Category: Year A

2 Timothy 2:8-13

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
            C.S. Lewis once described God as the Hound of Heaven.  By that phrase he meant that God doggedly pursued him and would not let go.  Lewis came into Christian faith “kicking and screaming” as God’s faithful pursuit won out in his life. 
 
            The Apostle Paul reminded his young protégé Timothy of some basic sound theology that was to keep him on track and encouraged in a tough ministry.  Paul gave Timothy a trustworthy saying that he could easily remember and say to himself day after day, especially when the going got tough: 
 
            If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
            if we endure, we will also reign with him;
            if we deny him, he also will deny us;
            if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.
 
            The beauty, wonder, and distinction of God is his amazing grace.  He is not fickle, but loves and holds on even when we are unlovely and are trying to avoid him and jump out of his hand.  When God pursues, he finds; when he holds on, he will not let go.
 
            This trustworthy saying of Scripture is a good, short, solid expression of theological truth to memorize, meditate upon, and repeat to ourselves over and over again.  We belong to Jesus Christ.  God is with us.  The Hound of Heaven will always sniff us out and bring us to himself.
            Thank you, O God, for your great faithfulness to your elect, even to me.  I give unceasing praise and undying devotion to you for your grace of being the One who never lets up, through Christ my Lord.  Amen.

Matthew 12:46-50

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
            There are several metaphors and images provided in Scripture that communicate a close connected relationship between God and his people.  Shepherd and sheep; head and body; cornerstone and building; and, in the Gospel lesson for today Jesus uses the opportunity of his mother and siblings showing up to say that everyone who does God’s will is his mother, brothers and sisters.
             This is not a deprecation of Jesus’ own family.  Rather, this is an amazing statement of a new order being established – a covenant not based on being a certain kind of person.  The religious elite, the wealthy, the ones having always had clean living do not have the corner on being God’s special people.  Any and all persons can come into a close familiar relation with God.  So, we see folks like prostitutes, lepers, the blind, tax collectors, and anyone on the margins of typical mainstream society becoming the center of a new Jesus movement.  One comes to God simply by doing his will – which means for Jesus that people acknowledge that he is the way, the truth, and the life.  In other words, belief in Jesus constitutes the true work of entering God’s forever family.
             You or I need not attempt to clean up our act in order to come to God.  Instead, we must come humbly to Jesus acknowledging our great need and receive grace – the mercy of entering into close relation with God in Christ.  Just as we did not choose our earthly family of origin, so we do not and cannot move in and out of God’s family as if it were based on our choice.  God makes outsiders insiders and vice versa.  It is all about God and his wonderful grace to people through Jesus.  This is truly good news!
             O God, thank you for your amazing grace to me in Christ!  I praise you for adopting me into your family and making me a part of your church.  I pray that this wonder will stick with me as I take advantage of all the family privileges and responsibilities I possess through Jesus.  Amen.

Psalm 100

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
            Serve the LORD with gladness!
            Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
            It is he who made us, and we are his,
            we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
            and his courts with praise!
            Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
            his steadfast love endures forever,
            and his faithfulness to all generations.
 
            The manner in which we approach God is significant.  No matter the circumstances, entering the presence of God by means of thanksgiving and praise helps us to rightly acknowledge that God is good.  And God will continue to be good because love is intrinsic to his character. 
 
            Perhaps there are days or extended periods of time in which we do not feel like God is good.  Chronic people problems; continued bouts of physical or emotional pain; out of control situations with no resolution in sight; these and many more realities may cause us to question God’s goodness, much less give us reason to praise his Name.
 
            But here is where this psalm needs to be as familiar and common to us as putting on our shoes in the morning.  Saying the psalm aloud on a daily basis, despite how we feel, is the kind of spiritual medicine we need to alter our sour dispositions and change the face of our bitter attitudes.  We could even declare the psalm multiple times in the day – not in a legalistic or magical sense as if it were some rabbit’s foot to ward off evil – but in the manner of allowing biblical truth and right theology to slowly and deliberately sink down deep in our souls.
            Lord God Almighty, I praise your glorious Name!  You are always good and your love endures forever!  May my character and my life reflect your grace operating within me.  Help me to have an attitude of thanksgiving in all circumstances.  To the glory of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Esther 7:1-10

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
            If you are anything like me, you have found yourself more than once in a circumstance that is like quicksand.  It is as if you are stuck with no way out.  Queen Esther found herself in such a situation.  By no fault of her own she was thrust upon the stage of being the intercessor between life and death, salvation and elimination.  The wicked Haman, high official to the king, had it out for the Jews and orchestrated a devious plan to do away with them once and for all.
 
            But God had their backs.  Esther humbly and prayerfully entered the king’s presence on behalf of her people, the Jews.  As a result, the tables were turned with the Jews being joyously delivered and Haman literally finding himself at the end of his rope.  Even though the book of Esther does not once pronounce the name of God, his influence and sovereignty are evident throughout the story.  God seems to specialize in hard cases.  He inevitably gains the glory and his people are wonderfully saved from circumstances well beyond their ability to help themselves.
 
            Prayer, sensitivity to God, and the humility to listen undergirded Esther’s decision and courage to act.  Prayer is not optional equipment for the believer, but absolutely essential to facing each and every difficult situation because it is God, not us, that ultimately brings deliverance.  Saving ourselves from impossible circumstances is way above our pay grade; only God can bring true deliverance – the kind that genuinely changes people so that divine purposes are accomplished.
 
            Our discouraging situations; our hard cases; our difficult people problems; whatever the situation – God has your back and he delights to answer our desperate pleas for his deliverance. 
            O God, please work within the hearts of your people so that they will have the courage and commitment to follow through with your will.  Please direct the hearts of those who oppose you and your people so that it is evident there is a God in heaven who listens and who delivers.  For the sake of Jesus I pray, Amen.