Day 172 – June 21, 2021
Scriptures: Psalm 94, 1 Kings 21, Mark 2
 
“When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”” (Mark 2:16–17)
 
Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself?
 
That’s the question posed to Elijah by God, after Ahab tore his clothing and repented of his sins. Ahab was an evil king. After reading of many of his exploits, turning his back on God, worshiping other gods, and leading the Israelites to do the same – you would think he was so far gone from the possibility of forgiveness. But God relents his punishment of Ahab because he humbled himself.
While teaching in a house, a paralyzed man is lowered before Jesus. Jesus forgives the paralyzed man, and to show that he has the power to forgive, he heals him physically as well.
God forgives.
He forgives Ahab, and he forgives the paralyzed man. He forgives you and he forgives me.
Let the peace of this truth fill you with love today, and praise for our forgiving God.
God Forgives,
Jordan

​Day 171 – June 20, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 20, Mark 1
 
Gospel Project Bible Overview: MARK
We open a new book today, the Gospel of Mark. I’ll admit in my reading today, the quick hitting nature of Mark’s gospel is jarring to the system.
I have a simple, but important message for today’s reading.
 
What is the Gospel that Jesus preached?
 
“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”” (Mark 1:14–15)
 
The authority to proclaim such a message is found moments earlier in the Gospel’s ambush of information about Jesus Christ. After Jesus’ baptism, a voice from heaven declares, “This is my Son, whom I love and am well pleased.”
 
The one who is announcing good news of the kingdom of God breaking into the world and calling the world into repentance, is none other than the Son of the Living God. 
 
We align ourselves to this message. Jesus reigns. His kingdom is here.
 
This contrasts well with the divisiveness of the book of Kings. After we read of yet another conflict, we are encouraged to know that a King is coming to unite us all under his authority, in His kingdom.
 
Repent and believe this good news of Jesus Christ.
 
Jordan

Day 170 – June 19, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 18-19, 1 Corinthians 16
 
Elijah is exhausted after taking on the prophets of Baal. He feels alone and he is physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted.
 
God’s invitation to him is to come and rest and eat a snack.
 
If you get anything out of all of this, it is to say that the best thing we can often do for ourselves is to rest, eat and pray. 
 
God draws near to him and comforts him. 
 
This is a word of encouragement for us all to know that we are not alone, and that God will care for us as well.
 
Rest today and know that God is with you!
 
Jordan

 Day 169 – June 18, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 17, 1 Corinthians 15
 
The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the fabric that holds everything together. Like a loose thread in a sweater, start pulling it and pulling it, there is nothing left at the end. If you pull at the thread of the resurrection, and question it, dismiss it, and remove it as a possibility, there will be nothing left.
 
That’s my paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 15. It is one of the most important chapters in the book, and in much of the Bible. The opening verses of 1 Cor 15, Scot McKnight argues, in King Jesus Gospel, that this would have been a common phrase and a foundational creed for the first believers. He argues that this was the Gospel proclamation of the early church.  When people announced the Gospel, they would have shared that Jesus rose from the dead, he is Lord and King. That’s what was shared, over and over and over again as an announcement of the Gospel. Everything hinges on the Lordship of Christ, the resurrection of Jesus and the witnesses thereof. 
 
An interesting comparison happens in today’s reading. 1 Kings 16 tells of the Elijah, the widow and her son. Her son dies, and Elijah sprawls out over the boy three times, in the midst of that, he cries out to the Lord, and the boy’s life is restored.
 
Paul goes on to explain what is happening in the resurrection of Jesus and the upcoming resurrection for all of creation. Chiefly that there is something dramatically different than just the resuscitation of life. Elijah resuscitates life through the power of God. Jesus destroys death as we know it. Jesus is victorious over death, and that changes everything. The perishable becomes imperishable.
 
Exploring what this means for us as Christians is vital to our growth in Christ. 
 
“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:54–58)
 
The power and reality of the resurrection of Jesus, and our impending resurrection empowers us to stand firm, and commit ourselves to the work of the Lord. There will be more than just the resuscitation, reviving us back to life. All things will be made new. Sin and death will be completely vanquished. You will have eternal life in the Kingdom of God!
 
