Daily Bible Reading - Nehemiah 6

In the midst of a good work, Nehemiah has a meeting with a man by the name of Shemaiah. Shemaiah tells Nehemiah that is life is in danger and that he needs to go to the temple for his safety. Now this seems like good advice for the great man of God. His life is in danger, but the advice is evil.

In fact, Nehemiah was able to perceive that Shemaiah was a liar. Nehemiah response to this little incident was to pray (6:13). He trusted God to take care of him.

Fact of life – Evil men were trying to destroy the ministry of Nehemiah. They were trying to do it through intimidation and fear. If they could get Nehemiah to over react to the threat, they could destroy his reputation and therefore the work on the wall. It was a subtle attempt to stop the good work. It was an incident that no one would know about but Nehemiah. But if Nehemiah had responded wrong, everyone would know.

Nehemiah was wise and able to see clearly because he was a man of faith. And a man of faith never lives a life of fear, but of trust in the Lord. Nehemiah continues his good work and the people follow with him.

VBS - Having a great time

We are having a great week at Vacation Bible School. VBS is always a lot of fun and a great time to teach our children about Jesus Christ. I always am amazed at the faithfulness and time that people are willing to give in sharing the good news of our Lord. I asked that you be in prayer for us as we finish this week. Pray that the kids will understand the truth of God's Word.

Bible Study - 2 Chronicles 28

Just a thought for the day. 2 Chronicles 28:19 "For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the Lord."

How often are we influenced by another person's lack of discipline or rebellion to give us an excuse for our lack of restraint? It is so easy to blame others for our unfaithfulness to the Lord. Trouble is - our Lord is not amused - he will humble you because your unfaithfulness - it is your fault, not the lack of discipline in someone else's life.

I just finished reading this book this week. It is a fascinating book on lessons learned from people who live in Sardinian, Okinawa, Loma Linda, California (Seventh Day Adventist), and Costa Rica. Each of these areas have a high number of people who have lived to be 100 years of age.

They studied each group and came up with a list of lifestyle choices that seemed to make life better for these people.

1. Move naturally - be active without thinking

• Balance is critical as you get older - work on strengthening your balance.
• Go easy on the knees - you will need them
• 30 minutes of exercise - five days a week
• Walk, walk, walk, walk . . .
• Plant a garden

2. Stop eating when you are 80% full

• Eat food with low caloric density (fruits and vegetables)
• Make snacking a hassle
• Eat slowly

3. Plant Slant

• Beans, whole grains, & garden vegetables
• Tofu
• Eat meat, but very small portions
• Nuts - each day, but small amounts

4. Purpose Now

• You need a personal mission statement
• You need a people to share life with each day
• Learn something new - never stop using your mind

5. Down Shift - take time to relieve stress

• Life is short, don't run so fast you miss it
• Reduce the noise (turn off electronics - TV, radio, IPod, etc.
• Be 15 minutes early to all events - less stress

6. Belong - Spiritual community

• People who are faithful to their church are happier and healthier
• Social network is critical to good life

7. Loved one First

• Family life is critical to happiness
• Smaller house makes families closer - large houses people tend to go to their own space
• Ritual in family - have a consistency to times together

These are the key points that the book makes for life to be long and good.

Pew Poll on Religion in America

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of 35,000 Americans. Pew released demographic data in February from the survey, conducted May through August 2007.

• The survey finds U.S. adults believe overwhelmingly (92%) in God, and 58% say they pray at least once a day. But the study's authors say there's a "stunning" lack of alignment between people's beliefs or practices and their professed faiths.
• 78% overall say there are "absolute standards of right and wrong," but only 29% rely on their religion to delineate these standards.
• The majority (52%) turn to "practical experience and common sense," with 9% relying on philosophy and reason, and 5% on scientific information.
• 74% say "there is a heaven, where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded," but far fewer (59%) say there's a "hell, where people who have led bad lives and die without being sorry are eternally punished."
• 70%, including a majority of all major Christian and non-Christian religious groups except Mormons, say "many religions can lead to eternal life."
• 68% say "there's more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion."
• 44% want to preserve their religion's traditional beliefs and practices.
• But most Catholics (67%), Jews (65%), mainline Christians (56%) and Muslims (51%) say their religion should either "adjust to new circumstances" or "adopt modern beliefs and practices."
• 50% say "homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted by society," but the most consistently traditional religious groups say society should discourage it — 76% of Jehovah's Witnesses, 68% of Mormons, 61% of Muslims and 64% of evangelicals.
• 51% have a certain belief in a personal God, but 27% are less certain of this, 14% call God "an impersonal force," and 5% reject any kind of God.
• 14% of all surveyed, including 28% of evangelicals, say religion is the "main influence in their political thinking."

