One Year Bible, July 3

2 KINGS 22:3-23:30                                                                                                             
LITTLE JOSIAH: His primary prophets were Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Huldah (female). The Word of the Lord was discovered in the Temple. Great repentance and great revival resulted. Their covenant with God was renewed - agreeing to keep His commandments and to walk worthy of their calling.  Josiah removed the idolatrous priests, burned their idolatrous implements at the Kidron ("Kidron" means "deep darkness" and represents the boundary between light and dark.  Jesus crossed the Kidron on His way to Gethsemane.). Josiah also rid the nation of Sodomites. He destroyed the place of human sacrifice, Topheth, which is in the valley of Hinnom (A Bible type of HELL. It was the city sewer, and where garbage was dumped. It was probably the location of Aceldama, where Judas was buried.) AND Josiah destroyed anything PRODUCED by the evil idolatrous kings - he broke them down, pulverized them, and threw the powder into the Kidron River.   Josiah fulfilled 1 Kings 13:16-32, sparing the bones of the godly prophets.   He restored Passover on a grand scale. "And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might...."

BUT IT WAS TOO LATE.................  God would remove Judah from His sight and "cast off" Jerusalem.

RESPONSE:   When we vex the Holy Spirit, there is no feeling so awful, so lonely, so "bothersome".  We KNOW we need to repent, and plan on doing it soon.  So why not just do it quickly and get it over with?  We should NEVER get "used to" sinning, because it leads to self-deception.

ACTS 21:37 - 23:30                                                                                                               
PAUL'S SPIRITUAL DEFENSE: Paul was grabbed by the Jewish mob and false accusations were brought against him because they wanted to kill him.  The Romans grabbed him back, thinking he was an Egyptian revolutionary (was Paul dark-skinned?).  But Paul spoke Greek (not Egyptian) and then Hebrew!  Paul presented his spiritual defense by telling where he began as a sinner and how he got born again.  When he got to the part of how he was called to preach to the Gentiles, the Jewish mob went crazy!

WHAT WAS AT STAKE? IF PAUL IS RIGHT ABOUT WHO JESUS IS: The Temple and all the sacrifices are completed in Christ; the money-changers would be out of business; the political influence and power of the High Priest and the Jewish Council would end; the dreams of the zealots for a political Messiah would be shattered; the traditions of Judaism would come to an end; the Law of Moses would have been fulfilled; and the position of the rabbis, priests, Pharisees and Sadducees would be at risk.

RESPONSE:   The status quo was threatened, and it is a known fact that a lot of people hate change. In fact, big change is usually not possible until the status quo is too painful to sustain any more.   Jesus is a threat to our status quo.   We can't live like we always did if we belong to Jesus.  We can't even associate with some of the same people.  We CERTAINLY can't believe what we used to believe!   Our habits have to change.  Even our thoughts have to be holy!  Our "defaults" must be holy.    Believing Jesus really upsets the applecart!  But in a good way! 

PSALM 1:1-6                                                                                                                     

SECOND TIME AROUND:  Psalm 1 is a contrast between being BLESSED OR PERISHING. To be "blessed" in the Bible is to be "empowered for living". To be "perishing" is to lead a wasted life.   What makes the difference?  It is submitting ALL of our lives to the light of the Word, and forfeiting our self-interpretation of life.   It is internalizing and then living God's Word that makes all the difference.  To reject God's Word and God's grace is to turn our roots upward in pride and self-will - we'll shrivel up and die. 

PROVERBS 18:11-12                                                                                                          
The Name of the Lord is our "fortified city" - and the rich trust their wealth for safety! Humility is the forerunner of honor.   Haughtiness is exaltation or lifting up - thinking we are something better than God's servant.  That is the road to ruin and misery.

RESPONSE:   When my thinking does not agree with the Word of God, then I have to let go of my own reasonings and opinions. I want to BE that man planted in God's garden (the Kingdom).  That isn't always easy in today's world. It means we have to go against the flow most of the time! God's ways are most-often NOT "politically correct"!  In fact, most of our media-circus is very antichristian in its orientation.  I must really listen to God to determine when to say something, and when to hold my peace and "save it" for later!

HOWEVER, if I want to please God, if I want to endure in hard times, and if I want to be a successful believer.......my thoughts must be conformed to God's thoughts.