Thu 12 Feb 2009
Daily Reading
EXODUS 22:16-24:18
How did God feel as he described the plans for the Temple? Did he think it was ridiculous, or was he honored by the obedience of the Israelites in the construction of the temple? Nothing can contain his presence; it's not like God is limited to officially approved containers. What did people outside the temple think God was doing in there? Did they think he couldn't see them or hear them? Did they think he didn't know exactly what was in their hearts?
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Thu 12 Feb 2009 8:12:48 am | no comments
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Sat 7 Feb 2009
Daily Reading
EXODUS 13:1-15:27
It seems the Israelites weren't quite ready for the aftermath of deliverance. God made strategic travel stops to keep the Israelites from returning to slavery, and they still complained. Were the Israelites really at rock bottom when God led them out of Egypt? Were they stuck in a cycle of self-pity, and this is how God pried them out of it? How much should I compare my attitude with the collective attitude of a nation-group from several thousand years ago?
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Sat 7 Feb 2009 10:26:47 am | no comments
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Fri 6 Feb 2009
Daily Reading
EXODUS 10:1-12:51
God introduces the Passover celebration, at feels like the first time that God is laying out a blanket command to his people. I could be wrong about that, but it seems like an early step in the process toward the legalism. This isn't God's intention at all. Legalism is simply our way of twisting God's desire for relationship into our desire for independent success.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Fri 6 Feb 2009 9:06:08 am | no comments
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Tue 3 Feb 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 40:6-42:17
God to Job: "I created both you and the hippopotamus." Job, seriously, when God compares you to a hippo, then you know you need to get your head right.
Job listens to God and then praises him because he has seen God with his own eyes. Before, he believed based on what others said about God. After this experience, his belief was transfered to a foundation of his own experience. I think a lot of people (myself included) get hung up believing from the words of others rather than from personal experience. But what should I expect in a personal experience with the eternal God of the universe? Am I willing to have an experience that defies expectations?
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Tue 3 Feb 2009 8:25:00 am | no comments
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Mon 2 Feb 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 35:1-37:24
God lays it out for Job in this section. Did Job realize all the things God explains about creation? Perhaps he needed a reminder of how big the world is and how small he is. It's awesome to think about God above and beyond and among all that he created. And it hurts my brain a little bit.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Mon 2 Feb 2009 8:28:34 am | no comments
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Tue 27 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 30:1-31:40
"And with my head held high
I would tell him everything
I have ever done."
Is this even possible, Job? Has God designed my mind to remember all of things I've ever done? I don't think so, and I don't think it would matter, even if I could. The list isn't all that impressive. In fact, I think it would sound more like an indictment than a defense. Fortunately, I have an in with the judge (who also happens to be my father).
Thank you, Jesus, for standing in for me when the judge declares me guilty and delivers the deadly sentence.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Tue 27 Jan 2009 8:16:07 am | no comments
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Mon 26 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 26:1-29:25
"God is the only one who knows
the way to wisdom,
because he sees everything
beneath the heavens."
I'm not convinced that God knows wisdom only because he sees everything. If I could see everything, I would still have to know what do with all that knowledge. Making good decisions based on truth is wisdom.
"God told us, 'Wisdom means
that you respect me, the Lord,
and turn from sin.'"
This is as close as I can get to perfect wisdom. God is worthy because he sees everything, and he makes the right decision, every time. Temptation doesn't affect him, selfishness doesn't affect him. His actions are always beneficial.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Mon 26 Jan 2009 8:22:38 am | no comments
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Fri 23 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 15:1-18:21
Job is a big whiner in this passage. I'm not saying that I don't whine, maybe I recognize how ridiculous I sound as I read Job's story. Even in the midst of terrible physical and family tragedy, God is working. Tough to see in the moment, but it's true every time.
Thank you, God, for the college students meeting at our place on Thurdays. It's so fun to be around people brave enough to practice your presence, even when the words come out a little awkward.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Fri 23 Jan 2009 8:04:47 am | no comments
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Thu 22 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 12:1-14:22
Job: "There's no way a human
can be completely pure."
Joel: You're wrong, Job. There is one way to be pure. Confess sin, repent, and trust your life to Jesus.
Job: "We feel no pain but our own,
and when we mourn,
it's only for ourselves."
Joel: If we can't feel the pain of others, then we are all truly alone. Is there a way to experience true empathy? I can never completely know what someone else is feeling, but I can draw on my experience and my imagination to approach what others are feeling. Also, isn't art (music, literature, painting, etc.) a way to feel vicariously through others?
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Thu 22 Jan 2009 9:09:48 am | no comments
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Wed 21 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 8:1-11:20
Job's friends have all kinds of ideas about why God is punishing Job. They even assume that God is doing the punishing! (Is God complicit in the act if he allows it?)
