Here’s the Bible Project Overview.

“Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD’s wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.” (1:18)

The powerful and wealthy may feel they’ve reached a status outside God’s judgement, but they are wrong. The oppressor, the short sighted, the bully, will answer to the Everlasting God who cares for all people and will not share His glory with idols. 

But the whole earth? Will He sweep away the righteous with the evil?? Never.

“And the coast will be For the remnant of the house of Judah, They will pasture on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening; For the LORD their God will care for them And restore their fortune.” (2:7)

As in the case of Lot’s family and Noah’s, the LORD makes distinctions. The LORD has mercy and He reserves His wrath for the idolatrous. But take heed, because most of Israel thought they were untouchable based on their family blood line. “We are God’s people, we can do as we please and still be better than the nations.”

No no no no no no! What does He say to His city, Jerusalem?

“Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, The tyrannical city! She heeded no voice, She accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the LORD, She did not draw near to her God.” (3:1-2)

Jerusalem experiences the fire of God along with all the cities it feels superior to, but in the midst of it all, we catch a glimpse of our LORD’s father heart. His fire purifies:

“For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder.” (3:9)

This book ends beautifully hopeful. The humble, the hurt. Their shame is removed and the LORD rejoiced over them with singing. 

What do I learn about God in this?

• He is patient
• He is jealous 
• He is just
• He follows through
• His fire is refining
• He heals
• He is for all nations
• He is loving 
• He is musical

Check your heart. What is the basis of your security? What is your posture toward God the Father? What is your attitude toward those outside His family? What is your reaction to discipline? 

I’m always humbled by the ways God points out the flaws in my judgement of “good” and “evil”. Wasn’t this the problem in the garden? Eve wanted to know the difference for herself? Only God is good. Will I let Him define it? Will I follow Him away from my heart’s idolatry? Will I trust Him in His discipline? Will I ask for His heart for the nations? Will I accept His songs over me and allow His to remove my shame?

-Bethany 

Habakkuk isn’t a book I’m very familiar with, and I loved the this video to give me some context. There are so many amazing, free resources out there these days to help you read your Bible. Don’t be discouraged if you get a little lost in the historical context. The more often I read my Bible, the easier it gets, and the better I understand the story. But also, I kind of don’t need to know every historical detail to hear from God. When I just let go, read it anyway and remain open to God’s spirit, he always comes through. It took me at least a year to enjoy reading the Bible. More than anything, I would have questions, concerns or doubts when I opened up the Old Testament. I wanted to stay parked in Paul’s letters, being eternally encouraged.

Give yourself grace. (This is self-talk, join in if you need to.) God’s word is alive, complex and infinitely interesting. What other book could you read every day for the rest of your life and yet, it continues to feel new? If you’re new to reading the Bible regularly: great. We all start somewhere. The more understanding I gain about God’s word, the more humbled I become. Our only goal with this blog is to help you engage with the text, not our own words. More than anything, we love hearing from you!

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I love how this book ends. “…I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” 

What does it look like to live by faith?

Where are you putting your joy?

How do we find strength in God and not in ___? (Our country, our circumstances, etc)

 

-Carly

Here is the Bible Project’s overview of Nahum. 

“”Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts; “And I will lift up your skirts over your face, And show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.” (3:5)

Think of all the major empires who have ruled the world. They all probably felt invincible, at some point. Strongest military might, striking fear into the hearts of their enemies. No one ever reaches this status through charm and good graces, and this was especially the case for Assyria:

“Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies- They stumble over the dead bodies!” (3:3)

God will not tolerate this forever. Do not mistake the patience of God for indifference. He is wise, He is just, He has a plan. Here we are in 2017, with Wikipedia listing 49 major empires in history who are no longer in charge. 

Nothing is hopeless. Spring always follows winter. Everything has a cycle and a season. Just because you’re getting away with something now, doesn’t mean you always will.

