Year: 2010

Categories
Bible

The Timing of Blessings

In yesterday’s post, The Effects of Priority, we saw that wrong priorities results in wrong results, whereas right priorities results in God’s blessings.  It is, however, worth it to consider the timing of these events.

The prophecy is given on the first day of the sixth month.  The people respond to it about three weeks later, on the 24th day of the sixth month, starting to rebuild God’s house.  (Some might say that a delayed response is disobedience; however, a delayed response is better than no response.)

Then three months after reconstruction starts, on the 24th day of the ninth month, God promises to bless the people because of their obedience.  Note a three month delay; the people did not receive an immediate blessing, but rather a delayed one. 

It might be that God wanted to make sure they would follow through and take his work seriously.  Or perhaps he was testing them.  Would they continue to serve him and make him a priority even if he didn’t bless them?

What if they got discouraged and gave up after a week or a month?  What if they stopped obeying him on the 23rd day of the ninth month?  If so they would have missed his blessing.

I wonder if sometimes we give up too soon in obeying God.  Do we do the right thing for a while, but not seeing any change, we revert to our old ways?  If so, we may miss God’s blessings.

[See Haggai 1-2:23.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

The Effects of Priority

In the short book of Haggai, the central theme is that God’s house (the temple) needs to be rebuilt.  The people have not done so because they are focused on their own houses and comfort.  As far as God is concerned, their priorities are wrong.

Three times God points this out, asking them to consider the quality of their lives.  Things are not going well for them.  Their efforts fail to produce the results they want, things don’t work out the way they should, and they are lacking what they need.

After Haggai delivers God’s message to the leaders and the people, their response is to rebuild the temple.  Then God promises to bless them.

When their priorities were wrong, things went wrong; when their priorities became right, God’s blessings resulted.

Although the conclusion isn’t absolute, it is worth considering that when things are going wrong, it might be because our priorities are wrong.

[See Haggai 1-2:23.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

How to Treat One Another

Consider how the Bible teaches us to treat one another:

Love one another [John 13:34, John 13:35, Romans 13:8, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 3:11, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11, 1 John 4:12, 2 John 1:5]

Accept one another [Romans 15:7]

Instruct one another [Romans 15:14]

Submit to one another [Ephesians 5:21]

Forgive one another [Colossians 3:13]

Teach one another [Jeremiah 9:20]

Teach and admonish one another [Colossians 3:16]

Encourage one another [Judges 20:22, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25]

Agree with one another [1 Corinthians 1:10]

Fellowship with one another [1 John 1:7]

Give to one another [Esther 9:22]

Live in harmony with one another [Romans 12:16, 1 Peter 3:8]

Be kind and compassionate to one another [Ephesians 4:32]

Serve one another in love [Galatians 5:13]

Bear with one another in love [Ephesians 4:2]

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love [Romans 12:10a]

Honor one another above yourselves [Romans 12:10b]

Greet one another with a kiss of love [1 Peter 5:14]

Greet one another with a holy kiss [Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12]

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs [Ephesians 5:19]

Spur one another on toward love and good deeds [Hebrews 10:24]

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling [1 Peter 4:9]

Administer justice, show mercy and compassion to one another [Zechariah 7:9]

Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [1 Peter 5:5]

Do not deceive one another [Leviticus 19:11]

Do not break faith with one another [Malachi 2:10]

Do not degrade your bodies with one another [Romans 1:24]

Do not lust for one another [Romans 1:27]

Stop judging one another [Romans 14:13]

Do not hate one another [Titus 3:3]

Do not slander one another [James 4:11]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

Give to God What Belongs to God

In Jesus’ parable of the tenants, there is a man who plants a vineyard and rents it out.  When it is harvest time, he sends his representative to collect some of the harvest (which is likely the terms of lease).

Instead of remitting to the owner what is due him, the tenants refuse, mistreating everyone the owner sends, even to the point of killing his son.  The owner then kills the evil tenants and leases the vineyard to others.

Perhaps the first part of this parable is a picture of what God wants from us.  As tenants in his creation, he desires us to give part of our “crop” to him as a form of “rent” for the privilege of living here. This seems simple enough, but often we are greedy, wanting to keep everything for ourselves. 

The implication is that God will then find someone else who is willing give to him what is due him.

This is perhaps what Jesus had in mind when on another occasion says “…and give to God what belongs to God.”

[See Luke 20:6-19 and Matthew 22:21.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

Zechariah and Revelation

The book of Zechariah contains prophecy given by God to the prophet Zechariah about future events.  A few centuries later the apostle John also had a revelation from God in the form of a dream, which he recorded in the book of Revelation.

What is interesting is reoccurring images that are found in both:

  • Four horses: a black horse, a red horse, a white horse (the fourth horse is dapple in Zechariah and pale in Revelation).
  • Four winds
  • Seven eyes
  • Two olive trees
  • Gold lampstand

Several of these images are only found in these two prophecies, while the others are found predominately in these two prophecies.

There are also other parallels, though not as exclusive: horns, measure, stone, temple, bowl, mountain, fountain, scroll, chariots, spirits, Jerusalem, Holy Mountain, and earthquake, among others.

I’m not sure if this means that we can use one passage to interpret and better understand the other, but the similarities are intriguing and compelling.

Perhaps the God who revealed both messages intended for us to connect the dots — or maybe they’re just some really powerful images that are worth repeating.