Beyond God's natural law of cause and effect, I'm not confident that God "punishes" people for their sins on this earth. What many call the wrath of God is simply the harsh reality of God's creation: I reap that which I sow. God's creation is both beautiful and unrelenting. He doesn't relax gravity just because I decide to jump off a cliff. Neither does he relax the effects of disobedience, unfaithfulness, and selfishness.
I wonder if God sometimes speeds up the effects of my actions to get me down to rock bottom faster. The sooner I hit rock bottom, the sooner I am (hopefully) willing to cry out to God in trust and obedience.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Wed 21 Jan 2009 7:14:05 am | no comments
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Tue 20 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
"Don't blame fate when things go wrong—
trouble doesn't come from nowhere.
It's human! Mortals are born and bred for trouble,
as certainly as sparks fly upward."
Job's friend is half right. We don't need help getting ourselves into trouble. However, Satan roams the earth looking for people to deceive and accuse. So we do have a "fate" conspiring against us, but this fate isn't some cosmic force, it's a limited, defined being.
We also have a "fate" working for our good, and he has a name. God is conspiring to make us succeed if we love him. He takes anything bad that happens in our lives and remixes it to make us better, more successful, more faithful, more in love with him.
Thank you, God.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Tue 20 Jan 2009 7:45:04 am | no comments
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Mon 19 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
JOB 1:1-4:21
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Mon 19 Jan 2009 11:54:35 am | no comments
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Fri 16 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
GENESIS 42:1-45:15
Jacob prayed that God All-Powerful would be good to his sons and his family, not realizing that God had already set everything up for his success.
I don't think this is any kind of prototype promise for believers. I think this is an example of God's work: take the worst that might happen and turn it into something wonderful.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Fri 16 Jan 2009 8:49:59 am | no comments
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Wed 14 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
GENESIS 37:1-38:30
1 CHRONICLES 2:3-6
1 CHRONICLES 2:8
GENESIS 39:1-23
Clearly, Joseph benefitted from God's hand in his life. Is it possible that he might have saved himself some suffering if he had kept his dreams to himself? Come on, Joseph. God's going to make you the best among your family. Do you really need to flaunt it?
At any rate, God used Joseph's suffering as an instrument of mercy.
Also, Judah got his dead son's wife pregnant. With twins. Weird.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Wed 14 Jan 2009 8:37:09 am | no comments
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Tue 13 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
GENESIS 32:1-35:27
So, what exactly precipitated a wrestling match between Jacob and God? Did Jacob bump into God at a well? Was God going easy on Jacob?
Usually when I say I'm "wrestling" with something, it's negative (or at least it feels negative at the time). Was this some sort of God-man bonding time?
The aftermath was the beginning of the nation of Israel. Jacob had twelve sons who started the twelve tribes, and it seems that Israel continues to wrestle today.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Tue 13 Jan 2009 8:11:45 am | no comments
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Mon 12 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
GENESIS 28:6-30:24
The more I read about people like Abraham and Jacob and Laban, the more I wonder about families and faithfulness in Genesis. Maybe I need to cut them some slack, but it seems that the founders of the longest surviving nation in the world might be a little more hesitant to jump to lying and polygamy. I'm positive that I'm missing something that might make their lives more clear.
Thank you, God, for using screwed up people to complete your purposes.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Mon 12 Jan 2009 7:44:27 am | no comments
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Fri 9 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
Both Isaac and Abraham lied about their relationships with their wives. They both said that their wives were their sisters to avoid being killed. Later, the rulers that they lied to called them on the lies, complaining about being wrapped up in unwitting guilt. Did God want Abraham and Isaac to lie?
Speaking of lying, Jacob also lied, this time to receive his father's blessing intended for his older brother. In this case, though, the blessing of Jacob seems to match up with God's promise that his brothers will be his servants. Did God want Jacob to lie to his father? If Esau received his rightful blessing, would God still have placed Jacob at the top?
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Fri 9 Jan 2009 7:56:28 am | no comments
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Thu 8 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
I wonder about the process of believing the Lord. Genesis 15:6 says "Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD was pleased with him." What exactly did Abram do when he "believed". Was it mostly a mind thing, or more of a state of his heart?
Later in Genesis, God promises Abram that his descendants will take the promised land, but only because the occupants are so sinful that they deserve to be punished. Not exactly a situation worth celebrating. It's almost like God is using Israel to punish other nations, rather than blessing Israel's obedience and trust.
Finally, God promises Abram a son and many descendants and changes his name to Abraham. Then the circumcisions begin. Why are circumcisions still practiced? It's essentially a cosmetic procedure, yet we had our son circumcised. It seems like a really old command that became a tradition, and now it's just kind of a cultural norm.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Thu 8 Jan 2009 7:31:10 am | no comments
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Tue 6 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
GENESIS 11:1-26
1 CHRONICLES 1:24-27
GENESIS 11:27-31
GENESIS 12:1-14:24
It seems strange that God would want to confuse people from working together. It reads a little menacing. I've heard that God's action was actually a move to prevent men from anonymizing themselves in their effort become god-like.
There's nothing wrong with building a tower. It just depends on the purpose of the tower and the method of building. Does the tower bring honor and glory to God? Are the workers treated with dignity, or are they simply human work horses.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Tue 6 Jan 2009 7:56:05 am | no comments
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Mon 5 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
GENESIS 7:1-10:5
1 CHRONICLES 1:5-7
GENESIS 10:6-20
1 CHRONICLES 1:8-16
GENESIS 10:21-30
1 CHRONICLES 1:17-23
GENESIS 10:31-32
God acknowledges that all people "have evil thoughts from the time they are young," but he commits to never destroying everything that breathes after the flood.
I wonder how long it took Noah's children to branch out into the nations listed in Chronicles.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Mon 5 Jan 2009 8:07:32 am | no comments
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Sun 4 Jan 2009
Daily Reading
GENESIS 4:1-5:32
1 CHRONICLES 1:1-4
GENESIS 6:1-22
According to Genesis 4:26, people didn't start worshipping the Lord until after Seth was born, polygamy had been practiced (by Lamech), and Cain had killed Abel.
I'm curious about the Nephilim in Genesis 6:1-4. Apparently, they were the children of human daughters and supernatural beings. What? Why did God allow this? Who were the supernatural beings? Angels?
Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God. How did he do this without the Levitical law? Not that it can't be done. I'm just wondering how it looked in Noah's life.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Sun 4 Jan 2009 11:55:00 am | no comments
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Thu 18 Dec 2008
Daily Reading
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Ezekiel 44:1-45:12;1peter 1:1-12;psalm 119:17-32;proverbs 28:8-10
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Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.
- God is the God of the present and the future. He's got it all covered. What's more, through God, I can live in his blessing now, with more to come later.comment by joelzehring
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You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing.
- Sorry, science buffs. We'll never get to the point where we prove God. It's going to take trust and laughter and singing. Not very scientific, I know.comment by joelzehring
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I'm absorbed in pondering your wise counsel.
Yes, your sayings on life are what give me delight;
I listen to them as to good neighbors!
-
I choose the true road to Somewhere
-
God has no use for the prayers
of the people who won't listen to him.
- He wants conversation, not requisitions. comment by joelzehring
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Thu 18 Dec 2008 8:33:33 am | 11 comments
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Wed 17 Dec 2008
Daily Reading
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Ezekiel 42:1-43:27;james 5:1-20;psalm 119:1-16;proverbs 28:6-7
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And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You'll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment.
- Is James speaking to Americans? What is the cut off for "rich". Maybe the bigger question is: What are the qualifications for arrogant? comment byjoelzehring
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You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
- A big chunk of life seems to be learning to walk in a straight line along God.comment by joelzehring
-
How can a young person live a clean life?
By carefully reading the map of your Word.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Wed 17 Dec 2008 8:29:35 am | 9 comments
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Tue 16 Dec 2008
Daily Reading
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Ezekiel 40:28-41:26;james 4:1-17;psalm 118:19-29;proverbs 28:3-5 So let God work his will in you. - I think of this as active openness. It's not just being "open-minded" or having an "open heart". It means daily praying and reading and listening for God. comment by joelzehring
If you desert God's law, you're free to embrace depravity;
if you love God's law, you fight for it tooth and nail. - How does it look to fight for God's law? Is this a fight in the political sphere to enact laws that reflect God's values?
Is this a fight waged in relationships with co-workers who want to cut corners?
Is this a fight to obtain and maintain a pure mind in my own life? comment by joelzehring
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Tue 16 Dec 2008 8:08:18 am | 11 comments
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Mon 15 Dec 2008
Daily Reading
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Ezekiel 39:1-40:27;james 2:18-3:18;psalm 118:1-18;proverbs 28:2 You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? - Sometimes I wonder if this is what happens in a typical church service. Believers sing, and then they sit back because they aren't invited to work. They're invited to listen. comment by joelzehring
Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
from the wide open spaces, he answered.
God's now at my side and I'm not afraid;
who would dare lay a hand on me? - How do I know when I've hit the wall, when I can't go any farther? comment by joelzehring
When the country is in chaos,
everybody has a plan to fix it2014
But it takes a leader of real understanding
to straighten things out.
Posted by Joel_Zeh on Mon 15 Dec 2008 8:21:10 am | no comments
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