Psalm 31

Dear RTB’ers,

I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols… (v. 6a) I could understand what David was saying about people in his day who worshiped idols. But in our 21^st century world, I’m calling to mind preachers asking us, “What are your idols?” Are you seeking money? Fame? Possessions? Power? Success? In my mind I certainly don’t “hate” people who are seeking, working, striving after those other things, but I do feel sorry for them when their efforts are so driven toward those goals. I certainly wanted to be successful in life, in my career, to earn enough income to provide for my family. But I was fortunate that God got hold of me early enough that my greater goal has been to seek Him for the past fifty years. As I have sought that greater goal, I have been blessed with money, possessions, success (and countless failures along the way). Having that greater goal has increased my thanksgiving for all those other things. David says it well: But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand… (vv. 14-15a) Yes, my times and everything inside those times were and are in God’s hands. And His is the better plan; He is the better builder.

Blessings!

---

See also:

• March 24 (2022) / Psalm 31:1-13
• March 25 (2022) / Psalm 31:14-24

Psalm 30

Dear RTB’ers,

We have left I Corinthians behind and will spend a couple of weeks in the Psalms before returning to II Corinthians.

I typically have difficulties relating to David’s psalms when he writes of deliverance from his enemies and not letting his foes rejoice over him. In my adult life I’ve been “mistreated” on a number of occasions (three in particular), but I never think of enemies and foes in those incidents. And for each of those occasions I was “delivered” into a better life and have forgiven those who were responsible for those hurts in my life. Soon after one of those hurtful occasions I had contacted my dissertation advisor and he assured me, “Fred, you have a way of landing on your feet.” What he spoke was true, but he did not know the God that I knew or how the deliverance of which he spoke would come about through God’s gracious working in my life. It’s good to look back on disappointments and failures and see God’s hand at work in His healing and deliverance. David faced different foes in his life, but his words continue to ring true today.

---

See also: March 23 (2022) / Psalm 30

I Corinthians 16

Dear RTB’ers,

I was noticing Paul’s concern for his fellow workers. First, Timothy: When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace… (vv. 10-11a) We know from Acts and other epistles of Paul’s special relationship to Timothy, so I’m not surprised that Paul would be concerned for his welfare. Second, Paul mentions Apollos in verse 12, but not with particular concern for his welfare. He had already covered that in I Corinthians 3.

Paul’s third mention today is Stephanas: … you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. (vv. 15b-16) Paul is lauding Stephanas and his household for their ministry to fellow believers. I got online for more information on Stephanas – mostly I was interested in whether he shows up anywhere else in Paul’s epistles. I’m glad I did that! I had forgotten that we read just a couple of weeks ago that Paul had baptized Stephanas’ entire family (I Cor. 1:16). So again, here’s another of Paul’s special relationships.

Paul cares about his fellow laborers. It’s nice to see that in writing.

Blessings!

I Corinthians 15:35-58

Dear RTB’ers,

What is sown is …	What is raised is …
Perishable	Imperishable
Dishonor	Glory
Weakness	Power
A natural body	A spiritual body

In comparing the earthly and the heavenly, Paul compares Adam with Jesus and identifies us directly both to Adam and to Jesus: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second Man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven. (vv. 47-49) “We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” Awesome!! That’s something to look forward to!

What a powerful section of Scripture we are reading today!!

Blessings!

I Corinthians 15:1-34

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s reading is about Jesus’ Resurrection and what it means for us. First Paul provides “evidence” for the Resurrection in the form of a list of people to whom Jesus appeared in bodily form, the strongest of which is that …He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive… (v. 6a) Then he includes himself, Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. (v. 8) Paul even reflects on his own conversion, …by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain … though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (vv. 10-11, slightly edited) Paul sees in himself all the work that he has done, all that he has accomplished, but he recognizes that it is really God at work in him that is the actual work being done. That’s a good point for me (us?) to see, that it is not me (us?) doing things, but it is God at work in me (us?).

Paul then goes on to talk about the fact of Jesus’ Resurrection and its impacts on our lives. He casts the Resurrection in the negative, that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead that we are wasting our time, that we are to be pitied for our wasted beliefs and activities. But he quickly cancels that possibility, But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead … (v. 20) and moves on to talk about the end times, when Jesus returns and He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (v. 24b) Finally, for our own preparation for our own death or these end times, Paul speaks rather bluntly: Wake up from your drunken stupor … and do not go on sinning. (v. 34a) Read it again, “WAKE UP!” Not surprisingly this was also Archbishop Beach’s message to us in a July 2020 podcast entitled “Wake Up America!” (replayed in 2023), maybe also a message for today?

