The Daily Radio Bible is a daily podcast of the Bible read by Hunter Barnes, taking readers through the Bible in one year. We read through the New Living Translation and follow along in the Life Journal Reading plan. If you have ever wanted to read through the Bible in a year, or just want to use your time during your morning commute to feed your soul, the DRB is just for you. You don’t have to go it alone, we can experience the word of God together.
Listeners of Daily Radio Bible Podcast that love the show mention: thank you hunter, listening to god's word, daily radio bible, hearing god's word, thanks hunter, time in the word, sayin', word to us, living color, bible every, commentary at the end, word every, way to read, listen to the word, hunter brings, entire bible, alejandro, bible reading, reading voice, read the bible.
Psalm 90; 2 Samuel 7:18-29; Revelation 22:12-16
Jeremiah 33:14-16 ; Psalm 25:1-10 ; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 ; Luke 21:25-36
Psalm 25:1-10; Nehemiah 9:26-31; Luke 21:20-24
Psalm 25:1-10; Nehemiah 9:16-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22
2 Samuel 23:1-7 ; Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 ; Psalm 93 ; John 18:33-37
2 Samuel 23:1-7 ; Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 ; Psalm 93 ; John 18:33-37
Blessed are the Poor Today's reading is Matthew 5 - 7. Jesus just gave us his most well known sermon - the Sermon on the Mount. I'm reluctant to offer commentary, and more inclined to let it speak for itself. However, let me just leave you with the first words he offers us in this sermon: God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him. (Mt 5:3 NLT) Everything else he says begins here. Everything else he elaborates on stems from this statement. Life begins when we realize how poor we are and how desperately in need we are, of him. That's when the Gospel can break through - we can begin to see Him and not just ourselves and our circumstances. Blessed are the poor - those who realize their deep need for God. That's why we come to the Word of God each day - to recognize the riches we have in him and our absolute poverty apart from him. It's there that we recognize the beautiful invitation to live in Him. He's made a way for us, friends. - a way for the with-God life. There's a way for all the poor, powerless, lost and lonely, to come and live in Him. Let the good news of the kingdom of God wash over you daily, so that you can have life.
Why are you coming to me? I am the one who needs to be baptized by you. He said, the message of the Law and the Prophets teach us that we need to come to God. And that's a good message because we do. John the Baptist is shouting as best as he can come to God come to God. John says that the way you come to him is through confession and baptism. But now, God comes to us. And he wants to be baptized by human hands. And John says, Wait a minute, why are you coming to me? That's not the message. We need to come to you. Jesus came to us, because we are incapable of coming to him. The gospel is that God has come to us. God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, tries we might we falter, we fail we sin. We know God is worthy and deserving of all of our, our allegiance, our life, our obedience, but yet we fail. We try to come to him. But we can't seem to make up that vast distance. And the laws, a great reminder of that. So John asks, Why are you coming to me? And Jesus, he says, in effect, I had to come. Because you are incapable of coming to me. The law has shown us this distance, but Jesus has made it up. That's the good news. The gospel is that God loves us so much that he has come to us. That was God's plan all along. So let's hear Jesus answer to John's question today. He came to you because you couldn't come to him. He did it out of love for you. He did it out of love for the whole world. He made up the distance for you. And he has not delayed showing his love for you. Until you show your love for him. Now, the news is much better than that. God is so much better than that. So let him transform our thinking, your thinking my thinking today and give you joy. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's a prayer that I have for my family. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so.
Psalm 93; Ezekiel 28:20-26; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
HIS POWER FOR OUR WEAKNESS Today's readings are Psalm 124 and II Corinthians 11-13. We are reading from the New Living Translation Paul was being called out for his weakness. There were some who, apparently faulted him for not being the most dynamic, flamboyant speaker. Super-apostles had come to town and were adding to the confusion of this church. They were denouncing Paul's authority and preaching another gospel that was not the Gospel, at all. In our reading today, Paul takes the opportunity to teach us something about real power, strength, and authority. God delights to show Himself strong through our weaknesses. Paul accomplished so much over the course of his adult life. He traversed so much of the known world, planted churches, spoke before kings and governors, wrote letters, discipled people that discipled people, and now you are discipled, because of what he had done. Yet when listing his accomplishments, he points to times of trial, peril, persecutions, poverty, and personal struggle. Paul says that the places where real power, strength and authority can be seen are not from a platform, a boasting heart, or a flamboyant preacher. Real power is seen where real power is needed most. It's seen in our weaknesses. It shows up when things are falling apart and when we're broken down and in deepest need. That's when we can count on experiencing God's power, strength and authority – His life in us. It's most evident when we need him most, when our back is against the wall, when we are under threat, when we don't know what to do, when we are holding on in the middle of a storm, for a day and a night. Paul says these are the times when he found God's strength and presence. Don't miss this teaching from Paul, amidst the flamboyant preachers and super-apostles claiming all sorts of special knowledge. The greatest Strength can be found in our weakness. “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. I'm glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (II Cor 12:9) Recognize and trust, today, that God's strength is best shown in your weakness.
