Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Ruth, Chapters 1-4 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Reference Passage : Ruth 1: 16… 16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
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Highlight Reference Passage #2 : Ruth 2: 14-16… 14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
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Highlight Reference Passage #3 : Ruth 4: 16-17… 16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
My Journal for Today: It’s been a while since I’ve read the little book of Ruth in the Bible; but in my chronological read through God’s word this year, that’s where I was taken today. And what a lovely, heart-warming account of Godly relationships is found in this book. But once one goes beyond the surface love story, involving family loyalty and righteous living, we see an account of God’s people being Godly in the face of unrighteous living and treachery, which surrounded the main characters of this love story – Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz.
Remember, this story involved people who were living in the time of the Judges, which we just finished reading about yesterday; and these were treacherous times in the history of the Israelites. People all around these key characters in the book of Ruth were living selfishly and had been drawn into a culture of idolatry and unGodly living. Yet, in the midst of this, God lays out this lovely story of a remnant of His people who lived lives following God’s way and doing so to establish the line of the one who would become King David (Ruth’s grandchild).
And isn’t it a wonderful bit of Godly irony that Jesus’ lineage would be drawn from a converted gentile, a Moabite woman, whose life becomes an example to all of us as to how we should live and love and have our being in a relationship which first stems vertically from a deep and abiding relationship with the LORD and then becomes set in this world horizontally with abiding relationships in family and friends (real friends).
My dear ones, we live in times which mirror the times of the Israelites in the era of Ruth. Right now, like Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, we are engulfed in a culture, a world, and a nation of ungodliness; and we are called, by our God, to follow our LORD and live uprightly in His image. The characters in the book of Ruth not only were honored by God to establish the blood lines of King David and our Lord, Jesus, through Mary; but as their lives are written about in God’s word, they become living examples of how to live Godly lives in an ungodly world.
I pray that we all see the light of Christ shining through the lives of these people as lived out in their horizontal relationships, becoming beacons for their vertical relationship with God. We all need to live, love, and have our essence flowing from our relationship with the Lord, our God; and when we can live like the lovely and loving characters in the book of Ruth, we will honor our God and shine His light in a very dark world.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to live and love as You live in me and prayerfully love through me. Amen
Showing posts with label ungodliness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ungodliness. Show all posts
Friday, April 06, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
March 26, 2012 … They Did Not Drive Them Out
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Joshua, Chapters 16-18 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Reference Passage : Joshua 16: 9-10 … 9 It also included all the towns and their villages that were set aside for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites. … 10 They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.
My Journal for Today: If you’ve been reading along with me chronologically through our Bible this year, you’ve noted that God, in these passages in Joshua, instructs the people – VERY CLEARLY – that He will help them eradicate all the peoples who occupied the lands that the Israelites would take as they entered and settled in the promised-land. For example, you can read such an instruction in Joshua 13: 6. BUT, (yes, another very big “BUT”), God’s people had to choose to follow God … or not!
And as we read above, the two tribes from the family of the patriarch, Joseph, the Ephraimites and the Manassites, who actually got a double portion in the inheritance of the lands, were unwilling to follow God’s instructions and, in disobedience to God, they “… did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer.” And because of taking the Canaanites as slaves rather than following God’s command to eradicate these pagans, these two tribes never were able to live in peace, covered by the promises of God in their inherited portions in the promised-land.
I know it’s tough to read of our God instructing His people to wipe out and kill ALL of the peoples who were living in the promised-land as His chosen people took the lands under Joshua. But God’s plan was HIS plan; and He knew what was best for His people to avoid the pagan practices of worship and living practiced by the non-believers who occupied the lands which God was taking and distributing to His chosen peoples.
I hope all can see the application here for all of us. God wants us to COMPLETELY wipe out all ungodliness and unholiness from our lives as we march forward in life, leaving no such remnants of the ungodliness of the world in the process. This, in essence, was the instruction of the Apostle Paul to God’s people which we read in Romans 12: 1-2; and maybe you have this passage memorized; but if not, here it is copied for your meditation below [in the NKJV, which is my memory version] …
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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
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My dear ones, … my brothers/sisters in Christ, … God wants us to eradicate every remnant of unholiness, i.e., worldliness, from our lives once we cross over our “Jordan,” and we choose to make Jesus the LORD of our lives. And as our Lord, Jesus, makes it clear (in Luke 9: 23) that we’re to deny our selves and follow Him and live life HIS way, following HIS will, as we march toward HIS promised-land in heaven.
We simply (though never easily) must eradicate ALL the pagan practices of those who will try to influence us in ungodly ways as we take God’s promised-land. I’ll leave it to you to inventory your life, as I’m doing this morning, to see if we are driving all the ungodliness from our lives by worshipping our God in obedience to His way, avoiding the influence of the world in our lives.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to purify ALL in me to conform to Your holiness. Amen
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Highlight Reference Passage : Joshua 16: 9-10 … 9 It also included all the towns and their villages that were set aside for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites. … 10 They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.
My Journal for Today: If you’ve been reading along with me chronologically through our Bible this year, you’ve noted that God, in these passages in Joshua, instructs the people – VERY CLEARLY – that He will help them eradicate all the peoples who occupied the lands that the Israelites would take as they entered and settled in the promised-land. For example, you can read such an instruction in Joshua 13: 6. BUT, (yes, another very big “BUT”), God’s people had to choose to follow God … or not!
And as we read above, the two tribes from the family of the patriarch, Joseph, the Ephraimites and the Manassites, who actually got a double portion in the inheritance of the lands, were unwilling to follow God’s instructions and, in disobedience to God, they “… did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer.” And because of taking the Canaanites as slaves rather than following God’s command to eradicate these pagans, these two tribes never were able to live in peace, covered by the promises of God in their inherited portions in the promised-land.
I know it’s tough to read of our God instructing His people to wipe out and kill ALL of the peoples who were living in the promised-land as His chosen people took the lands under Joshua. But God’s plan was HIS plan; and He knew what was best for His people to avoid the pagan practices of worship and living practiced by the non-believers who occupied the lands which God was taking and distributing to His chosen peoples.
I hope all can see the application here for all of us. God wants us to COMPLETELY wipe out all ungodliness and unholiness from our lives as we march forward in life, leaving no such remnants of the ungodliness of the world in the process. This, in essence, was the instruction of the Apostle Paul to God’s people which we read in Romans 12: 1-2; and maybe you have this passage memorized; but if not, here it is copied for your meditation below [in the NKJV, which is my memory version] …
==============
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
==============
My dear ones, … my brothers/sisters in Christ, … God wants us to eradicate every remnant of unholiness, i.e., worldliness, from our lives once we cross over our “Jordan,” and we choose to make Jesus the LORD of our lives. And as our Lord, Jesus, makes it clear (in Luke 9: 23) that we’re to deny our selves and follow Him and live life HIS way, following HIS will, as we march toward HIS promised-land in heaven.
We simply (though never easily) must eradicate ALL the pagan practices of those who will try to influence us in ungodly ways as we take God’s promised-land. I’ll leave it to you to inventory your life, as I’m doing this morning, to see if we are driving all the ungodliness from our lives by worshipping our God in obedience to His way, avoiding the influence of the world in our lives.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to purify ALL in me to conform to Your holiness. Amen
Saturday, January 16, 2010
2010 – Day 16. Jan. 16 – When Marriage Is Dangerous
Study from Genesis 36; Passage for Reflection: Genesis 36: 2 … NIV Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan.
My Journal for Today: Today’s reading is one of those chapters in the Bible where a lineage or line of descendents is documented and listed. And in reading this, one might ask why God’s word would carefully document the names of the descendants who would become known as the Edomites, or the progeny of Esau.
Well, how God’s Name and faith in Him, or lack thereof, is perpetuated is important to God; and out of today’s simple highlight verse in Gen. 37a we read of the lineage of one of the sons of Abraham, the one who got away. And Esau’s (or “Edom’s” as his name became) descendants had a great deal to do with the wives he chose, all of whom were pagan women from Canaan, … women who came from a culture who worshipped idols and even sacrificed their children to idols. And God’s word wants believers, reading Chapter 37, to realize that a whole generation of pagans, an entire nation, resulted from Esau’s mixed marriages, a nation of descendants who came to hate God’s chosen people, the Israelites, and a nation who developed an entire religion, Islam, which set itself up against the descendants of Abraham who did all they could to marry other believers in the one, true God. And now, even today, we have the second largest religion on the planet which has devolved into worshipping a moon God, Allah, and is at constant war with the descendants of Jacob (i.e., Israel).
