by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 25-27
Do you like organization? Well you will love these chapters.
Once again we see a listing of lineages and assignments. This time it goes a little deeper, however. Not only does each person have an assignment, but timing for when they will perform their duties.
In chapter 27, the twelve commanders of Israel are enumerated – along with the months in which they will be in charge. Each of them have 24,000 troops under their command, and they have a specific month for their assignment.
All we need to do is look around at nature to realize that our God is very organized. Everything runs on schedule – the days and nights, the seasons, all of the animal behavior, seed time and harvest, and many more cycles. Not only does all of nature run on a schedule, but the many different schedules work together in a symbiotic way so that life can thrive and His purposes can be fulfilled.
For those of us who don’t have that gift in abundance (people like me), organization is sometimes seen as a necessary evil.
Yet anyone’s life and anyone’s work will be enhanced by applying some principles of organization. Systems in place can keep things humming.
So I, for one, purpose to endeavor to be more organized. I will watch those who have this down pat, and try to apply their principles.
I will also try to increase my ability to keep to a schedule when working so that i can accomplish more for Him.
I need His help, and I’m quite sure that I’ll get it!
John 9: 1-27
What are these Pharisees thinking? How can they be so spiritually dense?
Surely they would be happy to see a blind man healed and able to see! Well, obviously not on a Sunday.
This time these strange men don’t just complain about it, they go to the blind man and question him sharply as to who healed him. Then they go to his parents and question them.
Not once do we see any compassion in these people. Not once do we see them rejoice with this man who has been blind from birth!
No. They are too busy trying to persecute this Jesus who is getting all of the attention. They have Him now, they think. He obviously isn’t God’s man if he heals on the Sabbath.
These men just don’t know their God.
Our God is more compassionate than our minds can conceive, and His Son is representing this truth to His generation.
I pray that we will know our Father God so well that we will understand and embrace His mercy. We need it. So do those round us.
I also pray that more and more of us will properly represent our Lord as we mingle with those around us. He is extending His mercy to all, and we need to accurately represent Him to our generation.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 22-24
David starts gathering choice material for God’s house, the temple which Solomon will build. David has the vision for the work, but he is prohibited from building it because he has been a man of war. Lots of bloodshed has come during his reign, and God wants a man of peace to build His house. Still David has the desire to build it.
One especially significant observation. Do you remember about David’s great sin of adultery with Bathsheba and then his setting up of her husband to be killed? (It was murder, really). Such an abomination to God and to us. II Samuel 11 covers this episode in detail.
However, in detailing David’s life in I Chronicles, none of that is mentioned. In fact, God goes on to crown Bathsheba’s son as king.
Wouldn’t those incidents be important in detailing history?
There is a reason for this omission. I believe that the record omits it because of God’s complete forgiveness. In Psalm 103:12 David says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
David repented completely, and his transgression has been stricken from the record of God.
What a loving God we have! He has removed our transgressions from us completely. Such an incredible Father we have.
All of us have things we have done or said which we wish we could have a re-do on. We can’t take them back, really. Once something is said or done, that’s final. However, through true repentance, our Father removes that sin from us. He totally forgives us, restores us, and puts us back in the game.
I praise Him for giving me a clean slate everyday. Every morning is new, signifying a fresh start. Today, I’m going to do it better than yesterday. In the meantime, He is not holding yesterday against me, when I am reaching for higher ground.
John 8: 28-59
Jesus makes the Pharisees so mad they pick up stones to throw at Him. That’s pretty mad!
He is contrasting the truth, as it comes from God, and lies as they come from the devil. He says to these religious leaders that their father is the devil, since they only hear the lies from him.
What an indictment, when these leaders think that they are God’s men. They are so deceived that they don’t even realize how far off they are.
From the first times of the Word, prophets have been talking about the Messiah who will one day come. These leaders jesus encounters are supposedly students of the Word, and they have not only missed recognizing the Messiah, but they have actively hated and persecuted Him. What a travesty!
Actually these men have taken the Word of God and used it for their own gain. They have held themselves in high honor, and have used the letter of the Law to control the people who look up to them. The Word was never intended for that purpose.
Now the Messiah, about which the Word teaches, has arrived. He is full of grace and truth, teaching the truth that will set people free – from sin and from bondage of every kind. The hard-hearted ones don’t understand it.
