Man, this is harder than I thought!

Hello to anyone still checking in here.

So I originally thought this blogging thing was going to be easier than it has turned out.

Then I got given a ton more work to do at my job, leading to overtime etc.

For the moment I'm going to officially stop these blog posts as I haven't been able to get to it anyway in a while.

I'll start them back up when my life settles down a bit.

Sorry everyone!

Don't make me quote the title of your blog back at you, dude!

So I got a kick in the pants on Friday from a long time friend and brother in Christ... Dude, where's the daily bible study, Joel?

Yeah... I know... It took me what...4 days or something to fall off the wagon here? Sheesh...

I could excuse it all away but God deserves better than that. Instead I'll just ask you, my friends and family, to keep me honest. Don't let me go a week...or longer! without asking me why I haven't posted a new bible study on my blog.

Seriously, I'm trying to build a habit here and I'm asking you with great seriousness to help me out, keep me accountable to my word.

Thanks :) (Bible study will go up later today)

What? No SOAP plan on the weekends?

Ok so it's 12am, I've had a LONG day, a good day, but a LONG day, and I haven't yet had time to sit down and do my bible study for the day.

So here I am. I'm ready... Let's do it.

As I always do, I bring up my church's website to check for today's scripture on the reading plan they are following and... What's this? They only have readings for the work week, Monday through Friday? No Saturday or Sunday? What? Huh? How?

I'm ok with taking a break a couple of days a week actually. Tomorrow I'll be at church and I'm sure the message is going to be awesome so really I'll call it a 1 day break.. and I'm good with 1 day a week!

Ok, well, have a good weekend, I might come on and post about the sermon tomorrow. If not, see you on Monday!

The power of public faith

Happy Friday everyone. I'm still fighting that cold but I'm winning so that's a good thing.

So yesterday's bible study was heavy stuff, I've gotten some really good comments about it. Thanks to everyone for that.

Today I'm looking at some more of Joshua chapter 13 and Acts chapter 5.

Turning to Joshua 13:29-33, what shall we find today...

This is another passage about the inheritance of lands. This time for the tribe of Manasseh and a mention again of the tribe of Levi and the fact that their inheritance is God himself, not land.

I'm not getting any new revelations on this scripture currently. Perhaps its the wrong season in my life or perhaps I'm just being dense but this whole section of Joshua seems very dry.

A friend mentioned that for the Israelites this inheritance of land would have strong spiritual connections as well and that is a valid point. However, for me, right now...I'm not really getting a lot out of it.

Moving on to Acts 5:12-16 however I am finding much more interesting things to think on...

Key passages:

¹² The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. ¹⁴ Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.

Paraphrase:
The leaders of the church regularly performed many miracles and wonders among the people of Jerusalem. During this time those who believed in Christ met regularly at the Temple in a place called Solomon's Colonnade. Despite the miraculous signs no one else dared to join the believers in their daily visits to the temple, even though the people of Jerusalem had great respect and admiration for all of the Christians. And yet, even though many were afraid to join them, more and more came to believe and were brought to the Lord as new Christians- large groups of men and women, in fact.

What I found interesting about this passage, at first glance, is that the sub-title given to it by the Message translation of the bible is "They all met regularly" while the sub-title given to this passage by most other translations is "The apostles heal many". (The portion of this scripture which I chose not to include in the 'important' part for me today is about healing.)

I can say without a doubt that the strength of faith which allowed for the great and abundant miracles during the first days of the Church is an extremely important topic. However it is not the part of this scripture that the Holy Spirit is pointing me at today... For me this reading was all about "they met regularly" they worshipped and fellowshiped in public and many people were saved...

As someone who has tendencies to be more introspective and and introverted I find myself quite comfortable not attending most large social gatherings. Once I'm at church I am usually quite happy there but prior to getting in the car and starting the drive I usually have a bit of an internal battle with myself about whether or not I *want* to attend today...

So one thing I'm taking away from this today is a reminder of some of the things God can do when those who believe in Christ meet together regularly to sharpen eachother. Another thing that I found notable is that the Christians were meeting in a public arena. Part of me is in awe of the courage and faith that these few thousand men and woman must have had to be willing to stand up in front of all the strength and power the Priests of the Temple and the military could bring to bear and, despite that, shout to the world the joy of their new found faith in Christ... Another part of me is challenged to work on getting my personal faith, and the faith of my church community out *in to the community* more.