My friend, one cannot minimize the importance of Christians marrying other devoted Christians. In the New Testament we read the command of 2nd Corinthians 6: 14-16 (linked), which specifically directs believers away from marrying or being in a covenant with any other unbeliever. All Christians should know that marriage is the most sacred institution created and honored by God. In fact His word even uses the marriage covenant in His word of truth to depict the relationship which God, the Son, has with “His Bride,” the Church. Therefore, we, as His children, are to honor and revere marriage; and when we dishonor it by marrying non-believers or ignoring God’s instructions with regard to marriage, the results can be disastrous, spiritually and socially. I firmly believe that if our country allows for or adopts a national policy, allowing for homosexual marriage, we will see God’s wrath of abandonment settle on our Nation, which had been founded as a nation to honor Christ; and we’ll see God turn us over to Satan’s world (see the teaching of Romans 1: 18-32 - linked here). Esau abandoned the ways of God in marrying into a pagan culture of unbelievers; and we see what has resulted; and we will also see the schism between Christians and non-Christians widen if we tamper in our culture, either individually or collectively, with the institution of marriage.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help this nation and Your world, because it is YOUR world, to realize how much You revere Your institution of marriage; and, dear Lord, have mercy on those of us who do honor Your Bride and our marriages to You in the face of our spouses here on earth. Amen
My Journal for Today: Today’s reading is one of those chapters in the Bible where a lineage or line of descendents is documented and listed. And in reading this, one might ask why God’s word would carefully document the names of the descendants who would become known as the Edomites, or the progeny of Esau.
Well, how God’s Name and faith in Him, or lack thereof, is perpetuated is important to God; and out of today’s simple highlight verse in Gen. 37a we read of the lineage of one of the sons of Abraham, the one who got away. And Esau’s (or “Edom’s” as his name became) descendants had a great deal to do with the wives he chose, all of whom were pagan women from Canaan, … women who came from a culture who worshipped idols and even sacrificed their children to idols. And God’s word wants believers, reading Chapter 37, to realize that a whole generation of pagans, an entire nation, resulted from Esau’s mixed marriages, a nation of descendants who came to hate God’s chosen people, the Israelites, and a nation who developed an entire religion, Islam, which set itself up against the descendants of Abraham who did all they could to marry other believers in the one, true God. And now, even today, we have the second largest religion on the planet which has devolved into worshipping a moon God, Allah, and is at constant war with the descendants of Jacob (i.e., Israel).
My friend, one cannot minimize the importance of Christians marrying other devoted Christians. In the New Testament we read the command of 2nd Corinthians 6: 14-16 (linked), which specifically directs believers away from marrying or being in a covenant with any other unbeliever. All Christians should know that marriage is the most sacred institution created and honored by God. In fact His word even uses the marriage covenant in His word of truth to depict the relationship which God, the Son, has with “His Bride,” the Church. Therefore, we, as His children, are to honor and revere marriage; and when we dishonor it by marrying non-believers or ignoring God’s instructions with regard to marriage, the results can be disastrous, spiritually and socially. I firmly believe that if our country allows for or adopts a national policy, allowing for homosexual marriage, we will see God’s wrath of abandonment settle on our Nation, which had been founded as a nation to honor Christ; and we’ll see God turn us over to Satan’s world (see the teaching of Romans 1: 18-32 - linked here). Esau abandoned the ways of God in marrying into a pagan culture of unbelievers; and we see what has resulted; and we will also see the schism between Christians and non-Christians widen if we tamper in our culture, either individually or collectively, with the institution of marriage.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help this nation and Your world, because it is YOUR world, to realize how much You revere Your institution of marriage; and, dear Lord, have mercy on those of us who do honor Your Bride and our marriages to You in the face of our spouses here on earth. Amen
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