April 26

April 26
One Year Bible Readings:
Judges 6:1-40
Luke 22:54-23:12
Psalm 95:1-96:13
Proverbs 14:5-6
Supplemental Reading for The One Year Bible.
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog.

Judges:
Today in Judges chapter 6 verses 1 we read - "Again the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight."  It is so interesting to see the back-and-forth relationship of the Israelites with God in the Old Testament.  The Israelites did evil.  They cried out to God.  God saved them.  Then... The Israelites did evil again...  
Q: And I wonder - are we so different from the Israelites today?   Should we be?  Could we be?  How?  I do believe that through a growing and loving relationship with Jesus, we can be spared of this back-and-forth relationship with God.  I believe this is the only Way.  Let us not have to spend our lives running back and forth to "caves" as we will see below...  Let us only run into the arms of the Jesus!
 
Today read about Gideon and the fleece. We also read about how the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and tells Gideon he will save Israel out of Midian’s hands, because he is being sent by God. In verse 15 Gideon replies, “But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” You’ll notice how this reply of Gideon’s is reminiscent of Moses’ reaction to God’s call to serve in Exodus chapters 3 & 4 – “Why me? How can I?” etc. etc. And I think it is very useful for each of us to note that God often calls the seemingly lowly – like Moses and Gideon – rather than the seemingly mighty to act for him. This should be encouraging to us!
Q: I wonder if you and I are sometimes like Gideon and Moses? I wonder if perhaps we are being called to do something incredible for God in our lives, and we are making excuses like Gideon and Moses made excuses? Should we instead act in obedience to God’s call and trust that he will lead us? If God has called us to something, shouldn’t we have enough faith to believe he will give us the strength and wisdom needed for the journey? What is God calling you to do in your life that you are not doing? Are you making excuses like Gideon and Moses did? Will you instead move forward in faith and obedience to God in this holy calling in your life?
 
Luke:
Luke chapter 22 verse 70 is powerful - "They all shouted, "Then you claim you are the Son of God?" And Jesus replied, "You are right in saying that I am.""  Check out those last two words of Jesus' - I am.  Sound familiar?  Remember from Exodus 3:14 when Moses asks the burning bush who he should say sent him to free the Israelites from Egypt.  And what did God reply?  "I am.  Tell them that I am is sending you."  In Luke chapter 23 verses 8 & 9 today we read: "Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer."  Herod wanted a miracle "performed."  And Jesus simply stayed silent.  Beautiful...  I wonder if there are moments in our life when we would do well to model Jesus here? - to stay silent in the face of a ridiculous request - or in the face of a ridiculous attack on our faith.  Silence may be the perfect thing in the face of ridiculousness… Have you ever stayed silent in the face of an attack? When should we stay silent?

Psalm:
Wow.. Psalm 96 today is amazing! I love verse 1: "Sing a new song to the LORD! Let the whole earth sing to the LORD!" And I love the imagery in verse 12: "Let the fields and their crops burst forth with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise."
Q: is there a new song God is asking you to sing to him these days? Will you sing this new song to God?

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