One Year Bible, April 1

DEUTERONOMY 18:1-20:20                                                                           
Chapters 18-26 review God's Laws for the Land to this new generation. Remember, this is all symbolizing spiritual realms. So, purging the Land of foreign tribes is the same as purging ourselves of the flesh, or self-life and self-hyphenated sin. None of this is negotiable, it is a fact of our Covenant.

18:1-8: God has chosen us to minister in the Name of the Lord, and therefore He is our portion and our inheritance.

18:9-14: Occult practices and divination are not permitted by us AT ALL.

18:15-22: The Great Prophet to come. The test of a real prophet is that his prophesies come to pass.

19:1-13: Six cities of refuge, 3 of which are in the Land. Jesus IS the stronghold for the helpless. We are safe forever, because our High Priest shall never die!

19:14 You may not move a "landmark" - an established Truth.

19:15-21 Perjury (lying under oath) is a sin, punishable by "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot," as a warning to others.

RESPONSE:   This section of Scripture is important, because most of us are clueless about the spiritual realms. I can hardly keep up with protocol in my "natural life" - and I know I'm probably not "politically correct". The Land/Life, is a gift from Him. So, let's listen up! Find out what God expects in order to function in a way that pleases Him.

LUKE 9:28-50                                                                                                    
"As He prayed....": God pulled back the veil and gave these intimate friends a glimpse of how everyone looks in their glorified state. Jesus' death is called his "decease" - Greek word, "exodus". The death of the saints is their exodus, their departure out of the Egypt of this world.

HOWEVER, the disciples still had not learned to evaluate life in terms of the CROSS. So, they held their revelation of the glorified Jesus to themselves. Their faith was called "faithless and perverse". Jesus had to tell them to "let these sayings sink down into the ears: for the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men."  They were still discussing who would be the greatest!

RESPONSE:   How can I be the "child of the King", and still have to be "servant of all"? How can I "do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." , yet "without Him I can do nothing?"   Know that "my heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked", yet I have been made "the righteousness of God in Christ."   Without the Holy Spirit to explain these things and make them practical, they are hard to reconcile. I just know that Jesus always chose the way of a servant. He was always available unless He was off praying. He never demanded His own way, although He could have. He was never offended, although He probably should have been. Even His anger was an expression of His "grief at their hardness of heart" (Mark 3:5). He never complained, although He walked a path full of rejection and opposition. Is this what is really means to be like Jesus?

PSALM 73:1-28                                                                                                  
The Psalms are the DETAILS about our spiritual experiences. They are NOT preserved in chronological order, but are divided into five sections, which correspond with the first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch). Psalm 73-89 are the LEVITICUS section and so are about WORSHIP.

Whereas in Psalm 42-72 God's people are called OUT, in Psalm 73-89 God's people are called IN - IN to God's Presence. PSA 73-83 are written by Asaph, the Temple worship-leader.

Psalm 73 calls us to leave all distracting thoughts behind and pursue God.  Asaph, who marched just ahead of the Ark, banging a tamborine to draw attention to it,  as the Ark was brought up to Jerusalem, ...wanted to know why good men suffer and bad men prosper.   It is almost as if the bad men are made of "better stuff" than we are and so they lead trouble-free lives.  So he asks himself, what good does it do to be a Christian? There seems to be no advantage to it.

**When we don't understand something, or see seeming contradictions, what must we do? Or think?

V.15-16: Rather than spread my unbelief (be a stumblingblock), I need to keep my mouth shut (I could be wrong).

V.17: I must go into the Presence of God to get perspective - to shift my thinking from the natural to the spiritual. The natural mind is always centered on us and that narrows our vision.

V.18-20: I understand the finish-line of the ungodly. They have nothing to hold onto, they are plagued by fears, and they leave no lasting legacy.

V.21-22: When I re-evaluate myself, I assess how I end up in unbelief: I was stupid (self-induced); I was ignorant of my own need and of how God works His plan; I was reacting by animal instinct, loving to be petted but not disciplined or taught.

V.23-24 Notwithstanding my doubts, God still loves me and has not cast me aside.  I find that, in God, I have God's forgiveness, God's restraining hand (He always draws me back to His Presence); and He has and will guide me all the way.  In contrast to the godless, my end is glorious.

V.25-26 KEY: God is all I need. Nothing and no one else is adequate.

V.27-28: God keeps His Word and I can take anything Life throws at me. My portion in Life is God Himself.  When I have Him, I have all I need.

PROVERBS 12:10                                                                                                    
Every farm kid knows that the animals get fed before the humans do. But the wicked: not only their cruelties, but their very mercies are cruel: as Pharaoh when he offered to let the people go, but without their herds!

RESPONSE: See above **. It helps me come to my senses when my mind goes crazy.