Ponder these scriptures from The Message

Mary washes Jesus's feet.

Holy Week Old Testament Reading

Isaiah 42:1-9 (MSG)

God’s Servant Will Set Everything Right

42 ^1-4 “Take a good look at my servant.
    I’m backing him to the hilt.
He’s the one I chose,
    and I couldn’t be more pleased with him.
I’ve bathed him with my Spirit, my life.
    He’ll set everything right among the nations.
He won’t call attention to what he does
    with loud speeches or gaudy parades.
He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt
    and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,
    but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.
He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped
    until he’s finished his work—to set things right on earth.
Far-flung ocean islands
    wait expectantly for his teaching.”

The God Who Makes Us Alive with His Own Life

^5-9 God’s Message,
    the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies,
    laid out the earth and all that grows from it,
Who breathes life into earth’s people,
    makes them alive with his own life:
“I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
    I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
    and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:
    opening blind eyes,
    releasing prisoners from dungeons,
    emptying the dark prisons.
I am God. That’s my name.
    I don’t franchise my glory,
    don’t endorse the no-god idols.
Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled.
    I’m announcing the new salvation work.
Before it bursts on the scene,
    I’m telling you all about it.”

 

Holy Week New Testament Reading

Isaiah 42:1-9 (MSG)

Anointing His Feet

12 ^1-3 Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.

^4-6 Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, “Why wasn’t this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces.” He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them.
^7-8 Jesus said, “Let her alone. She’s anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don’t always have me.”
^9-11 Word got out among the Jews that he was back in town. The people came to take a look, not only at Jesus but also at Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead. So the high priests plotted to kill Lazarus because so many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus on account of him.

 

As you read the scriptures this week, ponder the Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice and how you can join Him in glory by following Him.

 

May God bless each and every one of you every day in every way. Amen.

 

Note - A new series, tentatively titled "Do I Really Need to Go to Church?" begins next week.

Calm your comments

This post is about a sin I have been known to fall into, on more than one occasion. Perhaps you too are guilty of spouting off at an acquaintance or a family member, sometimes without provocation. Sometimes, it’s because you demand, in a loud or cruel voice, to make your opinions heard. Sometimes I speak before thinking – making a harsh comment when a gentle one would have made the point without the animosity showing through.  

 

God’s Word says this – A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word sirs up anger. Like yesterday, this passage is again from Proverbs. For me the Book of Proverbs is such a wealth of advice, it’s hard to leave. Find this lesson in Chapter 15:1 (NKJV). While you’re there, consider reading the entire chapter.

 

The New Testament has much to say about the way we talk to one another. In the Book of James, the author devotes several verses to “Taming the tongue.” Chapter 3:8-10 (NIV) admonishes all of us to calm our comments to others, “⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth came praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 

 

Paul calls on an Old Testament passage to make a point about the waywardness of the tongue. In Romans 3:13, the Apostle of Christ quotes, in part, Psalm 5:9 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit,” and Psalm 140:3 “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” These verses are just two Paul references when writing that no one is righteous.

How about it? Are you guilty of talking before you speak? Are you guilty of voicing harsh words when kind ones would work so much better? My granddaddy always used to say – “Cheryl Ann, you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” He was so right; not that I am in the business of catching flies, but the metaphor stands as written, echoing Proverbs 15:1.

 

Why not come along with me in my journey to fully relying on God, by following his advice here and in many other biblical passages. As with yesterday’s post, this one, if you follow its advice, is bound to make you feel happier and will ultimately serve to make others feel happy as well.

 

Maybe together we can strive for a pleasant, God-fearing, Bible-adhering attitude, one person at a time, one day at a time. How about it? Are you game? I hope so.

 

A careless word may kindle strife,

A cruel word may wreck a life;

A timely word may lessen stress,

A living word may heal and bless.  – Anon.

 

To end today’s post I depart from my regular closing, borrowing an appropriate prayer from Our Daily Bread’s David McCasland – Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. AMEN!                                                        

Thinking about a resolution?

Resolution; a resolve; a decision or determination: “to make a firm resolve to do something.”

Daniel refuses food from the king's table.

With the new year upon us, I could not help but think about the perennial act of making New Year’s resolutions. Many of us resolve to lose weight and get in shape. Seems I make that resolution every year! And, I always begin with good intentions, but then life happens. Living gets in the way of my resolve, causing me to break that resolution I was so intent on keeping.

Has that happened to you?

This year, my resolutions include the get fit and lose weight ones, as always, but I have added more resolutions that I feel are much more important to me, and maybe to you as well.

This year I plan to author these blog posts on a consistent basis, delving into God’s Word to learn more about his plans for us. When a blog subject comes to me, my first source of reference will be my Bible. Seems God has left his mark of guidance on every aspect of the human condition right there, in His Word.

My prayer is that you will be positively impacted by what I write, take the guidance provided in His infallible Word and use it to grow your faith and commitment to God.

 Understanding my commitment to God and you, I begin with…

 Who better to write about resolutions than Daniel?

Daniel, who was quite possibly a member of the Judah royal family, was one of those singled out by King Nebuchadnezzar to eat food and wine from the king’s own table.

Of course, the king had a reason for sharing his plenty with a captive. Nebuchadnezzar planned to train these young men from the royal family, men, “without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace.” (Daniel 1:4 NIV) After these men were trained for three years, they would enter into the king’s service.

Even though the royal fare would have been much more satisfying than that prepared for other captives from Judah, Daniel made a commitment to not drink or eat from the king’s table, thereby honoring the one true God.

You’ll find Daniel’s resolution in Daniel 1:8 (NIV)

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

One has to believe that food on the pagan king’s table would have included that which had been sacrificed to idols, which was forbidden fodder for the Jewish people (Exodus 34:15).

Also, Jewish dietary laws set strict parameters for food preparation and the Babylonian cooks would have never adhered to these rules, making it impossible for Daniel to eat the king’s largess (Exodus 12:8-9 NIV).

Not only that, but it would not be unbelievable to understand that the Babylonian diet would have included meats forbidden for Jewish consumption (Leviticus 11:4 NKJV).

Because there were no laws prohibiting the consumption of any type of vegetable, Daniel and three other Judean captives ate only vegetables and drank only water during their time of captivity.

Such resolve under less-than-optimum conditions makes me believe, that if we, as human as Daniel, really put our hearts, minds and souls to a resolution, especially one that involves growing our faith through reading and absorbing His Word, we will persevere and be the better for it.

Want to read more about Daniel and how he overcame a foreign environment through his faith? If so, you can read the entire Old Testament book by clicking here.

Make your commitment to God, and yourself, today. I did.

May God bless each and every one of you every day in every way. Amen!