Through the Bible in one year - Day 89

Psalm 89:1

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;

with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

Ether's story begins to unfold for us today. Read along and see what happens next.

(Today Esther is chosen as queen, and Mordecai, her uncle discovers a plot to kill the king-which Queen Esther disclosed to the king in Mordecai's name.)

1 Corinthians 7:17

"Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him."

This call, is very like what Esther experiences - live the life that you are called into. Make your efforts for the Lord's glory. Whether you are a non worker, and low wage worker or a manager or owner - live and work for the Lord in all things. this idea of a Higher Calling is what I strive to remember in all my work - that nothing is secular - but rather everything is the Lord's. It is not my time or my money; it is the Lord's gracious gift to me. This I need to keep at the forefront of my mind.

Today’s readings: Psalm 89, Exodus 35:1-29, Esther 2, 1 Corinthians 7

Through the Bible in one year - Day 88

Psalm 88:13

But I, O Lord, cry to you;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

The Psalmist in this reading asks questions and pleads for response and mercy - I found this particular verse arresting because I might remember to cry out to the Lord - but not always do I remember to let my prayer come to Him in the morning. Some days it might wait until I have some need. I could, however, pray regularly and as a habit and what better time than before the day interrupts as it surely will? This is a verse I take as instructive to my priorities.

Exodus 34:11 says: “Observe what I command you this day..."

While that may be only one small verse of our reading, I will take in conjunction with what I was seeing above - and how (I ask myself) would I be able to observe what the Lord commands this day - if I didn't read what it was He said - early in the morning - again, this speaks to my priorities.

I am a slow getter upper - ask my husband who has to make my coffee every morning. And there are lots of people who find different times work best for them - maybe their children are asleep at night and they have peace to read the Bible, or maybe there is a window of time during the day or over lunch; my issue is I do better with a consistent schedule (thanks for that reminder from my friend Danielle) and if I make a plan to read in the morning, even if I miss I can still make an opportunity later during the day. While if I plan on the last thing at night-well, I'm not that great at staying awake either-so with these things in mind I'd be much more successful if I prepared to read as early in the day as I am functioning - and not distracted!

Today we begin the story of Esther - for such a time as this-we read and respond to the Lord!

When I read this passage from 1 Corinthians I was thinking of a couple of things - one personal and one from my reading of the news. The understanding that it is better to be wronged than it is to go to court. There are many stories where people are wronged and even going to court, the situation does not get better. What I worry about is our witness, when we as Christians cannot come to terms amicably but rather pursue vendettas or the world's justice - or what passes for the world's justice. I really want to say no to this - and not participate in this behavior; whether out of self preservation or after having been wronged. I pray I can walk away. I pray for our witness to the world.

Today’s readings: Psalm 88, Exodus 34, Esther 1, 1 Corinthians 6

Through the Bible in one year - Day 87

Glorious things of thee are spoken

The Psalmist says this and it makes me think today of how often or how little we speak of the glory of God, and when I say we-I certainly mean me. How often do I speak of the great things of God, of His blessings? Not in proportion to those gifts from Him.

Is that why the Israelites forgot so soon? Did they need to speak of the glories of God in their midst? If I don't intentionally remind myself of things - a shopping list, someone's name - you get the picture, well then, I don't remember it accurately. So, today, I will speak of the glories of the Lord.

Exodus 33:12-16

Moses said to the Lord,... “Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And [Moses] said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Yesterday we read of God's mercy after their walking away from them and my wondering if the Israelites wanted to be like everyone else-instead of God's chosen people, and here today we read of Moses asking the Lord to indeed go with them - and to show them the way to be His people.

Today, I will pray that I may walk with the Lord and show His glory. (Never should it be said "Why is the house of God forsaken." (Nehemiah 13:11))

1 5 Corinthians 5:7

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.

Make me new oh Lord-and make me an instrument of your peace - let me tell of your glories and Lord, protect me while I am in the world so that I might be 'distinct from every other people on the face of the earth.'

Today’s readings: Psalm 87, Exodus 33, Nehemiah 13, 1 Corinthians 5

Through the Bible in one year - Day 86

Psalm 86:5

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Exodus

This is the passage that made me stop when I first read it. Stop and think Oh NO! I am amazed at how soon the people forgot what God had done, what Moses had said - and how soon they drifted away from God. Samuel Clemmons, in his Autobiography of Mark Twain said that people are always tending toward monarchy - that they wish to be ruled. Yet, what we see here seems to be that the people wish to have a manageable god - one made by their own hands. The Lord was too scary and was not manageable. I don't know if Samuel Clemmons was correct when he wrote that people want a monarch but in the case of the Israelites they wanted something, something different, and if I think about what Mr. Clemmons was getting at in his Autobiography of Mark Twain, it was his critique of people that I thought of here and especially when the Israelites decide they want a king so they can be like everyone else. Maybe, that in the end is what it is all about. We want to be like everyone else. In this Exodus passage it was a case of mob rule - and it certainly did mimic the surrounding nations-they all had little man-made gods. The Israelites did not wish to be a light to the nations; they did not want to show the world that the kingdom of God had come near.

