by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 13-15
The ark of God, signifying His presence, is brought back to Jerusalem. We read about this in II Samuel, but there is a little more explanation here.
The ark had not been sought during the days of Saul. David, who is a man after God’s heart, desires God’s presence and honors His presence. He wants the ark, but there is a way to obtain it.
By putting the ark on a new cart with oxen bringing it in, and then having someone reach up to steady it through a rocky spot, a man gets killed. David is upset and leaves it with Obed-edom.
Okay, Obed gets blessed, so let’s go again – this time let’s do it right. There were clear instructions to Moses concerning the ark and how to carry it. It wasn’t to be carried on a donkey cart, but by poles on the shoulders of Levites. (the priestly tribe).
Everything runs smoothly this time. The ark of God’s presence goes up to Jerusalem.
There are some principles for us today. Our God loves us and wants to be close to us, just as we do to Him – even more so. Yet let’s not forget that He is God; we aren’t. His plans and ways of doing things are to be honored by us, and not to be changed.
He’s the sun; we are the moon. We reflect His light (His glory), but we don’t have any light of our own. When we represent Him, we can’t take it upon ourselves to change His principles. In other words, we are to represent Him to the world – and not substitute our own ideas.
There are many doctrines being thrown out there today which certainly do not represent God. Ministers are trying to uphold the idea of grace apart from accountability.
Their mantra is: God is love. Well, that’s right, God is love. That’s not the question. The question is do we love Him?He has shown His love to us by sacrificing his Son. Now we show our love back by giving our lives to Him.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox.
The point is that God desires to have His presence be manifested where He is honored as the One True God.
In His presence there is true joy, peace, love, provision, healing – everything good. Everything we could desire. It’s worth doing it His way.
John 7: 1-24
This seems like a continuation of the Old Testament reading today. Jesus says, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (V. 18) And then, “Do not judge according to appearance, but with righteous judgment.” (V. 24)
The Pharisees were supposedly representing God, but they weren’t really – obviously. They were seeking their own glory.
The Pharisees had become used to being honored as great men of God. The had long robes of distinction and held the seats of highest honor. people generally looked up to them – and even feared them, because they had the right to put people out of the temple.
Yet instead of truly being God’s men, they were their own men. They held themselves higher than God.
Regardless of the stature someone might hold in the world, if they are going to understand God’s ways, they have to be humble before Him. There is no amount of grandeur, or intelligence, or ability which can ever place man higher than God.
This statement should be obvious, but it’s surprising sometimes to see the arrogance men have against their Creator.
True humility is like a golden key which unlocks God’s presence, His power, and His purpose. Without that humility, we stumble around in the dark.
Dear Father, open our eyes so that we can see You and understand Your plans. We want to partake of Your presence and purpose.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 10-12
David’s Mighty Men come to the forefront.
I and II Chronicles, probably written by Ezra, the scribe, reiterate the history of Israel. Many of these stories are those which we have already seen in the books of Samuel and Kings. If we look closely, however, we’ll gain some new insight into the underlying principles of God’s kingdom.
Do you remember in I Samuel 22:2 when David fled to the cave of Adullam? He was running from Saul, and a few men fled to help him. The verse describes these men. “Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered to him (David); and he became captain over them.”
Now in I Chronicles we see his men listed and there are no distressed, discontented, or debt-bound men mentioned at all. Why? They have now turned into mighty men.
That’s the way it is with God. He will take those of us who seem total failures and turn us into successful people of God. He will replace our discontent with joy, our distress with great peace, and our lack with provision, as we follow Him unashamedly.
The more David stayed faithful to the Lord, the more he had favor with men. “Day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army like the army of God.”(12:22)
There is a progression that comes to the life which is committed to Him. It might start very small and insignificant, but He will continue to bless and empower us as we stick close to Him.
John 6: 45-71
Jesus certainly didn’t mind offending people. With all of the love which He showed, He also showed a tremendous willingness to “tell it like it is.”
So when He is sharing about His role as the Bread of Life, He says something very startling to the listeners. “Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink.”(53-55).
