My Daily Pause

The psalmist asked some of the same questions we ask today about wicked people and God’s people.

• Why are the wicked prospering?
• Why are Christians being oppressed?
• Why are people so boastful of wicked things?

The point he was trying to make was that the wicked do not believe in God, whether they admit it or not. (Psalm 10:1-11) Their greed and evil ways drive God right from their heart.

My assertions about those who do not believe in God are these:

• They suffer from laziness – Most who do not believe in God have not honestly studied the Bible
• Their ego is in the way – It is difficult to conspicuously change one’s mind
• They are immersed in self-pity – Most people know when they are doing bad things

The attack that Atheists bring against Christians is intellectual, the implication being that only the uneducated believe in God. To get to that argument, those “educated” people have to ignore logic and evidence outside the Bible that God exists.

So where does atheism come from in those “highly educated” people?

They are wicked.

They love the darkness that covers them and embrace the evil in their heart. (John 3:19)

Daily Bible reading for August 12

Psalm 10
Ruth 1
Jeremiah 38
Mark 8:27-9:50

Whether or not to attend worship services is a spiritual decision you will have to make today (or the Sunday after you read this.) If you think you will not be missed, then you are mistaken. Others are coming because you are. Your voice is needed in song. You need to remember Christ’s life death and resurrection. You need to give. This list goes on.

The fact is, when you became a Christian you made a commitment. When you identified yourself with your congregation, you made a commitment.

You committed yourself to serve the kingdom in any way that helps it grow. If you need more study on the matter, here are the reasons you need to be in church today:

• To seek God’s kingdom (Matthew 6:33)
• To worship God (John 4:24)
• To edify the other saints (Hebrews 3:13)
• To sing praises to our God (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19)
• To pray (1 Timothy 2:1-8)
• To partake of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
• To give as we have prospered(1 Corinthians 16:1, 2)
• To study (2 Timothy 2:15).

These are all items that are part of your service to God, but there is a compelling reason you need to go for yourself. Just like a coal loses its glow when it is removed from the fire, your spirit will be quenched when it is removed from the congregation. Just like that coal needs the fire’s heat to continue consuming the fuel, your faith needs God’s word to grow.

See you in church!

Daily Bible reading for August 11

Psalm 9
Judges 21
Jeremiah 37
Mark 7:1-8:26

If you find it challenging to get an audience for Bible study from among those closest to you, you are not alone.

In Mark 6:4-5, we see Jesus performing the only the most basic miracles in his home town because they didn’t have enough faith in his message. Human jealousy and competition closed their ears to the one among them that wanted to save them.

That was Jesus. He didn’t even have a bad reputation. He never committed a sin. If we were to list the reasons we need to be like Jesus, limiting our personal liabilities to the gospel message is a big one.

Five Ways to Make Others Receptive

To improve the chances of getting someone close to you to listen to the gospel here are some suggestions:

• Practice excellent behavior – make it priority never to use coarse language, shy away from off-color subjects and stay away from TV and radio programming that use these things for humor.
• Live well – When you look like you have it together, never complain, rarely worry, others will want to know why.
• Never criticize –be careful about how you bow out of activities you shouldn’t join. Remember that they aren’t in the same place as you and haven’t made the same commitments to God yet.
• Organically introduce the Bible – Wait for opportunities to teach so that the conversation feel natural to the discussion flow.
• Introduce someone new – A Christian friend is helpful when they do not have the same history as you do with your long-time friends and relatives.

Finding those open to the Gospel from among our peers is not impossible, it just takes a little more planning.

Daily Bible reading for August 10

Psalm 8
Judges 20
Jeremiah 36
Mark 6

Do you think Jesus finds it maddening that his followers forget to trust God during the tough times?

Trust God

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt, 1632.

Jesus asked his followers twice why they worried when the storm came up and caught them in their boats. (Matthew records the question before he calmed the storm and Mark 4:35-43 records it after.) The comfort we can have from just knowing that Christ wants us to call on the Master for help is there just for us. There is usually a bigger plan working and we have to trust God to see us through.

That is not to say we will never be challenged a little beyond our ability to handle the situation. He wants us to experience trials like the stormy sea for the growth and experience it gives us. (James 1:2-4) Sometimes it is even for the reason of exposing a weakness we have. Paul gave us in 2 Cor. 11:23-30 a list of challenges he had to endure and survived. It wasn’t to brag about his strength and manliness – it was to

boast of the things that show my weakness. – 2 Corinthians 11:30b

Those weaknesses are what reminds us that we need God! Remember to trust God and talk to him daily.

Daily Bible reading for August 9

Psalm 7
Judges 19
Jeremiah 35
Mark 4:35-5:43

Why do atheists campaign so hard against what a Christian believes? Why do they care? Evil hates good so much that it must take action!

Evil Hates Good

It started in the beginning. Cain killed his brother “because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:12) Jesus expected to be hated and warned that “all men shall be hated” because of him (Luke 21:17)

Cain slaying Abel – Peter Paul Rubens,1608-1609

In Mark 4:30-34 we see that Christ’s kingdom, represented by the mustard tree, is so large that even stray birds can live and prosper among the branches. These birds never really impact it for the good or the bad. When I think about those birds, I think about how insignificant the community outside of Christ really is and how we really don’t need to be concerned about it. At the end of the day, the kingdom will stand strong.

So why does evil hate good?

• Psalm 6 ends with God’s enemies ashamed and troubled (Psalm 6:9-10)
• The Scriptures make the heart burn when they are revealed (Luke 24:32)
• Darkness cannot overcome God’s light (John 1:5)

Since God is the definition of good (James 1:17) and he is the only good one, (Mark 10:18) we begin to stand out as we strive to be like God. The world has never shown tolerance to those that are different.

But that’s what we want because it is the evidence of our heritage (1 John 3:10)

Daily Bible reading for August 8

Psalm 6
Judges 18
Jeremiah 34
Mark 4:1-34