March 30, 2012 … And the Beat Goes On … and On … and On

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Judges, Chapters 3-5 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Judges 3: 1-7 … 1 These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses. … 5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. … 7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

My Journal for Today: Back in the 60s, a time when I was off to college and feeling my oats, and separating myself from my relationship with God, a rather comical couple, Sonny and Cher, wrote and sang their signature song back then, And the Beat Goes On. If you’re too young to remember them singing it, here’s a link for a You Tube segment of that great 60s hit.

And what, you say, does that have to do with Chapters 3-5 of the book of Judges? Well, in these chapters we have the beginnings of a beat and refrain which began in Israel when Joshua took the Israelites into the promised-land and continued on with a repetitive chorus of sinful, disobedient living for over 300 years. And here, in these chapters of Judges I was led to read today, we see this pattern beginning.

Israel does “… evil in the sight of the Lord;” … God sends a JUDGE to rescue His people; … the people are shown the error of their ways – usually through some defeat or subjugation on the part of the pagan peoples who had not been eliminated from the promised lands as God had commanded; … God’s people repent, … which is followed by some years of peace and pridefulness, allowing again for the worship of pagan gods like the Baals or the Asherahs (see above in verse 7). And as you read ahead in Judges … “the beat goes on” … and on … and on.

Six periods of Judges – 12 Judges; … and the people, even though they would be given a leader, even a Judge like Deborah, whom we read about in today’s chapters, … a judge who broke all the norms of the culture being a female national leader, … but God gave His sinful, disobedient children a way out of their idolatrous living … over and over again; … and they kept falling into repetitive and redundant patterns of sinful, idolatrous living.

Maybe you have had or now have some stronghold of sin which has been the “beat which goes on” in your life. For some it may be drugs or alcohol; … for others it may be gambling or shopping: … for others – especially in this culture – it may be an obsessive/compulsive habit of viewing p0rnography. I was wrapped up in that one for over 22 years of my life before I came to know Christ as my Lord; and even now the beat goes on in my life in the area of gluttony, … my recurring bondage to my eating desires. I really don’t know what this beat may be in any of your lives; but I do know that the Book of Judges is, as I wrote yesterday, a mirror for our lives today; … and yes, in our sin natures, “the beat goes on.”

BUT (again, a very big “but”), … just as we read in Judges, if we’re willing to seek the LORD, just as in Judges, God never leaves nor forsakes His people; and for us, He sent His own Son as the final Judge, … the ultimate Redeemer, … the One Who shed His blood so that the beat of sinful living never has to go on in the life of a believer.

Yes, I still struggle with my sin nature; and yes, I still sing “the beat goes on” with regard to my pridefulness and my pursuit of the flesh. But when I choose to receive and use the grace which God has provided me in His final JUDGE, Jesus Christ, I have the song stopper; and that beat NEVER needs to go on in my life again.

We’re going to see more of this refrain as we proceed through the book of Judges; … so, get ready as the “beat goes on!”

My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to sing Your son and not the song of my flesh which desires that the “beat go on.” Amen

January 1, 2012 … In the Beginning, Man’s Sin

Blogger’s/Pastor’s Note: For the information of any who might follow with me in 2012, I will be using the YouVersion.com chronological bible reading plan, which can be accessed by going to this link. ... Each day I will reference the Bible chapters/verses which I’ll be reading on the chronological reading plan; and any who follow me can go to that passage to read/meditate. I’m hoping that any who do follow along with me will not undertake to read my thoughts (i.e., my journal entries daily) without first reading the entire passage I’ve read. However, if I end up concentrating on one section or passage of the reading plan for my day, I will reference that segment or print it out for the follower’s benefit. And you should know if you’re following here, all scriptures I use, unless otherwise referenced will be in the New International Version of the Bible.

Passage of the Day: Reading Plan Reference … Genesis, Chapter 1 – 3 … Study Scripture Reference: Genesis 3: 6 … 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

My Journal for Today: Genesis: Chapters 1 – 3. … Wow! What a start for my reading of the Bible chronologically for 2012. But I guess it’s certainly logical to start a chronological reading plan in the Bible by starting “in the beginning.” And as we read in Genesis 1: 1: ”in the beginning, God!”