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Which brings us to Habakkuk. 

While Nahum promises destruction to Nineveh, Habakkuk promises the rise of Babylon. 

“Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.” (1:12)

World history can feel like an endless parade of atrocities, but God is still enthroned. His King and kingdom is coming and it’s altogether different. 

In the meantime, we are to REST and TRUST. These things seem bonkers, but as the Bible Project video points out: the Righteous live by FAITH. Our hope isn’t coming in the form of a man-made peace in the Middle East model. God is more thorough than that. More powerful and He has already begun to do this. 

The Babylon of each generation may shift and change, but it will always come tumbling down. Only Christ is a solid rock on which to stand. Only He knows who will rise next as Western powers tumble. 

Even America, for all its military might and recent historical influence, could now be described as “having its skirt pulled up over its head”. Our trust cannot be in America. We are citizens of the Kindgom of our LORD and of His Christ. He shall reign forever and ever. Amen!

Enjoy this Easter weekend and glory in this:

“A stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron (Roman Empire), the clay, the bronze (Greek Empire), the silver (Persian Empire) and the gold (Babylonian Empire) were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue (The Kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ) became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”‭‭ (Daniel‬ ‭2:34-35‬)

-Bethany

Moving right along in the minor prophets! 

Today we read about Nahum’s warning to the city of Nineveh. Seem familiar? Jonah came to Nineveh and prophesied there as well, a century earlier. He saw a complete turn around and repentance of the people. But in typical human fashion, as generations of families grew, obedience faded. The people of Nineveh were fattening up in wealth (plundered from other cities) and returning to their evil ways. God sends them another important message of warning. 

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I once heard a pastor compare God’s anger to a slow-burning wick. It was always hard for me to balance his grace and holiness; and I’ve had that helpful analogy in my mind ever since. The Old Testament use to scare me, but now I see pages filled with stories of God’s grace and mercy. He gives second chances. And then third chances. He protects and shields those who love and trust him. 

“The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished. ” 1:3

I am counting on this. When I watch the news, and my stomach churns. When nations battle, destroy and torture each other. (When I watch documentaries about OJ Simpson.) When I overhear racial slurs on the sidewalk outside my house. When hatred and evil seem to run rampant. He has a plan. He is merciful, yes. He is waiting oh, oh, so patiently for repentance and for change. But he is also perfectly just and holy. And no one can escape that outside of the gospel. 

As we near Easter Sunday, I’m thankful for Jesus advocating for me. I am forgiven, washed clean. I’m no more worthy of God’s protection than anyone else, outside of Christ. He didn’t just send a prophet, he sent his beloved son to save us. 

Have hope. “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust him.” 1:7
-Carly 

“With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (6:6-8‬)

The LORD doesn’t require our sacrifices in the way we assume. Our King doesn’t arrive in the way we assume.

“He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.” (5:4)

God is altogether Holy. His ways are altogether different. Higher, perfect, beautiful. 

But here we are, standing in the mess of modern times wondering, along with Micah, where to place our hope.

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” (7:7)

On top of all that, He will rescue us from even ourselves.

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” (7:18-19‬)

I want to praise the LORD today for His goodness, His love, His Word, and His skills as a shepherd. When I drift down dangerous paths, mindlessly grazing as I go, He swoops in and picks me up, returning me to my rightful place. When I don’t know what to do to show my love and devotion to the LORD, He guides me toward obedience, wrapped up in three beautiful words: justice, mercy and humility. When situations are daunting and begin choking me out, He reminds me of Himself, the true source of hope. 

In the face of political corruption, the love of money, seeping even into the body of Christ, bringing us to deserving judgement, He remains ready to throw our sin into the sea. This is who He is. This is my King. This is my Lord. This is my Shepherd. This is my Savior. This is my Delight: to belong to Him. 

Let these chapters wash over you today and sink in. Return to the LORD, embrace every part of who He is so He can heal every part of who you are. Hold on to Him, in hope. His love endures forever.

