June 7 - Proverbs 13-15: The Way of the Wise

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 13-15

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Wise people listen to wise people. Fools listen to daytime television.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Intelligent children develop good conversation skills. They hate false talk and converse in substantial topics. They listen and honor God's Commands. They embrace correction and walk with the wise.
Wise people take care of their mouths and animals. They stay on God's life-track.
Wise people discern truth and cautiously walk forward. They help neighbors and acquire wisdom.
Righteousness can make an entire nation strong but wickedness hurts anyone.
Gentle responses and kind words soothe.
God sees all.
Good advice spreads knowledge.
Intelligent people love being told new truths.
Simple lives with God are better than the high life with evil.

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

Wise people welcome wisdom.

Wisdom remains central to the proverbs of Solomon. He mentions this several times: the wise listen to parents, acquire the ability to converse in substantial topics, enjoy correction, and listen to any other wise person. To be wise we must welcome and enjoy listening to those who are wise. If we speak with dullards or read/watch/listen to stories that have little knowledge or wisdom we will eventually become the same. It is best to avoid these types of media/people as much as possible. Cynics cannot accept any form of wisdom—avoid them as well.

Righteousness can lift an entire nation.

Solomon is using the compare-and-contrast method of teaching. He compares the outcome of the righteous to the outcome of the wicked in many different ways. In this case he shows that if right and wrong were ships, righteousness could buoy an entire nation while wickedness could not lift a single person. For this reason individuals, communities, and full nations should invite Lady Wisdom into their homes to help their families, communities, and nations walk in wise ways. Righteousness can lift every person equally. Wickedness can lift no one.

God cannot stand religious theater but loves genuine conversation.

David mentioned a similar idea in Psalm 31. If God cares more for the why of religion instead of the what, religious theater means little. What is significant to Him is connection. This is why true conversation means more to God than anything associated with "religion." God wants you to connect with Him through prayer, not perform the "right" set of rituals.

A simple life with God is better than a flashy life with sin.

George Sanders, the voice of Shere Khan in The Jungle Book, was a talented actor who was good. I remember his captivating performance in All About Eve. I wanted to learn more about him. Unfortunately, what I learned did not impress me. He had no respect for people, especially women. He confessed to being rude and hateful. In April 1972 he committed suicide and his wrote in his suicide note, "Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck." I have never heard of a person coming to the later years of his life and believing God's life was not worth it.

To whom do you listen?

May 22 - Psalms 95, 97-99: Psalms in Times of Peace

Today’s Reading: Psalms 95, 97-99

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

These psalms are peaceful psalms.

Psalm (P)Synopsis

Psalm 95

Come, let us praise God through worship and bowing down because He made us and called us His Chosen People! He tells Israel not to make the same mistakes they made in the wilderness.

Psalm 97

God reigns! The entire earth shows God's power and majesty. All other gods must bow to Him. So His Chosen People should praise God!

Psalm 98

Sing to God because He sets things right! He remembers His Chosen People. They praise him with orchestras and bands—a great tribute to the one who sets things right!

Psalm 99

God rules from heaven! God's great beauty is evident. He is holy! He loves justice and sets a firm foundation for His Chosen People. He is holy! He spoke to us through His priests. He is holy!

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

God reigns!

What a refreshing thought after the emotional week last week!

God sets everything right!

David learned this from his trials during his life. God loves justice. All who follow God know this. God sets everything right! Praise God!

God is holy!

April 26 - Psalms 73, 77, and 78: Psalms of Asaph

Today’s Reading: Psalms 73, 77, and 78

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Today is Asaph's turn to present to God his problems and to his people what God has done for him.

Psalm (P)Synopsis

Psalm 73

Asaph praises God for His Goodness. Asaph almost missed this goodness, instead focusing on how the wicked are blessed. Fortunately, God brought Asaph back from this ignorance and reminded him that God is all Asaph wants!

Psalm 77

Asaph yells at God to save him! He wonders if maybe God has left for good. Just in case, he will continue to do what God has asked because God's way is holy. He leads Israel like a shepherd.

Psalm 78

Asaph tells his people all about God's work with Jacob and Israel. God performed marvelous things right in front of Israel but they yawned and kept on sinning. So God punished them. God gave them food, water, and meat and they obeyed for a little while but returned to sin. God never destroyed them! Finally, God chose David to lead His Chosen People who guided the people well.

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

We can miss God's greatness if we only look at how the wicked are prospering.

This is an interesting psalm. I love how it begins,

No doubt about it! God is good—
   good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
   missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
   looking up to the people
At the top,
   envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
   not a care in the whole wide world. (73:1-5, The Message)

We can miss God's greatness if we focus on the injustice of the wicked prospering.

God is longsuffering—He will not destroy His Chosen People quickly.

Reading through Psalm 78 is like reading a suspenseful novel twice. You keep telling the characters, "Can't you see what's going on?" but they cannot. Israel continues to sin against God. Even when God takes them from their slavery and wipes out their slaveholders, they continue to sin. God gives them bread, meat, and water in a wilderness. They continue to complain and are punished.

And God? Compassionate!
   Forgave the sin! Didn’t destroy!
Over and over he reined in his anger,
   restrained his considerable wrath.
He knew what they were made of;
   he knew there wasn’t much to them. (78:38-40, The Message)

God is longsuffering because he knows what we are made of. I'm not sure that comforts or not.