Do you want to live a life that is generous and strong? Can you afford to live a generous Christian life? Do you have strength to defend yourself against spiritual attack, or forget spiritual attack? Just plain old discouragement, depression, self loathing, we need strength to overcome these things, be they spiritual or not. In the previous chapters, Paul is good to remind us where our riches for generous living, and the strength for our struggles come from. They come from the one who alone is rich enough and strong enough. They come from Christ, Christ in you. Do you want to live a life that is generous and strong, then Christ will be the source of your strength, and the source of your riches, your heart partnering with him to serve, to give, to endure and to be healed? The previous chapter in yesterday's reading sets this up for us. It says that God's power is working in us. And now in second Corinthians seven, seven we read, because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. So what's the promise? It's the promise of Christ's presence in you, what are the earmarks of holy living, generosity and strength? He tells us that now because Christ lives in you, you are able to cleanse yourself from everything that defiles your body and your spirit. Now you have the strength and generosity to move forward, and to experience real change. Because you fear God and because Christ lives in you. Can you afford a generous life? It depends on how rich you are. Do you have the strength you need to move forward? Well, that depends on how strong you are. How rich are you? How strong are you? If Christ is in you, then you have all the riches you need. And then some. If Christ is in you, then you have all the strength you need, and then some. And I'm here to tell you, that Christ is in you. This is what John said, the one who is in you, is greater than the one who is in the world. Because we have these promises, we can live the Christian life. So let's be awakened today by the presence of God in you. Your true life which is hidden in him. You have been fully embraced in Christ, just the way you are in Him, you are a new creation. And because of him, you can be wise and generous and strong. And the prayer of my own heart today is that we will all begin to see this a little bit more today than we did yesterday. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family for my wife, my daughter's my son. And that's the period that I have for you. May it be so.
I grew up on the Oregon coast. And I've always been fascinated with certain kinds of animals like salmon and migrating birds. These are creatures that instinctively know that they need to make their way home, that they need to come back to where things began. They don't know why or how it happens, they just know. And it's it. They're hearing and responding to a voice that says to them, Come back now, come home. And they do. They make their long, perilous journey. God's calling us back home, too. And we've been given a ministry of calling people to come on home, there's a homing device built in the hearts of people, that homing device was damaged in Adam. And ever since we are all like sheep, we've all straightaway. But Christ has undone what was done in Adam. He has reconciled the world to himself. And he's made a way for everyone, every man, woman and child, to come home to God, to the origin of their design. Paul says this in chapter five, verse 16, and following, and all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him, for God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead come back to God. In other words, come back home. God has restored that homing device of yours, God has forgiven and restored you he has reconciled you to himself. So come on home, there is no distance. There is no delay I just turned to him. In the marshes of Venezuela, there's a bird hearing a stirring and it is responding. It's making a journey all the way up to the North Pole of Alaska to the Arctic Circle. It's going home where new life will begin. It is responding to the voice to come. Somewhere off the coast of Asia in the Pacific Ocean, there's a school of salmon and they too are hearing and responding to that mysterious voice that says, come and they will head back traversing the Pacific Ocean, making their way hundreds and hundreds of miles upstream into a river no one knows about because they've heard they're responding to the call to come home. He can come home to we can respond to the spirits calling. and head home where you belong, where you are embraced where you are loved. And that's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you, may it be so.
Where do you go when you need forgiveness? When you've done wrong, and guilt and shame smother you like a wet blanket? Where do you go? Or how about this question? Where do the people in your life go? When they need comfort and forgiveness? Do they go to you for comfort and forgiveness? Are they drawn to you? almost intuitively, because they know that in you they'll find grace, kindness, a listening ear. When that person in your life needs comfort and forgiveness, do they come to you? But here's the thing, where you go, will help determine where they go. If you go to your gracious God, your heavenly Father, and ask the Holy Spirit to comfort you, during your times of deep grief, loss and disappointment. If you're going to the Comforter to receive comfort, then it might be the case that those in your life who are experiencing a deep need of comfort will come to you. Because where you go in large part will determine where they go. So go to the cross, go to Christ. Go to your loving Savior, He forgives freely, and doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve. Psalm 103 says he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. If you go to him, and receive grace and mercy, day after day, you can pretty much count on people in your world coming to you when they need forgiveness, they'll know that they will receive mercy and grace from you. So let's go to Jesus, then we can offer Jesus to others. Paul ends this chapter by asking and who is adequate for such a task is this? And the answer to that question is one only one Christ alone is adequate to this task of comforting those in need of restoring those who have sin. That He invites us to participate with him. But make no mistake about it, it is him. So let's go to him and offer him to a world that needs comfort to a world that needs forgiveness. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family for my wife, my daughters, my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so.