That's what I'm going to be praying about today.

Sometimes this stuff is hard to read

Well, I wasn't able to get this done during the day and I am exhausted. It's about 10:30, I've been ready for bed since 8, I hate fighting off a cold!

But I'm here, I'm doing it...rock on... Let's get this done and get to bed.

Today's passages are Joshua Chapter 13, verses 24-28 and Acts Chapter 5, verses 1-11.

Let's see what we have waiting for us in Joshua.

Hmm...more territorial inheritance documentation... It is interesting how much detail there is in the Bible about what seems like 'the little things'...But God is the God of the great and small and has an infinite interest in every breath of our lives. I think there's encouragement there but I'm honestly getting a little tired of reading about what tribe got what lands! :)

Ok on to Acts 5:1-11

Key verses:

¹ But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. ² He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. ³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. ⁴ The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” ⁵ As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified ... ¹¹ Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

Paraphrase:


A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold their land. He brought a percentage of the sale to the Apostles, pretending it was the full price. Peter recognized the lie in his words and asked how he could have such dishonesty in his heart especially since everyone would have understood if Ananias had been honest about his desire to keep some of the money from the sale. The great sin is that he tried to convince the church, and God, that he was "holy" by tricking them. When Ananias heard Peters words which spoke straight to the heart of his deceit the man died instantly and the whole church and everyone else who heard about it was gripped by dreadful fear.

So, wow, this is a heavy passage to read. It isn't often that I've come across a passage of the New Testament which seems so sharp when it comes to God dealing out justice... It's a hard passage to read and reconcile with the God of Grace that I know... But I know the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are the same and there is clearly a lot of example in the Old Testament of God dealing out justice in this sort of sudden way. I have a sense that there was a lot of back-story here between Ananias, his wife Sapphira, and God... The Bible tells us that God is slow to anger and so I can't believe that this was a 1 strike and your out rule...

Somehow that doesn't give me a lot of peace on this one though... Well, this is going to take more prayer I think. What I know that I know is God is Good. I know the He is abounding in mercy and faithfulness. I know he is Just. And I know that I will never fully understand why He does what He does. And I know that I'm ok with that.

That's all she wrote, folks. Good night.

Given perfectly; Faith to Strength

Well, so far I'm doing a good job of keeping myself accountable to this goal. Three days down with three bible studies done.

Today I'm continuing my study in Joshua and Acts.

The verses for Joshua are Chapter 13 verses 15 - 23. Lets see what Joshua has for us today.

These verses appear to follow the last two days theme as a record of the lands being distributed to the tribes of Israel...

Key verses:

15And Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the Reubenites according to their families: ... 23This was the inheritance of the Reubenites according to their families, with their cities and villages.

To paraphrase:
Moses gave land to the tribe of Reuben based on that tribes specific needs, according to its size and the number of families and clans in it.

Most of today's Old Testament passage is record keeping. The names of lots of cities and geographical land marks. An account of which kingdoms and rulers were defeated to take the land, and so on. However the gem I'm taking away is this: God gives us territory to steward, be that physical land, financial gain, a community to care for, or anything else you might think of as 'your gift and responsibility'. But not only does God give us territory, He gives us territory based on our unique and specific needs and strengths. The tribe of Reuben wasn't given more land to settle than they needed, nor were they given more land than they had the strength to control. God gave them exactly the right amount of territory. And so He does with me, you, and every person in history. That's awesome.

The New Testament reading is continuing in the book of Acts today. Lets see what Acts 4:32-37 has for me...

Key verses:

32Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything which he possessed was [exclusively] his own, but everything they had was in common and for the use of all.33And with great strength and ability and power the apostles delivered their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace (loving-kindness and favor and goodwill) rested richly upon them all. 34Nor was there a destitute or needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses proceeded to sell them, and one by one they brought (gave back) the amount received from the sales 35And laid it at the feet of the apostles (special messengers). Then distribution was made according as anyone had need.

This is a pretty rich passage, challenging on a number of levels.


Here's my paraphrase:


The community of Christians were united in mind and spirit. No one was selfish with their possessions but shared everything with each other. The apostles had great ability and spiritual power during this time as they spoke to the people of the city about the death and return to life of Jesus, and about the amazing grace(good will amongst their fellow believers, provision for all needs, etc) that they were experiencing as followers of Christ. In fact among the believers there wasn't a single person who was living in need or allowed to be destitute because whenever money was needed someone would sell their home and possessions in order to pay for the needs of the group.