Are you missing God's Goodness because you are fixated on the riches of the wicked?

March 14 - Deuteronomy 8-10: Moses Reminds Israel of Why God is Worthy of Obedience

Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 8-10

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Moses is reminding Israel of the God they serve and why God should be obeyed—and that they had not done a great job so far.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Moses reminded Israel of why God was worthy of being obeyed. He fed them in the wilderness when they were hungry—so they would learn to live by faith. The land they would receive would be ready for a great harvest. Moses warned them not to forget God when they had an easy life because their work was not the cause of their improved life.
Moses also reminded the people of their rebellion at Sinai and that he had to talk God out of destroying them.
He reminded them of the basics of obeying God.

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

God gave the Israel manna in the wilderness to help them learn dependency on Him.

God reminds the people that they received food in the wilderness because God wanted them to depend on Him. God took care of them and became the reason they survived. We should not concern ourselves with the physical alone. We should live dependent on God. When we depend on God for our spiritual needs our physical needs will be taken care of.

Prosperity brings laziness and temptation to leave our (w)holiness.

Moses' words are once again adamant—God will give you this land not because of you but because of Him. God did not make a promise with you; God made a promise with our ancestors. You are the benefactors of generations who obeyed God. In fact, the truth is the opposite; Israel would receive Canaan because the inhabitants of Canaan would not obey God. Moses cries, "Do not mess up that long line of God-worshippers!" We do not receive our blessings because of our righteousness. We receive our blessings because of the righteousness of our ancestors (either physical or spiritual) and the wickedness of our enemies.
This is why I detest arguments that the USA is prosperous because we are somehow more righteous that the world. No. We are prosperous because our ancestors escaped Europe to worship God. God gave them this land because of it. Our blessings are not proportional to our righteousness. Our blessings are proportional to our ancestor's righteousness. We struggle to obey God because we are wildly blessed by God and have forgotten to pass on the source of our blessings.

Moses reminded Israel of their penchant for rebelliousness.

Two readings ago Moses reminded the people that God spoke to them. Within two months of that encounter they gave up on Moses and their God and created an idol-god. Humans are fickle. We are prone to leave God the moment we don't see Him working. This is why we must have God's words written everywhere, including our heart! Out of sight, out of mind. That could very well have been coined because of these people.

Moses reminds Israel to take care of orphans and widows and to protect foreigners.

God will not let this go. This is why God is our praise! He took us out of slavery! He gave us everything we needed to survive! He gave us a land ready for a great harvest! This is why God is worthy to be obeyed! God is worthy of our praise, loyalty, and obedience because His love was made real!

March 12 - Deuteronomy 3-4: Moses Reminds Israel of God's Works and His Righteousness

Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 3-4

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Moses is reminding Israel of the God they serve and what He has done for them to prevent what happened the last time they came to the Jordan.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

"God roundly defeated king Og. Three tribes now have his lands.
"Joshua, do not to be afraid of the Canaanites. Remember our God! I wanted to view Canaan and God allowed it.
"Everyone, obey God's laws. You have seen God's blessings and punishments. If you follow God, the world will wonder in amazement. Teach your future generations. God spoke the Ten Commandments at Horeb. There was no form, so make no images to represent Him. If you worship anything else you will be taken from your land. How great is God for doing this awesome thing for His Chosen People!"

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

God is reminding the people of their experiences to help them not be afraid as they enter Canaan.

Apparently taking a census was not helpful enough for Israel to know God would defeat their enemies. This time God used examples of their past. God also reminded them of His punishments He gave to the idolaters at Baal Peor. God wants us to remember our victories to gain strength to win other battles.

If Israel obeyed God's laws, the nations around them would be in awe.

This is something often missed by legalists and anti-legalists.

You'll become wise and understanding. When people hear and see what's going on, they'll say, "What a great nation! So wise, so understanding! We've never seen anything like it." Yes. What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? And what other great nation has rules and regulations as good and fair as this Revelation that I'm setting before you today? (4:6-8, The Message)

God deserves to be obeyed because His Laws are more fair and more just than any human law can create.

God wants to be remembered because of Righteousness not His Form.

God strongly prohibits making any image of Him. He reminds Israel that they saw no form when He spoke to them. They only heard a voice and saw a great fire on the mountain. God's followers must not make an image to represent God for God is Righteousness made real.

God's punishments are very strong and very real. God's mercy is equally as strong and as real.

Moses almost challenges Israel to worship another god.

[I]f you … become corrupt and make any carved images, no matter what their form … I can tell you right now, with Heaven and Earth as witnesses, that it will be all over for you. … God will scatter you far and wide. … [In captivity] you can worship your homemade gods to your hearts' content, your wonderful gods of wood and stone that can't see or hear or eat or smell.(4:25-28, The Message)

Immediately afterwards he reminds them,

But even there, if you seek God, your God, you'll be able to find him if you're serious. … God, your God, is above all a compassionate God. In the end … he won't forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them. (4:29-31, The Message)

This is why Moses exclaims great praise to God for doing this magnificent deed for Israel. God is worthy of obedience because of what He has done for us in the past!