Wednesday, 13 August 2014

TFTD - 11 August 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

11 August 2014

1 Kings 6
Jeremiah 32
Mark 6

"HAVE TAUGHT THEM PERSISTENTLY"

Jerusalem is under siege, all the messages the LORD caused Jeremiah to prophecy about the city are now starting to happen. The prophet is surprised by being told to buy his uncle's field, "for the right of redemption by purchase is yours."  [Jeremiah 32:7] He does so and a "deed of purchase"  is signed.  He is told to "put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. For thus says the LORD of hosts … Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land." [Jeremiah 32:14-15]

Jeremiah is a man of faith, he seeks to understand; we can conceive of him meditating, he writes, "prayed to the LORD saying, 'Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm!  Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands … O great and mighty God … great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.'" [Jeremiah 32:17-19]. We note and ponder the point the LORD is making, he is looking to see what "fruit" the ways of his people produce!  What "fruit" do our ways produce?

What does God see in Jeremiah's day? The Lord says, "And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction."  [Jeremiah 32:33] Today we can say, very few have diligently read God's word so as to receive instruction ­ and the world is full of "bad fruit" as a result.

How greatly was the Bible appreciated when it was first available for everyone to read ­ but there is little appreciation today! Our world faces God's anger and his acts of judgement, just as Jerusalem faced it in the days of Jeremiah. Let us read and listen, and then, as with the few who did listen in the prophet's days, God says, "I will rejoice in doing them good"  [Jeremiah 32:41] What a wonder the divine rejoicing will be! May we be there to share in it and know "the joy that knows no ending."
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- DC
1 Kings 6:7
"And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of IRON heard in the house, while it was in building."

As we read of no iron tool to be used at the temple site, we are reminded that no iron tool was to be used for the altar stones to leave its mark. (Deut 27:5, Josh 8:30-31).

This takes our mind forward and a similar warning for us, Iron bears the same defilement as the flesh it represents.

Christ warns that we are not not to bear the marks of iron - Rev 14:9-10
"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb"

What is this system that seeks to force the mark on peoples? The iron of Rome, developed into the Babylonian/Romish mother religious system and it's harlot daughters. 

Thought for the Day

11 August 2014

"In our confidence that we “stand” in Christ, it still behoves us to “take heed lest we fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). The one great certainty is that God will never forsake us; whether we may be tempted into forsaking Him is the point which evidently requires our vigilance."

- Fred Pearce
Exhortation and Warning (1979)

TFTD - 10 August 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

10 August 2014

1 Kings 4; 5
Jeremiah 31
Mark 5

"AT THAT TIME … THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE"

Today's chapter in Jeremiah [Jeremiah 31] provides us with a sequel to yesterday's thoughts about God's reaction to the time when the all nations, at the climax of human history, regard Israel as "outcasts … for whom no one cares" It is of the highest interest because of the attitudes today more and more fit this picture.

Today's chapter follows on from the final verse of Jeremiah 30, "The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this. "At that time", declares the LORD. I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people." [Jeremiah 30:24; 31:1 ­ they are consecutive verses]

Jeremiah 31:7 reads, "… raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel." The meaning is not totally clear, but it implies there is a time when leading nations learn the reality of God's existence "and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth" [Jeremiah 31:8]. We know that half of the Jews still live in other lands, also, that the land promised to Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, is a great deal more than Israel possesses at present.

This spirit is totally opposite to what many nations, especially the Islamic, are saying today. As we read on, these words jumped out at us (among a number of others). "Behold the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (all 12 tribes) … this is the covenant I will make … after those days, declares the LORD, I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people." [Jeremiah 31:31-33]

This climax of human history also brings the return of Jesus to earth and the resurrection. These events are the trigger for these verses to be fulfilled.
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- DC


Thought for the Day

10 August 2014

"Food and clothing are a temporary means of maintaining life: but the life to be maintained is a bigger thing than the means used to maintain it, and in the end it can only be given them by God. A straining anxiety after the means of life will not bring life but death: a sorry self-defeat! God who feeds the smallest things of His creation is to them a heavenly Father: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:25-34)."

