Alternate Plans

Bible Order: Gen 1–3

Chronological Order: Gen 1–3

God Is With You

Matthew 1

Happy New Year!  I hope 2011 was a year of blessing for you and your family and that 2012 will be even more blessed.  I feel I must warn you, however, God’s blessings are not necessarily as man would like them.  We tend to think of blessings in terms of good health, wealth, and assorted pleasures.  God thinks of blessings in terms of eternity.  We often complain when we struggle with life.  Sometimes we even think that God has abandoned us.  Nothing could be further from the truth for those that belong to Him.  For the child of God, hardship in this life is simply preparation for eternity.  It is through those struggles that we learn to lean on, and follow, God.  It is in those times of trouble that we are reminded of our need for Him.   It is in difficulty that we mature spiritually.  For this we should be grateful.

Here in 2012 we will read only the New Testament.  We are going to try to dig deeper than before into this last will and testament of Jesus the Christ.  I must add a warning here as well.  The New Testament does not stand alone, it is built upon the solid foundation of the Old Testament.  In fact, if you are not familiar with the Old Testament you will miss a great deal of the story.  Doing so would be like getting to the theatre and taking your seat during the second act of a two act play.  You get to see how the thing ends but you will have missed all the lead up to the critical turn in history.  In fact, the Old Testament is necessary to show us why we need a Savior.  If you don’t know why you need a Savior then learning of His arrival loses a bit of its power.

If you have not been with us over the past two years as we read through the entire Bible together, you may prefer a reading plan that allows you to start at the beginning.  I have made two such plans available for those who would prefer to read the entire Bible this year.  One plan goes straight from Genesis to Revelation in biblical order, the second plan starts at Genesis but proceeds in chronological order.  If you subscribe to the daily e-mail you will receive the New Testament reading for the day along with its corresponding commentary.  The e-mail will also contain the other two full Bible reading plans.  If you click on the passages for the day of the particular plan you wish to follow you will be taken to www.esvbible.org and your day’s passage will be available for you to read.

If you are following the New Testament plan I want to make one thing perfectly clear, if you have to choose between reading the Bible or my commentary, read the Bible.  We all have limited time which means we must prioritize; we must put first things first.  Time with God in prayer and Bible reading should be at the top of your list.  My words are simply an opinion and an option.  If you do have the time, however, I would love to read your comments on the daily passages, which brings me to another point.

Years ago I would attempt to read the Bible in one year as a personal goal.  There would be times when I would stay on schedule and then other times when I would get behind.  In fact, I could get as far as a couple months behind.  I would then do some heavy duty catching up.  The problem with my approach is that I wasn’t really digesting what I was reading.  The words were going in but they were not penetrating my mind, let alone my heart, because my goal was reading the Bible not growing from daily time spent in God’s Word.  I started this blog to force myself to get more out of God’s Word and to challenge other men to join me in the journey.

Along the way I found that reading God’s Word with the intention of writing something about what I had read forced me to digest the Word.  It was no longer a goal to simply have my eyes travel over all the words in the Bible.  I would like to suggest a couple of things for you to consider as you start this year off with me.  First, consider making a daily comment on this blog about what you’ve read.  If you’d rather not have others read your words, consider keeping a journal.  This journal can be a word processing document you keep on your computer or it can be an old fashioned pen and paper journal, but reading God’s Word with the intention of putting your thoughts down on paper is a power tool for spiritual growth.

Second, try to set aside a particular time every day to have your quiet time with God.  We make time for the things that are important to us.  Now I confess that while I target first thing in the morning for my quiet time it often slips to lunch time or late at night.  It can be difficult to keep the same time every day set aside for God.  Our jobs, family life, or any number of other commitments can force us to shift things around.  That is okay as long as we keep our commitment to grow in God’s Word every day.  Even so, it is inevitable that you will miss a day.  What are you going to do when you miss?  Will you try to catch up?  Will you simply pick up at the current place in the reading plan?  The answer to that comes down to your goal.  It is fine to have a goal of reading the entire Bible in a year or the New Testament in a year, but the more important goal, and you can have more than one goal, is to grow through the digestion of the Word.

That brings me to my third and final suggestion.  Don’t quit.  Keep your commitment to grow in God’s Word every day.  When you miss, simply get back in the saddle again.  My father used to say to me “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”  God’s grace is new every morning.  Get up every day and ask yourself “What am I going to do with the rest of my life!”

Well, I’ve written over a thousand words and I haven’t yet commented on today’s reading.  I guess I’ll have to keep this short.  I want you to notice one thing.

Matthew 1:23

“‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).”