Daily Bible Readings - 2 Kings 25

When you come to the end of 2 Kings, you come to the final end of Israel and the temple. Jerusalem is about to be finally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The people in the city are completely without food. The seize has gone on for months, when suddenly the Babylonians break into the city. When that happens the armies of Jerusalem panic and flee the city. They slipped past the armies of Nebuchadnezzar which completely surrounded the city. A question could be raised at this point, "how did they escape?" The Lord was not yet finished with the army of Israel.

In their panic they moved by the way of Arabah. It was in Arabah that Moses preached the sermons to the people in the book of Deuteronomy. All the great truths of God were delivered to the people in Arabah.

They come to the plains of Jericho and at this point the Babylonians catch up with them and capture the king of Judah and finish off his army. The plains of Jericho is where it all started. Joshua 4:13 says, "they crossed for battle before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho." Now it is the place where is all comes to an end. What an appropriate finish for the nation of Israel. The fall of the nation takes place at the beginning point of the nation.

Moses had said to the people, "So keep and do them (the promises of God), for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’" (Deut 4:13).

On this day, the thought is simply, "what a foolish and weak people." The nation is now destroyed and its people are now in exile. The fall happend where it started!

Daily Bible Reading - 1 King 22

The life of Josiah is such an amazing story. His father, Manasseh, was a very evil man who seduced an entire nation away from the Lord. He was a young child when his dad died. His father had humbled himself before God at the end of his life. His father's repentance may have had a very positive impact on his son. The Bible says of Josiah, "he did not turn aside to the left or to the right."

As Josiah became a young man leading the nation, he order the temple to be repaired. In the midst of the repair, they found the "book of the law." It was read to Josiah and it broke his heart. The nation had been living in rebellion for many years and were guilty of horrible sins against the Lord God. The Word of God had been lost and forgotten! Josiah understood the consequences of such actions. Instead of hopelessness, he humbled himself just like his dad and he sought the Lord God.

The word from God to Josiah speaks volumes about this young man. God said of Josiah that his heart was tender and that he was a humble man. He was broken over the rebellion of the people. Josiah was a good man who truly loved the Lord. He did the one important action that is critical to life, no matter the circumstances. He humbly sought the Lord in prayer.

The Lord's response to Josiah was "I have truly heard you." James says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." What the church needs today is for humbled people to truly seek the Lord with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength. In Josiah's day, it had been a long time since someone was truly broken over the sin in the land!

Daily Bible Reading - Number 22

In reading Numbers 22 we will see that Balaam is guilty of three mistakes. The first is that he puts himself in a place to fall. God had already told him "no" yet he keeps coming back because he wants the money. By staying close to the temptation and not fleeing from evil, Balaam eventually succumbs to the temptation and though he could not curse Israel, he teaches Balak how to cause the Israelites to be curse by God.

The second mistake is that he lost complete perspective of who he was in the Lord. He was a prophet of God. The Lord had entrusted him with words to speak. When Balaam blessed people, they were blessed. And when he cursed people, they were cursed. Balaam knew the power of God and that he could not go against the Lord. But somewhere the love of money becomes the draw that makes him forget that He belongs to the Lord. The craving for the world overrode his desire to be pleasing to the Father.

The third mistake that he makes is that he is hoping God would change His mind. This is a mistake that I believe most of us make. We know God's word, but maybe for this moment God will allow this to happen for me. He will change His nature and His purpose so that I can have my desires fulfilled. Balaam over and over is looking for God to change his mind so that he can have the money.

