Notes from my Bible Study for April 10, 2010

Today's Reading: Psalm 100, Leviticus 6:8-7:38, Isaiah 5, 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11

Psalm 100 - 5 - For the Lord is good;his steadfast love endures forever,and his faithfulness to all generations.- Psalm 100 was the first chapter of the Bible that I memorized. I was in Kindergarten at the time, and the student of Ms. Beatrice Killup. She had been the kindergarten teacher at the Wheaton Christian Grammar School for years. It was her tradition to teach her kids Psalm 100 in the form of a song. I still remember that song!

As I read this chapter tonight I smiled. It reminded me of the importance of passing the faith down from one generation to the next. I'm grateful for Ms. Killup, and I'm grateful for our God whose love endures forever and faithfulness is shown to all generations.

Thank you, Jesus for the cross! Your death paved the way for our salvation. I love You!

Leviticus 6:8-7:38 - Leviticus 1:1-6:7 dealt with the different offerings that the children of Israel were to bring to God. This section deals with the way that the priests were to handle the offerings. God gives instructions in the handling of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering and the peace offering. Jesus' death did away with the old system and gave us access to the throne room of Heaven. He is our High Priest and we no longer need anyone but Him to go to the Father on our behalf. Thank you, Jesus for a fresh relationship with God.

Isaiah 5 - 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! - Isaiah 5 is the last chapter to the introduction of the book of Isaiah. The sin of the nation of Israel is exhibit one in God's pronouncement of judgment against the land. Perhaps Is. 5:20 as well as any other summarizes what has gone wrong in Israel. Evil has been called good. It happens in our culture too. A woman's right to choose has been called good, even though a child's life is taken. Affairs are called good so long as they make someone happy. Pornography is celebrated even though it destroys marriages and families. We could go on and on. May we recognize the toll that calling evil good takes on a society, and may we be in tune with God enough to recognize the difference between evil and good!

2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11 - 5Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. - Paul was a determined man. He knew that He had been called to serve God in a very special way, and his passion for that call often times put him at odds with other people. That's one of the reasons that 2 Cor. 2:5-11 is so special. Here Paul takes a tender turn while considering a brother in Christ who needed forgiveness from the Corinthian church. Whatever this man had done had caused pain to the Body of Believers in Corinth, and despite that, Paul wants the church to forgive. By this point in Paul's ministry I believe that he recognized the grace of God upon His own life in such a way that He needed to extend it to others.