9/17/12

Sept. 17 Psalms 77-79


Sept. 17
Psalms 77-79

Psa 77:1 My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for him to listen to me.
Psa 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn't get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.
Psa 77:3 I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
Psa 77:4 You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can't speak.
Psa 77:5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
Psa 77:6 I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires:
Psa 77:7 "Will the Lord reject us forever? Will he be favorable no more?
Psa 77:8 Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations?
Psa 77:9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?" Selah.
Psa 77:10 Then I thought, "I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High."
Psa 77:11 I will remember Yah's deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old.
Psa 77:12 I will also meditate on all your work, and consider your doings.
Psa 77:13 Your way, God, is in the sanctuary. What god is great like God?
Psa 77:14 You are the God who does wonders. You have made your strength known among the peoples.
Psa 77:15 You have redeemed your people with your arm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
Psa 77:16 The waters saw you, God. The waters saw you, and they writhed. The depths also convulsed.
Psa 77:17 The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder. Your arrows also flashed around.
Psa 77:18 The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
Psa 77:19 Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
Psa 77:20 You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psa 78:1 Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
Psa 78:3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
Psa 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.
Psa 78:5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;
Psa 78:6 that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
Psa 78:7 that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments,
Psa 78:8 and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn't make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
Psa 78:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
Psa 78:10 They didn't keep God's covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
Psa 78:11 They forgot his doings, his wondrous works that he had shown them.
Psa 78:12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
Psa 78:13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap.
Psa 78:14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire.
Psa 78:15 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
Psa 78:16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Psa 78:17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert.
Psa 78:18 They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire.
Psa 78:19 Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Psa 78:20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?"
Psa 78:21 Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel,
Psa 78:22 because they didn't believe in God, and didn't trust in his salvation.
Psa 78:23 Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven.
Psa 78:24 He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky.
Psa 78:25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.
Psa 78:26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.
Psa 78:27 He rained also flesh on them as the dust; winged birds as the sand of the seas.
Psa 78:28 He let them fall in the midst of their camp, around their habitations.
Psa 78:29 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.
Psa 78:30 They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,
Psa 78:31 when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of the fattest of them, and struck down the young men of Israel.
Psa 78:32 For all this they still sinned, and didn't believe in his wondrous works.
Psa 78:33 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.
Psa 78:34 When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.
Psa 78:35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God, their redeemer.
Psa 78:36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.
Psa 78:37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.
Psa 78:38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn't stir up all his wrath.
Psa 78:39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.
Psa 78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!
Psa 78:41 They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Psa 78:42 They didn't remember his hand, nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
Psa 78:43 how he set his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the field of Zoan,
Psa 78:44 he turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, so that they could not drink.
Psa 78:45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
Psa 78:46 He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust.
Psa 78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail, their sycamore fig trees with frost.
Psa 78:48 He gave over their livestock also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
Psa 78:49 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, and a band of angels of evil.
Psa 78:50 He made a path for his anger. He didn't spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,
Psa 78:51 and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
Psa 78:52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
Psa 78:53 He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Psa 78:54 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
Psa 78:55 He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Psa 78:56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, and didn't keep his testimonies;
Psa 78:57 but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
Psa 78:58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
Psa 78:59 When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;
Psa 78:60 So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
Psa 78:61 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary's hand.
Psa 78:62 He also gave his people over to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.
Psa 78:63 Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song.
Psa 78:64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows couldn't weep.
Psa 78:65 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.
Psa 78:66 He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach.
Psa 78:67 Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim,
Psa 78:68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
Psa 78:69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has established forever.
Psa 78:70 He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;
Psa 78:71 from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.
Psa 78:72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Psa 79:1 God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
Psa 79:2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.
Psa 79:3 Their blood they have shed like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.
Psa 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
Psa 79:5 How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Psa 79:6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that don't know you; on the kingdoms that don't call on your name;
Psa 79:7 For they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.
Psa 79:8 Don't hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.
Psa 79:9 Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.
Psa 79:10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants' blood is being poured out.
Psa 79:11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.
Psa 79:12 Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.
Psa 79:13 So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

Sept. 17 1 Corinthians 13


Sept. 17
1 Corinthians 13

1Co 13:1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don't have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
1Co 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don't have love, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3 If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don't have love, it profits me nothing.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn't envy. Love doesn't brag, is not proud,
1Co 13:5 doesn't behave itself inappropriately, doesn't seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;
1Co 13:6 doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
1Co 13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1Co 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
1Co 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
1Co 13:10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
1Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
1Co 13:13 But now faith, hope, and love remain--these three. The greatest of these is love.

"THE EPISTLE TO TITUS" introduction by Mark Copeland 

                         "THE EPISTLE TO TITUS"

                              Introduction

AUTHOR:  The apostle Paul, as stated in the salutation (1:1).  The
testimony of church history also provides overwhelming support that
Paul is the author.

