Category: Daily Bible Reading Blog

A blog following the daily readings from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Psalm 20

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            At times the connection between our present situation and the past biblical historical context is readily apparent and sometimes it is not so clear.  In the crucible of life and the struggles of daily living we might too quickly pass over the grace, relevance, and truth of God’s Word to us.  In order to unite a bit more deeply with today’s Scripture, I offer this contemporary rendering of Psalm 20:
 
May the LORD answer you in the stress of your life!
            May the name of the God of all time protect you!
May he send you help from his holy place
            and give you support from heaven itself!
May he remember all you have given for him
            and be pleased with everything you have sacrificed on his behalf!
 
May he give to you your heart’s deep longing
            and carry out every good plan you conceive!
May we shout for joy when you overcome such incredible pressure,
            and in the name of our God throw a big party!
May the LORD bring to fruition every one of your prayers!
 
Now I know that the LORD delivers his people;
            he will answer them from his holy heaven
            with the full force of his saving power.
 
Some trust in military might and some in financial security,
            but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They collapse and fall,
            but we get up and stand with confidence.
 
O LORD, save us all!

 

            May he answer us when we call.

John 20:19-23

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            In the wake of Pentecost, it is necessary and important to live into our calling and mission as believers in Jesus who have been given the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  And when Jesus said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  What is more, we are anticipating the celebration of Trinity Sunday upcoming.
 
            Everything comes down to the triune God.  As people created in God’s image and likeness, we are to reflect God in all we say and do.  This includes our service and sense of mission.  What the church is to be all about is what God is all about.  Just as the heavenly Father sent King Jesus to earth in order to bring all creation under the divine reign, so we are being sent by God into the world so that we will bring the message of God’s kingdom rule to every creature.  What is more, we have been given the power source to accomplish the work:  the Holy Spirit, who is the battery of the Christian life.
 
            Every believer in Jesus must wrap his/her head around the spiritual reality that God has called us into his service to reach every race, class, and ethnicity on earth regardless of who they might be because everyone needs the saving work of Jesus Christ.  We are to be preoccupied with the bald fact that Jesus sends us into the world equipped with the Holy Spirit to bring a message of forgiveness of sins in Christ.
 
            If we must rearrange our lives to accommodate God’s call, then so be it.  Eating meals with non-Christians, prayer-walking our neighborhoods, doing our hobbies with new people, taking breaks together with co-workers, volunteering in the community, and tangibly serving our neighbors are all practical ways of developing and deepening relationships with people in order to love them with the love of Jesus Christ who loved us and forgave us of a great debt of sin.
            God of peace, just as you as Father, Son, and Spirit exist in perfect unity, harmony, and love, so help me to be so keenly aware of being united with Jesus Christ that his agenda is my agenda.  Thank you, Holy Spirit, for filling and empowering me for loving service in the church and the world.  Amen.

Psalm 115

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            We don’t talk too much about idolatry or idol worship anymore, even in the church.  After all, nobody in Western society really bows down to human-made little idols like in other cultures and prays to inanimate objects.  Or do we?  Most Westerners think that money talks; that sports rules; and, that others should bow to American ways.  We even have places of worship for our idols on Wall Street, the local mall, and the stadium.
 
            I’m not down on shopping, making money, watching the next NBA playoff game, or American democracy.  It’s just that we are fooling ourselves if we think that idolatry speech is not relevant to us.  We replace the worship of God and Christ’s Church with all kinds of things.  Our hearts do not always love God with all our mind and strength.  Like the pagans of old, we are just as prone to trust in products of our own construction in order to get our sense of security and fulfillment.
 
            The simple spiritual practice of giving glory to God for every good thing in our lives can help inoculate us from the propensity to trust in our own ingenuity and production.  In short, we need God – all the time.  Whatever practices we can put in place to remind us of that truth will bring the kind of blessing that we often search for in other gods.  Starting the day with inhaling the words “more of you” and exhaling with the words “less of me” gives God his due place in our lives and puts us on a trajectory of giving God glory throughout the day.
            Great God Almighty, I will bless your name today and every day.  Wean me away from the idols of my heart so that I will learn to trust you more and more in daily life.  To the glory of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Acts 1:1-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Today is the recognition and celebration of the Ascension of our Lord.  Each year the Church Calendar marks the fortieth day after Easter when Jesus ascended to heaven in full view of the disciples’ wide eyes.  Unlike Christmas and Easter, the Ascension is quite often overlooked by the church.  Yet, it has profound theological significance and is a redemptive event as much as any in the life of Christ.
 
            The Ascension of our Lord means that Jesus is indeed King over all creation, exalted above the earth and its inhabitants.  Since Jesus is ascended, glorified, and exalted, Christians have the confident hope that he will return and that they will experience bodily resurrection along with him.  During the interim, our Lord is busy interceding for us at the right hand of the Father, attentive to our prayers and our earthly situation.  We are neither alone, nor without help.
 
            Christ’s Ascension also means that Pentecost is right around the corner, when the power of our risen Lord will come upon every believer for service and living the Christian life.    The appropriate response to this special day is to rejoice and to submit; we can celebrate the reality that King Jesus is Lord of all, and we can humbly give our hearts to Christ’s gracious and benevolent rule in our lives.  So, we continue to pray that God’s kingdom will come and his will be done here and now because Jesus Christ has ascended to heaven.
            King Jesus, I recognize and celebrate your powerful and merciful rule over your creation.  Help me to so know your gracious leadership that in everything I say and do Jesus is exalted and glorified.  Thank you for this great grace to me in making it possible to participate with you in your kingdom.  Amen.