December 22 - Hebrews 7-10: Jesus Made Our Intimate Presence with God Possible

Today’s Reading: Hebrews 7-10

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Jesus provided the religious sacrifice which ended all religious sacrifices, thus ending the rule of religion and starting His Rule.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Melchizadek, the priest of unknown lineage, who gave Abraham a blessing in return for 10% of his spoil, models Jesus' Priesthood. Jesus' Sacrifice set things right for everyone. He now resides alongside God.
Jesus' new Plan is written on everyone's hearts. We know God firsthand. With Jesus there is no longer ritual separation. Everyone dies once but only Jesus' Death set everything right.
Therefore, confidently approach God. Push each other to set things right during times of worship. God's Judgment is no walk in the park if we give up on Him.
Keep trusting God as you did at first.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Jesus is our High Priest based on merit, not lineage.

There is no nepotism with God. Jesus is our High Priest because He lived a blameless life. Jesus is our High Priest because He was willing to become the sacrifice offered to set things right. No animal sacrifice is needed with Jesus. He is the sacrifice. Because of Jesus' willingness to sacrifice His perfect Life He has become our High Priest.

God's Plan is written on our hearts.

The Law of Moses required passing from generation to generation because it was a works-based religion: sacrifices, festivals, "clean" vs. "unclean" items, etc. Jesus' Law is not based on actions; it's based on the heart. Everyone knows they should set things right. The problem is that we decide to suppress that Truth to the point that it no longer guides us. So we need people to help guide us back to God, to remove the barriers between us and God. We do not need people to tell us God's Plan.

We can come right into the Presence of God!

The Tabernacle and Temple were erected so Israel would know there was something between them and God—as they requested. Now we need no barriers between us and God. Jesus serves as the translator between us. It should lead us to realize God cares so much that He invites us into an intimate relationship with Him.

Jesus became the one Sacrifice for our mistakes so we would stop focusing on them.

The problem with sacrifices was that they constantly reminded Israel that they did not keep the Law of Moses. Because they were reminded so often it caused them to continue to break the Law. This was the major weakness with the Law of Moses. Jesus' Sacrifice became the sacrifice for our mistakes. We no longer need to focus on what we have done in the past. They are gone. We are free!
Some may question that idea and suggest that we should be reminded of what we did wrong so we will not forget and repeat our errors. I think the writer of Hebrews would suggest that we will never fully mature until we are willing to stop shaming ourselves for what we did in the past. The author wants us to move past dead works and into Life with Jesus. We can only do that once we realize Jesus has fulfilled them all and sets us free to live in Him.

Our meetings are meant to be opportunities for us to push each other to love and good works, not prevent each other from dead works.

As a member of a church—especially as a member of the churches of Christ—I had Hebrews 10:25 pounded into my skull. We should not, under any circumstance (except sickness) miss worship services. If we did we were sliding towards unfaithfulness and could sin. I read a book (I don't remember the title) where the author boasted that the only time he had ever missed Sunday worship was the day he graduated from basic training and was physically prevented from going. Even then he felt bad because he knew he should have been worshiping somewhere. It wasn't until university that I started reading this passage in its context and read Hebrews 10:24. Through that verse I realized the purpose of meeting together is not to go through our rituals (dead works). The purpose of meeting together is to help each other love and do living works. When I realized we were meant to challenge each other I changed my entire view on worship. I no longer felt like missing meant I was backsliding into turning my back on God. I realized that missing meant I was turning my back on the other people who needed me to bring my ideas and experiences of loving and doing good works to help them find new ways to love and do good works. What I have realized, however, is that we almost never do this. We are so focused on dead works—stopping what leads to death, convincing people to be baptized, and warning sinners of the coming Resurrection and Judgment—that we almost never talk about how we set things right in the past week. Push everyone you know to love and to do good things for others. Stop splicing Greek words to figure out if something is a sin or not. Invent new ways to set things right through innovation teams at your church.

Do you boldly come into God's Presence?