The man of God loses his wisdom because of his greed. Peter says that when the donkey rebuked Balaam, the donkey was restraining the insanity of the prophet. We become foolish and crazy when we are dictated by our desires! That is why the continue call to all God's people is "Seek first his kingdom and his righeousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Daily Bible Readings - John 15:22-24

Jesus makes a fascinating comment about the world. The sinfulness of the heart can be hidden well. It sometimes takes much light to expose the real desires of the heart. The religious leaders of Jesus day gave overwhelming evidence of their goodness until Jesus walked into their lives. Jesus exposes their hearts by his very presence. Light always does that!

John 15:24 says, "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well." The works of Jesus exposed their hearts and cause them to act according to their hearts. They appeared religious, but the works of Jesus revealed the deep hatred that they had hidden well from others.

Light always reveals the hidden secrets of the heart. No one is hidden from the eyes of our Lord. He knows our hearts. The Lord will walk us along paths that will evenutally reveal the motives of our hearts.

Bible Study - Numbers 22 - Balaam

Balaam was a prophet of God. He had a great reputation because of the work that he had done. The messenger from Balak said to Balaam, "For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." This comes from a reputation that God's hand was on Balaam. God trusted Balaam with truth and Balaam had been faithful to his calling.

Balaam says to the messengers, "let me pray about this." He comes back and says, "God says no and I will not come." That should have been the end of the story. But it is not. But Balak sends another group to see Balaam. Why are the coming back? Did they sense that Balaam would come if the offer was right?

The King sends a second group to Balaam. This group has more men, more distinguished, and there is more money. In fact the offer is open to whatever Balaam desires! We now starts the tragic fall of Balaam. He says he needs to ask God (sounds good).

What has changed from the last time? There is more money on the table this time. Balaam knows God's response, but yet he comes back in prayer. WHY? He wants the money! He wants to get closer to this situation, because he will do well financially if circumstances were to change. We know from 2 Peter that Balaam's weakness was the love of money.

There are times that we do not need to pray about something, we just need to be obedient to the word of God.

God's answer to Balaam was to go, that is what Balaam wanted. Balaam's heart was not for the Lord but for the money.

1 Timothy 6:10 - For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Just another sad story about a man whose greed brought him to a tragic finish.

Daily Bible Reading - 1 King 21

You Can't Have Everything

Ahab one day looks out and suddenly has a desire for Naboth's vineyard. Life was not going well for the King and he was depressed. When we become tired by life we become susceptible to temptation. Ahab nows wants Naboth's garden. It will make him feel better about himself.

So Ahab tries to negotiate for the vineyard. Naboth says "No!". The reason was that Naboth was following the Word of God. Leviticus 25:23 - ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me." There are something in life that we cannot have. No amount of money or power gives us the right to them. Ahab eventually allows his desires to overwhelm doing what is right.

This is a pivotal turning point to the complete and total downfall of the King of Israel. Elijah will come soon and speak a final word of judgment from God.

It took just one tired and frustrated day to lead to the final fall of a king! Beware that you are most susceptible to evil on days when you are the most tired by life.

Daily Scripture Reading - 1 King 17

Elijah tells Ahab that there will be no rain for three years. As soon as he speaks these words to Ahab, the Lord sends him away to hide by the brook Cherith. While there, the Lord provides bread for Elijah by ravens. The providing of bread to Elijah is by a bird that is a scavenger. They will literally eat anything. We have to remember that all of creation is under the command of our Lord. The ravens do not eat the bread, but bring it to Elijah. The Lord provision is also seen by the protection that God has given to Elijah from Ahab. In the next chapter when Elijah meets the prophet Obadiah, we learn another truth of God's provision. Obadiah tells Elijah that there is not a nation or kingdom that Ahab has not searched for Elijah. The entire three years Elijah is just east of the Jordan river. Our Lord provides food, water, and shelter to Elijah in the midst of a three year drought.

The words of Jesus are very appropriate at this point. Matthew 6: 31Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Daily Bible Readings - 1 King 16
Hiel the Bethelite started an ambitious project - rebuilding the city of Jericho. What started out as an ambitious project suddenly turned into a double tragedy. When Hiel started work on the foundation of the city, his son Abiram died. When he started work on the city gate, his son Segub died. The oldest son and the youngest son both died at the start of the project.

