Category: faith

November 11, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

James 2:14-26. Faith without works is dead. The example is Abraham. The apostle Paul used the same example to show that Abraham was justified apart from works in Romans 4:2-3 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” This seeming contradiction is solved in Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Daniel 8 tells of the prophet Daniel’s vision of a ram and a goat, with the two-horned ram representing Media and Persia, and the goat representing Greece.

November 10, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

James 2:1-13. Do not show favoritism, especially to wealthy or famous people! Love thy neighbour as yourself.

Daniel 7. Daniel’s dream of four great beasts.

November 9, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

James 1:19-29 is more than any letter a bridge between the Old and the New Testament. It encourages us to be swift to hear and slow to wrath, and above all. be doers and not hearers only of the word, for that is true religion – faith in action.

Daniel 5. This is the famous chapter with the handwriting on the wall: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin“

Daniel 6. Time passed. Daniel was by then about 80 years old. He was still praying as he always did, three times a day but not to King Darius, and for that he was thrown into the lions’ den. God sent his angel to protect Daniel, so the next morning he was rescued unharmed, but for his accusers, thrown into the same den after Daniel came out it turned out the lions were really hungry.

Psalm 109, of David. Leaving vengeance to God, David prayed for the full measure of God’s vengeance to be poured out on his wicked enemies. He is “poor and needy” and vengeance is God’s business.

November 8, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

James 1:1-18 is more than any letter a bridge between the Old and the New Testament. It starts out with a greeting to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. It encourages to meet trials with joy, demands the rich to do good and love God even under trials.

Daniel 4 tells in vivid detail Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a tree, Nebuchadnezzar’s fall and restoration.

November 7, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

Hebrews 13. Show love for each other, be hospitable, practice outreach, honor marriage and be content. But “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Remember, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”, and we have a heavenly altar, not made with hands, and our sacrifices are sacrifices of praise, thanksgiving, doing good and with joy. This was the last two of the “let us” in the book of Hebrews for a total of fourteen. The theology part ends with “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” This covenant was instituted before time began, that is why modern translations call it the eternal covenant. Finally, I add my personal thoughts on who was the author of the book of Hebrews.

Daniel 3 tells about the image of gold that all had to worship, and the fiery furnace prepared for the three Hebrews that refused. From Sunday School we all know how that went.

November 6, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

Hebrews 12:14-29. Let us fix our eyes to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. This and four other “let us” in the book of Hebrews bring us to a total of twelve, all intended to teach us how to live and bring us closer to Jesus and in so doing we get disciplined by God for our benefit. But it also comes with the fifth and final warning to us: “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven”

Daniel 2 contains Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and only Daniel could interpret it. Of particular interest is “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.“

November 5, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

Hebrews 12:1-13. Let us fix our eyes to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Daniel 1. This book is most probably written by Daniel during his life. This has been questioned because of the many, accurate prophesies in it. It begins with Daniel and three other Hebrew children as they are taken into the Babylonian King’s administration as interns, and are given new names. They refuse the non- kosher diet and pass the test.

Psalm 107. God to the rescue. It is a telling of four “saysos” as the Southerners used to say as they called for testimonials in their revival meetings:  “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so“. The Israelis kept getting in trouble and finally cried out to the LORD, and He saved them out of their distresses. This is a remarkably positive Psalm.

Psalm 108, a Psalm, a song of David. Here David repeated parts from Psalm 57 and Psalm 60 and used it to ask for God’s help in his further conquests as he subdued nations around him.

November 4, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

Hebrews 11:23-40 is called “the great faith chapter”. The writer of Hebrews continues his history of faith with Moses’ parents, Moses, the people crossing the Red Sea, the fall of the walls of Jericho and the friendly innkeeper Rahab. Then the author ran out of time to mention Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets. “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

Proverbs 18, Proverbs of Solomon. God looks at the heart, take heed and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, not men.

Psalm 106 is a follow-on of Psalm 105. While Psalm 105 tells of the story of God’s people from Abraham to Moses, Psalm 106 continues from the crossing of the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds) to the sins committed ,even to the child sacrifices to the gods of Canaan. The psalmist prayed for deliverance from the heathens and return and restoration of the promised land. The Psalm begins and ends with a Hallelujah (praise the LORD).

November 3, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

Hebrews 11:1-22: Hebrews 11 is called “the great faith chapter”. “Without faith it is impossible to please God“. In the faith hall of fame the people recorded are in order, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, ending Genesis. The rest of this great chapter is tomorrow’s reading.

Ezekiel 47. This chapter is interesting. It tells of the river from the temple, the healing waters, trees by the river and the borders of the land.

Ezekiel 48 delineates the division of the land and tells of the Gates of the City. Finally the name of the Holy city shall be  “The LORD is there.” (“Yahweh Shammah,”)

November 2, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; with comments

Hebrews 10:19-39. Since sacrifice for sins are done away with it means we must live “in a new and living way“. In the letter to the Hebrews there are eight “let us” to tell us how. After that I divert into the difference between dispensationalism  with its ten covenants and covenant theology, which has only three, and the different dispensations, of which we now are in the dispensation of grace. The next question is, when did the dispensation of grace, or church age, as it is also called, start? This too is quite interesting, but that was when it hit me. It doesn’t matter, we live in “today”. This is quite fantastic, and the narrative returns to Hebrews, where it explains that the law of Moses was inferior to the new and living way. It comes with a warning though: Do not sin deliberately! Verses 28 through 31 are quite tough, and give us pause to ponder. Is it really that bad? No, there is still hope for the believer, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” The verse 38 was the verse that convinced me I had to be baptized in a believers baptism, even though I had been baptized as an infant. It really had nothing to do with salvation, that was settled at the time of belief. It was an act of faith and obedience to remain in close fellowship with God. “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Ezekiel 46. The prophet continued outlining the manner of worship and how offerings were to be prepared