60IN60 Day 33 - Fri Feb 7

It's Day 33 and we're in Mark 13.


Sometimes we only want to hear words of comfort from God, but we're reminded in Hebrews 4:12 that the Bible is "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit." It's great when we get an encouraging word, but we need to be convicted too.


Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 33, 35, 37 - Again and again He says to be alert.  Am I ready for what God is doing in the world, whether it's the great destruction described here or great revival?


If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.


If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 32 - Thurs Feb 6

It's Day 32 and we're in Mark 12.


Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 34 - Some questions Jesus applauds and lauds.  How great would it be to ask Him a question and have Him say something like that?
- Verse 40 - "greater condemnation" - That just really hit me hard this morning.  Not just are those without God going to be condemned, some are going to receive a "greater condemnation."  We need to do all we can to share the truth so that folks don't have to experience that.


Help:
- Verses 13-14 - The Pharisees and Herodians come together set the trap.  The Herodians were in league with Herod, so if Jesus says to not pay taxes, they can go to Herod and call Jesus a rebel worthy of death.  If Jesus says to pay the tax, then the Pharisees can tell the people that Jesus is just a patsy for the Roman government.  It's supposed to be an ironclad no-win situation for Jesus, except that He has the perfect answer.
- Verse 25 - We will know each other, but we will not be married in the same way we are on earth.  For some people that seems like really bad news; for others it seems like really good news. ;-)
- Verses 35-37 - This is a little Bible riddle that Jesus gives them.  David is speaking of someone coming after him, so David should be the one given the most respect.  Instead, though, David speaks of the one who comes after him as his "Lord."  Why?  The correct answer is that the one who came after him was God Incarnate.  This illustrates that the Pharisees didn't have quite as complete a grasp on the Bible as they thought they did.


If you want to read the Bible online, here's a link.


If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 31 - Wed Feb 5

It's Day 31 and we're in Mark 11.


Is the Bible an old dusty book? Nope - ". . . the Word of God is living and active. . ." (Hebrews 4:12). Dig into today expecting it to speak to you.


Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 2 - "which no one has ever ridden" - Jesus was doing something that no one else had ever done, or ever could do, in heading to the cross for our sins.


Help:
- Verse 14 - Why does Jesus curse the fig tree?  It's not because He's having a bad day and lost His temper.  This passage is a "sandwich" - a story starts, then is interrupted by another story, and then the original story is concluded.  When that happens, the two stories are always intimately related.  Here Jesus curses a fig tree (verses 12-14), goes and clears out the compromised Temple (verses 15-19), and then the fig tree is dead (verses 20-21).  Jesus cursing the fig tree is symbolic of Him cursing the Temple system.  He is laying that aside for the new open door that will happen through His death on the cross.
- Verses 27-33 - The point of this is that the religious leaders wanted to hold onto their popularity among the people but also didn't want to acknowledge John as a prophet.  Jesus targeted their hypocrisy.


If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.


If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 30 - Tues Feb 4

It's Day 30 and we're in Mark 10.


Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 21 - "felt a love for him" - I love that line.  Jesus wasn't trying to beat him down with what He's about to ask the young man.  He wasn't trying to prove a point with the man's failure.  Jesus told him to leave everything behind because it was the path to life.


Help:
- Verses 2-12 - There are other passages that flesh out further details on divorce.  This passage emphasizes the main point, which is that marriage is sacred.
- Verse 18 - "Why do you call me good?" - Jesus was, of course, good because He never sinned.  I think He said this because the man came to Him thinking He was another teacher, albeit a "good" one.
- Verse 23 - Being rich makes it easy for us to love this world.  It's hard to have money and not have it rule you.
- Verses 24-25 - This goes along with the teaching Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount about the path to God being a narrow road.


If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.


If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

Your Comments:
- "Sounds a lot like this past Sunday nights message. Jonah felt like the Ninevites transgressions were worse than his."

60IN60 Day 29 - Mon Feb 3

It's Day 29 and we're in Mark 9.


An encouragement as you read the Bible today: in Acts 17:11, it tells of some Christians in Berea who "received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether [what we taught was Biblical]."


Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 43-48 - The point of these verses is not to mutilate yourself, but to do whatever it takes to avoid hell.  Do I have that level of concern about hell and the destination of many of my friends?


Help:
- Verse 12 - The "Elijah" figure is John the Baptist.
- Verse 29 - That is, being "prayed up" and having been before the Lord in prayer and therefore being close enough to Him to manifest that kind of power.
- Verses 49-50 - This is obscure.  The verse 49 reference probably means that suffering and struggle will come our way.  Verse 50 probably means that we need to have the "flavor" of Christ defining our lives.


If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.


If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 28 - Sun Feb 2

It's Day 28 and we're in Jonah 4.


Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 6 - Am I happier about the things I have than the people God desperately loves?


Help:
- Verse 1 - He was angry because Nineveh was an enemy of the Israelites.  He wanted justice, not mercy.


If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.


If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 27 - Sat Feb 1

It's Day 27 and we're in Jonah 3.


Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 5 - You never know who's ready to say, "Yes" to God.


If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.


If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.


Your Thoughts and Questions:


-

"V. 7. Is there more to casting lots than we have recognized, or possibly utilized?  After all, in Acts,  it was used to select the servants of The Lord that would make sure the widows and orphans were fed.  If my memory isn't in confusion, it seems there are other situations in which it was used or recommended.

V. 9.   Jonah states that "and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”
How much fear, or respect, did Jonah really have when he could blatantly ignore God's instructions by running away and sleeping so deeply that a violent storm could not awaken him?

V. 5 & 13. It seems to me that the sailors were good moral and ethical men.  They were not so greedy that they had to keep their cargo at all cost, they sought relief from their gods, and they tried to avoid throwing Jonah overboard.  (This situation of the sailors recognizing God as superior reminds me of Paul's preaching about the "Unknown God".). Lesson to be learned- once again we are shown that being a good moral or ethical person is not enough.

V. 16 I wonder, did Jonah "run into" some of the same sailors at some later point?  Or, did Go tell Jonah about the sailors' sacrifice and vows after he was thrown overboard?"

My answers:

- v. 7 - That's an interesting point.  There are multiple places in the Scripture where casting lots is used.  The main New Testament example is early in Acts where they "replace" Judas.  I wonder if they were supposed to do that, though.  It never says the Lord told them to cast lots.  Obviously, as you look at Acts, the real "replacement" for Judas was Paul.  I think the main thing we need to come back to is that nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded or even told it's permissible to make decisions by casting lots.  There are times, though, where God used it in the Old Testament.

- v. 9 - Not enough, obviously.

- v. 5 and 13 - I'm not sure if they were moral and ethical or just "scared straight" in that moment.

- v. 16 - Good questions.  No way to know, but interesting thoughts.


- "Like most of us I have read the account of Noah many times but until this morning and always wondered how Noah got those "wild" animals to come to him.  Just assumed God rounded them up and sent them in but there it is in verse 2.  But I still don't understand why Noah cursed Canaan when it was Ham who saw him naked.  Am I missing something here?" -


My answers:
- My presumption would be that God just made the animals to come to that spot.  That's the only way that makes sense.
- Noah cursing Canaan is not something that I think was God-honoring, nor was his drunkenness.  We see throughout Genesis stories of "God's man" doing things that are less than noble and less than godly.  They do have power that God has vested in that person, though, so the blessings and curses they speak have power.  Kind of like how the words I speak, whether godly or selfish, reflect back on God.