Love it the truest test of what we really know. Paul says something interesting in vs. 6: he gives what sounds like some catechism like statement: A theological a tenant of orthodoxy, things every believer should know. It says this... “There is one God, the Father by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live. And then he says this...”However , not all believers know this!.” What? They don't know? You'd think they'd know, I mean shouldn't they know their is only ONE God, and one Lord Jesus! . I mean How can we even call them believers? Yet Paul does...Paul seems to be suggesting that their inclusion into the community was not contingent on what they “know”. Instead their inclusion into the community was based on being KNOWN. And the one who knows them is love. And he has drawn them into his life, even though they don't seem to know the most basic tenets fo their faith. This might be a problem for many teachers of the faith today, If you don't know the right things, and say the right things, and pray the right prayers, you are not in, your out. But this was not a problem for Paul. Because Paul knew that God is love, and love gives itself to those who don't know. Love gives himself to all. And Paul is saying, let love be your guide, let love direct your actions, respond to those who don't know what they should in love. Love lays down it's self, gives up its privileges for the sake of others, you do the same. Love will be our catechism. Love will instruct us in all that we need to know, in God's time. So let love be our first concern, and lets see what God will do.
Our freedom in Christ doesn't mean autonomy or abolition from all restraint on the self. No, it means we are free IN Christ. He has freed us, IN HIM. The extent to which we live in Him, will be the extent to which we will be free. As we live in Him we will resemble our Father's heart in this world and we will paradoxically be more of who we are – in Him. We become more of who we are when we awaken to our real life in him. When we live in Him, we show off our family resemblance and we become more of ourselves. Live in the light of who we are in Him.
Psalm 94 1 O Lord, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! 2 Arise, O Judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. 3 How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? 4 How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast? 5 They crush your people, Lord, hurting those you claim as your own. 6 They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. 7 “The Lord isn't looking,” they say, “and besides, the God of Israel[a] doesn't care.” 8 Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? 9 Is he deaf—the one who made your ears? Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes? 10 He punishes the nations—won't he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn't he also know what you are doing? 11 The Lord knows people's thoughts; he knows they are worthless! 12 Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions. 13 You give them relief from troubled times until a pit is dug to capture the wicked. 14 The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession. 15 Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it. 16 Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers? 17 Unless the Lord had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. 18 I cried out, “I am slipping!” but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. 19 When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. 20 Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side— leaders whose decrees permit injustice? 21 They gang up against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide. 23 God will turn the sins of evil people back on them. He will destroy them for their sins. The Lord our God will destroy them. Footnotes 94:7 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 44:4. Ruth 1 New Living Translation Elimelech Moves His Family to Moab 1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there. 3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband. Naomi and Ruth Return 6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah. 8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers' homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept. 10 “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12 No, my daughters, return to your parents' homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? 13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.” 14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15 “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.” 16 But Ruth replied, “Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. 19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked. 20 “Don't call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara,[a] for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer[b] and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest. Read full chapter Footnotes 1:20 Naomi means “pleasant”; Mara means “bitter.” 1:21 Or has testified against me. 1 Timothy 5:1-8 New Living Translation Advice about Widows, Elders, and Slaves 5 Never speak harshly to an older man,[a] but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. 2 Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters. 3 Take care of[b] any widow who has no one else to care for her. 4 But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God. 5 Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and day, asking God for his help. 6 But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives. 7 Give these instructions to the church so that no one will be open to criticism. 8 But those who won't care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
His message doesn't come with a bunch of show or pretense. He's not trying to build his own name or his own following. He's not trying to present himself as a great philosopher or a renowned debater. He has a simple sincere and Spirit-empowered message. It's so contrary to what the world would expect. So much so, that he calls it the foolish preaching of the cross. He presents the simple, sincere, Spirit-empowered, foolish preaching of the Cross. That message is that God, in his great love, has offered his dearly loved Son to redeem humanity, to restore and renew all that was lost. That God has loved all of humanity so much that he has defeated death, despair and the grave and drawn us to himself, That God has fully revealing to us his loving heart and the precious value of every human life, including yours. Now we can know who God is, and who we have become in Him.
