Bible Readings for October 4, 2016

Today our passages are Jeremiah 2:31–4:18; Colossians 1:1-20; Psalm 76:1-12; and Proverbs 24:21-22. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

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Jeremiah 2:31-4:18 (The Message)

 ^31-32"What a generation you turned out to be!
   Didn't I tell you? Didn't I warn you?
Have I let you down, Israel?
   Am I nothing but a dead-end street?
Why do my people say, 'Good riddance!
   From now on we're on our own'?
Young women don't forget their jewelry, do they?
   Brides don't show up without their veils, do they?
But my people forget me.
   Day after day after day they never give me a thought.
 ^33-35"What an impressive start you made
   to get the most out of life.
You founded schools of sin,
   taught graduate courses in evil!
And now you're sending out graduates, resplendent in cap and gown—
   except the gowns are stained with the blood of your victims!
All that blood convicts you.
   You cut and hurt a lot of people to get where you are.
And yet you have the gall to say, 'I've done nothing wrong.
   God doesn't mind. He hasn't punished me, has he?'
Don't look now, but judgment's on the way,
   aimed at you who say, 'I've done nothing wrong.'
 ^36-37"You think it's just a small thing, don't you,
   to try out another sin-project when the first one fails?
But Egypt will leave you in the lurch
   the same way that Assyria did.
You're going to walk away from there
   wringing your hands.
I, God, have blacklisted those you trusted.
   You'll get not a lick of help from them."

Jeremiah 3

Your Sex-and-Religion Obsessions

 ¹ God's Message came to me as follows: "If a man's wife
   walks out on him
And marries another man,
   can he take her back as if nothing had happened?
Wouldn't that raise a huge stink
   in the land?
And isn't that what you've done—
   'whored' your way with god after god?
And now you want to come back as if nothing had happened."
   God's Decree.  ^2-5"Look around at the hills.
   Where have you not had sex?
You've camped out like hunters stalking deer.
   You've solicited many lover-gods,
Like a streetwalking whore
   chasing after other gods.
And so the rain has stopped.
   No more rain from the skies!
But it doesn't even faze you. Brazen as whores,
   you carry on as if you've done nothing wrong.
Then you have the nerve to call out, 'My father!
   You took care of me when I was a child. Why not now?
Are you going to keep up your anger nonstop?'
   That's your line. Meanwhile you keep sinning nonstop."

Admit Your God-Defiance

 ^6-10God spoke to me during the reign of King Josiah: "You have noticed, haven't you, how fickle Israel has visited every hill and grove of trees as a whore at large? I assumed that after she had gotten it out of her system, she'd come back, but she didn't. Her flighty sister, Judah, saw what she did. She also saw that because of fickle Israel's loose morals I threw her out, gave her her walking papers. But that didn't faze flighty sister Judah. She went out, big as you please, and took up a whore's life also. She took up cheap sex-and-religion as a sideline diversion, an indulgent recreation, and used anything and anyone, flouting sanity and sanctity alike, stinking up the country. And not once in all this did flighty sister Judah even give me a nod, although she made a show of it from time to time." God's Decree.  ^11-12Then God told me, "Fickle Israel was a good sight better than flighty Judah. Go and preach this message. Face north toward Israel and say:
 ^12-15"'Turn back, fickle Israel.
   I'm not just hanging back to punish you.
I'm committed in love to you.
   My anger doesn't seethe nonstop.
Just admit your guilt.
   Admit your God-defiance.
Admit to your promiscuous life with casual partners,
   pulling strangers into the sex-and-religion groves
While turning a deaf ear to me.'"
   God's Decree.
"Come back, wandering children!"
   God's Decree.
"I, yes I, am your true husband.
   I'll pick you out one by one—
This one from the city, these two from the country—
   and bring you to Zion.
I'll give you good shepherd-rulers who rule my way,
   who rule you with intelligence and wisdom.
 ¹⁶"And this is what will happen: You will increase and prosper in the land. The time will come"—God's Decree!—"when no one will say any longer, 'Oh, for the good old days! Remember the Ark of the Covenant?' It won't even occur to anyone to say it—'the good old days.' The so-called good old days of the Ark are gone for good.
 ¹⁷"Jerusalem will be the new Ark—'God's Throne.' All the godless nations, no longer stuck in the ruts of their evil ways, will gather there to honor God.
 ¹⁸"At that time, the House of Judah will join up with the House of Israel. Holding hands, they'll leave the north country and come to the land I willed to your ancestors.
 ^19-20"I planned what I'd say if you returned to me:
   'Good! I'll bring you back into the family.
I'll give you choice land,
   land that the godless nations would die for.'
And I imagined that you would say, 'Dear father!'
   and would never again go off and leave me.
But no luck. Like a false-hearted woman walking out on her husband,
   you, the whole family of Israel, have proven false to me."
         God's Decree.
 ^21-22The sound of voices comes drifting out of the hills,
   the unhappy sound of Israel's crying,
Israel lamenting the wasted years,
   never once giving her God a thought.
"Come back, wandering children!
   I can heal your wanderlust!"
 ^22-25"We're here! We've come back to you.
   You're our own true God!
All that popular religion was a cheap lie,
   duped crowds buying up the latest in gods.
We're back! Back to our true God,
   the salvation of Israel.
The Fraud picked us clean, swindled us
   of what our ancestors bequeathed us,
Gypped us out of our inheritance—
   God-blessed flocks and God-given children.
We made our bed and now lie in it,
   all tangled up in the dirty sheets of dishonor.
All because we sinned against our God,
   we and our fathers and mothers.
From the time we took our first steps, said our first words,
   we've been rebels, disobeying the voice of our God."

