tim's journal

Passages of the Day

Numbers 32

The sons of Reuben and Gad say, "hey, we like it here, can we just stay here?" Moses then accuses them of discouraging the rest of the community from going into the promised land. The interesting thing is that they are satisfied already. Surprisingly, Moses does not tell them that they need to take Canaan.

Psalm 77

In this Psalm, David, being troubled in spirit, finds as a solution to reflect on the great deeds of God. He talks about feelings of rejection, and asks if God's "lovingkindness" has ceased forever. I like verse 10: "Then I said, 'It is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High has changed." Does that mean that he then feels better, resolving to remember the deeds of the Lord?

Isaiah 24

"The exalted of the people of the earth fade away." How often do I want to be the exaclted of the earth. I want to be successful, to be highly esteemed, but these things so quickly will pass away. This is not what the Lord desires of us.

What's wrong with the wine? It mourns, the vine decays, no one drinks wine with song, and strong drink is bitter. I think it means that in the day of judgement, nothing can make people happy, not even wine.

Versus 21 and 22 are interesting. The LORD will punish both the kings on earth and the host of heaven on high. Why is the host of heaven being punished. These all will be gathered together to be confined and then punished.

1 John 2

We come to know the Father when we keep His commandments. To keep means to follow. This appears to be the old commandment. But what is the new commandment? The new commandment comes because the darkness is passing away. It is that we must love one another - or is it that we should not love the world?

Everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him...