Psalm 94 1 O Lord, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! 2 Arise, O Judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. 3 How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? 4 How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast? 5 They crush your people, Lord, hurting those you claim as your own. 6 They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. 7 “The Lord isn't looking,” they say, “and besides, the God of Israel[a] doesn't care.” 8 Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? 9 Is he deaf—the one who made your ears? Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes? 10 He punishes the nations—won't he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn't he also know what you are doing? 11 The Lord knows people's thoughts; he knows they are worthless! 12 Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions. 13 You give them relief from troubled times until a pit is dug to capture the wicked. 14 The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession. 15 Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it. 16 Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers? 17 Unless the Lord had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. 18 I cried out, “I am slipping!” but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. 19 When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. 20 Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side— leaders whose decrees permit injustice? 21 They gang up against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide. 23 God will turn the sins of evil people back on them. He will destroy them for their sins. The Lord our God will destroy them. Footnotes 94:7 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 44:4. Ruth 1 New Living Translation Elimelech Moves His Family to Moab 1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there. 3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband. Naomi and Ruth Return 6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah. 8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers' homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept. 10 “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12 No, my daughters, return to your parents' homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? 13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.” 14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15 “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.” 16 But Ruth replied, “Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. 19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked. 20 “Don't call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara,[a] for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer[b] and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest. Read full chapter Footnotes 1:20 Naomi means “pleasant”; Mara means “bitter.” 1:21 Or has testified against me. 1 Timothy 5:1-8 New Living Translation Advice about Widows, Elders, and Slaves 5 Never speak harshly to an older man,[a] but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. 2 Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters. 3 Take care of[b] any widow who has no one else to care for her. 4 But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God. 5 Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and day, asking God for his help. 6 But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives. 7 Give these instructions to the church so that no one will be open to criticism. 8 But those who won't care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
The Principle of the Cross Today's readings are Job 31-32 and Galatians 5-6. We are reading from the New Living Translation. It's a matter of principle. The cross is the motivating principle and governing power of our lives. It is the principle that we live by – not piety, politics, personal aspirations or achievements. These other things may or may not be of service in our lives or in this world. But they are not to be what we live by or live for. Paul says, in Gal 6:14-15: As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died. It doesn't matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. And that new creation began at the cross where the Creator was being undone for me – in order that something new might be born in me, through Him. It is His life, now expressing itself in love, through us. That is what really counts. Verse 16 says, May God's peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God. It's a matter of principle. It is at the cross that new life is being born out in His new people, because of what Jesus did there. Look to the cross. Live by this principle as God's new person. Live in the joy, strength and wisdom – all that Jesus won at the Cross for you.
Ruth at the Threshing Floor 3 One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it's time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he's been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don't let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.” 5 “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied. Read full chapter Ruth 4:13-17 New Living Translation The Descendants of Boaz 13 So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. 15 May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!” 16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. Read full chapter Psalm 127 New Living Translation Psalm 127 A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon. 1 Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. 2 It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones. 3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands. 5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates. Hebrews 9:24-28 New Living Translation 24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. 25 And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. 26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age[a] to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. 27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
This journey into God, that provided you with forgiveness of sins, that gave you a joyful and grateful spirit, that made you a caring and generous person – that journey began by faith. When you woke up to the gift that God has given you in Christ, and the truth of who you now have become. None of that happened by trying to become a good law keeper. These dear people in Galatia are being told that they must become circumcised and become converts to Judaism. They are being instructed to follow all the laws of Moses, the dietary laws, the dates, the deeds. All of it would be necessary if they wanted to be counted among God's people. They were being told that Jesus was, in effect, a kind of ‘first step' to this new life and community. As Jewish converts, they would have to take the next step and be circumcised, obey the dietary laws, observe the dates and all the deeds. It's out of these pressures that Paul is urging them not to trade their freedom for chains, and the blessing of life for the curse of the law. Paul is saying that Jesus is the first and only step. The law was never meant to make us right with God. The law was given to come alongside of us and convince our hearts of our need for redemption and the Savior. It's there to point us to the Cross. God's self-giving, radically forgiving co- suffering love. It's faith in what he has done, and what we have become. That's where the joy is. That is Paul's plea, not only to the Galatians but to you and me. What God has done for you in Christ, does it all and says it all. Paul wants us to keep our eyes fixed Christ, not on ourselves. Looking outward and upward.
© 2020-2021 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
