Three Minute Bible

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020

Affirmation Monday – Happy Ending

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

— Romans 10:9

Do you want to be saved?

One day I took a small sailboat out on a large lake. I had not sailed on this lake before and I did not know its tricks and traps. My sailboat ride started very pleasantly. The sky was blue and the sun was bright and warm. I had sailed perhaps a mile from the park where I had launched the boat when I noticed the wind was picking up. It was blowing me away from the boat launch so I turned the boat around and started sailing into the wind.

January 19, 2020January 20, 2020

Psalm Sunday – Sweet Sleep

I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

— Psalm 3: 5

In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.

— Psalm 4: 8

David, the psalmist, lived an amazing life. As a boy he was a shepherd, living with the flocks he watched over. Fighting off predators, finding the lost, helping the lame. In a very real sense, he foreshadows the work of our Savior, Jesus. But David was not Jesus. He was not perfect.

January 18, 2020January 25, 2020

TWCTRAYDNKATROTT – James 1: 26

I love this picture of the goose. He seems to be saying, ”Are you talking to me?!” – JE

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

A little while ago, in verse 19, James laid out a roadmap to spiritual success in God’s eyes. He said we should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. (We examined these three principles in the posts titled: Stop the Spinning! – James 1: 19 Part I, Pause Button – James 1: 19 Part II, Spiritual Gemstones – James 1: 19 Part III, and The Patience of God – James 1: 20.) Today he returns to the principle of “be slow to speak.”

Are you religious? Wondering what James was thinking when he chose that word, I looked it up in Strong’s Concordance. The Greek word James used was, thrēskos. It suggests a pious and public kind of attitude towards God. Such a person might cry out to God loudly in the street, or find other ways to show others how religious they are.

January 17, 2020January 17, 2020

Dinner Time – James 1: 25

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

The Greek word for “looks intently” is parakyptō. Strong’s Concordance says that the word suggests a person is stooping or bending over to look into something. I was trying to think of an analogy for this kind of looking and I finally found one. Have you ever found yourself gazing into the refrigerator looking for something to eat?

January 16, 2020January 20, 2020

Mirror Mirror – James 1: 23-24

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

The human mind contains an incredible array of built-in abilities. One of those abilities is being able to recognize faces.

Faces are especially interesting. A person’s eyes are incredibly unique and able to convey hundreds (maybe thousands!) of expressions. The rest of our face frames the eyes and adds more information to our expressions.

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020

Wisdom Wednesday – A Tale of Two Mowers

For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Proverbs 2: 6-8

Does anybody want wisdom anymore? Is that even a “thing” these days? How about knowledge? What is that, anyway? People seem to claim different things as being true. They want me and you to accept what they claim is knowledge regardless of whether it makes any sense or not. Which brings us to “understanding.” Whose do we use, anyway?

The problem in a society where everyone wins and no one loses is expectations. When people who never lose grow up they continue to expect to be treated as a winner, even if their ideas are losers.

For example, let’s take two neighbors; Harry and Larry. Harry is a humble man, attentive to the Lord, and always looking for the “right” thing to do. Larry, who lives next door, is generally full of himself. As far as he is concerned, he is always “right” and doesn’t need to bother with learning from anyone else.

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020

Ain’t Foolin’ Nobody – James 1: 22

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Did I mention that James is … er… somewhat blunt? I did? Good. ‘Cause he is.

James packs a lot of truth into his brief staccato sentences so we might need to unpack some of this. Not that it is complicated or anything. It is just that what he is talking about is something we might be doing at this very moment.

Are you being “quick to listen” or are you “merely listen[ing]?”

January 13, 2020January 13, 2020

Affirmation Monday – Philippians 1: 6

… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Confidence

In the opening lines of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he shares an eternal truth: God is not a quitter.

Think about the persistence of God. Before he created the earth and the stars he created the angels. One of them went bad. Then this bad egg, Satan, enticed many of God’s angels to follow him.

When God created the universe and all that is in it, he understood the risk. He had already seen corruption in his creation of the angels. When he created the earth and all that we know, he was not surprised when Satan corrupted his creation again.

January 12, 2020January 12, 2020

Psalm Sunday – Psalm 2: 11-12

Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Picture Perfect

Imagine if you will a placid beautiful lake. The lake is surrounded by rolling hills, fruit orchards, and lush fields. Animals play in the fields and birds fill the air. You and others are in boats of some kind; canoes, sailboats, paddle-boards, all enjoying the water and the sunshine.

At the far end of the lake stands a large figure. In our imaginary world, this is God, the Lord. He rules the land and the people on the lake. At his feet there is a cleft in the rock and the lake flows into a narrow ravine. The Lord guards the way and has commanded all the people to stay away from this place, to enjoy the lake and the surrounding hills, but to avoid the river.

January 11, 2020January 11, 2020

Boots – James 1: 21

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

I wonder if James has done this himself? Did he get rid of all the moral filth and evil in him? Did he humbly accept the word that was planted? What do you think? Do you think that running into his half brother, Jesus, after he had seen Jesus crucified might have had an impact on him? I do. I think he was shaken to his boots. (I know, they didn’t have boots in those days, but who says, “Shaken to his sandals?”)

Having been thus shaken, James vows to change. I think he did, too. I think he became the kind of person his brother, Jesus, is proud of. I think he took inventory of his attitudes and feelings and decided he needed to do a little house cleaning. James thinks you and I should do the same.

So how? Where do we start?