March 6, 2012 … Keeping Our Word

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Numbers, Chapters 28-30 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Numbers 30: 1-2: … [Taking Vows Seriously] … 1 Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: "This is what the Lord commands: 2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. …”
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Deuteronomy 23: 21 – 23 … 21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. 23 Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the LORD your God with your own mouth.
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Ecclesiastes 5: 1 – 7 … 1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool. 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
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Matthew 5: 33-37 … [Jesus speaking] … 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
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James 5: 12 … 12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.

My Journal for Today: Today in my chronological trek through the Bible, I was led to read/study/meditate in Numbers, Chapters 28-30; and there’s a lot in these chapters about the methods of offering and corporate worship of God; but when I got to Chapter 30, Moses’ discussion concerning vows jumped out at me for my blogging this morning. And so I did my own personal cross reference study today; and I have taken the liberty to copy/paste some passages from the Old and New Testament writings which forcefully - and clearly - discuss the seriousness of making and keeping vows.

And because just reading/meditating on those passages above is so clear, and being the very word of God, there is little that I can add to what God so repetitively and forcefully teaches from His truth. So, I’m not going to add very much to what you can read and glean above from God’s word. And I hope that we remember that when God says the same thing over and over again, especially through many of His authors, and most especially from God, The Son, we should pay attention – BIG TIME!

I WILL say, though, that I would bet you agree that we, in our post-modern culture, don’t take the making and keeping of vows all that seriously. How often are marriage vows made and broken these days? How often do we “Christians” make bargains with God and then when we’re blessed by God’s mercy, we forget and break our part of the bargain? How often do we sign contracts, which are legal as well as spiritual vows, and we hedge or break the contract?

Well, if God’s word above speaks as loudly to you as it did to me today, what more could Bill Berry add that would help us keep our word more reliably and vigilantly than we do? So … let God’s word on keeping our word be His directive to us this day.

My Prayer Today: … And, Lord, I pray that my “yes” will be ‘yes’ and my “no” will be ‘no,’ … always keeping my promises to You and to others. Amen

June 22, 2011 … Integrity Is Consistent

Passage of the Day: Daniel 6: 1 - 3 … 1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

My Journal for Today: As we move to Chapter 6 of the book of Daniel, the topic of note concerning INTEGRITY is “consistency,” …that is in this context, steadiness and long-term faithfulness in standing for what one believes. And Daniel is certainly a role model when it comes to being consistent and faithful in his long-standing role as quasi prime minister for over 70 years under three kings and two empires (the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires). All three kings, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s son), and Darius (a.k.a., “Cyrus”), saw the God-given integrity and talents which set Daniel apart to be able to administer leadership in those kingdoms (see Daniel 2: 48; 5: 29; and today’s passage).

By the way, for some of you Bible scholars who know ancient history, you may ask why there seems to be a discrepancy between the name of Darius, The Mede, who was named as ruler to the Medo-Persian kingdom in the Bible account of Daniel and the name of Cyrus, who was named in history books as the king of this empire at this time in history. According to my reading of John MacArthur and a little personal study, there are two explanations for this so-called inconsistency. First, as was the custom in those times, especially in those cultures, kings often changed names during their rule to increase their standing with their subjects – like a self-proclaimed promotion. Secondly, there is the possibility that Darius was appointed by Cyrus to rule the portion of the Medo-Persian empire where Daniel lived. According to most scholars, the first alternative is the most logical. [see Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985]

At any rate, each of the three kings over seven decades had recognized the consistently superior leadership skills which Daniel exhibited and kept him on as the “prime minister” of the kingdom under the rule of Darius (Cyrus). John MacArthur, in his devotional book Strength for Today on this date, posits that it was likely the influence of Daniel on king Darius [the one from Daniel 6] actually led to the release of the Jews to return to return to Judah (see Ezra 1: 1 – 3). And MacArthur charges all believers, “… despite any political, social, or economic changes that might come, (Christians must) remain faithful to Christ; and He will use you in ways that are exceeding abundantly beyond all you ask or think (see Eph. 3: 20).”

My Prayer Today: Lord, may I remain steadfast in and for You. Amen