RECIPIENT:  Titus, Paul's "true son in common faith" (1:4).  There is
no mention of Titus by name in the book of Acts, but we can glean much
about him from the epistles of Paul.  He was a Gentile by birth (Ga
2:3), and accompanied Paul to Jerusalem during the controversy over
circumcision (Ac 15:1-2; Ga 2:1-5).

During Paul's third missionary journey, Titus became his personal
emissary to the church at Corinth, seeking to learn how they received
his first letter.  When Titus did not return to Troas as expected, Paul
anxiously went on to Macedonia (2Co 2:12-13).  It was there that Paul
and Titus finally connected, much to the relief and comfort of Paul
when Titus reported how well he was received by the Corinthians (2 Co
7:5-7,13-15).  Paul then sent Titus and two others back to Corinth, 
bearing the letter we call Second Corinthians, and exhorting the 
brethren to complete their collection for the needy saints in Jerusalem
(2Co 8:16-9:5).

At the time of the epistle to Titus, he had been left on the island of
Crete by Paul to "set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint
elders in every city" (Tit 1:5).  If Paul's plans as expressed in this 
epistle materialized, then Titus left soon after the arrival of Artemas
or Tychicus, and met Paul at Nicopolis in northwest Greece (cf. Ti
3:12).  We last read of Titus that he had gone to Dalmatia (in modern
day Yugoslavia) during the final days of Paul's life (2Ti 4:10).

TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING:  The general consensus is that following
his first imprisonment in Rome the apostle Paul was released and
allowed to travel for several years before being arrested again.  The
following itinerary has been proposed by the Ryrie Study Bible:

   * Paul was released from his house arrest in Rome (where we find him
     at the end of Acts), probably because his accusers did not choose
     to press their charges against him before Caesar (Ac 24:1; 28:30).
     Their case, therefore, was lost by default, and Paul was freed.

   * Paul visited Ephesus, left Timothy there to supervise the
     churches, and went on to Macedonia (northern Greece).

   * From there he wrote 1 Timothy (1Ti 1:3).

   * He visited Crete, left Titus there to supervise those churches,
     and went to Nicopolis in Achaia (southern Greece, Tit 3:12).

   * Either from Macedonia or Nicopolis, he wrote this letter to 
     encourage Titus.

   * He visited Troas (2Ti 4:13), where he was suddenly arrested,
     taken to Rome, imprisoned, and finally beheaded.

   * From Rome, during this second imprisonment, he wrote 2 Timothy.

It cannot be established with certainty, but it possible that Paul
wrote this letter from Corinth, sometime around 63-66 A.D.

PURPOSE OF THE EPISTLE:  Like his first epistle to Timothy, this letter
is written to a young preacher assigned a difficult task.  Evidently
the churches on the island of Crete were in need of maturation, and
this letter is designed to assist Titus in that work.  Therefore, Paul
wrote to encourage Titus:

   * To see that qualified elders were appointed in every city (1:5-9)

   * To preach things befitting "sound doctrine" (2:1)

   * To exhort the brethren to be "zealous for good works" (2:14; 3:1,
     8,14)

THEME OF THE EPISTLE:  The key phrase in this epistle is "good works"
(1:16; 2:7,14; 3:1,8,14).  An appropriate theme for this epistle might
therefore be:
                         "MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS!"

KEY VERSE:  Titus 3:8

   "This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm
   constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful
   to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable for
   men."
      
OUTLINE:

INTRODUCTION (1:1-4)

I. INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING CHURCH ORGANIZATION (1:5-16)

   A. QUALIFICATIONS OF ELDERS (1:5-9)

   B. CHARACTERISTICS OF FALSE TEACHERS (1:10-16)

II. INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING CHRISTIAN CONDUCT (2:1-3:11)

   A. FOR THE OLDER MEN AND WOMEN (2:1-3)

   B. FOR THE YOUNGER WOMEN AND MEN (2:4-8)

   C. FOR THE SERVANTS (2:9-14)

   D. FOR THE BRETHREN IN GENERAL (3:1-11)

CONCLUSION (3:12-15)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE INTRODUCTION

1) What were the circumstances in which we first find Titus and Paul 
   together? (Ga 2:1-5)
   - Titus had accompanied Paul in attending the conference in 
     Jerusalem regarding circumcision

2) Why was Paul adamant in not allowing others to compel Titus to be 
   circumcised? (Ga 2:3-5)
   - Titus was a Greek, not a Jew; to force him to be circumcised would
     violate the truth of the gospel

3) With what church did Titus serve as Paul's messenger? (2Co 7:6-7,
   13-14)
   - The church at Corinth

4) Why did Paul send Titus along with the second letter to Corinth? 
   (2Co 8:16-9:5)
   - To make sure that the Corinthians' gift for the needy saints in
     Jerusalem would be ready

5) From where and when was this epistle to Titus possibly written?
   - From Corinth, sometime between 63-66 A.D.