Either way, there is a sense of awe and wonder contained in both messages.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

Do You Want More?

Here is another thought building on the prior post about one of Jesus’ parables.

To review, the parable is about a noble man who,before going on a journey, entrusts three servants with varying amounts of money to invest for him. 

The first two invest their amounts and earn a good return, apparently doubling their stakes.  The third however, to whom little is entrusted, makes no effort to invest it. 

He lazily does nothing and merely returns the original amount to his master.  This is done under the guise of keeping it safe.  The master takes the money from the lazy servant and gives it to the first servant.  The people nearby protest that this is not fair.

Jesus replies “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.”

The lesson in this seems to be that to those who have been blessed with resources and have been faithful with them, more will be given.  However, to those who have not faithful with what they have, that too will be taken away.  We must be wise and faithful stewards.

A direct application of this may be for the person who is asking God for more, be it for physical provision or spiritual blessing.  Perhaps their felt lack is a result of them having already been unfaithful with what they had been given; therefore it was taken away.

The warning in this is that perhaps we shouldn’t ask God for more if we have misused or squandered what he has already provided.

[See Luke 19:11-27.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

A Hard Man

Doctor Luke records a parable of Jesus.  It is about a noble man who, before going on a journey, entrusts three servants with varying amounts of money to invest for him. 

The first two invest their amounts and earn a good return, apparently doubling their stakes. The third however, to whom little is entrusted, makes no effort to invest it.  He lazily does nothing and merely returns the original amount to his master.

This is done under the guise of keeping it safe, calling his master a “hard man.”  The master judges him accordingly, taking the money away from him and giving it to the first servant.

Although we must guard against reading too much into a parable, the nobleman in this one parallels God.  When the servant declares that the noble is a “hard man,” is this a characteristic that we can apply to God? 

At first glance it is difficult, perhaps even seeming sacrilegious, to call God “hard,” but is there truth that can be gleaned from this?  In balancing the paradox of a God of love with a God whom we fear, does a “hard” God fit somewhere into the picture of who he is?

For those who think God will give them a free pass regardless of how they act or what they do, the image of God as hard, that is a strict God, might be a good characteristic for them to ponder.

However, there are also those who view God as mean and vindictive, just waiting for them to mess up so that he can inflict ill-will upon them.  Their view of God is already way too “hard”; they will do well to focus on his loving nature instead.

Yes, God does have a hard side to him, but that’s not all there is to him; he is also loving and gentle.

[See Luke 19:11-27.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

Acts of Omission

When I think of being punished, be it by God or man, I think in terms of things I do wrong.  That is, doing things that I shouldn’t have done; some people call these “acts of commission” — things I have committed.

However, there can also be consequences for not doing the things we should have done.  Some call these “acts of omission.”

Jesus talks about acts of omission in a parable about the sheep and the goats.  The goats were guilty, not of doing wrong, but of not doing what was right.  Their failure was a failure to act. 

Jesus even gives specific examples: a failure to feed the hungry, a failure to provide water to the thirsty, a failure to show hospitality to the stranger, a failure to give clothes to those in need, and a failure to look after the sick and imprisoned.

Each of these are huge issues — and overwhelming — but enormity is not an excuse for inaction.  While one person can’t solve all of these issues — or even one of them — each person can do something, be it simply to help one person who is hungry, thirsty, homeless, needy, or hurting.

Don’t be a goat. Help someone today.

[See Matthew 25:31-46.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

The Risk of Complacency

The word complacent means to be “pleased or satisfied” or especially, to be “extremely self-satisfied.”

This seems to describe many people that I know.  They are complacent, perhaps not materially, but certainly spiritually.  They are content to sit back, with no concern for their non-material well-being and little remorse for a lifestyle that is less then optimum; they are complacent.

God doesn’t like complacency.  Through the prophet Zephaniah, he says he will search out the complacent people and punish them. 

They are even complacent about his response to their complacency, for God specifically says that they assume he will do nothing to them, neither good nor bad.  They are truly complacent and God is ticked off.

Another group of people who suffer from complacency is the church in the city of Laodicea.  To them God simply says he will spit them out.  What an apt image of disgust — and for one who wants to be close to God, what a frightening picture of separation and aloneness.

I hope that God never finds me complacent — the consequences are too great.

[See Zephaniah 1:12 and Revelation 3:14-16.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

Who Do You Worship?

A common practice in the United States (and perhaps globally) is to take parts from different religions and philosophies, mashing them together to form a personal belief system. 

Doing so is extremely consumer-centric: keep the parts you like and ditch the rest; keep what is comfortable and jettison everything that make you squirm.

Making up a belief system in that manner is really little more than deciding to believe in yourself; of making God in your image, to be who you want and need him to be for your own satisfaction and comfort.

It may seem like a good approach, but it’s not.  The God who is revealed in the Bible doesn’t like it when people mix religious thoughts and practices.  In fact, he has some harsh criticism for them, which he shared with the prophet Zephaniah.

Speaking through the prophet, God declares his judgment against those who mix the worship of him, with the worship of stars and the worship of others gods.  Mixing and matching doesn’t work in God’s book.

He is not content to have our partial attention.  He is jealous of our affections and wants it completely.  We must give ourselves fully to him.

(See Zephaniah 1:4-5.)

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.