One could spend days meditating and journaling the spiritual and personal applications and lessons in these three chapters. There is certainly a lot of spiritual meat to chew on in these passages. Theologians have written volumes on just these three chapters alone. Preachers have preached for weeks on the theological applications found in what the reading plan had me study today. However, as I read these three chapters on my first day of my reading plan, I guess it was the Holy Spirit’s plan for verse 6 of Chapter 3 to jump off the page for me; and so I’ve reprinted that verse above [in the NIV] above in bold/italics.

And I could probably craft a 20 minute homily or even a longer sermon on just this one verse alone. But I’ll just try to bring out one pertinent aspect of this verse which has a lot of personal meaning for me (and hopefully you, too).

As I read Gen. 3: 6, another Bible passage I had memorized years ago bubbled up from my consciousness. It is in the New Testament, … 1st John 2: 15-16 Let me copy/paste it here for your edification: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

Now, my fellow Christian, mediate on that passage and compare it to the one printed above from Gen. 3: 6. Do you see the comparative parallels? In reality, when John was writing about the inclusive categories of sin in 1st John 2: 16, he may have had our Gen. 3: 6 passage in mind; because if you notice, all the sin types which there are in human nature - and they are many - would fit into the three generic categories of sin outlined in these two passages – “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

And as you can see from Gen. 3: 6 those where all three types of sin exhibited by Eve when she was being conned into taking of the tree of life by the serpent. She saw that the fruit was good for food (“the lust of the flesh”). She saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eyes (“the lust of the eyes” ). And finally, she reasoned that the fruit was, as the serpent had argued, desirable for making her better than she was at the time (“the pride of life”).

So, my friend there you have what you and I deal with every day of our lives, … being tempted in the same way written about for Adam and Eve in Garden. However, the Apostle John wrote about these same sin forces (i.e., temptations) with which we are confronted in our current lives; and we, like Adam and Eve have been banished from the garden as we learn to deal with our sin nature, inherited from these two whose choices were actually much simpler than our tempting choices are today.

Every day we must deal with the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” just as did Eve first and then Adam. They blew it; and their sin nature is ours, banished from God’s garden. But God has made a way back to the garden; and His plan will take us to a place – a New Garden – where we will not have to deal with the lusts of our flesh and eyes; and our pridefulness will never be an issue. Do I sense a “Hallelujah [!],” my fellow Christian. And that plan, of course, was God’s plan for mankind right from the beginning … to bring us His Son to redeem us from our sin nature and take us back to that bliss-filled state which we read about in Genesis 1-2 … before mankind had to deal with the serpent.

And, … when we come, in faith, to receive God’s free gift of grace and His salvation, we – one day – will be returned to a place – like God’s garden for His creation, mankind – to walk with God, for eternity, in the bliss of the relationship He created for us to enjoy with Him “in the beginning.”

Well, there’s my first day in reading through the Bible this year. And if you come along with me, I’ll be journaling my trek right here in this site each morning. Maybe not as long as this entry; but every day here. …

Happy New Year, my friend!

My Prayer Today: … Teach me, Lord, each day from Your word as I come here to get to know You more. Amen

October 30, 2011 … The Solution to the Sin Dilemma

Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 24 - 25 … 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

My Journal for Today: If you’ve read my devotional entry for yesterday, you read my exposition of Paul’s passage of self-deprecation in Romans 7 (i.e., vv. 14 – 24). As I said in yesterday’s journal entry, some have questioned why Paul would seem so down on himself when he was such a mature and victorious Christian at the stage in life when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans. I posited that it is likely that the Apostle was using a writer’s tactic, i.e., using himself – positioned at his worst (probably reflecting back to his early days as a Christian) – to help believers of lesser maturity to be able to identify with the reality of our sin nature. But I also believe that Paul was laying a foundation for the great victory chapter, which he then wrote to Christians in Rome and everywhere (i.e., Romans 8).

