John 16:1 - 3 " 1 All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. " These are some of the words that Jesus tells the disciples before He is arrested. He is warning them what is going to happen and why.  Notice the second part of verse 2.  He is laying the groundwork for their acceptance of Saul/Paul.  "in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God."  Isn't that exactly what Saul thought when he was pursuing followers of "the Way', before He met Jesus.  See Acts 7:57 - 8:1 "At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the fe...

Unfortunately, I've gotten behind.  I usually have a post ready so that when I write one today, it is actually going to post tomorrow.  But I've gotten behind.  I wasn't feeling well last week so I didn't spend enough time with God, I guess.  I don't have thoughts to write down.  Y ou can probably tell that from the last several posts.  I am sorry about that.  Truly I am.  It is a pity when I don't take the time to think my thoughts of God through to how does it apply to me, or how should I use this thought, or why do I have this thought. Today the passage the I wrote down (I only wrote one today) is Matthew 11:29. I didn't write the entire passage that most people quote " Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."   I only wrote the second line...

What I do each morning (ok, most mornings) is to read my Daily Bible, my UpperRoom daily devotional, and some other daily readings.  I always have a notebook and pen handy so I can write bits of scripture that I want to remember.  I use that as a reference to post to this blog. But the main reason I started writing scripture in a notebook is because it helps me remember passages. I don't have many memorized.  I certainly can't tell you that Hebrews 13:5a says "keep your life free from love of money...." except that I wrote it down today. I know that I have a better chance remembering things if I write it down. My daily reading ritual includes scripture.  I use other sources which comment on scripture but I always include the referenced scripture too.  My daily Bible is good for reading all of scripture.  By reading through the entire Bible, I find things that I wouldn't find just looking at other people's commentaries.  For example, did you know tha...

Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV) The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. We are just such control freaks.  We want to do it ourselves.  We want to know all the answers - at least all the answers to the questions we ask. We want control and we need to KNOW to be in control.  I'm pretty sure I can say "we" because I know way too many people who think they NEED to know the answers.  Well, some answers are just unknowable.  In a previous post , I looked at Ephesians 3:18 where the phrase " strength to comprehend " is used.  I wondered if we are prevented from some things until we are strong enough to comprehend.  I wonder if there are some things that we are never strong enough to comprehend.   This passage in Deuteronomy certainly leads me to believe that some things are just secrets for God alone.  Maybe we just can't be made ...

Deuteronomy 16:15b: For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. This verse is from the lists of festivals that God requires of Moses and the Israelites.  This is from the Feast of the Booths having to do with gathering the harvest and remembering the temporary dwellings while they were in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. The thing I ever remember about this has to do with Peter's comment about making booths when Jesus was transfigured and was with Moses and Elijah.  I didn't understand why this was a silly statement and I still don't.  But this phrase... For the LORD your God will bless you in all....... and your joy will be complete . Isn't that a wonderful statement? Of course I don't have a harvest and presently I am unemployed but the Lord will bless me and my joy will be complete.  I can't help but think of heaven when there is no doubt that my joy will be complete.  But ...

I'm reading my Daily Bible.  It is the Bible in chronological order in 365 daily readings. Now I am to the section on the Laws of Moses.  I like the way this particular Bible puts them together in some organized format, meaning for example that all the laws having to do with blasphemy are together (Deut 5:11, Ex 22:58a, Lev 24:10 - 16, 23).  I'm guessing that the rest of the "big ten" as I call the 10 commandments will put together like this.  This format gives a more complete picture of each of the commandments. One that I want to think about now has to do with the commandment that we hear repeated as " You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain ...."  This is the King James Version which I think in this case is not explicit enough.  The New International Version says, " You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."  Deut 5:11 has the commandment.  Exodus r...