There is more going on here, of course. The intervention of Moses, and the mercy of God who had been set aside at the earliest possible convenience. I am amazed that although God says he will visit their sin upon them, Aaron lived through it. I noticed in this passage we read that the Levites did as the Lord commanded, and as we read on in the Nehemiah passage, the Levites are front and center when the Wall of Jerusalem is dedicated; what a joy to participate in that it must have been for them. We see that the Lord blesses their obedience - maybe this isn't a direct line but it is what stood out to me today as I read these passages. We see that in the time of Nehemiah the Levites were allotted portions as were the sons of Aaron. God, in His mercy, does not visit all our sins upon us - He is instead merciful.

1 Corinthians 4:2

Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Psalm 86:11

Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

Today’s readings: Psalm 86, Exodus 32, Nehemiah 12:27-47, 1 Corinthians 4

Through the Bible in one year - Day 85

Psalm 85:6

Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

1 Corinthians 3:18-20

"Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

I do not wish to deceive myself. How easy it would be to let myself off the hook - on whatever I haven't done or should have done - or shouldn't have done but did.

Going back a couple of days: 1 Corinthians 1:18

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Will you not revive us again, that we may rejoice in you? Show us your mercy, oh Lord and grant us your salvation. -Psalm 85:7

Today’s readings: Psalm 85, Exodus 30-31, Nehemiah 11-12:26, 1 Corinthians 3

Through the Bible in one year - Day 84

Psalm 84:2

My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

Verse 10:

For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Do I really long - yes faint for the courts of the Lord? If I'm honest the answer is not always (maybe never?) I know there have been times when I desire to stay in the Lord's presence ardently, and desire not to leave the mountain top as did Peter - but to say that I faint for the courts of the Lord, I don't know. I am simpatico with verse 10 - this is indeed true in my heart and I can say with certainty that I agree - how much better it would be for me to say with certitude that my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God - all the time; without distractions or selfish detours.

Exodus 29:43-46

There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

In a continuation of our story, we have the Lord letting the people know how to come into his presence - and that he will be with them at the altar in their praises and worship; this is reinforcement for our psalmist's desire to reside - body and spirit in the courts of the Lord - this place to be in his presence.

Nehemiah has shown God to be concerned with all the people - and especially the poor and those who do not have 'kin' to look after them. Here the covenant is given/taken and the obligations set out for the people to know - in these ways are they keeping in step with the Lord's plans - that they do not neglect the house of God - and in our understanding this house - is built of the people of God in whom the praises and worship rest.

In Paul's letter to the Corinthians today he says something that stands out to me. He says:

I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (verses 3-5)

All along in our Exodus journey (and before that in Genesis) we have seen the power of the Lord for his people, and I think what Paul says here is important - that we are not just to think things or that we need to fully understand things - yet in the evidence of our lives with God we see him moving on our behalf, and like Abram, this is reckoned to us as righteousness. Paul finishes today's reading by saying - who has known the mind of the Lord - so as to tell him what to do? We do often desire to instruct the Lord - but this is very good advice - we do not know the mind of the Lord so how do we then instruct him?

Today’s readings: Psalm 84, Exodus 29, Nehemiah 10, 1 Corinthians 2

Through the Bible in one year - Day 83

Psalm 83 1-3

O God, do not keep silence;

do not hold your peace or be still, O God!

For behold, your enemies make an uproar;

those who hate you have raised their heads.

They lay crafty plans against your people;

they consult together against your treasured ones.

I can relate to this Psalmist. I don't really listen to or read the news because I get tired. I feel bowed down by all the railing against God. His enemies do not keep silent they make a loud clamor and if I listened too often I would begin to feel oppressed, under attack or like Elijah when he complains to God that the people have killed all the prophets, and he is the only one left. This I know is not the case. It wasn't the case in Elijah's time and it isn't the case now. Our news looks for noteworthy things, things they say are different, and not the norm-so in reality, if God and good things really became every day news, then in fact things would be darker still.

So, let them rail against God, if they dare. As for me and my house...we will serve the Lord. Joshua said it a long time ago and it still works today.

There is another Psalm when the people complained against God - and to Moses and the Lord, it says 'gave them their desires. but sent a leanness to their souls. (Psalm 106:15) I pray that the Lord's people do not fall prey to crafty plots, and don't succumb to a leanness of their souls. Protect us, Lord.

If we read Nehemiah 9 we see just these things. The people act recklessly, rebelliously, and walk away from God and his law, until things go poorly for them and they turn back-and God is ever ready to forgive and bring them back.

Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.  - Nehemiah 9:33

Keep us this day Lord, from acting wickedly. If we might act honorably in all we do, and with all whom we come in contact, the world would be more according to your law - one person at a time. Let it begin with me.

Today’s readings: Psalm 83, Exodus 27:20-28:43, Nehemiah 9, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31