December 8 - Romans 4-7: Abraham's Righteousness and Our Freedom from Sin and the Law

Today’s Reading: Romans 4-7

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Laws increase sin—they don't change our mindset. Righteousness must be brought apart from a law.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Abraham was approved by God before he was circumcised because he trusted God. Anyone can be Abraham's descendants when they risk faith in God—with or without religion.
Adam brought sin and death to the entire world. Jesus took them away. Should we increase grace by sinning? No way! We are dead to sin and alive to God. Make Him your new Master.
The Law served a purpose but sin used it to enslave us more. This prison makes me do what I desperately do not want to do. Can no one save me? Jesus can—and does!

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Abraham was considered righteous before he was circumcised.

To further illustrate his previous assertion that those who set things right are acceptable to God regardless of their possession of the Law, Paul speaks of Abraham's circumcision. Prior to Abraham being circumcised, he was considered righteous. God's Grace covered him before he was circumcised.
Why is this important? For centuries people have claimed that baptism is a pseudo-magical act that forces God to take away our sins. There are also people who have claimed that saying a prayer has the magical ability to take away sins. The truth is that neither of these is true. Just as Abraham had his relationship set right with God before circumcision we, too, have our relationship set right when we trust in Him to set things right in our lives. There is no prayer or act that can replace that trust. Our problem is that we want to focus on the exact moment we are saved. Paul would suggest that is the wrong question. God's Grace covers us at an undisclosed time—and only He knows it. If a person is stressed over whether they are saved or not, baptism seals the relationship like a marriage ceremony. A bride and groom enter knowing they are already in a committed relationship—even if they have never met. They walk away unified in marriage but not really changed. No one enters a building single and unexpectedly winds up in a committed, married relationship. Marriages with short courtships (aside from arranged marriages) often do not work because they quickly went to the ceremony without going through the mindset shift. Unfortunately, many churches expect this to happen. We want people to walk into church with no faith in God do the magical act of baptism that saves them. Then we wonder why these people cannot last as God's Chosen People. The reason is simple—we stressed the ceremony without the prior mindset shift! Because God wants the relationship change instead of the religious act, anyone in the world can have that relationship with Him, even those outside His "religion". They, too, are spiritual descendents of Abraham.

Jesus' sacrifice gave us freedom from both sin and the Law of Moses.

Sin makes us slaves to it. Jesus came and set us free from sin. The Law makes us know the boundaries of right and wrong. The problem is that it centers our focus on the fence and we wonder what is beyond it until we jump over. That makes us feel worse since we feel awful for jumping the fence and can't figure out how to get back across. Jesus set us free from the Law's grip on our life, too. We now live in freedom! No boundaries to trip on. No fences to obsess over. Only a Light to guide our way.
Christians today have narrowed this freedom to the point we have rules stacked on top of rules (consider the many rules regarding the first day of the week). The rules, like the Law of Moses, are not evil in themselves, but they lead us to be enslaved to sin faster than if we did not have them. People in the world do not have those restrictions. We should not restrict them through our traditions in order for them to have freedom in Christ! Jesus set us free from the grip of our traditions, too!

Our freedom from sin and law does not make us sin more or live any ole way we want.

The obvious objection most Christians have to the two previous points above is that if you remove the law of traditions and focus on God's Grace then people will live any way they want and no one will set things right. The objection is valid and is as old as the church itself. Paul would suggest, to return to the marriage metaphor, that a couple lives a unified life not because they are forced to by law or by threat of the community. They live unified because life goes better when they live as one. Their relationship works better when they live as one. Their outside relationships work better when they live as one. When we live as one with God, life is better. It is this promise that makes people trust in God, not the threat of punishment.

Do you use your freedom to set things right?