Mankind could not save itself so God came down to Earth in the form of a little baby so He could walk in our shoes (okay, sandals) and suffer and die so that His blood could save us from the penalty we earned.  While Jesus bodily ascended into Heaven, He is still with us in the form of His Holy Spirit which resides within the hearts of all who have submitted their lives to Him.  This is my point brothers, never forget that you are not alone.  God is with you.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Speak The Truth!

Romans 1-3, Acts 20:1-3

I have a bad memory for time frame so I’m not sure how long ago it was that I watched a woman on TV who had been a recording artist in the Christian genre.  She was “coming out” as they say.  She claimed to be a homosexual and a Christian.  She was on some kind of talk show and they had brought her former pastor on the show to debate the fact that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong.  Isn’t it funny that people want to debate facts as if they aren’t facts?  I want to commend the pastor.  I would have liked to see him better defend the Bible, but he was truly broken hearted about the fate of this poor misguided woman.  Someone had sold her a bill of goods and she will stand condemned because she bought it.

This young lady stated that the “one place” in the New Testament that was quoted as being against homosexuality was actually translated incorrectly.  I could have laughed if it wasn’t so tragic.  It was like watching a train wreck – disaster all around and you just can’t look away.  Let me ask you something, do you or someone you know speak Spanish?  I had one year of high school Spanish.  If you are willing to put in the time and effort you can become very proficient in reading and speaking Spanish. For me it is a foreign language but I can master it if I so desire.  Why is it people can understand Spanish is a language readily learned and understood but seem to think Hebrew or ancient Greek can’t?

Ancient Greek is a language.  It is readily studied and learned.  There are numerous ancient Greek readers and speakers in this world today and many of these individuals have studied the New Testament in its original language.  How can all of these expert Greek readers be wrong and a small group with an agenda, and no ancient Greek proficiency, be right?  What this woman had to say was a lie.  There are several places in the New Testament where homosexuality is expressly labeled as sin.  There are even more instances of such condemnation in the Old Testament, on which the New Testament is built.

Now if you want to tell me that you don’t like the Bible, or don’t believe the Bible – fine, God has given every individual the responsibility of making their own decision about Him and His Word.  There are consequences for our decisions but each will face his own.  What outrages me is the idea that these folks will, with the straightest of faces, tell such an egregious lie.  Words have meaning.  Facts are facts.  The Bible clearly states, in context, that homosexuality is wrong.  If you want to practice a homosexual lifestyle you are an enemy of God.  You reject His authority over you.  You can claim to be a Christian all you want but when you stand before Him on that day of judgment He will say “I do not know you”.

Am I angry with that doomed young lady?  No.  I am broken hearted.  She has condemned herself, and anyone else she has led astray, to a disastrous eternity.  Friends, the fact that she is a sinner is not what bothers me.  I am a sinner – saved by grace.  I struggle and fail and sin.  The difference is I admit it is sin.  I confess I have sinned and fall on my knees in repentance and ask God for His forgiveness through the shed blood of His son Jesus Christ, and God, in His mercy gives me grace.  That young lady is claiming sin is not sin.  You cannot repent of something you do not think is wrong.  The person that says sin is not sin is truly lost, their eternity will be horrendous.  I take no satisfaction in that fact.  It breaks my heart that so many are speeding so quickly toward their doom.

I have gone on and on about this and you are probably wondering why.  Well, in today’s reading in Romans Paul lists homosexuality as a sin.  He explains that no one is ignorant of God and His glory, for the evidence exists all around them.  Below is the passage that brought the fate of that poor lost woman to my mind.

Romans 1:24-27

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

Brothers, there is no error in translation.  The Bible says what it says.  There are some who have been given over to the lusts of their hearts and who have exchanged the truth for a lie.  Should we be angry?  No.  Let our hearts be broken over this tragedy, but more importantly let us take a stand for truth.  Let us not be silent just because the world will hate us for the truth.  Can we in good conscience sit idly by and watch as these misguided people plunge blindly toward their eternity in Hell?  They are going to Hell for eternity and you are afraid they might be mad at you if you tell them the truth?  Really?

Is your faith all about you or all about your love for Christ?  God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).  If He loves the world so much, and you love Him, shouldn’t you be showing the world His love?  It is not loving to agree with a lie.  It is not loving to ignore the fate that awaits the ignorant.  It is not loving to sit by and watch them race to their doom.  Do you love?  Then speak the truth!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Stephen: Obedient Unto Death

Acts 7-8

Acts chapter 7 contains the witness and death of Stephen.  He had been selected as a deacon in yesterday’s reading (chapter 6) and it is clear that he was a godly man, filled with the Holy Spirit.  Have you ever stopped to think about why Stephen recounted the history of the Old Testament when confronted by the elders of the council concerning his testimony about Christ?  Nine tenths of the 60 verses of Acts 7 are a retelling of Old Testament history; history the council of elders knew quite well.  These people knew the history, why tell it to them again?