The hard-hearted ones never do. They don’t in our day.
Today there are those who are supposed to know what the Word says, who use it for their own gain. They force rules and regulations upon the people, discouraging them and beating them down. In doing so, they lift themselves up to a higher plane.
The truth which Jesus preaches is that He is going to pay the price for sin and empower His people to overcome sin.
Don’t get me wrong. Jesus doesn’t say to go ahead and live a life of sin. He doesn’t want His people continuing in sin, because He gives them the power to overcome it.
That power He gives is the Holy Spirit living inside of men. His Holy Spirit which will lead and guide from within their hearts – and give them the ability to overcome the sin which tries to come upon them.
I am so thankful for His Spirit. He comforts, guides, teaches, corrects, and empowers so that we can live our lives for Jesus.
That’s the truth which sets men free. That’s the truth which Jesus brought to the earth!
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 19-21
“Satan stood up against Israel.”(21:1) This is one of the few times in the Old Testament history that Satan is mentioned. Until a man has the Spirit of God on the inside of him, he can’t understand the spiritual war we are in. Neither can he fight against the enemy. So until man was ready, God didn’t want His people focusing on the devil.
What temptation did the devil bring? He tempted David to count his people, and David did just that.
Joab immediately knew that this was wrong. In the II Samuel account (24:3), Joab says “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are.”
With God, a few are like many. If they are depending on the strength of God to protect them, the number isn’t important. So for David to count the men, he is turning his faith to his men, and not to God.
Remember that all of the natural wars we see in the Old Testament are pictures of the spiritual wars we are fighting now. Satan was behind the scenes always trying to tempt and destroy God’s people. He is still doing that today.
For some the present day war is in the persecution of Christians around the world. For others of us it is in trying to tempt us to give up on our walk with God. He tries to harrass and discourage us.
Yet we are to stay strong. We are to remember that it is the Lord who is with us, His Spirit inside of us, leading, guiding, and giving us the power ot overcome him.
Our strength is not in our own natural strength, but in the strength of God Himself. “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.”(I John 4:4)
John 8: 1-27
“He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.”(V.7)
The woman who is caught in the very act of adultery is brought to Jesus. The Pharisees are testing Him, because the law of Moses says that she is to be stoned. (The law also says the man is to be stone; it’s interesting that they didn’t bring him also).
As Jesus seems to be breaking the law of Moses again and again, He is signaling a new Covenant on the horizon. The New Covenant is one of love and mercy. Forgiveneness is there for all who turn to Him.
For all of those years the Lord was leading the Jews, He could only deal with natural entities. He had to be very strict and even harsh to keep these people on the right track. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit resident within them yet, and they had to be treated differently just to keep them in His fold.
The New Covenant was about to emerge, and Jesus was letting us take a peek. He was showing God’s mercy toward the sinner.
Now one thing is important to note. After all of the Pharisees had wandered off, Jesus says to the woman, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more.”(V.11)
There are some erroneous teachings today which say that it’s okay to continue in sin because Jesus paid the price. No way is that what He is saying!
The grace of God is a remarkable gift He has bestowed upon us. He has forgiven us from our sins. However, the grace is the ability He puts within us not to sin. The grace is not to keep sinning, but to stop. In fact, when we continue to sin, we are denying that ability He put within – and in effect, denying Him.
He clearly says, “Sin no more.”
When we receive and appreciate the grace we’ve been given, our lives are transformed. The very ability of our God is put within us to overcome any sin which tempts us or any personal lack we my have. His empowerment and His favor are there for us to live our best life.
I want to honor this grace and partake of it in every area of my life. I know that you do, too.
This new dispensation
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 13-15
The ark of God, signifying His presence, is brought back to Jerusalem. We read about this in II Samuel, but there is a little more explanation here.
The ark had not been sought during the days of Saul. David, who is a man after God’s heart, desires God’s presence and honors His presence. He wants the ark, but there is a way to obtain it.
By putting the ark on a new cart with oxen bringing it in, and then having someone reach up to steady it through a rocky spot, a man gets killed. David is upset and leaves it with Obed-edom.
Okay, Obed gets blessed, so let’s go again – this time let’s do it right. There were clear instructions to Moses concerning the ark and how to carry it. It wasn’t to be carried on a donkey cart, but by poles on the shoulders of Levites. (the priestly tribe).