November 25 - Galatians 4-6: Arguing over Religion is a Waste of Time

Today’s Reading: Galatians 4-6

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Jesus brought us into an intimate relationship with God. The circumcision sect wanted to separate the Gentiles from God once more.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Paul continued:
Jesus' Coming made us God's Children, not God's Slaves. Abraham had two sons: one symbolized slavery (Ishmael), the other freedom (Issac). You can either be free in Christ or a slave to the Law.
Religion is meaningless. Only faith expressed in love matters.
Use your freedom to set things right—love others as you love yourself. God's Way makes life worth living.
Whatever you plant you reap. Sow good!
Remember that the circumcision sect doesn't obey the Law, either. Basically, what is important isn't what we do, it's what God's doing.
May Jesus' Blessings be yours.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Now we have something greater than the Law of Moses.

The Law of Moses was the greatest Law that existed. So when Paul writes that something better has come, it is saying more about Jesus than the Law of Moses. Jesus brings us into an intimate relationship with God where the Law kept the people at a distance. It is this reason that the ones pushing circumcision are doing the Galatian Christians a disservice. They value tradition and religion over relationships. They are separating God and the people again. Paul wants to make sure the Galatians do not fall for it.

Paul warned the Gentiles to question their teachers' motives.

Paul wrote how the teachers were looking for dependent students who needed them, not God. They wanted the Gentiles to obey a law they did not obey. Gentile converts would add to the individual Jew's prestige but the Gentile would lose out on a personal relationship with God. Beware teachers who make you dependent on them to understand God. God has made Himself known to the world.
We cannot read this without questioning the goals of our evangelism. Do we want more funding to "teach more people" or are we willing to encourage believers to interact with God independently, regardless of how it looks to us? To suggest they "need us" because no one knows what would happen is to suggest that the Holy Spirit cannot guide and to suggest your religion and traditions are more important than a relationship with God.

Once you accept a law, you accept the entire law.

Paul wants the Gentiles to know that if they want to obey the Law of Moses they cannot stop with circumcision. They have to continue to unclean foods, not mixing fabrics, and all of the other 600+ laws in the Law of Moses. They cannot pick-and-choose their favorite few laws that are easy to do. They have to do it all.
When we call people to become God's Chosen People and join a local church, we need to remind them that this commitment is not to attend worship only when we get together to eat. The commitment is to do everything that the fellowship agrees to do or abstain. The worst thing that can happen is a person come into a church and half-heartedly participate. Either join a church or don't. Once you do, do everything they agree to do. To willingly abstain is to do wrong—in essence, not set things right.

Freedom is meant to help us set things right unencumbered, not stop setting things right.

One of the strongest arguments against freedom in Christ (and freedom in general) is that people would abuse that freedom and do whatever they wanted to do, regardless of the consequences on others. Paul makes sure this is discussed, too. Freedom does not give us the ability to do as we wish. Freedom gives us the ability to focus on setting things right instead of pleasing God with our religion. The Galatians knew how sin hurt a person and their relationships. Freedom in Christ does not include evil. Christ is wholly good. God is wholly good. If we want freedom in Christ, we must be holy, too.

Disputes over religious observances and other religious acts are tedious and not worth our time.

With so much going wrong in this world, spending time arguing over circumcision, baptism, musical instruments, meals in the church building, music styles, teaching styles, etc. are a colossal waste of time. People live in darkness because they do not realize God is calling to them. Disputes over religious observances are wastes of time because God calls us to much higher things than these. When we limit ourselves to observing a law perfectly we miss the opportunity to help set relationships right. In the end, it's not about what we do anyway. It's what God is doing and if we join in His Work.

Do you argue over religion or fight to set relationships right?

January 19 - Genesis 22-24: Abraham Finds a Mate for Isaac

Today’s Reading: Genesis 22-24

The Message 

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Trust in God plays a major role in today’s reading.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

God commanded Abraham to offer a sacrifice—Isaac. Abraham arose and went. As Abraham started to kill his son, an angel came, "You have proven your true allegiances! Don’t touch him!"
Sarah died. Abraham bought the cave Machpelah for her body. Isaac and Abraham grieved.
Abraham wanted a God-fearing woman for his son. He tasked his servant to find a wife from Abraham’s relatives. The servant trusted God to help him and found Abraham's grandniece, Rebekah. She and her family served God. They rejoiced when they learned his task. After 10 days, they returned to Abraham. Rebekah' companionship comforted Isaac.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Abraham’s test is to see if his allegiances have changed from God to Isaac.