Paul’s rhetorical question in Rom. 8: 24, “Who will rescue me from the body of death,” is, I believe, the great fulcrum truth in the battle for all Christians; and that battlefield, of course, is our life. It is said, and I believe it’s true, that a sure sign of sanctification and maturity in a Christian is the degree to which he hates his own sin and then acts on that hatred to become more like Christ. But as much as we hate our own carnality, as Paul expresses in today’s passage, we also, in faith, must be able to revel in the realization that our bodily and fleshly transformation will one day be completed in a glorified Christlikeness (see Romans 8: 18 – 19 and 1st Corinthians 15: 53, 57 and Phil. 1: 6).

Therefore, knowing what our flesh (i.e., our sin nature) is predestined to become (i.e., see Romans 8: 29), we can – and should – empathize with Paul’s declaration of frustration, as he laments to be rescued from his human condition, that who we are now is merely a foreshadow of Whom we will become in Christ. And Paul’s cry, “rescue me” (or “set me free” in the NASB), is the Greek term “rhoumai,” which is another battle field word picture of a soldier, possibly wounded, being rescued from the battlefield by his comrades.

And you may have been reminded, as I was from today’s study, of Paul’s word pictures in Ephesians 6: 10 – 13, where the Apostle describes the battle in which we find ourselves everyday as Christians for our spiritual lives. Beloved, it is true that we are at war, every moment of everyday. But as Paul also states in Philippians 3: 20 – 21, we, who know Christ as Savior, will one day be rescued from the warfare of this life. Therefore, leaving the frustrations of Romans 7 behind, we must fight on in faith toward the realities of Romans 8 with the hope we have in Christ.

Hope is ours in Christ!!!

My Prayer Today: Amen and Amen!!!

October 27, 2011 … The Law Arouses Sin

Romans 7: 8 [note verse from context in bold/underlined] … Rom. 7: 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.

My Journal for Today: Continuing the discussion of the effects of the Law on sin in our lives, yesterday (from Rom. 7: 7) we saw that the Law reveals sin. It is like a mirror unto holiness; and it, sometimes painfully, reveals all the ugliness in our soul.

Now, in today’s highlight verse (Rom. 7: 8), Paul uses himself, as he does in much of his discussion on sin in Romans 7, illustrating that The Law also arouses sin in sinful mankind. It’s the old, but perverse, truth that when we’re confronted when THE Truth or with God as our Holy authority, our “natural,” reactive tendency is to rebel. John MacArthur uses the old illustration of what a young adolescent will do walking down the sidewalk, confronted with a “KEEP OFF THE GRASS!” sign. You may have been that child; and yes, I’ll bet you did what I did – i.e., tiptoe through the grass. Admit it; that’s who we are as sinful man [or woman].

So, today we’re confronted with the reality that the sin nature remaining in us will want to take every “opportunity” to taunt us toward sin when we know God’s holy signpost. That word, “opportunity,” is the Greek term “aphorme,” which actually means “taunt;” and the world has a military derivation, meaning that a base camp is established from which attacks on an enemy can be launched. And that’s exactly what Satan does, perversely using the “base camp” of God’s eternal Law. Satan knows that mankind, with his curse-driven sin nature, cannot live up to The Law, so he dangles it out in front of man, tempting him at every “opportunity” to make us want to walk on the grass in rebellion to God’s signpost of holiness. And Satan also wants us to try to do the work of avoidance on our own, trying to independently live up to God’s Law. Our enemy knows that we will never be able to do so; and so he can then use our headstrong nature to create discouragement in the hearts of God’s redeemed. It’s a double whammy; and the Law is there, essentially provoking it.

Yes, of course, it’s true that we must face our inability to overcome our sin nature and the Law on our own; but we can and will do just that … IF … we choose to submit and receive the grace that God has waiting and available for any born-again believer who would choose to accept and use that grace, provided by God’s Spirit, to overcome sin. We can live in holiness; but we have to choose surrender to God’s Spirit to find the victory.

My Prayer Today: Without Your grace, Lord, I am lost in my sinfulness. Amen

2010 – April 27 – When Sin Comes Home to Roost

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 40, 49, 50, and 73 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 40: 12… NIV 12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.