Everything runs smoothly this time. The ark of God’s presence goes up to Jerusalem.
There are some principles for us today. Our God loves us and wants to be close to us, just as we do to Him – even more so. Yet let’s not forget that He is God; we aren’t. His plans and ways of doing things are to be honored by us, and not to be changed.
He’s the sun; we are the moon. We reflect His light (His glory), but we don’t have any light of our own. When we represent Him, we can’t take it upon ourselves to change His principles. In other words, we are to represent Him to the world – and not substitute our own ideas.
There are many doctrines being thrown out there today which certainly do not represent God. Ministers are trying to uphold the idea of grace apart from accountability.
Their mantra is: God is love. Well, that’s right, God is love. That’s not the question. The question is do we love Him?He has shown His love to us by sacrificing his Son. Now we show our love back by giving our lives to Him.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox.
The point is that God desires to have His presence be manifested where He is honored as the One True God.
In His presence there is true joy, peace, love, provision, healing – everything good. Everything we could desire. It’s worth doing it His way.
John 7: 1-24
This seems like a continuation of the Old Testament reading today. Jesus says, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (V. 18) And then, “Do not judge according to appearance, but with righteous judgment.” (V. 24)
The Pharisees were supposedly representing God, but they weren’t really – obviously. They were seeking their own glory.
The Pharisees had become used to being honored as great men of God. The had long robes of distinction and held the seats of highest honor. people generally looked up to them – and even feared them, because they had the right to put people out of the temple.
Yet instead of truly being God’s men, they were their own men. They held themselves higher than God.
Regardless of the stature someone might hold in the world, if they are going to understand God’s ways, they have to be humble before Him. There is no amount of grandeur, or intelligence, or ability which can ever place man higher than God.
This statement should be obvious, but it’s surprising sometimes to see the arrogance men have against their Creator.
True humility is like a golden key which unlocks God’s presence, His power, and His purpose. Without that humility, we stumble around in the dark.
Dear Father, open our eyes so that we can see You and understand Your plans. We want to partake of Your presence and purpose.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 7-9
The gatekeepers are important. Their names – along with their particular responsibilities – are listed in chapter 9.
Why are they important? They are the ones who are responsible to see who and what comes in and who goes out of the temple. They check the merchandise and they check the furnishings. They also check the people.
Today, we are all gatekeepers. We have our eye gates, our ear gates, and our thought gates, and we are responsible to take charge of what we let into our temples. We are now the temples of the living God.
All around us are evils which can contaminate the temple. Of course, on one level, there are drugs and alcohol; on another level there is pornography. On a third level there is all of the false information which would try to compromise God’s message. Then there is doubt and unbelief which tries to come in.
We are all gatekeepers, charged with the responsibility of protecting ourselves from the ravages of the enemy.
Then there is the other side. We also need to make sure that we let in the Word of God and all that He has for us. We don’t stand there empty, but full of His thoughts, His ideas, His leading to do what he desires.
As we keep ourselves from the contamination of evil forces, and fill ourselves with God’s purposes, we’ll be standing in His grace and His pleasure.
John 6: 22-45
John’s gospel really goes deeply into the spiritual truths, doesn’t it?
Yesterday we saw where the baskets of bread and fish were broken and spread out to the multitude of people present. Now we see that Jesus is proclaiming that He is the bread which has come out of heaven. He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus is the Bread which, not many days from now, will be broken for us and divided among us so that we can receive God’s zoe life.
The Pharisees have another fit. What in the world is He talking about? We know that His father and mother are Joseph and Mary, and He is saying that He came down from heaven?!
Jesus goes on to explain that only those whom the Father draws are His. He recites Isaiah 54:13 “They shall all be taught of God.”
At this point, Jesus is saying things that only born again believers will eventually understand, but those whose hearts are right will not reject Him for what He says. Even if they don’t truly understand, their hearts will be stirred to trust Him.
Not the Pharisees. They are very quick to reject Jesus over anything they can think of. They are jealous of Him because of His following. Not wanting to lose their power, they are happy to find any “gotcha” moments they can.
Jesus obliges the supposed scholars by throwing those “gotcha” moments often. He is exposing hearts as many are drawn to Him.
If we see passages of scripture which we don’t understand, rather than rejecting them outright, we must always allow the Holy Spirit to explain. As we ask for explanation, He will give it to us…when our hearts are right.