Many people do not understand why God would want to test Abraham in this way. If God would never think of requiring child sacrifice and gave harsh penalties if someone sacrificed their child (Jeremiah 7:31; Leviticus 20:1-5) why would God command a child sacrifice? Because he wanted to test Abraham's faith that he could become a great nation through God alone. Our allegiance must be to God, even over our family. That may seem simple when God comes to us and asks us to leave our older-than-us family (especially if we do not have a great relationship with them). But it becomes a much harder choice when the sacrifice is your own child (or grandchild). That is why God tested Abraham. When Abraham passed the test God stopped him. He proved himself faithful over all. Could we do a similar act?

Abraham wanted a God-fearing woman for Isaac.

Abraham knew the importance of a woman dedicated to God for his son's mate. He had to plead that God wouldn't destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their unrighteousness. He did not want this to happen to his great nation! To help it start correctly, he asked to have a wife found among the people he knew obeyed God—his family. A great way to start a great nation of disciples is to marry someone who is also a disciple of God. But remember—this was before the Law of Moses. Abraham did not want a ritual follower for his son. He wanted a disciple of God for his son.

Abraham's servant asked God to lead him to the right woman.

This continues the (positive) theme of Genesis: when people trust God to lead their lives, good things happen. The servant asked God to show the right woman who would be a servant. And God did.

Rebekah was chosen because she kind to a stranger, not because she belonged to the right religion.

Rebekah gave some of her water to Abraham's servant. She also, on her own, gave water to his camels. If you know anything about camels, you know they drink water in fits and spurts. They drink gallons all at once and then do not drink for hours or days. She would have to work a long time to give water to ten camels that weren't hers. Her righteousness went beyond the ritual. Men, regardless of religion, godly women serve and serving women are godly. Women, regardless of religion, godly men serve and serving men are godly.

January 18 - Genesis 19-21: Dysfunction in the Ancient World

Today’s Reading: Genesis 19-21

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

This section should remind everyone—especially if you have a dysfunctional family—of God’s ability to take non-ideal situations and have things made right through them.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Lot tried to save God’s angels from being harmed by the residents of Sodom. He fled to save his family from the angels’ destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. To preserve their lineage, Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
Abraham and Sarah repeat their deception in the Negev. Abimelech asks them to leave after Abraham blesses them and prays for the health of their women.
At 90 years-old, Sarah gives birth to a son, Isaac. She now wants Hagar and Ishmael out. God allows this to happen and promises both Hagar and Abraham that Ishmael would become a great nation.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Lot wants to protect God’s angels even though he does not realize they are God’s angels.

Lot’s righteousness is seen when he pushes these visitors to sleep in his house to protect them from the residents of Sodom. He does not realize they are God’s angels (Hebrews 13:2). God sets things right when his people protect those who they may have no relationship to.

Lot’s daughters provide an example of a "lost in translation" moment.

Americans read this section with horror and disgust. This decision made sense to these women: 1) (because I believe in a literal, six-day creation) Genes were less spliced at that time. Close relatives could reproduce without the major problems of today. That is why Abraham married his half-sister, Isaac his first cousin once removed and Jacob his first cousin. It wasn’t taboo because there weren’t as many problems for the children. 2) There weren’t as many men to choose from at that time. Marriage had major political ties. Marrying a woman from a land that had just been completely destroyed was unthinkable and there weren’t any Hollywood producers to create a man willing to rebel against that.

Sarah’s prejudice against and hostility toward Hagar and Ishmael is never resolved.

Yesterday I mentioned these hostilities could be a cause of the animosity between Arabs and Jews today. This story seals that fate. Yet Abraham does not simply kick them out or tell his wife to leave them alone. He consults God who promises Abraham Ishmael would become a great nation.

The Bible is not sanitized for your listening pleasures.

