- Tuesday, 7/30/19 Bible
Big Picture #4. Bible characters went
through extreme circumstances: Abraham being told to sacrifice his own son and
living in tents for his whole life; job/family losses and false accusations;
David running from Saul; Noah being the mocked outcast with no results for 100
years; Paul’s trials...so we can take what is put on our plates.
Psalm 18:1, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The heading says that David wrote this psalm when the Lord delivered him from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. Of course, after deliverance is a great time to reaffirm our love to Christ...but what about IN the storm? When we feel isolated and forgotten? Let God know that you know that He’s still there. The storm will pass...deepen your relationship NOW, while the ground is soft from the torrential rain and wind. Don’t waste your storms.
- Wednesday, 7/31/19 Bible Big Picture #5: Events that occurred in a small, despised country, far away, thousands of years ago, were noticed by God. So He sees little ol’ me and little ol’ you in our plights today in 2019. “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me...” Matthew 18:21-22, Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Peter asked, “How much do I HAVE to do?” Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question: it’s not how much you HAVE to do, but rather, how much COULD you do?
- Thursday, 8/1/19 Bible Big Picture #6: Sin caused all of the problems that we read about. Sin is our enemy and the Great Complicator of our lives. The answer? Full confession, honest repentance, active personal righteousness...which aren’t easy very often, but they ARE the answer. Jeremiah 36:23, And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. King Jehoiakim was judged severely for his treatment of God’s word. But, so often we are as non-responsive. We change Bibles for the silliest reasons; we justify disobedience to God’s commands because of faulty human leadership; we excuse our lack of spirituality by saying something like, “Well, you and I just have different interpretations...” God said it; put it in clear black and white in our language; and He expects us to heed it.
- Friday, 8/2/19 Bible Big Picture #7: Different actors have played the same roles over the years, but it’s the same play with the same Writer and Director. Different venues have seen those actors, but all with the same Writer and same Director. The play has many acts, and none of us have seen it all, but the same Writer and the same Director produced it. Matthew 18:35, So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Note the qualifying statement, “from the heart.’ That leads me to think that we can “forgive” without putting our hearts into it. Maybe, when we “forgive” but keep the person at arm’s length, that’s not very heartfelt. Christ’s forgiveness puts us back on 100% good footing. Maybe we should practice what He preaches???
- Saturday, 8/3/19 Bible Big Picture #8: In the end, God orchestrates beautiful music: and He does it with individual musicians who want to play their own song at their own speed...yet He molds it all together into a beautiful symphony. There’s no reason to indicate that He is acting differently today in my life and yours. Who’s it gonna be? We can deny ourselves or deny the Lord. 2 Peter 2:1b, ...even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. Titus 2:12, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. We can deny our flesh the satisfaction of revenge or lust or anger or pride, or deny the Lord the pleasure of living our lives as close as possible to how He’d prefer. So, who’s it gonna be?
- Sunday, 8/4/19 Bible Big Picture #9: Parts of the Bible are prophetic which teaches that the story isn’t over yet...even though the final chapter has already been written, and, guess what? We are on the winning team. The end is sure...and so we can take the twists and turns between now and then. Luke 24:11, And their words [testifying of seeing the risen Christ] seemed to [the apostles] as idle tales, and they believed them not. We criticize the Apostles here, and justly so: even the Lord said they were fools for not believing all that the prophets had said, but so often, just like them, we don’t take the Bible for what it says. We change it to fit our preconceived ideas and selfish desires. He’s a pretty smart God: if He had wanted to speak WWAAAYYY above our heads and cloud the issue, He could have. The simple explanation of a passage is oftentimes the correct one.
- Monday, 8/5/19 Bible Big Picture #10. God specializes in solving, and usually orchestrates, impossible situations. He knew the steps we’d take that led to today and wasn’t surprised. He also knows what step He’d like us to take next. Our job? Ask...trust...obey. Psalm 22:2-4, O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. Dr. Hyles said, “It’s OK to disagree with and fuss at God as long as you conclude that He’s just and right and holy and you’re not.”
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