- L.G. Sargent
The "Blessings" of the Kingdom (1939)

Friday, 8 August 2014

TFTD - 09 August 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

09 August 2014

1 Kings 3
Jeremiah 30
Mark 4

"... EVERY FACE TURNED PALE"

All 3 readings today are very thought provoking. First, in 1 Kings 3 we have Solomon's choice of wisdom when the LORD appears to him and says, "Ask, what I shall give you" [1 Kings 3:5] and he responds, "Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people" [1 Kings 3:9] and the LORD gives him that and more. What mind will those in the kingdom be given?

Then in Mark 4 we have a succession of parables by Jesus beginning with that of the sower together with an explanation of its meaning. How applicable to today is the kind of soil the seed falls into - the soil where "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word" [Mark 4:19]

And then in Jeremiah 30 we read some really fascinating long term prophecies which climax in the last verse with, "in the latter days you will understand this." Jeremiah is told, "Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land, that I gave to their fathers' they shall take possession of it." [Jeremiah 30:2-3]

Then the LORD says, "We have heard a cry of panic, of terror and no peace ... Why has every face turned pale? Alas! that day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it." [Jeremiah 30:5-7] Israel was not saved out of trouble in the days of Jeremiah, nor after they rejected their Messiah and put him to death, but we live "in the latter days" and those who truly fear God and understand "the intentions of his mind" should be in the process of gaining that inner strength of true faith so they possess a face that does not "turn pale".

The time is coming when Jacob (Israel) will at last have "quiet and ease none will make him afraid" [Jeremiah 30:10] And those who truly know God's word will have the same experience for the kingdom will be established.
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- DC


Thought for the Day

09 August 2014

"All the wonders God has wrought in the past and will perform in the future stem from the simple fact, expressed so succinctly by Jeremiah when directed to buy fields in an enemy-occupied country. "Ah, Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, there is nothing too hard for thee" (Jeremiah 32:17) - "too wonderful for thee" (R.V. margin)."

- Albert T. Abbotts
The Witness of Hosea and Amos (1963)

TFTD - 08 August 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

08 August 2014

1 Kings 2
Jeremiah 29
Mark 3

“THAT YOU MAY PROSPER … WHEREVER YOU TURN”

Today we read of David's final words of advice to his successor - Solomon. Two weeks ago we read of Solomon in his youth “and the LORD loved him" from his birth [2 Samuel 12:24]. Today we particularly noted David’s parting words to him, "Be strong, and show yourself a man. and keep the charge of the LORD, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes his commandments ... that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn" [1 Kings 2:2-3]

David’s words are ideal for all human beings to take to heart.  It does not mean strong in a physical sense, but strong in attitudes of mind and belief and service to God. Let us keep in mind what we read recently in Romans about Abraham. "No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised" [Romans 4:20-21].

David had originally set many examples of living and acting with a strong faith; this is an attitude of mind that constantly has the vision to see God is in overall control.

Solomon would not have experienced his father at his spiritual best. The phrase “and the LORD loved him”  surely reflects the relationship he developed with God, a foundation for all the proverbs he was to write.   In recognising this let us give the highest priority to developing our own relationship with God, our relationship cannot be second-hand, we must pray for his oversight of our lives remembering that "whatever is not of faith is sin" [Romans 14:23].

We will read tomorrow [Mark 4] of the seed that is scattered, it either produces more seed that germinates to produce a valuable plant -  or it doesn't, there is no third option. Thus those who develop a genuine faith in God and his oversight in their lives will win through whenever life for a time become difficult, and it  maybe become very difficult in coming years, even months.

While there is opportunity we must be strong and live in the right spirit.  Jesus was still looking for workers in his vineyard at "the eleventh hour" [Matthew 20:6] WE are now living in the eleventh hour so let us live so that we may prosper wherever we turn in our life and our relationship with our Lord!
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- DC
Mark 3:5
"And when he (Jesus) had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other."

It is recorded many times how Jesus "stretched forth" his hand to heal and to make whole. Here, this man with the withered hand was symbolic of the leaders of Israel, who would not stretch forth their hands to help others with their burdens.