Never let anyone tell you the Bible is not believable because the stories are too much like children’s stories. With stories like these, no one should ever accuse the Bible of being too Disney. These were real problems faced by real people. These people were not heroes or heroines who had super-human faith and made the right decisions every time. They were just as human as people living today. Abraham and the rest decided to act on their strong faith because they had faith willing to act. Oh, may we have faith as strong as these!

January 17 - Genesis 16-18: Abraham Proves His Righteousness

Today’s Reading: Genesis 16-18

The Message, 

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Abraham is a completely fair and loving man. He defends all people.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Sarai presents Hagar to Abram, now 80, to have children. Soon after, Sarai threw Hagar out. God told Hagar to return. Ishmael (her son) would be always be a fighter.
Abram, Ishmael, and all of Abram’s males were circumcised to confirm the everlasting covenant with God. Abram’s name became "Father-of-Many-Nations" (Abraham).
God visited Abraham and Sarai (now Sarah). Sarah laughed at having a son at her old age; therefore, their son’s name would be "Laughter" (Isaac).
Abraham pleaded with God to save the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. God agreed to spare the whole city for only 10 righteous people.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Giving Hagar to Abram was Sarai’s way to take control of God’s promise. She resented her decision and things turned bad.

Sarai was not a fickle woman who changed her mind because she didn’t like Hagar anymore. For Sarai, a woman’s worth is tied to her ability to bear children for the man. This was too much for her to stand. So she created strife between them.
This happened because she was unwilling to allow God to control the timing of his promises. As the theme constantly echoes in Genesis, when humans take control over God, bad things happen. It is likely the enmity between these two women led to Ishmael’s want to fight and eventual strife between Arabs (who are the descendents of Ishmael) and Jews (the descendents of Isaac).

God councils Hagar to return to Sarai and "put up with her abuse" (16:9, The Message).

This is striking, especially to an American. Why would God allow Hagar to be under this type of abuse? Because God would bless Hagar through Sarai’s abuse. God would not leave her alone to suffer but would make her, too, a great nation through Ishmael. Hagar points to the second theme of Genesis, God will use these bad actions and situations to make something good.

Abram’s circumcision was to seal the covenant between a righteous Abraham and his God forever through all generations.

Abraham’s circumcision would be "a permanent marker of my permanent covenant" (17:13, The Message). Abraham was declared "Set-Right-with-God" when he believed God (15:6, see yesterday’s comments). All descendents of Abraham would be circumcised to show their link with Abraham and God’s covenant. Even Christians are circumcised—through baptism—to share in Abraham’s covenant with God (Romans 4). This ritual not only links Christians to Jews but also to Muslims who, being descendents of Abraham, practice circumcision in honor of Abraham’s covenant with God.
However, this circumcision is only the physical sign of a heart that is circumcised. Physical circumcision did not guarantee obedience to God. Only a circumcised heart allowing God to lead can take part in the promises of God.

Abraham prays for his son Ishmael and God blesses him.

Even though Abraham knew Isaac would be the son God promised him and would carry on the covenant of God, Abraham continues to pray for his son from a maid-wife, Ishmael. Abraham is truly a godly man.

Abraham’s negotiations with God over Sodom and Gomorrah show both God’s and Abraham’s characters.

Abraham cares deeply for the city and does not want God to destroy the good with the bad, which would be out of character for the God Abraham served. However, he is also realistic about the people there and their (in)ability to obey God. So he bargains with God to save the city. Personally, I do not see God as changing his mind but allowing Abraham an opportunity to prove his love for others. Abraham didn’t need Sodom or Gomorrah. God promised that Abraham would become a great nation with no link to Sodom and Gomorrah. But he still pleaded with God not to destroy the city.
Since comparing the USA to Sodom and Gomorrah happens regularly, especially following a disaster, we need to see God’s character here as well. God is not willing to give up Sodom and Gomorrah as long as there were 10 people obeying him. Would God destroy the USA (or any area/city in the USA) and kill the righteous with the unrighteous? No! So let’s ignore all warnings that God’s wrath in the form of storms or wars is coming upon the USA because of its unrighteousness.