Stand firm, and give thanks to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
 
Jordan

​Day 168 – June 17, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 16, 1 Corinthians 14
 
Ahab gets the reward for most evil king.
 
Not the reward you should be looking for!
 
Ahab’s sin is a continuation of those who went before him. Like a door that is broken, left unattended the door doesn’t fix itself. It gets progressively worse and worse after each use. 
 
The heart of the kings who went before Ahab were deviating from the Law and will of God. One king after the next were slipping away. And before long, we are faced with a king who has a complete disregard for God and his will. Ahab is bent towards evil and worship of other gods. Worship of God is completely replaced with that of Asherah and Baal.
 
A confrontation between Ahab and God’s man Elijah is coming in our upcoming reading.
 
For now, as we turn towards the 1 Corinthians reading, Paul instructs the Corinthian church to be orderly in worship. Perhaps this was a way of circumventing some of the issues of the past. Preventing a lot of outside influences into the worship of God that would otherwise dilute it and cheapen it. The goal of worship and gathering seems to be in part, that people would be convicted of their sins, and know and see clearly that we worship the Lord our God only.
 
Worship Christ Today!
Jordan

​Day 167 – June 16, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 14-15, 1 Corinthians 13
 
The kings will soon be measured by a standard. Are they faithful to the Lord, or do they worship other gods? Do they trust in the Lord and are the equitable to their people, or not? All the kings of the northern kingdom will fall short of this. King Asa does a good work of loving the Lord and remaining faithful.
 
As I read the 1 Corinthians passage, it’s the familiar one,
 
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7)
 
If we were to look to a measurement to see how we were doing, it seems like this is it.
 
Am I patient? Am I kind? Am I easily angered? Am I keeping record of wrongs?
 
You better believe that the kings who were evil, well they were proud, arrogant, didn’t trust in the Lord, delighted in evil, and were certainly self-seeking.
 
But that is not the case for you.
 
You are a child of God.
 
The love Christ has for you, is a love that is pouring out of you.
 
You are patient. You are kind. You honor others, seek the needs of others over yourself. You are forgiving and you delight yourself in the kingdom of God.
 
You are loved and share in the love of Christ.
 
Jordan

​Day 166 – June 15, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 12-13, 1 Corinthians 12
 
AS the nation of Israel divides in our 1 Kings 12-13 reading, and essentially turns its heart and worship away from the Lord, our 1 Corinthians 12 reading leads us towards unity in the body of Christ.
 
1 Kings is about to get really confusing, and it will take careful reading to keep things sorted out. My tendency is to read it and lose track of names. Why do the first two kings of the divided kingdoms have to be Jeroboam and Rehoboam? I get them mixed up all the time!
 
What we need to know is that as the Lord yanks away the majority of the kingdom away from Rehoboam, God’s covenant promise to David will hold true. Kings will come and go, and be evaluated for their faithfulness. The Northern Kingdom of Israel will have no good kings, and the southern kingdom of Judah will have 8 out of 20 that are declared good. 
 
I’ll say that again, only 8 out of 20 kings are “good” in the southern kingdom. Which leads us to wonder how in the world God’s covenant to David will survive? Won’t the people be so far drawn away from the worship of God, it removes all hope of a continuation of David’s line and his kingdom? This covenant won’t hold true because of the faithfulness of the kings, but because of the steadfast covenant faithfulness of the Lord God. Because he is in on the agreement, there is always hope in the future of a coming King. God is Faithful!
 
We know that King to be King Jesus. He will unite all people under his reign, in His Kingdom. Jesus is the answer to the hope set forth in the Davidic Covenant. Jesus is the king we are looking for. As Solomon ended up looking more like Pharoah at the end of his life, wealth, any wives and forcing slave labor on his citizens. Jesus will be drastically different. A true worshiper and lover of the Lord, who takes not up wealth and women for his bride but lays it all down. He doesn’t invoke slavery on his citizens but sets them free from slavery to sin and death! There is no sin in him. So therefore, no reason why His kingdom would ever be taken from him or compromised. 
 
For Paul, in our Corinthians reading says of you, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it.” You have a part in Jesus Christ. You are the church, and you belong under the reign of this King Jesus.
 