-Bethany 

“You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.” 3:11

I love how much God hates bribery. The Bible talks about bribery a lot (and God’s disdain for it), and I would often struggle to connect to it. I’ve never made shifty eyes and a manipulative smirk, while sliding folded money into someone’s hand discreetly. But bribery shows up more than I think. Bribery is corrupt and happens everywhere. It’s lording your resources over someone else, harping on their vulnerability and distrusting God to do things his way.

We should never use our resources, money or otherwise, to influence or manipulate someone. This is not God’s currency. God’s currency is trust.

Maybe you’re on the other end of it. People are waving money or opportunities at you and you’re tangled up in the strings attached to them. You start bending your decisions and behavior towards them because you want what they have (skills, donations, a paycheck, something borrowed, whatever it is). We don’t have to compromise our integrity that way! God paves a way for us. His currency isn’t money and he has an endless supply of it. He doesn’t lure us to him with it, he lavishes it upon us freely (1 John 3:1).

Is there someone in your life you’re compromising your integrity for because of what they give you? Pray and ask God to reveal these things to you. Let’s repent and lean into him, trusting that he will give us exactly what we need.

 

-Carly

 

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m excited to be back in the Old Testament. We are evidence of God’s blessing and faithfulness to His promises. The only reason we know about Jesus and Salvation, is because God made glorious promises to the sons of Abraham thousands of years ago and kept them.

Here’s a overview of Micah.

In His law, the LORD set up systems to reign in poverty. The ownership of land and sabbatical years were set in place to ensure that all financial hardships would have expiration dates. Family land alottment would be reset and debts would be forgiven, people who had sold themselves into slavery would be released! Harvesters were directed to leave bits behind for the poor to gather as food. Love and hospitality were always prescribed treatments, especially for the particularly vulnerable: widows, orphans and foreigners. GOD IS VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS.

That’s why He was ready to lay these cities to waste when the Kings, rich and powerful, started to deconstruct these priniples. They stole land and abused the poor to increase their already plumped wealth.

“They covet fields and then seize them, And houses, and take them away. They rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.” (2:2)

“The women of My people you evict, Each one from her pleasant house. From her children you take My splendor forever.” (2:9)

The LORD promises to bring down the oppressor, but then also promises to remain a tender caretaker of His people, the oppressed.

So what does this have to do with us? The principle remains: we will be judged for our treatment of the vulnerable.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’”‭‭ (Matthew‬ ‭25:40-43)

Jesus said that. What will be my posture toward these? The LORD was ready to tear down Jerusalem for this. His people, meant to be a light to all nations, were not going to defame His name by being examples of exploitation.

Ask the LORD what this looks like in your life. I don’t know all of you, I can’t assume to know or judge. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts. How seriously do I take social injustice? Do I encourage it? Ignore it? Experience it? Confront it?

Thank you for being our Shepherd King, Jesus. Lead us in Your everlasting way!

-Bethany

The commentary in my Bible for this chapter mirrored my thoughts and phrased them better than I probably could’ve, so I’ll share them below:

“Paul was dealing with an ongoing problem in the Corinthian church. He could have refused to communicate until they cleared up the situation, but he loved them and reached out to them again with the love of Christ. Love means that sometimes we must confront those we care about. Both authority and personal concern are needed in dealing with people who are ruining their lives with sin. But there are several wrong approaches in confronting others, and these can further break relationships rather than heal them. We can be legalistic and blast people away with the laws they should be obeying. We can turn away from them because we don’t want to face the situation. We can isolate them by gossiping about their problem and turning others against them as well. Or, like Paul, we can seek to build relationships by taking a better approach-sharing, communicating, and caring. This is a difficult approach that can drain us emotionally, but it is the best way for other people, and it is the only Christlike way to deal with other’s sin.” (NLT Study Bible Commentary pg. 1643)

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Which way do you tend to deal with other people’s sin? Legalism, avoidance, gossip or healthy communication?