6) Where was Titus when this letter was written to him? (1:5)
   - On the island of Crete

7) In this epistle, what three things does Paul exhort Titus to do?
   (1:5-9; 2:1; 3:1,8,14)
   - To see that qualified elders were appointed in every city
   - To preach things befitting "sound doctrine"
   - To exhort the brethren to be "zealous for good works"

8) What is the theme of this epistle, as suggested in the introductory
   material?
   - Maintain Good Works!

9) What is proposed as the key verse?
   - Titus 3:8

10) According to the outline above, what are the main points of this
    epistle?
   - Instructions concerning church organization
   - Instructions concerning Christian conduct

9/16/12

Two padlocks




Two padlocks

by 

Terry Sturtevant


This picture reminded me of two very old padlocks on my my tool shed in that they too were very hard to use. My guess is they are ten to maybe twenty years old. They were on the sheds when we purchased the house about eighteen years ago. Yes, they very good locks!

I began to notice some trouble with them this summer. One of them would only work if I twisted the lock and manipulated the key at the same time.  The other lock didn't want to close and lock. It became bothersome because when I tried to close it... it would pop right open!

I got an idea. It was simple and inexpensive; so worth a try. I took a clean plastic (yogurt?)cup and put the locks in it and along with just enough oil to cover the locks. When I saw air bubbles on the surface of the oil I knew the oil was getting inside the very heart of the locks and coating the internal mechanisms. 

Three days passed and then I remembered the oil soaked locks. I removed them from the cup and drained off as much oil as I could. Then I placed them into another container to finish draining. The next day I dried them off and tried the keys. They were easy to turn; no resistance, no pulling, twisting or struggling at all. The locks had been almost junked, but after the oil had penetrated to the heart of their workings; they were usable again.  I saved myself about $20.

When we bathe our hearts in God's word they are softened and made usable like those two locks!  Open your heart with an application of His Word. You will change... I know, because of the locks!

Consider....

Proverbs 2
  1 My son, if you will receive my words,
and store up my commandments within you;
  2 So as to turn your ear to wisdom,
and apply your heart to understanding;
  3 Yes, if you call out for discernment,
and lift up your voice for understanding;
  4 If you seek her as silver,
and search for her as for hidden treasures:
  5 then you will understand the fear of Yahweh,
and find the knowledge of God.
  6 For Yahweh gives wisdom.
Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
  7 He lays up sound wisdom for the upright.
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;
  8 that he may guard the paths of justice,
and preserve the way of his saints.
  9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
equity and every good path.
  10 For wisdom will enter into your heart.
Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.


Sept. 16 Psalms 74-76


Sept. 16
Psalms 74-76

Psa 74:1 God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
Psa 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance; Mount Zion, in which you have lived.
Psa 74:3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Psa 74:4 Your adversaries have roared in the midst of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.
Psa 74:5 They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.
Psa 74:6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.
Psa 74:7 They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
Psa 74:8 They said in their heart, "We will crush them completely." They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.
Psa 74:9 We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
Psa 74:10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
Psa 74:11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your pocket and consume them!
Psa 74:12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
Psa 74:13 You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
Psa 74:14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
Psa 74:15 You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.
Psa 74:16 The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
Psa 74:17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter.
Psa 74:18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.
Psa 74:19 Don't deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don't forget the life of your poor forever.
Psa 74:20 Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.
Psa 74:21 Don't let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.
Psa 74:22 Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.
Psa 74:23 Don't forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.
Psa 75:1 We give thanks to you, God. We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works.
Psa 75:2 When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly.
Psa 75:3 The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars. Selah.
Psa 75:4 I said to the arrogant, "Don't boast!" I said to the wicked, "Don't lift up the horn.
Psa 75:5 Don't lift up your horn on high. Don't speak with a stiff neck."
Psa 75:6 For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.
Psa 75:7 But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another.
Psa 75:8 For in the hand of Yahweh there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.
Psa 75:9 But I will declare this forever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Psa 75:10 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
Psa 76:1 In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel.
Psa 76:2 His tabernacle is also in Salem; His dwelling place in Zion.
Psa 76:3 There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah.
Psa 76:4 Glorious are you, and excellent, more than mountains of game.
Psa 76:5 Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands.
Psa 76:6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep.
Psa 76:7 You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
Psa 76:8 You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent,
Psa 76:9 when God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the earth. Selah.
Psa 76:10 Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained.
Psa 76:11 Make vows to Yahweh your God, and fulfill them! Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared.
Psa 76:12 He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.
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