Tomorrow, Paul will teach us what to do with this belonging to Christ, a most excellent way, LOVE!
 
Jordan

​Day 165 – June 14, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 11, 1 Corinthians 11
 
 
“Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” Paul
 
In 1 Corinthians 11, the next topic up for grabs is the way in which the Corinthian church is handling the Lord’s Supper. A unifying practice has become divisive. For all Christians, we should be unified around the table of the Lord’s Supper.
 
Paul points the church to the sacrifice of Jesus, the giving of his life and the unity that brings. And then he addresses the specific sins of those who are apparently wealthy and healthy not caring for the poor and impoverished. A table that exemplifies unity is showing the disparity of the world. It should do the opposite.
 
 
In 1 Kings 11, the demise of Solomon becomes apparent. We’ve felt that this is the direction things were heading, and now we are here. It started with the wealth, and then the horses, and now it is the women. A thousand wives for Solomon weren’t enough. They turned Solomon’s heart away from God, and it would become his greatest downfall. Division has now fallen on the people of Israel. His loyalty to God and his love for him has dissipated. He’s worshiping other gods now.
 
The theme of today’s reading has sin right at the forefront. For Solomon, it is the slow creeping away from God, one seemingly acceptable sin after the other, leading him further away from the will of God. For Paul, he sees the divisiveness that is creeping into the family of God and he’s doing all he can to heal and unite.
 
As we consider our reading today, let us fix our hearts on Christ and his forgiveness. Let us reconcile with one another. Let the Lord’s Supper be a reminder to us this week that we are united in Christ, forgiven and one. Let it serve a purpose of drawing us back to God, remembering his sacrifice, for as often as we eat it and drink it.
 
Jordan

​Day 164 – June 13, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 9-10, 1 Corinthians 10
 
“For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:33)
 
Solomon’s ultimate downfall will be that he does not look to the good of many, but himself. Making commonplace the riches of the world, he lives in direct betrayal of a seemingly benign thing. He receives several thousand horses from Egypt.
 
It wouldn’t be a big deal, if it weren’t for the book of Deuteronomy, and a clear warning:
 
“The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”” (Deuteronomy 17:16)
 
It wasn’t a one-time thing, it was constant:
“Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.” (1 Kings 10:25–29)
 
 
We hold up Paul as an exemplar in the Christian faith, one to follow as he follows Christ. He had the right to do anything, but he disregards that right, for the sake of the community of believers. It may have been good for him, but at what expense to others?
 
Solomon, receiving horses from Egypt, while at the face of it, doesn’t seem that bad. But God declares the people of Israel are not to return to Egypt. For God, he is instructing his people that they’ve left that world and way behind. But the power of Egypt keeps drawing them back.
 
Consider today what we are drawn to that God calls us away from? Leave Egypt, leave sin and death. Consider others over yourself. It may be seemingly benign, but a return to an old way might do us harm. For Paul, he encourages the believers to leave the old life and live a new life in Christ.
 
I invite you to do the same!
 
Jordan

​Day 163 – June 12, 2021
Scriptures: 1 Kings 8, 1 Corinthians 9
 
The Presence of the Lord
 
Solomon honors God, and welcomes his presence into the temple in great ceremonial fashion. It is a wonderful celebration and a call to the God of Israel to bless the temple and its function for their relationship with him. 
 
Solomon pleads with God, or asks of his blessing of the temple that it would function much like the tabernacle did. It would be a place in which the people of God could return to the Lord and seek his forgiveness.
 
The temple will be destroyed and rebuilt. Eventually in AD 70 it will be destroyed and never rebuilt again.
 
How will the people of God relate to God and return to Him? Paul’s preaching throughout the New Testament addresses this question.
 
In the person Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness of sins, and the gift of God’s presence. This will make up a great deal of Paul’s preaching. 
 
Paul mentions the temple. He brings up that there are those who receive funds for the sake of their ministry in the temple, and why shouldn’t he? That’s the bulk of what 1 Corinthians 9 is about. But my attention is on the content of his preaching. The Gospel that proclaims there is a new way in which the people come to God, it is through Jesus Christ!
The new temple is the church, a people filled with the Spirit of Christ, for the glory of God.
 
Jordan