We read of the contrary Matt 23:4, Lu 11:46:
"For they (scribes & Pharisees) bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."

We are to be as Christ, as Paul exhorts Gal 6:2
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

Thought for the Day

08 August 2014

"True believers are deeply impressed by the wonders of Bible design. Their faith is renewed and fortified by the discovery of more and more evidence that the wisdom of God is wrought into the very fabric of Scripture. Just as the natural man needs a constant supply of food to keep him alive, so too the spiritual man lives by his daily bread. The Scriptures have been miraculously arranged to give an unfailing supply of spiritual strength to those who seek for it; and one of the features of Scripture that makes a great contribution to one’s spiritual sustenance is what we so often refer to as design."

- Peter Watkins
The Inspired Scriptures - Our Sure Foundation (1962)

TFTD - 07 August 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

07 August 2014

1 Kings 1
Jeremiah 28
Mark 2

“WHEN JESUS SAW THEIR FAITH”

In Mark’s Gospel today we have the familiar and much loved account of the paralysed man who was carried by his 4 friends on a bed to Jesus and ”when they could not get near him because of the crowd” they carried him up and “removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay” [Mark 2:4]

Then comes a significant comment , “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, My Son, your sins are forgiven … and he rose and he immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all.” [Mark 2:5,11]  We meditate that this healing took place ”when Jesus saw THEIR faith.”   This shows an occasion when our Lord responded to the faith of others.  Faith is “spiritual sight!   In Hebrews 11:27 Paul wrote of Moses, that “he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”  That is the ultimate description of faith - “seeing him who is invisible” - and for Moses it led to God being visible to some degree on the top of the mountain!    Think of what you will see, as a result of having genuine faith now, when the kingdom is established!

We really must have the conviction of mind of the things we pray for.  When Peter was imprisoned, “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church” [Acts 12:5-16] but those praying when their prayer was answered in the dramatic way it was,  were utterly astonished - and disbelieving at first.

 At the present time many are praying about the plight of Pakistani and Iranian brethren in Sri Lanka which the local authorities seem determined to send back to their homelands - where many, maybe all would face persecution and maybe death.

The four friends of the paralytic went to extreme lengths because of their faith in what Jesus could do, may we, as we read in Romans a few days ago, “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” [Romans 12:12]  And to the Thessalonians, in his second letter, Paul tells them, We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing” [2 Thessalonians 1:3]  Can Jesus see my faith, your faith?
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- DC

We must be determined in seeking Jesus every day of lives, we have to be determined in our own lives, but sometimes our friends (brothers and sisters) need our determination in seeking Christ to help them.

Mark 2:4
"And when they (friends of man sick of palsy) could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay."

We have a wonderful example of determination here, in seeking Jesus. They could not get near Jesus because of the "press", because of people, if you like they could not get close to Jesus because of the world.

This example of determination, to get to Jesus and overcome the obstacle of the "press", the people reminds us of Zacchaeus (Lu 19:3), who because of the press could not get close to Jesus, and who also showed great determination.

With the man sick of the palsy who is let down through the roof, we see determination of friends to get to Jesus. And in Zacchaeus we see the determination of an individual to get to Jesus. Let us be determined for ourselves and our brothers and sisters.
Thought for the Day

07 August 2014

"As the Lord Jesus showed his loving concern for others, so must we, in our relationships one with another offer our understanding and love. We are all anxious and troubled, even desperately unhappy, sometimes. Being in the Truth in a world that is mentally if not physically hostile brings trials and temptations to us, as also does being imperfect among the imperfect. We all need understanding at times. From the Lord Jesus we know we can receive that understanding. He has, however, given us of his love that we may share it, first with those who long to share it also, and second with those, our brethren and sisters, who need our help along the way. For, whilst wisdom may be the principal thing, it is nothing without understanding."

