Author Archives: chadzaucha

Here is today’s Bible reading:  2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19; Romans 8:9-21; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 19:26.

Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.”
(2 Chronicles 8:11 ESV)

Solomon tries to do what we often do:  compartmentalize our lives into categories such as “sacred” and “secular”, “spiritual” and “day-to-day living”.  But in God’s eyes, everything is spiritual.  Everything is to be worship.  Everything is to be done as unto Him.  If a wife isn’t good enough to live in the palace in Jerusalem, then she probably ought not be his wife.  If something that we are doing can’t be done as unto the Lord, it ought not be done.

Here is today’s Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 4:1-6:11; Romans 7:1-13; Psalm 17:1-15; Proverbs 19:22-23.

Proverbs 19:23 (NIV)
The fear of the Lord leads to life:
Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

I have heard it said that if you truly fear God (seek Him, trust Him, worship Him, obey Him) then you need not fear anything else. Said another way, if God is for us, then who or what can be against us?

Psalm 17:6-7 (NIV)
I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
[7] Show the wonder of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.

Here is today’s Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 1:1-3:17; Romans 6:1-23; Psalm 16:1-11; Proverbs 19:20-21.

Psalm 16:2 (NIV)
I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”

We continually chase after cheap substitutes for the one real thing, the only thing that is good – God.  When we have God, we have all we need.

Proverbs 19:20 (NIV)
Listen to advice and accept instruction,
and in the end you will be wise.

Wise people are teachable.  They listen and admit their weaknesses.

Here is today’s Bible reading: 1 Chronicles 28:1-29:30; Romans 5:6-21; Psalm 15:1-5; Proverbs 19:18-19.

Proverbs 19:19 (NIV)
A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty;
if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.

Sometimes the best way to help those we love the most is not to bail them out, but to allow them to experience the full effect of the consequences of their actions.

1 Chron. 29:12 (NIV)
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

It all belongs to God – even this life I call my own.

Here is today’s Bible reading:  1 Chronicles 24:1-26:11; Romans 4:1-12; Psalm 13:1-6; Proverbs 19:15-16.
Psalm 13:1-6 (NIV)  
For the director of music. A psalm of David.

    How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
        How long will you hide your face from me?
    [2] How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
        and every day have sorrow in my heart?
        How long will my enemy triumph over me?
 
    [3] Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
        Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
    [4] my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
        and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
 
    [5] But I trust in your unfailing love;
        my heart rejoices in your salvation.
    [6] I will sing to the Lord,
        for he has been good to me.
 
I love how the Psalmist honestly pours out his heart to God, but then ends with what he knows to be absolutely true:  God is trustworthy.  His lamenting changes to rejoicing.  His crying turns to singing.  This is not because his circumstances have changed, but his focus has.  May God enable us to focus on what is true, that our weeping may turn into singing.

We were driving down Ojai Avenue today when we noticed a car with Michigan license plates.  Then on the bumper we noticed it had a “Godfrey” sticker from a car dealer in Cadillac.  Small world.  

Here is today’s Bible reading:  1 Chronicles 19:1-21:27; Romans 2:25-3:8; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 19:10-12.

Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)
A man’s wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

We can be so quick to react (and overreact) to others.  The spiritually mature are able to patiently rise above and not get sucked into the drama.

Psalm 11:5 (NIV)
The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence
his soul hates.

God is love.  He is also just.  We tend to emphasize the former to the neglect of the latter.

1 Chron. 21:24 (NIV)
But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”

True worship is costly.

Here is today’s Bible reading: 1 Chronicles 15:1-16:36; Romans 1:18-32; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 19:6-7.

Romans 1:28 (NIV)
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

I wonder if God has “given us over” as a nation to our depraved thinking. Ultimately, we will reap what we sow.

Here is today’s Bible reading:  1 Chronicles 12:19-14:17; Romans 1:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 19:4-5.

Romans 1:16 (NIV)
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Sadly, the church in our culture is becoming increasingly ashamed of the gospel.  An important element of the good news is the bad news of judgment and hell.  But because we perceive that people do not want to hear the bad news, we don’t talk about it.  Such a gospel is not about salvation – it is merely self-improvement.  But Jesus did not die to simply improve our lives, He came to save us.

Further, the church in our culture does not believe that the power of the gospel is sufficient to save.  Instead, we put our trust in gimmicks and entertainment to attract people. Then we wonder why we fail to see lives radically changed. The power to change lives is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here is today’s Bible reading: 1 Chronicles 9:1-10:14; Acts 27:21-44; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 18:23-24.

Psalm 8:3-5 (NIV)
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
[4] what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
[5] You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

Psalm 8 reminds us of just how small we are in the context of the universe. It is a call to a humble estimation of our significance. We are not nearly as important as we think we are. Yet, God desires to know us personally and intimately.  In Him, our lives attain ultimate significance.  As we are humbled by this Psalm, may it cause us to lives that overflow with gratitude.