Blessings!

---

See also: December 7 (2023) / I Corinthians 15-16; Acts 19:23-20:1

I Corinthians 14

Dear RTB’ers,

… edification, exhortation, and consolation … (v. 3b) Paul speaks of uplifting activities – just the opposite of divisiveness or quarreling or judgmentalism. He also mentions edification twice more in the next few verses (vv. 4, 5). It’s a lesson we could all take when discussing church matters, whether in personal conversations or in small groups or in larger settings. Paul is seeking unity in the Corinthian church, something that he senses is lacking there. I daresay that God would have us speak edification, exhortation, and consolation to just about any church body in the USA!

Here in Slovakia Carol and I attend one church regularly (unless we are traveling). The entire service is in Slovak – the music, the prayers, the sermons, the announcements. We have a translator and headsets, but my weak hearing still leaves me far short of all that is sung or said. Today’s verse 11 rings true to me, in church and out in the general public: So if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be unintelligible to the one who speaks, and the one who speaks will be unintelligible to me. It’s difficult being the minority!

Blessings!

I Corinthians 13

Dear RTB’ers,

I think that I am not very loving. I am cheerful and friendly and helpful and responsible and a lot of other good things, but I’m not sure that I am very loving. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful… (vv. 4-5) Paul lists nine attributes of love in these two verses; I daresay at various points in my life that I have violated every one of them. So while today’s text is one of the most beautiful in all of Scripture, for me it’s a further call to action. To confession. To repentance. To forgiveness.

Even with all the baggage that I carry, I know that I am loved, that GOD IS LOVE, and that He loves me fully, completely, unendingly. That’s more than enough for me to move on.

Blessings!

I Corinthians 12

Dear RTB’ers,

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. (v. 18) When I take time to reflect, I am in awe of the human body. Paul spoke of the eye, the ear, the nose, the hand, the feet, and even the “unpresentable parts” –with more still not mentioned by Paul, each part performing what needs to be done for the body to work. And then there are the dramatic differences between males and females, both external and internal, that makes each gender different in who they are and what they are called to do or be. Finally, I can barely comprehend what goes on inside the body – the relationships between the heart, the lungs, the liver, the kidneys, the veins, the arteries, the nerves – all controlled by the brain and its central nervous system. I close this reflection with verses that I quoted a few days ago: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (I Cor. 6:19-20)

Blessings!

---

See also: December 6 (2023) / I Corinthians 12-14

I Corinthians 11:2-34

Dear RTB’ers,

When pondering about our readings and praying about what I might say, I often go back to what I have written in the past, both to get ideas and to not repeat myself. Today, however, I need to repeat myself – verses 23-26 strike me every time I read them, more so that just about any other Scriptural verses. Back in 2020 I wrote the following (slightly edited) and those words that I wrote are valid today:

I can remember vividly the first time I read verses 23 to 26 in today’s reading. I had been raised in the Catholic Church and was born again at age 26. Somewhere along the line I started reading the Bible – it surely was not long into my born-again life that I read this passage for the first time and it jumped off the page at me. These words formed the Consecration portion spoken at every Catholic Mass – the elevation of the host and the chalice and for Catholics, the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. At that point it dawned on me that the Catholic Church was Scripture-based and that I should not completely abandon those roots in favor of this new Protestantism that I was beginning to embrace. So I spent a great deal of my first born-again year doing what I could to reconcile my Catholic roots with my newly energized faith. I left the Catholic Church in the late 1970s, but I still cherish much that I gained in my youth from that upbringing.

From May 6 (2020) / I Corinthians 11:17-34

I don’t know if Anglicans refer to the elevation of the host and the cup as the “Consecration”, but (unless I am somehow fully distracted!) our repetition of Paul’s words in verses 23-26 still strike me today. It’s a powerful reminder to me of Jesus at the Last Supper, and of His broken body and shed blood on the cross. Thank you, Jesus.

Blessings!

I Corinthians 10:1-11:1

Dear RTB’ers,

Today, distracted again with the results from yesterday’s election – the Presidency, the Senate, the House – and my own students’ results from their exam yesterday. Distracted.

One item pops out for me in today’ readings – imitation. Paul summarizes it in today’s last verse, Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (11:1) As with Paul, we are to be the people who should be imitated. We need to set the example, be the guide for those around us. We learn from others: Now these things took place as examples for us … Now these things happened to them as an example… (vv. 10:6a, 11) Others learn from us: All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. (vv. 10:23b-24) Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God … (v. 10:32) Be the example, be the guide. A final summary verse, So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (v. 10:31)

Blessings!

---

See also: December 5 (2023) / I Corinthians 9-11