What is going on? You will have to go back a few years when Jericho fell, Joshua spoke a curse against the city.

Joshua 6:26 - Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.”

550 years later, this has not been forgotten by our Lord. Our Lord knows all that is going on and does not forgot any of the promises of His word. No detail of life slips by our Lord. Therefore our response should be to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness! The Lord will take care of the small details of life.

This is a great book by Hank Handegraff. It gives much insight into a biblical view of the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is worth your time in study and thought!

Daily Readings - 1 King 13
Man of God who meets with King Jeroboam - the prophet was given specific orders from God to speak to the king and he does. The king becomes very angry and order his guard to seize him. Immediately the King's hand dries up and he cannot use his hand. The king pleads with the prophet to intercede for him. The prophet (man of God) entreats the Lord and the king's hand is restored. In appreciation the King invites him to come to his home. But the prophet turns it down because God told him "You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came." The prophet leaves.

At this point it is a good story about a faithful prophet speaking to a bad king. But the story does not end well. The prophet is intercepted by another prophet and invited to his home to eat and drink and he accepts. Suddenly the faithful prophet is now a disobedient prophet and before long is dead on the side of the road because of his unfaithfulness to God's command.

Great care must always be taken after times of faithful obedience. We are not allowed moments of rest from obedience to our Lord. We cannot act faithfully with one and then disobedience with others. Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8 - "be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." May God give us grace to be faithful all day long!

Daily Readings - John 5
Jesus speaks about the resurrection of the dead in this chapter. He makes some very simple statements about the final resurrection.

• An hour is coming - He uses this phrase twice (5:25; 5:28)
• Jesus uses hour in John 17:1 - Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son. . .
• "Hour" is even more specific than "day".
• In that hour - all the dead will hear the voice of God
• All who hear will live - resurrection of all the dead
• Dead - all in the tomb (v.28) - will hear his voice
• All who hear - will come forth - both good and evil (v. 29)
• No one is excluded from the resurrection - all are resurrected on the same day - one resurrection.
• Two places to go - resurrection of life and a resurrection of Judgment.

One of the first confessions of Southern Baptist says of the resurrection - The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God-the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked, to be reserved under darkness to the judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised.

Simple truth from scripture but one with profound eternal implication - Question always arises - Do you believe in Jesus Christ? - all who believe will be raised on the last day to eternal life.

My daily readings today are from 1 King 11.

1 Kings 11:4 - For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

This is such a sad verse in the Bible! The older man who has accomplished much, is not finishing well in life. The women in his life have turned him from the Father in heaven who has so richly blessed him. Solomon loved his wives more than he did God!

The next very sad verse is 1 Kings 11:6 - Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.

A man filled with such wisdom, becomes foolish at the end of his life. His foolishness leads to doing evil before God. There is a great warning here to all of us - that we exercise great care in our lives and that we allow nothing to hinder our love of the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

My weight lifting is starting to pay off. I hired Dock Parker of Spectrum to be my trainer last October. I work out with him 3 days a week. Today we were testing my leg strength to see how much I could lift. I had just finished my Friday workout doing 20 squats at 175 on the machine. I asked how much I might be able to do with free weights. He guessed about 500 lbs. By the time we took this picture I was doing 600 lbs. After this picture we add 90 lbs more and I was able to do 690 lbs not just once, but eleven times.

I was shock, but a great lesson learned about perseverance - staying with the situation, will do nothing but make you stronger.

Monday we are going to see if I can do over 900 lbs at least once. Stay tuned to see!

Season of Change

We are in the process of change at Village Parkway Baptist Church. We have started a major remodeling and building program this month. We are painting the outside of our education building. We are building a new platform for the worship center. Our architect has just about finished the plans for the three new buildings. We hope to start construction on them in July.

School is out today and we will start painting in the nursery and preschool areas and also remodeling all the bathrooms in education building. We are excited about the changes.

We are also having a new website developed. It is going to be a major change with several new capabilities. It should help us to stay in contact with each other in a greater way.