My Journal for Today: Have you ever felt guilty, maybe even to the point of emotional paralysis, over some sin – or recurring sins – in your life? We know that David, who penned Psalm 40, as he also did Psalms 51 and 32, dealt seriously with his remorse and repentance from his sins with Bathsheba. Wow; King David had some doozies (i.e., really bad sins) to deal with in his life; and in today’s highlight passage he expresses that his “… sins [whatever they may be, had] overtaken [him]” to the point he felt emotionally blind to life.

That’s what sin can do to our lives. It can render us narrow sighted (at best) and even blinded to reality at times. Our flesh can render our judgment poor; and we become the victims of our own desires or past sin habits; and we make choices which dishonor God and are a witness to our own inability to fight the flesh by thinking that we can overcome its influences with our own fleshly strength.

How many times, after I’ve sinned and see its outcomes, do I have to say to myself, “Bill, you know that you can’t fight the flesh with the flesh?” And as you read this, I don’t know if you’re dealing with some sins from your past that have you feeling down and out. The Apostle Paul was certainly feeling the ramifications of some sin weakness in his life when he penned Romans 7: 14 – 24. But he wanted his readers (the Roman Christians and then you and me) to identify with the reality that all sinners, including himself, must deal with life when sin comes home to roost; and we see our sinfulness, selfishness, and weakness for what it is.

But then, it was also the Apostle Paul, who, in his realization of what Christ had/has done for our sins, penned probably the greatest victory chapter in all of Scripture in Romans 8, which begins in verse 1, by declaring, There is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ, Jesus! And remembering whatever your sin has been – or maybe is right now – I charge you to recite that verse at least three times and go back and meditate on the entire truth of Chapter 8 of Romans; and then you pray to God a prayer of thanksgiving – that is, if you know Christ as your Lord and Savior – declaring strongly to God the praise that is due Him for dying on that cross and paying the penalty for our sins.

And then, as I am doing as I write this, my friend, you also declare how you are going to honor God by living your life in the truth of Romans 8 rather than the lies Paul felt and spoke of in Romans 7. And when we do that, dear one, we’ll be walking in true repentance and finding the freedom to walk with Christ on His road of righteousness, … walking away from Satan and dealing with our own flesh by surrendering to God’s Spirit within us.

My Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, I know You desire for me to follow You on Your road of righteousness, walking away from my flesh and looking only forward to follow You into Your victory over sin. Amen

2009 – Day 138.May 19 – The Consequences of Sin

2009 – Day 138.May 19 – The Consequences of Sin

Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 11: 1 – 12: 13 … Linked to 2nd Sam. 11 – 12 for study ...

My Journal for Today: If you’re reading along with me in this study of David, we’ve finally come to that juicy story of David’s rejection of God’s way. And wow [!], when David does something, he doesn’t just do it half-heartedly. No, he does it up big time. Think about it. Our David, the so-called “man after God’s own heart,” commits adultery, lies, cheats on his wives, conceives a child out of wedlock, conspires to commit murder, and orders a contract killing. And the “hit” is not just on some obscure soldier in David’s army. It is one of his most highly decorated military leaders; and probably a close friend in arms. He commits sin upon sin upon sin upon sin; and then God waits until just the right time to send Nathan, the Prophet, to confront David.

As Swindoll points out, scholars have said that it could have been about a year between the sins of 2nd Sam. 11 until the confrontation by Nathan in chapter 12. And that may seem like a long time; but I hope you have learned, as have I, that God’s timing is always perfect. I agree with Swindoll that there are times when I question God’s timing, thinking that The Lord should intervene sooner than I think. But I’ve learned my lesson over the years … that God is God; and I am not … that (and it’s documented in Isaiah 55: 8 – 9) God’s ways are higher than my ways … and that God knows exactly what to do and when to do it.

But the confrontation by Nathan and the confession by David which followed (well documented in Psalm 51) illustrates the overriding truth that sin, especially flagrant conscious rebellion by a believer against God and/or His ways, ALWAYS has consequences.

David was not some ignorant, new believer, who was doing something bad because he was not mature in his faith. No, the actions we read about in these passages are being committed by the young boy of faith who slew Goliath. He is the one whom God had saved from Saul all those years; and he was the one who had become King when Saul fell on his sword. But David is also the one who let his guard down over selfish sin; and he was the one who chose lust over his love of God. He was the one who set aside what he knew to be truth; and chose to believe Satan’s lies. And he was the one who was revealed in all of this by God through Nathan.