- John Mitchell
Understanding (1968)

TFTD - 06 August 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

06 August 2014

2 Samuel 24
Jeremiah 27
Mark 1

“THE TIME IS FULFILLED”

Today we began reading the Gospel of Mark.  It begins with an account of the preaching of John the Baptist in fulfilment of the prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way…” [Mark 1:2]  Although John did no miracles, “all the country of Judea and Jerusalem were going out to him and being baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” [Mark 1:5]  He was achieving a remarkable impact for we read in Acts how Paul encountered those baptised by John as far away as Ephesus (see Acts 18:25; 19:3)

Mark tells us, Jesus began to preach “proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” [Mark 1:14-15]  The king of the Kingdom was “at hand” and the gospel he taught was about the heavenly kingdom to come on earth [Matthew 5:5]  Beginning with John it was a renewal of God’s message after about 400 years of silence since the prophet Malachi.  When Jesus said, “the time is fulfilled” it was the time period of 70 weeks (70 x 7) prophesied through Daniel [Daniel 9:24]. Many knew this time was just about completed and “the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the (Messiah) Christ”  [Luke 3:15]

There have been many attempts in earlier generations to understand the other time periods Daniel details; there was considerable anticipation more than 150 years ago that his return was imminent, but Jesus told his disciples just before he ascended to heaven, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” [Acts 1:7]

The main clue we have been given is in Luke 21:24 that Jerusalem would cease to “be trampled underfoot” by non-Jews and at that time it should be understood “the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”  At that time, said Jesus, there will be “distress of nations in perplexity … people fainting with fear and foreboding at what is coming on the world” [Luke 21:25-26]  There  are the strongest reasons to believe that today “the time is fulfilled”  so let us do what Jesus told true believers to do, “… when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
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- DC


Thought for the Day

06 August 2014

"A gardener must not be impatient. His seed must go through the normal processes of growth. There is no fruit until the harvest and it would be foolish of him to expect it. There is good promise of it, and he can follow it with delight. So, too, is life. This time is not our inheritance. We are in process of growing until the harvest. Let us not wilt and fade away; let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

- Harry Tennant
Getting Tired? (1960)

TFTD - 05 August 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

05 August 2014

2 Samuel 23
Jeremiah 26
Romans 15; 16

“WHO CAUSE DIVISIONS AND CREATE OBSTACLES”

It is good - and much to be preferred - to always focus on the positive words that we find in Scripture, but in doing so we must not be blind to the concerns that arise and threaten to distract the community of those following Christ. As Paul brings his letter to the Romans to a conclusion, after writing of all the foundations to a true faith and the way of life in that faith, he then finds it necessary to write, “I appeal to you brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles  contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, for by smooth talk and flattery they deceive …” [Romans 16:17-18]

Judas Iscariot served himself while giving an outward appearance of serving Christ.  If we should encounter such let us follow Pauls’ advice, “ … I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.” [Romans 16:19] In the previous chapter we read “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” [Romans 15:13]  We cannot miss the emphasis on “hope.”   How much do we need a real hope in our hearts in 2014 - a hope that creates “all joy and peace” as we face the challenges of godlessness that abound in today’s world; we must develop a sense of total commitment so that we can more easily avoid distractions.

What total commitment Jeremiah must have had, so many enemies, efforts to put him to death, as we read today in chapter 26 [Jeremiah 26:11] But God saw to it that he had some support.  He was God’s mouthpiece in warning the people of God’s impending judgements. How effective are you and I in doing that?  Do we feel weak?  That seems natural, we do not have the direct contact with God that Jeremiah experienced, but we do have the full revelation of his whole purpose in the 66 books of the Bible.

Let us take special note of Paul’s final words to the believers in Rome, “Now unto him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel  … according to the command of the eternal God to bring about obedience of faith - to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!  Amen.”  May we so live that we witness that coming glory.
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- DC


Thought for the Day

05 August 2014

"... Faith is a virtue. It can be developed and strengthened. There is no doubt that it is based on good scriptural reasoning, but it requires diligence and training and constant attention-until it becomes a joy and a pleasure to read in Scripture, "The just shall live by faith". (Hebrews 10:38)

- Chris Brook
The Just Shall Live by Faith (1972)