Category: Year B

Psalm 108

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Today is my 30th wedding anniversary.  Little did my wife and I know at the time that our vows to one another would be put to the test time and time again over the years:  a commitment to be with each for better or for worse; to hang in there whether rich or poor; to persevere in sickness or in health till the very end.  Through all the ups and the downs, I am tremendously thankful that Mary and I are together.  No matter the circumstance, we will face it together.
 
            Just as in a marriage there are times that stretch the relationship and the couple must make choices for the benefit of each other, so the follower of God will face difficulty as a believer and must make a decision to remain faithful.  “My heart is steadfast, O God!  I will sing and make melody with all my being…. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.”
 
            If we lived by the whims of our feelings many of us would not get out of bed in the morning, and not even bother to put on pants when we do.  Yet, many believers take such an approach in their relationship with God, praying when they feel like it and praising him only when things are going their way.  But the psalmist chose to give thanks to God because of who God is.  He made the daily decision of being faithful by choosing to look at the faithfulness of God.  The truth is that God is with us, and he longs for us to recognize it and enjoy it because that is the nature of a committed relationship.
            Loving God, I give you thanks for your constant never-ending commitment to me.  Help me to so connect with you and your love that it forms and shapes my every decision and each relationship, through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            We are all on a perpetual camping trip.  It may or may not feel like one, but every person is living in a tent.  One of the challenges of the biblical writers is that they worked to communicate hope and spiritual realities in concrete language.  So, when the Apostle Paul likens our current lives to being in a tent he means that what we are experiencing now with our bodies is temporary.  Compared to the eventual permanent resurrected body, our existence now is temporary and not very glorious.
             We would consider someone homeless if they lived in a tent on a permanent basis.  In many ways, the Christian is homeless, not really at home in this present body and world.  So, it is rather curious that many believers in Jesus can be ruthlessly attached to the trappings and stuff of this contemporary campground.  If we were to make a list of all the things we do and all the things we have that are extra-biblical, that is, not specifically mentioned in the Bible, it would not take long to discover that much of what we do on a day to day basis, not to mention through church ministry, is simply temporary.  Yet, too many persons cling to their stuff and their ways as if it will endure forever.
             In those times when we experience bereavement; in the situations that demonstrate that we are mortal; and, in the circumstances that occur in which we glimpse how fleeting this present life can be, we begin to understand that what we need to be living for is the permanence of relationships expressed through the ever-present Spirit of God.  It is good for us to long for a better day when we will no longer groan in the tent of this body so that we will connect with the unseen God who goes before us, with us, after us.
             Eternal God, who always has been and always will be, help me to so connect with your Holy Spirit that I can discern the difference between what is temporary and what is permanent.  Guide me with your holy hand so that I can place my present efforts into the things that will make a difference for eternity, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

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.