Month: September 2016

Lamentations 3:19-26

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Those who are regular readers of this blog know that I continually talk about the need to read and pray the Scriptures over and over again, slowly.  Reading our Bibles ought to be last thing we do in order to check it off our to-do list.  One of the reasons I believe so many Christians struggle today with how to cope with life in a difficult and changing world is that there is far too little contemplative and meditative readings of Holy Scripture.  Today’s poetry from the Old Testament is most certainly one of those Bible passages that really demands to be read several times with some thought, prayer, and flavor.  Here it is in the Contemporary English Version of the Bible:
 
19 Just thinking of my troubles
and my lonely wandering
makes me miserable.
20 That’s all I ever think about,
and I am depressed.
21 Then I remember something
that fills me with hope.
22 The Lord’s kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
we would have been destroyed.
23 The Lord can always be trusted
to show mercy each morning.
24 Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
I can depend on him!”
25 The Lord is kind to everyone
who trusts and obeys him.
26 It is good to wait patiently
for the Lord to save us.
 

 

Amen!

Psalm 119:49-56

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Insomnia happens to all of us, some more than others.  We all know the experience of not being able to get to sleep at night.  Then, there are those persons who actually choose to arise in the middle of the night just to pray.  Yes, there are monks who do this, but there are common people who do, as well.  I think about such persons when I read a verse like this:  “Even in the night I think about you, LORD, and I obey your Law.”
 
            At various times in my life I have actually chosen to set my alarm for two o’clock in the morning in order to pray.  I know it may sound crazy to some, but this discipline has taught me something very valuable:  God is Lord over all time, and I am his servant.  The exercise of me wrapping my life around set times of prayer has caused me to learn that I have spent far too much of my life making time bend to my wishes.  But it is all really an illusion – that I can somehow control the clock.  Time marches forward, seasons come and go, and we are but a vapor that lasts only a moment.
 
            Whether we find ourselves awake in the night because we cannot sleep, or intentionally choose to use the night for connecting with God, the wee hours of the night afford us a unique opportunity to think about God and his Word.  The next time you find yourself awake at night, don’t just turn on the TV and wait to fall asleep.  Use the night-time for thinking about the Lord in ways you might not have considered during the day.  In doing so, you will find a blessing in the dark.
 

 

            God of all time, no matter where I am, your teachings fill me with songs.  You have given me blessings in the day and in the night because you are the one I choose to obey.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Revelation 3:14-22

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            God is trying to get our attention.  He does it through all kinds of ways – adverse circumstances, other people (particularly prophetic voices) – knocking on our door, crying out to let him in.  Yes, God is the one knocking on our door – not us.  “Listen!  I am standing and knocking at your door.  If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together.”  This is anything but an aloof God who is unconcerned for what is going on in our lives.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  We seem a bit unconcerned, even “lukewarm” about God and don’t pay much attention to him.  It is God who is longing to be with us and is on the outside pounding on the door and calling out so that he can come into our homes and have fellowship with him around the table.  Will we invite him in?  Will we accept his offer?
 
            Jesus stands.  Jesus knocks.  Jesus calls.  Will we respond?  That is the watershed issue of our day.  Maybe we can’t hear him because we are busy vacuuming.  Maybe we don’t hear because of the headphones we have on.  Maybe we are just too deaf and dull to notice the racket going on at our front porch while we watch TV.  Whatever it is, the only cure for being lukewarm is inviting Jesus into the house. 
 
            If Jesus is on the outside, he wants to be on the inside.  He could break your door down if he wanted to, but he chooses to respond to the invitation for hospitality.  Jesus wants to meet with us.  When and where will you meet with him today?
 

 

            Gracious Lord Jesus, you are standing at the door.  My door is open for you.  Come in and let us fellowship together and enjoy one another.  I have ears to hear what you are saying to me, through the Spirit.  Amen.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Reading and praying the psalms over and over again is a major way of fortifying faith for a lifetime of handling adversity.  Psalms are meant to be constantly used, like a wearing a favorite t-shirt whenever possible, or watching a good movie several times.  Lines from the film become etched in our thinking and vocabulary, not because we sought to memorize them but because of the many viewings.  Psalm 91 is a good psalm – one we can read and pray so many times that its theology and message are internalized.  It thus serves as a rock in times of trouble.  Security, safety, and confidence eventually replace fear, worry, and insecurity.  Let these words become part of a routine regimen of facing down the troubles of life:
 
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
 
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.” (ESV)
 

 

Amen and amen.