Category: Daily Encouragement

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  1 Samuel 24:1-25:44
  John 10:22-42
  Psalm 116:1-19
  Proverbs 15:20-21

En Gedi Waterfall

1 Samuel 24:1 — En Gedi is a must see on your tour of Israel. The area contains a lot of dry cliffs, but the occasional waterfall amazes the senses!

1 Samuel 24:6 — Even when your cause seems justified – it’s never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right. Let God be judge (1 Samuel 24:15).

1 Samuel 25:18 — We’ve been reading in Proverbs about what wisdom looks like, now we see it in action. A wife interceding to save her husband by appeasing a wrathful adversary. God even delivered her from her unwise husband (1 Samuel 25:38). David waited until God dealt with Nabal. If only he did the same with Uriah …

John 10:28 — Want eternal life? Go to the Giver of Eternal Life!

Psalms 116:12 — What indeed! What is our reasonable service? Romans 12:1!

Psalm 116:15 — When an elderly relative of mine was about to pass away, one of the pastors who was with us reminded us of this verse.

Proverbs 15:21 — Relaxation and recreation are fine – but do you get your joy from folly?

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

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Image Credit: Grauesel, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  1 Samuel 22:1-23:29
  John 10:1-21
  Psalm 115:1-18
  Proverbs 15:18-19

The Cave of Adullam

1 Samuel 22:5 — Sometimes you’re hurt by people who claim to be Christians, and as a result you want to swear off dealing with Christians ever again. Perhaps in response you just want to deal with “honest pagans.” But even though you can be hurt again, God calls us to fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25) because no matter how much we think our situation is beyond hope, God is in control!

1 Samuel 22:8 — The King of Israel is sad that “there is none of you that is sorry for me.”

1 Samuel 22:18 — If Jesus was comparing the Pharisees to Doeg, Doeg had shed the blood of 85 priests who stood helplessly, as well as the entire city of Nob. What did the Pharisees do to the Son of God?

1 Samuel 23:4 — Notice the patience of the LORD. The same God who was so patient with Gideon, is also patient with David. God spoke to him and promised him victory twice, even though David was afraid.

1 Samuel 23:21 — Blessing people in the name of the LORD for helping you kill your loyal subject that you have made into an adversary … huh?

John 10:1-21 — Notice some of the characters in this parable:

• The thief/robber – introduced in vs. 1
• The hireling – introduced in vs. 12
• The shepherd – introduced in vs. 2

Have you noticed the similarities between this and the parable of the wicked husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19)?

In John 10:10-11 we see the action. The hireling flees, the thief kills, and the Shepherd dies. Yet, unlike the other parables, we are told the end of the story: in John 10:17-18 the Shepherd rises again!

Some other takeaways from this passage:

• John 10:8, 16 – Who you hear indicates what you are
• John 10:9-10 – Who you follow indicates where you go

Mr. Rogers of PBS fame asked his wife before he died, “Am I a sheep?” On the internet you have two responses (notice which incorporates more Scripture):

• “Love yourself”, or
• “Your goodness isn’t enough”

John 10:4 — Young Samuel didn’t know God’s voice, but then he had a personal encounter with the LORD. Eventually, he was able to recognize His voice.

John 10:18 — Jesus is prophesying His death and resurrection, and yet the disciples that He loved did not realize this.

Psalm 115:1 — A good admonition against pride.

Psalm 115:13 — If I want God’s blessing, what should I do?

Proverbs 15:18 — Let’s be peacemakers!

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

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Image Credit: https://www.alamy.com/southern-palestine-cave-of-adullam-image329335098.html?imageid=EA8E49C6-32D2-4A24-B9B7-DEE65C539069&p=850009&pn=1&searchId=2595adc24d8a3ea288e61e0966b8655a&searchtype=9

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  1 Samuel 20:1-21:15
  John 9:1-41
  Psalm 113:1-114:8
  Proverbs 15:15-17

1 Samuel 20:13 — David’s son Solomon would discuss the behavior of kings often. Proverbs 16:14 encourages wise men to pacify their king’s wrath.

1 Samuel 20:30 — This is a very strong phrase (cuss-level) used by Saul against his own son.

1 Samuel 21:4 — Jesus cited this as justification for his disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28). One theory advanced on StackExchange.com is that Jesus is comparing the Pharisees to Doeg the Edomite.

1 Samuel 21:10 — From Matthew Henry:

God’s persecuted people have often found better usage from Philistines than from Israelites. David had reason to put confidence in Achish, yet he began to be afraid. His conduct was degrading, and discovered wavering in his faith and courage. The more simply we depend on God, and obey him, the more comfortably and surely we shall walk through this troublesome world.

