8 You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. 9 You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land. 10 Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars. 11 We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea; our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River.[a] 12 But now, why have you broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit? 13 The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it.
14 Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Look down from heaven and see our plight. Take care of this grapevine 15 that you yourself have planted, this son you have raised for yourself. 16 For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies. May they perish at the sight of your frown. 17 Strengthen the man you love, the son of your choice. 18 Then we will never abandon you again. Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
–Psalm 80:8-19 (NIV)
This Psalm was written by Asaph a Levite appointed by King David to minister before the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem. His poetic description of how God helped the Israelites settle and flourish in the Promised Land is picturesque. But the lament that follows is heartbreaking.
I can see parallels with our own nation, the USA. God helped us to become a strong nation, but we have turned away from God and are quickly falling into decay.
How I wish we as a nation had the resolve of verse 18. I pray that God will reach down and touch hearts, open eyes and ears to his leading, so that we as a nation will once again value his guidance and favor that we have come to take for granted.
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
10 Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil[a] spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.
–Matthew 9:35-10:1 (NLT)
The news continues to be more and more alarming every day, especially for Christians. Sinful behavior is flaunted as acceptable lifestyle choices and the media flashes it all in our faces every day. Sadly, the reaction of most Christians seems to be to withdraw and point fingers at the sinners.
That wasn’t Jesus’ reaction. He frequently met with sinners and tax collectors. Matthew, one of the early disciples that Jesus called was a tax collector who got up from his tax collecting booth on the spot, when Jesus asked him to become his follower. Matthew immediately planned a dinner so Jesus could meet his friends – other tax collectors and sinners.
How are you reaching out to the sinners around you? Are you creating your own private cocoon or are you looking for ways to share your faith?
Father God, open our hearts, break them if necessary; and open our eyes to see the need and the harvest waiting for us. …waiting for us to be willing to step up and help. Give us the courage we need to share our faith in meaningful and relevant ways.
I have been experimenting with different approaches to blogging on His Whisperings. For the past two weeks I have been publishing and recording the scripture passages used by the Uniform Series scriptures which are incorporated into the adult Sunday school curriculum by many denominations world wide. I have also recorded these scriptures and have created a Facebook group to encourage discussion of these passages.
I may have bitten off more than I can chew, especially for the next 2-3 weeks as I prepare to attend one of the Highlights Foundation Workshops – Sharing Our Hope: Writing for Religious and Inspirational Markets. One thing I hope to gain from attending this workshop is a better plan for prioritizing my writing efforts and focusing on the most appropriate and realistic ministries for my talents, skills, and interests.
I will appreciate your prayers over the next few weeks as I seek God’s leading in all of this.
This week’s scriptures demonstrate the reasons we have for the confidence we have in looking to Jesus for our strength. This blog post is under construction… meaning that I will add more recordings and comments on the scripture references through the week. I do enjoy reading scriptures and hope to help others find a love for God’s Word by sharing them in this way. My goal is to record the Daily Bible Study passages every day to follow the Daily Bible Study that many Christian denominations use in their Sunday school adult lesson quarterlies. These are known as the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching and published by the Committee on the Uniform Series.
I am reading from the New Living Translation for these recordings.
In Psalm 16 David is quick to acknowledge the Lord as the source of his strength rather than to take credit for himself. His reference to the holy one is seen by many Bible scholars to be about Jesus whose body never saw decay.
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had[a] the power of death.15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,[b] so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
–Hebrews 2:14-18 (NLT)
These verses explain why it was necessary for Jesus to come to earth and live not only with us, but as one of us – in a human (not angel) body that could die – so then he could conquer death for us. I like the part about Jesus not coming as an angel – he was truly flesh and blood like us. It is comforting to know that Jesus once walked this earth and experience life as a human. He now sits beside God and intercedes on our behalf through a heart that understands our problems from the inside out.
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a]For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
–Philippians 3:7-11 (NLT)
Paul’s reference to “these things” was to a list of Jewish accomplishments he had once prided himself in – his proper circumcision, his heritage, once a Pharisee… These were now seen as worthless by Paul in comparison to knowing Christ. Paul now received strength through Christ, and even more so through his sufferings. This passage seems to say “bring on more sufferings” as Paul recognizes the opportunities they give him to reach others for Christ. He is also experiencing greater closeness to Christ through it all.
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
35 until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”’[a]
36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
1 The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem[a];
you will rule over your enemies.
3 When you go to war,
your people will serve you willingly.
You are arrayed in holy garments,
and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.
4 The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene[a] by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.
King David spoke of the resurrection of Christ long before Christ was born. This point is well supported by the scriptures for this Sunday’s lesson. I’m writing and recording this on the fly and plan to add a few comments along through the week as I reflect on these scriptures. I encourage those who are preparing Sunday school lessons to share insights in the comments below for other Sunday school teachers. I would also appreciate suggestions on how I can make these blog posts more helpful.
I hope the recordings are helpful. I find I get more out of the scriptures by reading them aloud with expression. As I read and re-read them to get better and more appropriate expression in my voice, I am able to understand the scripture better. I am ADHD, and for me, this process helps me to focus. I also believe I would get more out of the scripture the first time through if I were able to listen to an expressive reader as I followed along with the text.
My comments will not be extensive. To me it seems a bit arrogant to think I can add all that much to God’s word with my comments. These scriptures should be the heart of our Sunday school lessons. Any comment should serve the purpose of explaining passages that may be confusing in our culture.
1 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem[a]; you will rule over your enemies. 3 When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly. You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.
4 The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you. He will strike down many kings when his anger erupts. 6 He will punish the nations and fill their lands with corpses; he will shatter heads over the whole earth. 7 But he himself will be refreshed from brooks along the way. He will be victorious.
22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene[a] by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25 King David said this about him:
‘I see that the Lordis always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead[b] or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’[c]
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand 35 until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”’[d]
36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
