless of the level of sinfulness (though we are all sinners on the same level in the eyes of God). We won't avoid troubles if we give money or time. We should give ourselves to God simply because he first gave himself to us, and even when we run into trouble, as it says we will in John 14, we can persevere and win the prize at the end of time.
Ecclesiastes
This verse, 1:18, is from yesterday, but I found myself thinking a little more about it today. I related it to the old maxim "Ignorance is bliss." Sometimes, ignorance is bliss and knowledge is pain, when knowledge forces us to act in a way we might not want to, or when we learn unpleasant truths about the world or about ourselves.
I think pleasure and laughter are quite useful, and can tie right in with the joy of the Lord. Solomon seems a little on the negative side here....
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