One Year Bible, August 16

NEHEMIAH 11:1 - 12:26                                                                                                        
"THE HOLY CITY":  Jerusalem (11:1)  A tithe (10%) of the people were to live in Jerusalem, "the holy city", along with the government officials and the Temple servants. (The tribes of Judah and Benjamin and Levites only, along with a smattering of those familes who had clung to David) Some had a long history and can be traced way back.  Some people were chosen by lot, and others volunteered to live there. Jerusalem was the center of DANGER and POSSIBLE ATTACK. The Benjamites chosen were savage, brave and skillful warriors, "mighty men of valor".   Many left good jobs, comfortable houses, other family members, and their land, in order to live in the city.  These are not rabble or refugees - they are called as a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Ex 19:6)

TURNING THE TIDE:  The priestly families are being restored! BUT...(1Chron 24:7-19) two family names are missing!  There are 22 at the return from exile, of the original 24 courses appointed by David.   Beginning with v. 12, the second generation is listed - same family names.  Apparently they didn't change their names with the new generations.

RESPONSE: Longevity in the church is wonderful. We need roots. It gives us credibility and safety. Such fortitude, and such faithfulness, and such perseverance. These families have stayed pure for generations! My hat's off to them, that's for such!

1 CORINTHIANS 10:14 - 11:2                                                                                                
WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT OUR LUST?  With the disqualification of the whole generation of Jews who died in the Wilderness in mind, BE WARNED about the necessity of addressing this issue!  Presumption will cost you the Kingdom! (Life in the Presence of God, NOW)  You will be one of those who gets into heaven but loses his reward, spoken of earlier.   If you should fall, you are without excuse.  God is always ready to sustain you.  Beware of throwing yourself into temptations (tests) that your weren't exposed to by God Himself. You run no risk of sinning or falling away if you ONLY encounter the tests God allots to you, but you have no guarantee of victory in temptations into which you throw yourself carelessly.  AN ENCOURAGING WARNING!!  The real "test" is proportional to the strength of the believer.  An immature and inexperienced believer is limited by his development, so don't entice him to take risks. 

DOES GOD "TEMPT" OR TEST US?   Absolutely! Our faith is tested in order to manifest and strengthen it. (James 1:2-3; Gen 22:1; Deu 13:3)  God does not tempt us to sin (Jam 1:13), although sometimes the "test" has both elements (eg. Job). Satan IS, however, allowed to "sift us like wheat" - for God's purposes of cleansing (Luk 22:31; 1 Chron 21:1). God also makes use of "falling" to cure us of independence and pride (and so we pray, "lead us not into temptation")  This passage, however, is speaking of self-centered, self-chosen temptations that could have been AVOIDED. HUMAN LUST.  We seek them out in our lust!

THERE ARE SOME THINGS WE JUST HAVE TO RUN FROM!  Tenderly, we are told that, difficult and painful as it is, we HAVE TO make the break from our lust (for that's what idolatry is.) We flee from not only the idolatry itself, but anything that may lead into it!   If the activity BORDERS ON IDOLATRY (indulging human lust), don't do it!   You say you are smart, then use your brains .  Any idolatry brings us in communication with the spirit world. The nature of the power and influence we "tap into", depends on the Being we worship.  If it's not God, IT'S THE DEVIL!   It doesn't matter what you call it and it does not matter if that's not what you intended: if it is not Jehovah God, it is Satan.  YOU CAN'T HAVE BOTH!  IT IS SELF-CONTRADICTORY!  If you persist in it, you provoke God's jealousy (which burns like inextinguishable fire).  Just so you know, the principle is that idolatry (things offered to idols) includes pornography, alcoholism, gluttony, any other addictive behavior and anything else that we "use" or substitute for God, to satisfy the heart-hungers in us.

MY MOTIVE:  Because everything in earth belongs to God, I am in legal possession of all things (external), and am free in the highest sense of the word. BUT....... Freedom is limited by (1) discernment of the will of God, (2) love, and (3) watchfulness that I am creeping toward idolatry.  We are NEVER to be motivated by selfishness or self-interest, but the interests of others.  BUT, the "glory of God" is our only true motive. Everything we do and say "do all to the glory of God.”  Don't do anything that makes God look like a jerk to "outsiders". Our motive is to bring glory to God and that we don't alienate the unsaved.  We don't do things just for their "shock value" - or allow controversial behavior that disguises our message of the Gospel.  (That is spiritually immature)  Jesus is our model for self-denial and self-sacrifice and so is the Apostle Paul.

RESPONSE:   Relationship is everything!!! It is spiritually immature to think otherwise.  We can't live to please ourselves. Part of spiritual maturity is caring about other people in the same way Jesus did.   Part of spiritual maturity is not giving in to our fleshly appetites just because we think we can, but rather living to please God.   A person who is spiritually mature does not play close to the fire.

PSALM 34:11-22                                                                                                                  
REJOICE WITH ME:   v.1-10

LEARN FROM ME:  v.11-22  How did David turn these 400 "losers" ("in distress, in debt, discontented") into his "mighty men" in 16 months?  These two things: (1) rejoice in God's goodness and greatness, and (2) the fear of God. The fear of God is "a trembling awareness that life has meaning, and my choices have consequences."  Obedience is a demonstration of the fear of God.  How do you "teach" someone the fear of God?  (1) Instruction in God's hatred of sin and evil.   (2) A "broken heart and a contrite spirit", which are a demonstration of God's hatred of sin and evil.  A broken and contrite inner man is a person whose resistance to God is broken down, ridding us of all stubbornness and rendering us teachable.   In the process, we learn to trust God, so He can rescue us!

PROVERBS 21:14-16                                                                                                          
(v.14) Greed trumps anger. (v.15) Nothing feels as good as God's approval, and seeing someone "doing the right thing" makes evil people paranoid. (v.16) The ways of error and rebellion end in death, sometimes sooner than you'd like.  In fact, you may be the "walking dead" already.

RESPONSE:   I believe it is the parent's obligation to teach their children "the fear of God". That's what discipline is all about! Hebrews 12 says that even God teaches with a rod! I have heard kids being terribly disrespectful to their parents and it made me flinch. My dad would have torn my lips off my face for some of those remarks! Well, maybe not my lips, but he would have scared me with his tone of voice, his facial expressions, and his finger in my face. Then, maybe have spanked me, too, if it was bad enough. Being "forced to repent" for my behavior as a child was good training for later obedience to God. We were AFRAID to disobey my parents! If they didn't catch me being naughty, a neighbor would tell on me, or a teacher, or someone who saw it across town! The adults in my town were in cahoots! (Small towns are like that sometimes.)

However, I still had to be "broken" as an adult. Until I quit fighting against God and learned to TRUST HIM, I couldn't get anywhere in my walk with God! God takes it VERY SERIOUSLY when we don't trust Him or believe Him. He boxed me in and left me with no way out except surrender, and I'm glad He did.