Hmm...what do I think about this passage? It's funny because I recently had a short debate with a friend of mine about this very passage. I had mentioned that the believers of the early church had lived a life of absolute giving, selling everything they had to care for eachother. He disagreed but unfortunately I couldn't pinpoint the passage I was remembering... And here it is 1 week later. Sheesh, if I'd been doing this SOAP thing a week ago I might have found the passage I needed. Oh well!

I like this passage a lot. It speaks to a number of things I think. First, faith... The amount of faith it must have taken these people to sell all of their worldly possessions and put every penny they could find in the hands of a council of leaders, trusting not only that it would be used wisely but that the needs of the *giver* would be met in the future as well...is a challenge to my heart. I *want* to live that faith. Generally faith in God for provision is something that has been easy for me since I was about 18 years old and received a miraculous provision for my college tuition needs... But even so, especially now that I'm responsible for a wife and two children, I have difficulty with just trusting God to take care of us.

What I see in this passage, though, is a community of believers who are liberated by their complete and total trust in God to cover their needs. They are speaking to the lost with 'great strength, ability, and power' and experiencing the loving-kindness, favor, and goodwill of each other and the Lord... At least in part because they are so completely surrendered to Him when it comes to worrying about the next meal, a roof to sleep under, etc. There is power here, I think. I want that power and that freedom... I just don't know if I have that degree of faith yet though... I guess that's what I'll be praying about this week.

Provision, Fellowship, Faith, and Prayer

Alright, Day 2. 2 days down, 2 days of success. w00t

Today's scripture for study is Joshua Chapter 13 verse 14 and Acts Chapter 4 verses 23-31.

Ok so Joshua first:

It's only one verse so I'll post it here as well in the version that seems clearest.

Joshua 13:14

¹⁴ Moses did not assign any allotment of land to the tribe of Levi. Instead, as the Lord had promised them, their allotment came from the offerings burned on the altar to the Lord, the God of Israel.

This is a pretty straightforward verse and paraphrasing seems pretty simple.

"Moses didn't give land to the Levites because as the tribe chosen to be God's priests their provision had already been set aside. They were to eat from food offerings brought to them by the other tribes."

I think that's the gist of it anyway. Let's see what Acts has for me.

Here's what stood out to me:

Acts 4:23,24,29-31


²³When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord ... ²⁹"And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, ³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."

³¹And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Good stuff... Ok so let me paraphrase that...

When Peter and John were released they immediately went to the other Christians they were staying with/working with on a daily basis and told them about everything that had happened and the threats spoken by the religious leaders. After hearing their story, all of their fellow Christians joined together to pray to God saying "Lord, you heard the threats of our enemies. Give us the peace and courage to speak Your word confidently and continue to reach out and heal the sick and injured. Continue to show signs, wonders, miracles in the name of your son Jesus."

After they were finished praying the whole building shook and everyone was filled with strength, courage, and wisdom from the Holy Spirit and they continued to go out and speak the word of God boldly.

So what can I take away from these passages...

Honestly I'm not taking a whole lot away from the verse in Joshua... God took care of the full-time priests by having the rest of the community make sure their needs were met, that was part of the reason He had offerings brought to his tabernacle... Good to know but not overly relevant to me right now... However, I do take some comfort in having another reminder that God is the provider for myself and my family, just as He is the provider for everyone.

Acts has some real meat to it though. It is a great reminder of another lesson from this past weekend's church retreat. We are *not* meant to do this thing alone. Peter and John *immediately* went to find other Christians when they were released. I gather from the passage that they were pretty shaken up by the threats leveled at them by the religious leaders at the temple... It seems like their brothers and sisters in Christ were also pretty shaken by it! And what is their response? Turn to eachother and then turn together to God in prayer! Awesome. That is how our life as Christians is meant to be. When troubles come, get back in the Body of Christ and get in prayer. Great reminder!

So that's what my prayer time today is going to focus on.

Father, thank you so much for continuing to reiterate the lessons and reminders you had for me this past weekend. Thank you for putting new men in my life that I can build strong relationships with. I am so grateful to have these brothers in my life to guard by my back and blind spots and to stand against the assaults of the enemy by kneeling with me in prayer to You. You are the provider of all of my needs and I am more grateful than words can express. Praise you, Father God. Amen.