Is there someone in your life you need to approach? First, drench those thoughts in prayer. Secondly, check the motive. For me, I know there is a godly motive behind it when it’s rooted in love and well-being, free of my personal agenda, bitterness and anger.

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Tomorrow, we will be starting a new book! We are going to read through the minor prophets, starting in Micah. (Then Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.)

Bethany and I got together this weekend (over Taco Bell, naturally) and were looking back on our time reading Scripture together over the years. For a second, I felt proud of myself. I have very few regular disciplines in my life (again, the Taco Bell), and I am happy that reading my Bible is one of them. But, it doesn’t matter. It means nothing to habitually read God’s word if you are not applying it to your life and allowing it to change who you are.

So, with that in mind, what were some big take-aways from 1&2 Corinthians? Comment below or share with a friend, spouse or roommate!

 

-Carly

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.” (11:3-4)
If I were Paul, I might say, “I was really hoping you accepted Christ powerfully, and not because you accept anything, but y’all are making me nervous.” He has to speak to them in a way he doesn’t enjoy: foolishly.

There still exists, today, many “gospels” or many perspectives or versions of the gospel. Someone trendy is always coming along to tell us the latest and we’re like, “Whaaaa?? Reaaallyy?? Cooooooool.”

We gotta cut this out. It’s either the powerful, transformational gospel of a resurrected Christ, or nothing (sometimes disguised as a comforting bedtime story). 

A trustworthy Christian leader, shepherd or administrator of the gospel will have the same heart as Paul, “it’s not about me it’s about HIM.”

The gospel is Jesus. The fulfillment and glorious culmination of everything God intended from the beginning. He is the way, truth, life, only hope, powerful savior, indwelling Lord. 

Let’s not follow a semi-qualified theological butterfly into the wild blue yonder. STAY FIRMLY PLANTED IN THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE! I say this to myself constantly. I love butterflies.

I love you guys too. We’re gonna make it. He made sure of it.

-Bethany

I like and loathe myself simultaneously. Maybe you do too. One moment, I’m sipping coffee, surveying my life and measuring how much everyone enjoys my very existence on earth. Thinking about all the ways I Get It Right. The next moment, I’m in the darkness, tallying up how many times I’ve failed in the past seven minutes. 

These are both marks of pride, which God abhors. Spending time hating yourself is still time spent on yourself. I love how Paul ends chapter 10: 

“When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.” 

A healthy amount of self-awareness is crucial to your walk with God. It’s great to take inventory of your heart and I think confidence and humility are the perfect cocktail towards godliness. But when we applaud ourselves, we are getting it wrong. I’ve noticed in my own life, when I commend myself for something, it’s because deep down I was just performing. 

As Paul says, if you want to boast, boast about the gospel. There really is no other ground to stand on. Pretty proud of yourself for donating a large sum of money towards something? It is by God’s grace that you have the resources to give. It is by God’s grace that you earned that money, your body and mind capable enough to work hard at a job. Patting yourself on the back for all the things you sacrifice, the lifestyle you live? Don’t. If anyone could brag about a godly, sacrificial life, it would be Jesus, who gave up everything to be with us, and died on the cross so that we could be in relationship with him. And he tells us to remain humble. Again, don’t misread this: finding contentment in your identity is not prideful. I’m nearing 30 and starting to realize that it’s appropriate to know what you’re good at and own it. God gifts us with capabilities to be used! But beware of the growing sense of pride. That cheeky voice that praises you from within. Puts down other people. Exalts itself. 

What strengths has God gifted you with? 

What does it look like to exercise them? 

How do you know when your pride has taken over? 

Pause and answer these questions. If you’re stuck on them, ask someone who knows you well to help answer them. It’s important to familiarize yourself with your strengths and even more important to know how to remain humble within them. 
-Carly