March 29, 2012

Qualifications to Lead

Man with Tie

During an election year, it is common for people to discuss what characteristics qualify a candidate for public office. The Bible certainly addresses the role and desired character of civil authorities, but I want us to focus on a higher authority in this study – God.

In the Old Testament, God was the Israelites’ King (1 Samuel 8:7). In the New Testament, Christ is the person of God identified as our King (John 18:37). He is in a position of ultimate authority, even over our civil rulers (Ephesians 1:20-21). But what qualifies Him to be our King and worthy of honor and respect?
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
March 15, 2012

“Surely I Am More Stupid Than Any Man”

Man looking away

Agur described himself as being “more stupid than any man” (Proverbs 30:2). Yet this man demonstrated that he possessed valuable insight and wisdom that we would do well to learn.

“Surely I am more stupid than any man, and I do not have the understanding of a man. Neither have I learned wisdom, nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son’s name? Surely you know!

“Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar” (Proverbs 30:2-6).

In these first few verses of this chapter, there are several bits of wisdom we should consider. Notice some of the things which this “stupid” man understood.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: , , , ,
February 16, 2012

"Be Holy, For I Am Holy" (2/16)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 11-13.

“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44-45).

This chapter goes into great detail showing the Israelites which animals were clean and which ones were unclean. One of the reasons for these commands was so the Israelites would be a peculiar people, distinct from the nations around them. When God called them out of Egypt, He set them apart as His people. Therefore, they were to be holy just as God is holy.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , ,
February 8, 2012

"I Am the Lord their God" (2/8)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 28-29.

Amidst the detailed instructions regarding the pattern for the tabernacle, its furnishings, the priests, and the sacrifices, God reminds the people why they were to obey.

“I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 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” (Exodus 29:45-46).

Why were they to follow the instructions? The instructions came from the Lord their God.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , ,
February 3, 2012

They Saw the Egyptians Dead on the Seashore (2/3)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 13-15.

Following the tenth plague, Pharaoh finally consented to let the children of Israel go. But after they had departed, he changed his mind and pursued them. This led to one of the memorable events of the Bible: the crossing of the Red Sea. God parted the waters; the Israelites crossed on dry ground; the Egyptians followed; the water closed back up and destroyed Pharaoh and his great army.

“Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses” (Exodus 14:30-31).

God delivered the people from those that threatened them. Once God was through here, the Israelites no longer had to worry about Pharaoh. They could plainly see the evidence of the Egyptians’ destruction with their own eyes.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , ,
February 2, 2012

God’s Plan for You

Sunrise

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

People often wonder what God’s plan is for their lives. The above passage suggests that God knows these plans. Yet people want to know what the future holds so badly that they often run wild in speculation about every circumstance, decision, or consequence that exists in their lives, trying to determine some greater significance to these events.

The Bible certainly does address this issue about God’s plan for our lives. But we can only know what God has revealed to us (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). People often get caught up in trying to find God’s plan for them in the details of life – jobs, homes, hardships, etc. – even though no such divine plans for us can be found in the revealed will of God. By devoting our mental effort to mere curiosities and speculations, it becomes easier to ignore the big picture. Sadly, many have done this and have become “choked with worries… of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14).

I know what God’s plan is for you. And I can show you this plan in the Bible.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: , , , , , ,
February 2, 2012

Tell Your Sons and Your Grandsons (2/2)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 10-12.

The plagues with which God afflicted Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt were designed to do a couple of things: to cause Pharaoh to let the people go and to prove to all who heard of these events that the Lord was the one true God over all things. But this was not only for the benefit of that generation. It was to help those of future generations to develop their own faith as well.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord’” (Exodus 10:1-2).

Those who descended from Moses’ generation needed to know about these works of God. They needed to hear of His miracles. They needed to be told of the foolish and futile attempts of the Egyptians to oppose the Lord. If the future generations were not told, they could not know.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , , ,