Daily Bible Reading - kindly provided by Premier and the Bible Society
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Premier Daily Bible reading below. It is really so good.
Since Jesus himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. Hebrews 2:18Sunday 19 January
For many years I have suffered from back pain, which I have in common with many of you because 60 to 70 per cent of people have back pain at some point in their lives. I find that people are very caring and sympathetic, but there is such a difference between those who are kindly sympathising but have never had back pain, and those who have. I am, of course, grateful for anyone’s kindness but when it is clear that the person I am speaking to has, in some measure, shared my experience it is a particular blessing. Here in Hebrews the writer is keen to show that Jesus really understands the challenges that we face in life because he himself went through suffering and testing.
Later in this letter the writer makes it clear that the Church had suffered terribly for the faith. It must have been so difficult for this group of relatively new Christians to have suffered so much. He wrote that they had been exposed to public ridicule and beaten up for their faith. Some of them had been thrown in jail and others had had all their possessions taken from them. Jesus understood all that they had experienced. He knew what it was to be laughed at and rejected and went on to suffer the ultimate physical suffering of death by crucifixion.
Superficially our lives are obviously very different from Jesus’. But all the deepest experiences of life are ones that he knew. He faced joy and sadness, loving acceptance and bitter rejection, laughter and tears, peace and storms. When we pray and bring our lives before the Lord, we are not speaking to someone who lived a protected life far away from the bumps and bruises of life. We are speaking with one who shared fully the experience of being a human and who can therefore offer us his deep heart-felt sympathy.
QUESTION
In what specific way does it help you to know that Jesus understands your suffering?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I thank you that you understand me so completely. Amen
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We also use this Daily Bible Study. It is an excellent all-rounder. Please
CLICK to see a new Bible Study every day. Don't forget you have a major faith resources section on this site. You can use it to find materials or to contact churches in Lynchmere and Camelsdale or around Haslemere. You can find church services on holiday by changing the site Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Ingratitude and injustice
http://www.wordlive.org Text: Prepare
'He mocks proud mockers, but shows favour to the humble' (Proverbs 3:34, TNIV; compare with James 4:6). Ask for humility to be a doer, not merely a hearer, of God's Word.
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Bible passage: Micah 6
Micah 6
The LORD's Case Against Israel
1 Listen to what the LORD says:
"Stand up, plead your case before the mountains;
let the hills hear what you have to say.
2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD's accusation;
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against his people;
he is lodging a charge against Israel.
3 "My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me.
4 I brought you up out of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
also Aaron and Miriam.
5 My people, remember
what Balak king of Moab counseled
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD."
6 With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Israel's Guilt and Punishment
9 Listen! The LORD is calling to the city-
and to fear your name is wisdom-
"Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.
10 Am I still to forget, O wicked house,
your ill-gotten treasures
and the short ephah, which is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales,
with a bag of false weights?
12 Her rich men are violent;
her people are liars
and their tongues speak deceitfully.
13 Therefore, I have begun to destroy you,
to ruin you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied;
your stomach will still be empty.
You will store up but save nothing,
because what you save I will give to the sword.
15 You will plant but not harvest;
you will press olives but not use the oil on yourselves,
you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.
16 You have observed the statutes of Omri
and all the practices of Ahab's house,
and you have followed their traditions.
Therefore I will give you over to ruin
and your people to derision;
you will bear the scorn of the nations. "
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Text: Main point
See you in court
Micah 6 takes the form of a court case. God's people are on trial and are found guilty. Despite all God had done for them since their deliverance from slavery in Egypt (the Exodus) they remained ungrateful.
God had treated them better than they deserved, yet they were treating one another corruptly. Attempting to make a profit at others' expense (vs 9-11), the guilty would get a taste of their own medicine (vs 13-15; see Psalm 28:4; Revelation 18:6); finally, the whole country would fall into exile (v 16).
Seeking justice
They might still be paying lip service, going through outward motions of worship (vs 6,7), but there was no humility towards God and no justice shown towards their fellow human beings (v 8). God seeks a demonstration of justice as well as a display of worship from his people.
Worship without justice merely reveals our ingratitude. Jesus tackled the Pharisees of his day on this very point: see Luke 11:42. If the church today is at all guilty of the same hypocrisy, how can this be rectified?
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Text: Respond
Micah 6:8 is the rallying call of the Micah Challenge which calls upon Christians to speak out for justice and the halving of extreme poverty by 2015. Why not find out more (
www.micahchallenge.org) and find a way to get involved?
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Text: Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year. Today's readings are:
Isaiah 1,2
1 Timothy 6
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