These people knew the history of the Old Testament but they did not understand it.  They were set up as the great experts of Scripture but they couldn’t recognize the Messiah when He lived among them.  Stephen recapped this history in yet another attempt to open their eyes to what they had missed.  Sometimes we are blind because of ignorance and sometimes we are blind because we have no desire to see the truth.  All a Christian can do is speak the truth in love.  If one is blind due to ignorance there is hope they will eventually see the truth.  If one is deliberately blind they are lost.  Now all things are possible with Christ and even the deliberately blind can see if Jesus chooses to rip the scales from their eyes.

A religious Jew named Saul watched as Stephen was stoned and he heartily approved of this murder.  He then went about hauling Christian men and women from their homes and casting them into prison.  Scripture says he “was ravaging the church”.  Later this man would be physically blinded by Christ and another Christian would be sent to remove the scales from his eyes.  This man became the Apostle Paul – a man who would later write much of our New Testament.

Think about the impact this man who once hated and persecuted Christ and His followers subsequently had on the spreading of the Gospel.  The testimony of faithful Christians was the beginning of God’s dealing with Saul.  God used the testimony and faithfulness of Christians like Stephen to lay the ground work that would eventually lead to the salvation of one of history’s greatest evangelists.

You and I are to be like Stephen.  We cannot worry about whether or not a person will accept Christ due to our testimony; that is in the hands of God.  What we can “worry” about is being obedient to God.  Stephen had no desire to die but he did have a desire to be the man Christ re-created him to be.  He served others with love in his heart and when he was called upon to bear witness to his faith he did so even unto death.  He would have no idea how his obedience would be used by God but that in no way hindered his obedience.

In today’s reading we can see Stephen’s commitment to his Lord and Savior.  What is your commitment to Him?  Are you prepared to be obedient and surrender all to His purpose and glory?  That is what you are called to do.  I hope you’ll do it.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Giving To The Poor

Mark 11, John 12

Have you ever heard a non-Christian person say that Christian’s are hypocrites?  Some of them look at the big churches and big ministries and say that we are “commercializing” our faith.  They seem to think that all Christians should sell everything they have and give most, if not all, of the proceeds to the poor.  In their ill-informed opinion, Christianity is supposed to be about helping the poor, and to “waste” funds on Christians themselves is a hypocritical act.

Now it is true that Christ had a special place in His heart for the poor and that He said the rich would have a hard time getting in to Heaven because of their tendency to focus on worldly things rather than heavenly things.  Jesus also repeated the Old Testament call for the fortunate to take care of the disadvantaged in society like orphans and widows.  Certainly if we love as Christ would have us love, we care for the disadvantaged.  Still, the main focus of all Christians is not the physically disadvantaged but the spiritually disadvantaged.

You don’t have to be a Christian to give to the poor.  In fact, there are many non-Christian and non-religious organizations that help the poor including the U.S. Government.  Giving to the poor is not an exclusively Christian act.  What is an exclusively Christian act is telling the lost about Jesus Christ.  That is a Christian’s number one obligation and there are no non-Christian organizations doing that work.

Jesus addresses this issue in today’s reading.

John 12:3-6

“Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.”

Judas objected to the “waste” of applying expensive ointment to the feet of Jesus.  He claimed that it would have been better to have sold the precious ointment in order to give the proceeds to the poor.  Of course what he really wanted was a little more money for himself.  What I want to ask these people who claim Christians are hypocrites because they don’t give most if not all of their income and belongings to the poor is this “Why haven’t you done what you think a Christian should do?”  That’s right.  If you think that a “good” person would restrict their purchases to bare minimums so there would be more to give to the poor then why don’t you do that yourself?  Who is the hypocrite?

Jesus said we will always have the poor with us.  This means that all of this communism stuff is a waste of hot air.  If you really want to help the poor become a Christian and become active in that community.  If you do you will discover that Christians are doing more to help the poor and disadvantaged than the government.  You’ll discover that Christians are generous and do sacrifice for the less advantaged.  You discover organizations like “Room In The Inn” (which provides a place to sleep and food for homeless men during the winter months) and the “Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home” (which is the most effective foster home/orphanage in the state). Organizations like these and many others are constantly in the business of helping those in need and most people don’t even know they exist.

Did you know that when a disaster strikes the American Red Cross relies heavily on the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief organization to feed thousands of victims and relief workers?  Every Christian denomination sponsors many charities dedicated to helping those in need.  The hypocritical non-Christian only looks at big churches and politically active Christians and says Christians are hypocrites.  They see only what they want to see because it fits their pre-conceived prejudice.