We are having a special night of prayer on June 1 to ask God's blessings on our church as we move forward with our changes. I hope you will join us at 5:00 p.m. in the fellowship hall.

The editors at Banner of Truth received a request last month from Billy Graham's circle of close friends to use an excerpt from The Valley of Vision at the funeral of the evangelist's beloved wife, Ruth Bell Graham. The Valley of Vision, a little collection of Puritan prayers, is a classic of deep and practical devotion. Reading this prayer, I think you'll agree--and you'll understand why the Graham family chose it:

Blessed Creator,
Thou hast promised thy beloved sleep;
Give me restoring rest needful for tomorrow’s toil.
If dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil.
Let thy Spirit make my time of repose
A blessed temple of his holy presence.
May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death,
The bed I approach remind my of the grave,
The eyes I now close picture to me their final closing.
Keep me always ready, waiting for admittance to they presence.
Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand,
Knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender.
As pain and suffering betoken transitory health,
May I not shrink from a death that introduces me To the freshness of eternal youth.
I retire this night in full assurance of one day’s awakening with thee.
All glory for this blessed hope,
For the gospel of grace,
For thine unspeakable gift of Jesus,
For the fellowship of the Trinity.
Withhold not thy mercies in the night season;
Thy hand never wearies,
Thy power needs no repose,
Thine eye never sleeps.
Help me when I helpless lie,
When my conscience accuses me of sin,
When my mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts,
When my eyes are held awake by personal anxieties.
Show thyself to me as the God of all grace, love and power;
Thou hast a balm for every wound,
A solace for all anguish,
A remedy for every pain,
A peace for all disquietude.
Permit me to commit myself to thee awake or sleep.
Amen.

I found this on George Grant's blog about Islam - it was Luther and Calvin's thoughts about Islam nearly 500 years ago:

Luther and Calvin on Islam

John Calvin in a sermon on Deuteronomy 18:15 maintained that Muhammad was one of “the two horns of antichrist.” In his commentaries on Daniel (7: 7-18), Calvin put forward the theory that the Muslim Turks were the little horn that sprang up from the beast. As the Turks had conquered much of the old Roman Empire, much of the prophecies concerning Rome could apply to the Muslim world. He believed that Islam was one of the two legs of the later Roman Empire described in Daniel 2. In expounding Daniel 9, Martin Luther noted that among others, the prophet Daniel was talking about the Muslim Turks, who at the time were invading Europe, “In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation... He will cause deceit to prosper and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.” Of Daniel 9: 23-25, Luther wrote that the “two regimes, that of the Pope and that of the Turk, are... antichrist.” Commenting on Daniel 11:37, Calvin wrote that Muhammad “allowed to men the brutal liberty of chastising their wives and thus he corrupted that conjugal love and fidelity which binds the husband to the wife... Mohammad allowed full scope to various lusts--by permitting a man to have a number of wives... Mohammad invented a new form of false religion.”Luther noted that Christ warned about false prophets coming from the desert (Matthew 24: 24-26) and this certainly included Muhammad. Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-12, Calvin wrote, “the sect of Mohammad was like a raging overflow, which in its violence tore away about half of the church.” In his commentary on 1 John 2: 18-23, Calvin states that the Turks “have a mere idol in place of God.” In a sermon on 2 Timothy 1:3, Calvin explained, ”The Turks at this day, can allege and say for themselves: ‘We serve God from our ancestors!’ ... It is a good while ago since Mahomet gave them the cup of his devilish dreams to drink, and they got drunk with them. It is about a thousand years since those cursed hellhounds were made drunk with their follies... Let us be wise and discreet! For otherwise, we shall be like the Turks and Heathen!” Luther observed from 1 John 2: 18-22 and 4: 1-3, “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.” Of 1 John 2: 22 he wrote that Muslims “deny both the Fatherhood of God and the Deity of Christ--hence they are liars. They testify against the truth of God’s Word.” On 1 John 4: 3-6, he wrote “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus, is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist... this is how we recognize the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” He observed that the Muslims ultimately want “to eradicate the Christians.” Not much ambivalence there--not that Luther or Calvin were ever really ambivalent about anything!