John 9:28 — We see the running line of authority contrast: the Jews claim Mosaic authority (which Jesus attacked by claiming Abrahamic authority). Jesus claims even greater authority (from God the Father), but the Jews claim not to know “from whence He is.”

Sunset at Porto Covo, Portugal

Psalm 113:3 — How long are we to praise the LORD? All the time!

Psalm 113:9 — God is in control of everything!

Psalm 114:7 — People are nervous to meet a Governor, a President, or the King of England. How much more should we be nervous at the majesty of the Lord, the God of Jacob! How much more should we desire to spend time with Him who asked us to call upon Him!

Proverbs 15:16 — We’ve seen the fear of the Lord referenced before … but do we realize how valuable it is? Too often we have the wrong priorities.

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

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Image Credit: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  1 Samuel 18:5-19:24
  John 8:31-59
  Psalm 112:1-10
  Proverbs 15:12-14

1 Samuel 18:10 — Why is God sending an evil spirit? GotQuestions.org suggests it was part of God’s judgment on Saul.

First, the evil spirit was “from” the Lord in that it was allowed by God to harass Saul. Ultimately, all created things are under God’s control. It is likely that this evil spirit was part of God’s judgment upon Saul for his disobedience. Saul had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1 Samuel 13:1–14 and 1 Samuel 15:1–35). Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him. Likely, Satan and the demons had always wanted to attack Saul; God was now simply giving them permission to do so.

1 Samuel 18:14 — A great commendation for anyone.

Saul Throwing His Spear at David by Constantin Hansen

1 Samuel 19:24 — The sad descent of Saul from humility:

• to arrogant appropriation of the job of the priest
• to hubris
• to two attempted assassinations of David (1 Samuel 18:11)
• to an assassination attempt using the Philistines (1 Samuel 18:17) – which sounds a bit like what David did to Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:15)
• to a general assassination order (1 Samuel 19:1)
• to another specific personal assassination attempt (1 Samuel 19:10)
• to a delegated assassination attempt (1 Samuel 19:11)
• to the four waves of assassins he sent to Ramah (1 Samuel 19:20-24).

John 8:31 — How can we be identified as disciples of Jesus? Paul reiterates the importance in 2 Corinthians 13:5. Not all who appear as real are actually real disciples:

My best friend in high school, we did gospel evangelism together as high school kids. Went away to college and declared himself an atheist. My best friend in college, we were co-captains of the football team, was headed for seminary. He essentially denied the faith and walked away. One of my best friends in seminary, his father was the dean of the seminary. After he graduated, he set up a Buddhist altar in his house. So we all deal with this. We all are asking the question all the time who is real? Who is genuine?

John MacArthur

By the way, notice that this antagonistic dialogue is with the Jews which believed on him. MacArthur quotes J.C. Ryle:

This is the most dangerous spiritual condition any person can ever be in where you’re halfway to Christ; inclined to Jesus, inclined to the truth about Jesus, wanting what Jesus provides and what He offers, but not willing to give in to the full demands that He lays on the sinner of repentance and faith in Him, declaration of His lordship, turning from sin toward righteousness

John MacArthur

John 8:48-51 — Also from John MacArthur:

Three phases appear in this dialog, and they flow through a kind of a consistent pattern. First comes blasphemy from them. Then Jesus speaks truth, and then He gives a gracious invitation. So the first one: blasphemy, truth, gracious invitation. Second one: blasphemy, truth, gracious invitation.

John MacArthur

Psalm 112:1 — Another blessing on those who obey the Lord! May you be one of those blessed!

Proverbs 15:14 — If you have free time, instead of turning on the TV set, grab a book!

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

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Image Credit: Constantin Hansen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  1 Samuel 17:1-18:4
  John 8:21-30
  Psalm 111:1-10
  Proverbs 15:11

David and Goliath

1 Samuel 17:37 — From our friend Patch the Pirate:

1 Samuel 18:1 — A good choice of friends for Jonathan (Proverbs 13:20). We will see that Rehoboam made the wrong choice of friends as a prince (1 Kings 12:8).

John 8:21 — A not so seeker-friendly message – “… ye shall die in your sins” repeated 3x (John 8:24). These statements echo Ezekiel’s warning that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 18:18, 18:20).

Psalm 111:1 — Why praise the LORD? His works are great (Psalm 111:2), honorable (Psalm 111:3), glorious (Psalm 111:3), memorable (Psalm 111:4), powerful (Psalm 111:6), verity (Psalm 111:7), and judgment (Psalm 111:7).

Psalm 111:10 — Echoed in Proverbs 9:10.

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

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Image Credit: Golden Treasury of Bible Stories by Arthur W Spalding copyright 1954. Copyright was held by Southern Publishing Association and was not renewed. The artist for “David Defeats the Giant” is Robert Temple Ayres. obituary – www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-robert-temple-ayres…