April 27

April 27
One Year Bible Readings:
Judges 7:1-8:17
Luke 23:13-43
Psalm 97:1-98:9
Proverbs 14:7-8
Supplemental Reading for The One Year Bible.
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog.

Judges:
Okay, the big question from today's readings in Judges is are you the type of person that cups water in your hands and laps it up like a dog or are you someone who kneels down and puts your mouth directly in the stream to drink??  :)  I confess I'm option #1, so I guess I would have gone on with Gideon for the battle. In all seriousness, a commentary suggested that God chose those that cupped water in their hands rather than kneeled down, because it meant those who didn't kneel down were always ready for any emergency situation that might come up.  I guess I can buy that...

Luke:
Today in Luke chapter 23 verse 34 we read this when Jesus was on the cross: "Jesus said, "Father, forgive these people, because they don't know what they are doing.""  Tyndale's One Year Bible companion has a great commentary on this verse today, as follows - "There are seven sayings of Jesus uttered from the cross.  They were spoken in the following order:
1) the word of forgiveness: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:24)
2) the word of salvation: "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43)
3) the word of affection: "Woman, behold thy son"; "Behold thy mother." (John 19:26-27)
4) the word of despair: "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34)
5) the word of physical torment: "I thirst" (John 19:28)
6) the word of triumph: "It is finished" (John 19:30)
7) the word of committal: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.""
Q: What do these 7 sayings of Jesus on the Cross mean to you? What does the Cross personally mean to you?

Psalm:
Psalm 97 verses 10 & 11 are so spiritually powerful & true: "You who love the LORD, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the godly, and joy on those who do right." I do believe that God protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. Honestly, I believe that God does this in our lives much more often than we even consciously realize. I am sure there are a few moments in our life when we fully realize we were being protected by God. But, I also have a strong belief that God protects us from unforeseen things that never entered our consciousness. Do bad things still happen to godly people? Yes, of course they do. Why? I can't answer this - I've heard C.S. Lewis' book "The Problem of Pain" gets at this a bit. I need to read it. We are in a fallen world. There is evil and an enemy in this world. Bad things do happen. But, overall, I believe these verses above are so true. I do believe that light shines on the godly and joy on those who do right.
Q: Do you believe these verses above to be true? Have you experienced the truth of these verses in your life? How have you experienced protection, light and joy in the Lord?

Proverbs:
Proverbs chapter 14 verse 8 is great wisdom - "The wise look ahead to see what is coming, but fools deceive themselves." Jesus taught that we should live our lives not worrying about tomorrow. However - this Proverb does show there is wisdom in looking ahead to see what is coming. Don't worry about it - but pay attention to it! For example, we shouldn't deceive ourselves into thinking that we can be reckless with our health today - we should know what this will do to us tomorrow. We should see what is coming.  
Q: How do you think we should balance wisely looking ahead to see what is coming versus not worrying about tomorrow? Should we be looking toward the future on occasion? Or just try to stay focused on today?

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