What is the world is He talking about? His own disciples say, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
And as a result of this, many of His disciples (other than the twelve) withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore (66).
As usual, Jesus knew that the only way people could understand what He was saying is if they were being drawn by the Father. Those who were not spiritually in tune would think that he was talking about cannibalism, and they would leave. Only those who could hear from the Spirit would know that there was a deeper meaning.
Jesus meant that only those who would partake of His life from their innermost being could be His disciple. Only those who would take up their cross and follow Him. He was getting ready to go to the cross to pay the price for all of our sins. He was laying down his life for us.
Those of us who are willing to partake of the fullness of His sacrifice will be willing to lay down our lives – not in physical death, as He did, but in giving up our desires, our plans, and our pursuits. To truly be His disciples, we must have a commitment that runs very deep.
Jesus’s disciples were perplexed. He said to them, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”
Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”(71)
Later, when Jesus has died, been buried, resurrected, gone to heaven, and sent back His Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of men, the disciples will have the Holy Spirit inside of them, teaching them what He meant. Yet at the time, they just have to hang on – not really understanding, but knowing that Jesus is the One.
There are times, in all of our lives, when things happen or He shows us ideas, which we don’t understand. We just have to hang on until the explanation comes, knowing that our Lord is faithful. He is the One with the answers.
In the meantime, we continue with Him, eating the flesh and drinking the blood. In other words, we continue to partake of Him at the deepest levels.
Psalm 116:12-13 says “What shall I render to the Lord for all of His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.”
How can we repay him for his great sacrifice? We can partake completely, giving ourselves back to Him. That’s His desire, and that’s ours also when our hearts are truly His.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Chronicles 7-9
The gatekeepers are important. Their names – along with their particular responsibilities – are listed in chapter 9.
Why are they important? They are the ones who are responsible to see who and what comes in and who goes out of the temple. They check the merchandise and they check the furnishings. They also check the people.
Today, we are all gatekeepers. We have our eye gates, our ear gates, and our thought gates, and we are responsible to take charge of what we let into our temples. We are now the temples of the living God.
All around us are evils which can contaminate the temple. Of course, on one level, there are drugs and alcohol; on another level there is pornography. On a third level there is all of the false information which would try to compromise God’s message. Then there is doubt and unbelief which tries to come in.
We are all gatekeepers, charged with the responsibility of protecting ourselves from the ravages of the enemy.
Then there is the other side. We also need to make sure that we let in the Word of God and all that He has for us. We don’t stand there empty, but full of His thoughts, His ideas, His leading to do what he desires.
As we keep ourselves from the contamination of evil forces, and fill ourselves with God’s purposes, we’ll be standing in His grace and His pleasure.
John 6: 22-45
John’s gospel really goes deeply into the spiritual truths, doesn’t it?
Yesterday we saw where the baskets of bread and fish were broken and spread out to the multitude of people present. Now we see that Jesus is proclaiming that He is the bread which has come out of heaven. He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus is the Bread which, not many days from now, will be broken for us and divided among us so that we can receive God’s zoe life.
The Pharisees have another fit. What in the world is He talking about? We know that His father and mother are Joseph and Mary, and He is saying that He came down from heaven?!
Jesus goes on to explain that only those whom the Father draws are His. He recites Isaiah 54:13 “They shall all be taught of God.”
At this point, Jesus is saying things that only born again believers will eventually understand, but those whose hearts are right will not reject Him for what He says. Even if they don’t truly understand, their hearts will be stirred to trust Him.
Not the Pharisees. They are very quick to reject Jesus over anything they can think of. They are jealous of Him because of His following. Not wanting to lose their power, they are happy to find any “gotcha” moments they can.
Jesus obliges the supposed scholars by throwing those “gotcha” moments often. He is exposing hearts as many are drawn to Him.
If we see passages of scripture which we don’t understand, rather than rejecting them outright, we must always allow the Holy Spirit to explain. As we ask for explanation, He will give it to us…when our hearts are right.
