Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

Psalm 146

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


              I am something of an old cartoon buff.  I was told when I was eleven years old that I would outgrow watching them – I’m still waiting for that day.  I, of course, enjoyed watching Underdog.  There is something deep within the human psyche that cheers for the underdog.  Wally Cox was the perfect voice for the mild-mannered shoe-shine boy to take his underdog super energy pill and fly through the sky to rescue Sweet Polly Purebread.
             That “something” that is within us that identifies with the underdog is the justice of God.  Today’s psalm lets us know that God cares about the underdog.  There ought to be no doubt that God is deeply concerned for those who are powerless, defenseless, and on the margins of society.  The psalmist identifies such persons:  those who are hungry; the prisoners; the blind; those bowed down; the orphan; and, the widow.  All these people represent individuals without ability to be movers and shakers in their culture.  In short, they need God.
             And God delights to use his power to lift them up.  What is more, truth be told, it turns out that all of us are underdogs.  We all need God.  Every action and decision we take and make is really God’s grace and enablement to do it.  We owe it all to him.  Thus, the logical and reasonable response to such a God is praise – to declare our hallelujahs to the one who reigns forever and will always see humanity’s great need.  How will you praise him today for who he is and for what he has done?  Let such praise shape your soul and lift your spirit as you intentionally connect with the gracious God who gives the underdog what he needs.
             Eternal God, you reign forever and ever.  I praise you as long as I live.  I put my trust in you, and not in those in society who wield their apparent power and influence.  Let them wallow in their delusions while I declare the mighty Name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Mark 7:24-30

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Not much happens until something becomes urgent.  A doctor, a financial planner, or a preacher can tell us something until they are blue in the face.  But it won’t mean much without a sense of urgency that some sort of change must occur – that the way things currently exist isn’t going to cut it any longer.  When it comes to the Christian life, law and duty can only take us so far – we need the gospel of grace.
 
            Today’s Gospel lesson has a Gentile Canaanite woman (who is about as far from God as one can get in the ancient world) coming to Jesus with a keen sense of urgency.  She is not concerned about appearances or masking her pain; she cares about seeing her daughter healed of her terrible suffering from demonization.  The woman sees in Jesus the answer to her daughter’s problem.  She begged Jesus to act.  But Jesus puts her off.
 
            A superficial reading of this story might lead us to think that Jesus is either aloof or elitist.  But I think a better way of looking at Christ’s response of not immediately healing the daughter is looking at the episode through the lenses of patience and perseverance.  God is not some coin machine that we can drop in a dollar and get immediate change.  The Godhead is not some system to figure out in order to work the angles to get what we want.  Here’s what I believe the real point of the story is for us:  The woman had to go hard after Jesus, to keep going after him, and to exercise her faith muscle to its fullest extent.
 
            The woman looked for grace, kept going after God’s mercy, and was honored for her persistent faith.  We don’t need to write an essay to God in prayer about why he should answer us and try and convince him of our righteous cause – we just need to seek the mercy of God in Christ with determination.  Begging isn’t pretty and it isn’t comfortable.  But being poor in spirit is the only posture that Jesus is really concerned about recognizing.
 

 

            Gracious God, I beg you to bring healing, spiritual health, and relational wholeness to your church everywhere so that the name of Jesus is exalted in the world.  Amen.

Ezekiel 14:1-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “One day, some of Israel’s leaders came to me and asked for a message from the LORD.  While they were there, the LORD said:  Ezekiel, son of man, these men have started worshiping idols, though they know it will cause them to sin even more.  So I refuse to give them a message!”
 
            Just because someone asks or inquires what the Bible says, does not necessarily mean that person intends on living according to it.  It just might be that the opposite is true.  We can, of course, see and sniff out hypocrisy in others, but might be blind to it in our own lives.  Whenever we go to church and sit under the preaching of God’s Word but have no intention of really doing anything but getting spiritual brownie points through attendance, we must locate ourselves along with the hypocritical men who came to Ezekiel.
 
            Listening to God’s Word, reading it on a daily basis, and even talking about it really means nothing unless we take a humble posture of intending to do what it says.  So, what are the idols in our lives?  What things hinder us from doing what the Bible says to do?  What will we do about it?  God is looking for repentance and faith in Jesus, and not us keeping up appearances to righteousness.
 

 

            Holy God, you desire a penitent heart, sincere faith, and an obedient life.  May it be so in my life to the glory of Jesus through the energy of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

1 Kings 18:1-19

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            “Obadiah was in charge of Ahab’s palace, but he faithfully worshiped the LORD.  In fact, when Jezebel was trying to kill the LORD’s prophets, Obadiah hid one hundred of them in two caves and gave them food and water.”  Ahab and Jezebel could have starred in the series House of Cardsby just being themselves.  They were a real king and queen who were thoroughly selfish and evil in all of their dealings.  Ahab, enabled and encouraged by his pagan wife, did away with the true worship of God and established the worship of Baal in the land of Israel. 
 
            But this did not mean that God was not active.  In fact, the Lord was working behind the scenes to undermine the systemic evil in the kingdom through a person, Obadiah, who was devoted to God.  Obadiah was not a prophet, a seer, or a priest.  He was a man working in an ungodly world, doing the best he could to serve the Lord.  Just because he was not Elijah did not mean that God couldn’t use Obadiah in the scheme of his will.
 
            Our ordinary everyday jobs and work have been ordained by God to use us where we are.  Rather than lamenting our limitations or wishing the situation were different, we all have an opportunity for God to work through us in our current positions and stations in life.  Every one of us has the opportunity every day to integrate our faith and our work through connecting biblical ethics to concrete applications at our jobs; working evangelistically and seeing our workplaces as mission fields; interpreting our work through a Christian worldview, and discerning that our vocation is a calling from God; and, knowing that our work is a means of God transforming and sanctifying us.
 
            How do you view your job?  How might you connect your faith and your work?  How does your job reflect the nature and character of God?  In what ways do you think God wants to use you at your workplace?
 

 

            Sovereign God, you cause nations to rise and to fall, leaders to rule and be brought down.  Take my life and my work and use it in redemptive ways that glorify the name of Jesus and exemplify the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.