If we have sin we’ve stuffed away in the closet of our souls, do we really think God has not seen it? Do we really think, without confession and the atonement of Christ’s blood, we can keep this sin a secret? Do we really think God is just going to let it go THIS ONE TIME? Duh …!!!

I don’t need to belabor this issue; … this is another lesson into the truth of Jeremiah 17: 9, which I bring up so often in my devotionals. We are walking through life with flesh and a heart which is deceitful beyond measure; and Satan loves to parlay that reality into situations, like the one for David in today’s history lesson, where our heart will fall pray to his temptations.

Get it straight, fellow warrior! SIN ALWAYS HAS CONSEQUENCES!!! And if we know and believe 1st John 1: 9 [linked here for you if you don’t know it – memorize this one because it is one of the most important New Testament truths!], what are we waiting for? Let’s bring it out into the light and confess it and be cleansed of it FOREVER!!! I don’t’ think I need to write any more about this.

My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, help me to stay vigilant and vulnerable in Your sight. Amen

2009 - Day 33 - The Nature Within

February 3, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: The Nature Within

Passage of the Day: Genesis 45: 16 – 28 … Linked to read, study, meditate on today’s passage …

My Journal for Today: Today’s passage is a most revealing one about our human nature. As we have read and studied in the past days, through Genesis, about the life of Joseph, we have seen that both Joseph and his brothers have been shaped, or rather re-shaped, by the circumstances of their past. However, we can also certainly say that their human natures were still there; and Joseph recognized this when he noted Pharaoh’s generous offer and charged his brothers to go back to Canaan to being their father back to Egypt.

I agree with Swindoll’s observation about Scripture. In the Bible we read very personal details, which are inserted on occasion to amplify the identification we can have with Scripture. In today’s passage, we read how Joseph saw all that Pharaoh lavished on his brothers, as well as the promise of the best of Egyptian land when they returned with Jacob. Joseph obviously had become an astute judge of human character. And we get an insight into his savvy ability to judge his brothers in verse 20, where we read Joseph’s exhortation to his brothers, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.” This admonishment can also be translated, "Do not quarrel on the journey,” as it is in the NASB.

Joseph knew that his brothers would be talking along the long caravan to Canaan; and he also knew that they had recognized that Benjamin had been given an extra offering of 300 shekels of silver, more than all the other brothers. And Joseph recognized what I think we all have observed in our lives … that human nature has trouble handling good fortune; and that we humans also have trouble when others are given more than we are given. I agree with Swindoll’s analogy in comparing this scenario with how we parent our children. There are times when we see things go well for our kids, maybe like Christmas time when they are lavished with gifts. But we have to make sure that no one of our kids gets an obvious abundance of good things because it will cause jealousy.

Well, jealousy is the human emotion that had led to his being sold into slavery; and Joseph knew that his brothers may have trouble with the reality of their good fortune as well as the imbalance of generosity bestowed on Benjamin. So, we read him, using almost parental language, in his exhortation to the brothers to avoid quarreling on the way home.

Swindoll, also points out a good principle to recognize in human nature when he writes, “I think it is safe to say that we are to trust one another, but we are never to trust one another’s nature.” This is very good advice, not only to parents raising their kids, but also to all of us as we deal with the human nature of those who have gained our trust as loved ones. I’m sure we all can remember how our fellow humans, maybe even family members or good friends, have disappointed us by doing something selfish or unseemly in our relationships with them. Maybe we, ourselves, were the ones who perpetrated our selfishness on others in breeching some trust in our dealings with others.

I hope you have family or friends whom you can trust. However, I know that we all must be wary of our Romans 3: 23 nature. I hope you know that passage, which reads, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God wants for us to be able to trust others, just like we are commanded to trust Him (see Prov. 3: 5 – 6). However, when we do place our trust in others, do not be surprised if those whom we’ve trusted fall short; because the one who falls short may, someday, be me.

My Prayer for Today: Help me to trust others, Lord; but I also know, my Savior, that I’m one choice away from disappointing another with my human failings. But above all help me to trust in You … ALWAYS! Amen