Bible Readings for January 7, 2014

Today our passages are Genesis 16:1–18:19; Matthew 6:1-24; Psalm 7:1-17; and Proverbs 2:1-5. The readings are from the  The Message  by Eugene H. Peterson.

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 Genesis 16-18:19 (The Message)

Genesis 16

 ^1-2 Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, "God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.  ^3-4 So Sarai, Abram's wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.
 ⁵ Sarai told Abram, "It's all your fault that I'm suffering this abuse. I put my maid in bed with you and the minute she knows she's pregnant, she treats me like I'm nothing. May God decide which of us is right."
 ⁶ "You decide," said Abram. "Your maid is your business."
   Sarai was abusive to Hagar and Hagar ran away.
 ^7-8 An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. He said, "Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?"
   She said, "I'm running away from Sarai my mistress."
 ^9-12 The angel of God said, "Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse." He continued, "I'm going to give you a big family, children past counting.

   From this pregnancy, you'll get a son: Name him Ishmael;
      for God heard you, God answered you.
   He'll be a bucking bronco of a man,
      a real fighter, fighting and being fought,
   Always stirring up trouble,
      always at odds with his family."
 ¹³ She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, "You're the God who sees me!
   "Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!"
 ¹⁴ That's how that desert spring got named "God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring." That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
 ^15-16 Hagar gave Abram a son. Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave him his son, Ishmael.

Genesis 17

 ^1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."  ^3-8 Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.
   Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that 'I'm making you the father of many nations.' I'll make you a father of fathers—I'll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I'm giving you and your descendants this land where you're now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I'll be their God."
 ^9-14 God continued to Abraham, "And you: You will honor my covenant, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor, the covenant that pulls in all your descendants: Circumcise every male. Circumcise by cutting off the foreskin of the penis; it will be the sign of the covenant between us. Every male baby will be circumcised when he is eight days old, generation after generation—this includes house-born slaves and slaves bought from outsiders who are not blood kin. Make sure you circumcise both your own children and anyone brought in from the outside. That way my covenant will be cut into your body, a permanent mark of my permanent covenant. An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people—he has broken my covenant."
 ^15-16 God continued speaking to Abraham, "And Sarai your wife: Don't call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I'll bless her—yes! I'll give you a son by her! Oh, how I'll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her."
 ¹⁷ Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, "Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?"
 ¹⁸ Recovering, Abraham said to God, "Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!"
 ¹⁹ But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.
 ^20-21 "And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll also bless him; I'll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He'll father twelve princes; I'll make him a great nation. But I'll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year."
 ²² God finished speaking with Abraham and left.
 ²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all his servants, whether houseborn or purchased—every male in his household—and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins that very day, just as God had told him.
 ^24-27 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised the same day together with all the servants of his household, those born there and those purchased from outsiders—all were circumcised with him.

Genesis 18

 ^1-2 God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.  ^3-5 He said, "Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I'll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I'll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path."
   They said, "Certainly. Go ahead."
 ⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, "Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread."
 ^7-8 Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.
 ⁹ The men said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?"
   He said, "In the tent."
 ¹⁰ One of them said, "I'm coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.
 ^11-12 Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, "An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?"
 ^13-14 God said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh saying, 'Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?' Is anything too hard for God? I'll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby."
 ¹⁵ Sarah lied. She said, "I didn't laugh," because she was afraid.
   But he said, "Yes you did; you laughed."

¹⁶ When the men got up to leave, they set off for Sodom. Abraham walked with them to say good-bye.
 ^17-19 Then God said, "Shall I keep back from Abraham what I'm about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I've settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe God's way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that God can complete in Abraham what he promised him."

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Matthew 6:1-24 (The Message)

Matthew 6

The World Is Not a Stage

 ¹ "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. ^2-4"When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.

Pray with Simplicity

 ⁵"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

 ⁶"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

 ^7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

   Our Father in heaven,
   Reveal who you are.
   Set the world right;
   Do what's best— as above, so below.
   Keep us alive with three square meals.
   Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
   Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
   You're in charge!
   You can do anything you want!
   You're ablaze in beauty!
      Yes. Yes. Yes.

 ^14-15"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.

 ^16-18"When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well.

A Life of God-Worship

 ^19-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

 ^22-23"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

 ²⁴"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.

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Psalm 7:1-17 (The Message)

Psalm 7

A David Psalm

 ^1-2 God! God! I am running to you for dear life; the chase is wild.
   If they catch me, I'm finished:
      ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,
      dragged into the forest and left
      unlooked for, unremembered.

 ^3-5 God, if I've done what they say—
      betrayed my friends,
      ripped off my enemies—
   If my hands are really that dirty,
      let them get me, walk all over me,
      leave me flat on my face in the dirt.

 ^6-8 Stand up, God; pit your holy fury
      against my furious enemies.
   Wake up, God. My accusers have packed
      the courtroom; it's judgment time.
   Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel,
      throw out the false charges against me.
   I'm ready, confident in your verdict:
      "Innocent."

 ^9-11 Close the book on Evil, God,
      but publish your mandate for us.
   You get us ready for life:
      you probe for our soft spots,
      you knock off our rough edges.
   And I'm feeling so fit, so safe:
      made right, kept right.
   God in solemn honor does things right,
      but his nerves are sandpapered raw.

 ^11-13 Nobody gets by with anything.
      God is already in action—
   Sword honed on his whetstone,
      bow strung, arrow on the string,
   Lethal weapons in hand,
      each arrow a flaming missile.

 ¹⁴ Look at that guy!
      He had sex with sin,
      he's pregnant with evil.
   Oh, look! He's having
      the baby—a Lie-Baby!

 ^15-16 See that man shoveling day after day,
      digging, then concealing, his man-trap
      down that lonely stretch of road?
   Go back and look again—you'll see him in it headfirst,
      legs waving in the breeze.
   That's what happens:
      mischief backfires;
      violence boomerangs.

 ¹⁷ I'm thanking God, who makes things right.
   I'm singing the fame of heaven-high God.

 

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Proverbs 2:1-5 (The Message)

Proverbs 2

Make Insight Your Priority

 ^1-5 Good friend, take to heart what I'm telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
   set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That's right—if you make Insight your priority,
   and won't take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,
   like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
   you'll have come upon the Knowledge of God.

 

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Verse of the Day

 

“Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.” - Ephesians 5:1-2

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

English naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter, Gerald Durrell wrote, “Until we consider animal life to be worthy of the consideration and reverence we bestow upon old books and pictures and historic monuments, there will always be the animal refugee living a precarious life on the edge of extermination, dependent for existence on the charity of a few human beings.”