365 Reflections

Daniel 9:1–2 (ESV)  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. In Daniel 9, we find the prophetic backstory of the fall of Babylon and Daniel's insight into the rise and fall of empires, as Israel lay in exile. He, unlike many in Israel, listened to God's true prophet, Jeremiah, who foretold 70 years of exile, rather than the 2 that Hananiah and other false prophets were declaring.  Daniel knows that just because the Babylonian empire had fallen, it did not mean that Israel was now to be sent back prematurely to their land. God would accomplish His purpose through multiple regimes to prove His Word, and not the declarations of emperors or wise men would prove true.  ...

Proverbs 16 is all about the purposes of the Lord. And in this chapter we find tremendous insight into His purposes and how we often fail to regard His sovereignty over our feelings.  Many Christians want to examine their purpose but few want to examine how often their own hearts are misaligned from God's ultimate purpose for them.  Proverbs 16:1–3 (ESV) The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. 3 Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. Three thoughts the chapter opens with.  First, the Lord controls the speech of men. We can make the attempt to direct our lives according to a certain plan but we all need many people to give us the affirmation in order to get anywhere. We need the job to be offered, the proposal to be accepted, and the child to listen to what we say. But God ultimately has charge over all the responses peo...

Ruth 2:8–10 (ESV)  Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” The incredible trouble brought upon Naomi and Ruth is about to be reversed and turned into an incredible fortune, but step by step. The second chapter of this book is intended to teach us about the grace of the Lord Jesus. Just like Boaz saw and then secured Ruth's provision and protection, Jesus does for His lost sheep, you and I. It is not we who found Him, it is He who found us. We can only respond with the same question as Ruth, "Why have I ...

Joshua 2:1–4 (ESV) And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. I just had this thought. A prostitute is used to bringing strangers into their home. In this case, that ancient practice on Rahab's part became the very tool that God used to save her. Was it the most sanitized means of bringing her into the people of God? No. But the end result proved one thing was for sure: God can use your past to prepar...

A recent news item reported the most highlighted passage in the YouVersion Bible App in 2017 was the following verse: Joshua 1:6–7 (NLT)   “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. It is clear people need strength and encouragement today. We want to be strong in a world that attacks us in a hundred different ways several times each day. Can we stand strong in our calling and purpose amidst the noise all around us? Welcome to the book of Joshua. The book opens fresh off the death of Moses and launches Joshua into the future with fervency. There will be no more looking back or longing for the good ole' days. God tells Joshua several times to be strong, to be coura...

Deuteronomy 2 has a familiar statement from Deuteronomy 1: Deuteronomy 2:3 (ESV) ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward God speaks to the people and says basically that they have been standing in the same place long enough. He had said this to the previous generation who had received the Law from Moses 40 years earlier: Deuteronomy 1:6 (ESV) “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Both generations came to a mountain where God met with them in special ways. Both Mountains became holy sites of significance and development. However, both mountains were stops along the journey to the ultimate destination - the Promised Land.  We often want to dwell around the significant moments in our lives. God wants us to have them. They are great for us. We are touched, changed and moved in incredible ways when we come to the mountain of God. But we have to remember that we cannot stay there. W...

Genesis 12:6–8 (ESV)   Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord , who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord . If you remember from Genesiss 11 Abram made a mistake to settle halfway to the land of Canaan. He also settled there with his father. Here now, with his father gone, Abram has entered into the land that would be his. God shows up in the land and promises it to him. Yet Abram is living among strangers and moving around constantly. He never stays in one place. James Boice puts this passage interestingly: "Of all the persons then living in Canaan, Abram was the most per...

James 4:17 (ESV) So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. The sins you commit are obviously wrong. The sins you omit are just as wrong according to the scriptures. It may seem harsh to us, but according to scripture, the sin of NOT doing the RIGHT thing is just as wrong as doing the wrong thing.  How often we are quick to confess what we did wrong while failing to confess what we neglected?  The Lord takes these sins just as seriously, as in Matthew 25 - all three parables picture judgment coming on those who failed to do something before the time of judgment. But why don't we take sins of omission seriously?  It is because we think about them so infrequently. James 4:17 is found after James' command to those who plan for a future apart from the guidance of the Lord.  That those who plan tomorrow to make money and trade in business need to consider the brevity of their lives.  Then, after that, he ta...