Three Minute Bible

February 3, 2020February 3, 2020

Affirmation Monday – Keeping Up

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

— Philippians 4:6

One affirmation everyone likes to hear is that everything is going to be okay. I know I do. Especially when I’m in a tough spot.

It is easy to be happy when everything is going well. It is when things go bad that we become anxious. Like when you suddenly realize that the car to your right that was supposed to stop at the stop sign is still moving. That gets people’s adrenaline up! Another fun event is being called into the boss’s office without warning. They usually don’t do that to pat someone on the back.

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020

Psalm Sunday – Movies

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
    with you, evil people are not welcome.

But I, by your great love,
    can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
    toward your holy temple.

— Psalm 5: 4, 7

Have you ever noticed how many stories are based on the Bible? The Bible story is based on Jesus coming into our world. He offers us a special relationship. He is wonderful. But something bad has happened. The people Jesus loves have been taken captive by his arch-enemy, Satan. In the battle to free his people, Jesus is killed. Then, amazingly, he comes back to life.

In the movies, the hero often follows a similar story arc. A great sacrifice is needed. Sometimes the hero or heroine even dies. Once in a while, the hero comes back to life. (If you have ever seen the movie, Princess Bride, you know what I mean.)

February 1, 2020February 1, 2020

Choose to Follow – James 2: 9

But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

Yesterday, in verse 8, James quotes God Himself from Leviticus 19: 18b saying, “… love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

Jesus repeats this when tested by the Pharisees. Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 37b-40)

When James quotes the “royal law” he is on very solid ground. He follows this up with his statement that showing favoritism is a sin. He tells us that God’s words themselves convict the person who sins in this way.

So how does this work? This doesn’t sound like Paul’s letters to the Gentile churches where we learn that we are no longer under the law! (Romans 6:14 for example.)

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020

King’s Law – James 2: 8

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

The word translated as “royal” comes from the Greek word, “basilikos.” A quick look at Strong’s Concordance reveals that the word, basilikos, can also mean “of or belonging to a king.” So why wouldn’t James refer to this law from God as the “King’s law?” After all, Scripture tells us Jesus is “King of Kings” (Revelation 19:6).

While there is at least one translation of the Bible* that uses “king’s law” instead of “royal law,” it is not commonly done. The reason we shy away from the use of “king” in this case is that the reader might be prone to confuse the meaning.

January 30, 2020January 31, 2020

Flashlight – James 2: 6b-7

Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

In this passage, James pulls out a flashlight and shines the light on who these “rich people” are that he keeps talking about. James is not concerned that Larry might own a bigger tent or house than his neighbor Fred. Rather he is concerned about those who exploit others to further themselves.

He brings the light closer to show us a specific example. The rich who exploit others drag people into court.

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020

Wisdom Wednesday – Paths

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

— Proverbs 3: 5-6

So what is the big deal about traveling a straight path?

It depends on what you want, I suppose. Depending on where you are in life, look back on where you have been. Are you one of those people who seemed to know where they were going and walked straight towards their goal? Or are you one of those people, like me, who meandered a bit along life’s trail?

While exploring on our own can be fun, there are dangers along the trail. Like the little lost lamb, we might find ourselves stuck in a briar patch or the bottom of a ravine with a broken leg. Dangers and dead ends waste time and might keep us from getting where we are going.

And where are we going again? We are going to be with our Father in heaven. That is our goal. That is our hope.

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020

Honor or Dishonor? – James 2: 6a

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by men who dedicate their lives to honoring those who have passed on in the service of their country.

But you have dishonored the poor.

Sometimes there is as much in what the Bible doesn’t say as what it does say. John has divided the world up into three groups, but he only mentions two. One group is “the rich,” the second group is “the poor.” The third group is everyone else, those who discriminate between the rich and the poor.

This third group of people are those that James is writing to. James refers to them as his “brothers and sisters.” Since all those who believe in Jesus are brothers and sisters in Christ (Mark 3:35) James is talking to us as well.

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020

Affirmation Monday – In God We Trust

Enlarged photo of a penny showing the words, "In God We Trust."

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit

— Romans 15:13

If you look at any United States coin, written on the front are the words, “In God We Trust.” Over the years I have come to marvel at the implications of what it means to trust in God.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he ties together trust, hope, joy, and peace. All this is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Without God, we do not have access to that power.

So what? So what if we don’t have trust?

January 26, 2020January 26, 2020

Psalm Sunday – A Prayer Medley

Hear my cry for help,
    my King and my God,
    for to you I pray.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.

— Psalm 5: 2-3

David, the psalm writer, knows about needing help. Invited into King Saul’s service as a boy, it isn’t long before the king becomes jealous of David. God and David already have a close relationship. David has a simple, child-like faith. God looks on that faith and honors it by blessing what David does. David the child defending the army of Israel with a sling was an example of that relationship.

Because David relies on God, God blesses David. Because God blesses David, the people of Israel honor David. Because Saul has lost God’s blessing (see 1 Samuel 13) Saul is jealous of David. Jealously leads to strife and strife leads to Saul trying repeatedly to kill David. During all this time David remains faithful to Saul and respects God’s anointing.

January 25, 2020March 27, 2020

Distractions – James 2: 5

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

As we gently sift through the words that James wrote down so many years ago, we get a sense of his deep love for those he is writing to. Something has happened to trigger this letter. We do not know what it is or how James came to hear about it. His letter testifies to the fact that he did hear, and he is doing something about it.

Somehow the poor are being dishonored by his brothers and sisters in Christ. This is wrong. James makes that clear. Now he begins to walk us through the reasons why it is wrong.

Who is poor in ”the eyes of the world?”