As Jesus said we will always have the poor.  If you are a non-Christian I ask that you do for the poor just half of what Christians do for the poor.  I also ask that you understand that Christians not only help the poor but they help where other don’t.  Christians share the good news of eternal salvation and that is something even you need to hear.  And by the way, the next time you think to point an accusing finger at Christians remember that you have three pointed back at you!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Get Rid Of The Rags

Luke 14-15

When you submitted your life to Christ did you thoroughly consider the cost?  We like to say salvation is free but the more I consider that phrase the more I have my doubts about its accuracy.  I think we say salvation is free because we did not earn it – it is a gift from God.  When considered in that context salvation is free.  Now a gift is free to the receiver but typically costs the giver something.  In the case of salvation Jesus paid a very high price for the gift He gave you.  In that context salvation is not free.  Salvation is not free in another sense as well.  Look at what Jesus said in a passage from today’s reading.

Luke 14:25-28

“Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”

The passage above does not mean that followers of Christ should actually hate their family and contemplate suicide.  Jesus is using “over the top” language here to emphasize a point.  That point is the priority He must have in your life if you truly belong to Him.  You see He should be more important to you than anyone or anything.  He should be more important to you than your own life.  Is there anything you can think of that, according to Jesus, should take priority over Him?  I can’t think of a thing.  You may think this is a bit much, but Jesus is merely referencing a command of God given in the Old Testament and of which He spoke in the Gospels.

Matthew 22:36-37

“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 here.  In this Old Testament Scripture God says that He is to be the number one priority in our lives.  There are over 600 commands or laws in the Pentateuch – the first 5 books of the Bible, the Mosaic Law – but Jesus says that the most important is this one that commands us to love God above all else.  He goes on to say that the second greatest command is to love others as ourselves and that these two commands together are the foundation of all the rest of the Old Testament.

Jesus is to be the complete focus of your heart and soul and mind – He is to be your everything.  The cost of salvation is everything.  That is not free.  The thing is we get a whole lot more in exchange.  It’s kind of like you have only one set of clothes that are tattered and torn and filthy and stink to high heaven and Jesus comes and gives you a gift of the finest, richest, most luxurious, sweet smelling garments imaginable.  Would you even want to hold on to the old rags you once wore?  Would you miss them and regret getting rid of them?  Hardly.  You would dump those things in the nearest trash can without a second thought.

So why do we have so much trouble giving up the filthy rags that we used to call a life?  Wasn’t it living in that old disgusting life the very thing that caused us to seek out Jesus and accept His gift of salvation?  Is it really so difficult to forget the old you and make Jesus the center of the new you?  Listen, if you truly belong to Christ, His Holy Spirit makes it possible for you to make Him the greatest priority.  It really isn’t that difficult and it is essential.

Luke 14:33

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Salvation isn’t free.  It costs all that you have.  Nothing can, nor should, be more important than Jesus Christ.  Renounce all that you have so you can accept all that He came to give you!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Great In The Kingdom Of Heaven

Matthew 5-7

Boy, the New Testament is loaded with so much important stuff that every day I read our passages I wish I could take more time with what is being taught.  I’ve been thinking about just going through the New Testament next year on this blog instead of the whole Bible.  This would give us less we have to read every day and thus give us more time to go more into depth on what is being communicated.  Let me know what you guys think of this idea.  We would do just the New Testament and then the following year do just the Old Testament.  I’ll ask for your input again toward the end of this year but if you have an opinion go ahead and share it with all of us now.

What got me thinking about all of that is yesterday there was so much I wanted to opine about and then today the same thing.  We’ve got the Beatitudes, Salt and Light analogies, Christ not abolishing the Law, Anger, Lust, Divorce, Oaths, Retaliation, Love your Enemies, the Lord’s Prayer, fasting, treasures in Heaven, the Golden Rule, and so much more.  How do I choose one thing on which to comment?  As usual, I’m going to have to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me.

Well, here is what I realized.  There is a “big picture” associated with all of the things we read today.  The big picture is “treasure in heaven”.

Matthew 5:19

“Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Everything we read today is about a proper response to becoming a child of the Living God.  It is not enough to accept Christ; we must also obey His call upon our life.  We are to be a city on the hill, a light in the darkness of a lost world.  We are to obey His commandments and teach others to do the same.  What are those commandments?  Jesus goes through all of that here in the Sermon on the Mount.  If you only read this passage from Jesus you will walk away from your Bible reading understanding what it means to be a Christian.  You will understand the attitudes and behaviors that reflect a life completely surrendered to the will of God.

When you get to Heaven would you like to be one of the least or one of the great?  Are you obeying the commands of Jesus?  Are you living your life as a beacon to others?  Are you sharing your faith with others?  Are you teaching others to follow and obey Christ?  On what kind of ground our you building your eternal house?

Matthew 7:24-27

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

On what is your spiritual house built?  Will you be great in the Kingdom of Heaven?

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!