365 Reflections

Leviticus 11:46–47 (ESV)   This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, 47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten. As is mentioned in the previous post, the laws of distinction for Israel's diet was instructive in nature to remind them of their special status before God, not necessarily a code for proper health.  Israel was to be a people of distinction among the nations. They are in history as well. Today the are still distinct in that most of the world is divided about their status as a sovereign nation. To this day God's electing choice of Israel has split the world in half.  Now when Christ comes these distinctions of diet are no longer in effect. The passage where we first realize this comes from the Gospel of Mark... Mark 7:14–23 (ESV) And he called...

Do you want to be unafraid in life? Do what God says. I love psalm 112. It's a continuation from Psalm 111 which shows us the God who creates and sustains the ordered universe. He made it to function a certain way. By implication, He made all of US to function a certain way. The Psalm responds to Psalm 111 with a commendation to those who trust God: Psalm 112:1 (ESV) Praise the Lord ! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord , who greatly delights in his commandments! The delight of His commandments is what's important here. Fear is about trust. To fear God is to trust and love His commands because they work. The same God who created the world that works (Psalm 112), has given us laws to keep us operating in the world with blessing. consider the absence of God's law for generations from the fall to Noah. Man's wicked heart was only consumed with evil all the time. The message of God for 4 chapters in the Bible is left to our own devises, we destroy ourselves. T...

God's Word is pure. Man's word is not. You only understand the perverse innate character of the promises of man when you truly comprehend the sure Word of God. Psalm 12 is all about the contrast between the two. First, the Psalmist has a description of the words of man: Psalm 12:2–4 (ESV) Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. 3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?” What is the answer when people around you seem to do nothing but feed you lies? Do you respond? Do you retaliate? Do you join in? There is no shortage of voices in our world. And we do well to heed the wisdom of David in this Psalmist when he was faced people the proud and arrogant words of the wicked. First, David refuses to get into it with them. No, his approach is not retaliation but rather to listed to what God has...

Acts 3:25–26 (ESV) You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” This is now the second sermon in the Book of Acts. It's an amazing study to look at what the Apostles and disciples talked about in their sermons throughout this book. For all our "smart ideas" and "clever wisdom" of how to get people to our churches and get them to love Jesus, there is no beating the sermons of Peter and others in these pages. The Bible is clear from the very first page, God makes it all things happen by His spoken Word. God's actions are tied up in God's speaking. That is why proclaiming Christ and Him Crucified is the power to change a heart, a family, a community, a town and ultimately a nation and the wor...

Titus 1:1–3 (ESV) Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; Did you see it?  You may have to read it again.  This is an amazing scripture regarding the power and importance of preaching God's Word. Paul says what he often says, this whole thing was planned from before the Earth was formed.  God promised the salvation of the elect and their knowledge of the truth before the ages began.   YET... how did it finally come about?  "Through the preaching" he was entrusted by Christ to do! Preacher... PREACH! You are the voice through which God fulfills His purposes in the lives of those He has called. ...

We are called to march to the beat of a different drummer. Romans 12:2 (ESV) "Do not be conformed to this world"  We are not of this world and we are not to let it squeeze us into its mold.  The fight is relentless, strenuous, and continuous.  Who doesn't find themselves at times unwittingly driven by the moorings of our world's system.  It's pervasive and contagious. And so we need someone to come along and say, "But as for you."  Paul does this for Timothy twice in  5 verses. 2 Timothy 3:10 (ESV) You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 2 Timothy 3:14 (ESV) But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it I know they look different in English but they are the same words in Greek.   Timothy had heard about all the things the world would be doing.  Paul warned him as to what was coming up next....