Jeremiah 4

 ^1-2 "If you want to come back, O Israel, you must really come back to me.
You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia
   and not wander away from me anymore.
Then you can say words like, 'As God lives...'
   and have them mean something true and just and right.
And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing
   and find something in Israel to write home about."  ^3-4Here's another Message from God
   to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
"Plow your unplowed fields,
   but then don't plant weeds in the soil!
Yes, circumcise your lives for God's sake.
   Plow your unplowed hearts,
   all you people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—
   for once it starts it can't be put out.
Your wicked ways
   are fuel for the fire.

God's Sledgehammer Anger

 ^5-8"Sound the alarm in Judah,
   broadcast the news in Jerusalem.
Say, 'Blow the ram's horn trumpet through the land!'
   Shout out—a bullhorn bellow!—
'Close ranks!
   Run for your lives to the shelters!'
Send up a flare warning Zion:
   'Not a minute to lose! Don't sit on your hands!'
Disaster's descending from the north. I set it off!
   When it lands, it will shake the foundations.
Invaders have pounced like a lion from its cover,
   ready to rip nations to shreds,
Leaving your land in wrack and ruin,
   your cities in rubble, abandoned.
Dress in funereal black.
   Weep and wail,
For God's sledgehammer anger
   has slammed into us head-on.  ⁹"When this happens"
   —God's Decree—
"King and princes will lose heart;
   priests will be baffled and prophets stand dumbfounded."
 ¹⁰Then I said, "Alas, Master God!
   You've fed lies to this people, this Jerusalem.
You assured them, 'All is well, don't worry,'
   at the very moment when the sword was at their throats."
 ^11-12At that time, this people, yes, this very Jerusalem,
   will be told in plain words:
"The northern hordes are sweeping in
   from the desert steppes—
A wind that's up to no good, a gale-force wind.
   I ordered this wind.
I'm pronouncing
   my hurricane judgment on my people."

Your Evil Life Is Piercing Your Heart

 ^13-14Look at them! Like banks of storm clouds,
   racing, tumbling, their chariots a tornado,
Their horses faster than eagles!
   Woe to us! We're done for!
Jerusalem! Scrub the evil from your lives
   so you'll be fit for salvation.
How much longer will you harbor
   devious and malignant designs within you?  ^15-17What's this? A messenger from Dan?
   Bad news from Ephraim's hills!
Make the report public.
   Broadcast the news to Jerusalem:
"Invaders from far off are
   raising war cries against Judah's towns.
They're all over her, like a dog on a bone.
   And why? Because she rebelled against me."
         God's Decree.
 ¹⁸"It's the way you've lived
   that's brought all this on you.
The bitter taste is from your evil life.
   That's what's piercing your heart."

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Colossians 1:1-20 (The Message)

Colossians 1

 ^1-2I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God's master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!

Working in His Orchard

 ^3-5Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can't quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.  ^5-8The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn't diminish or weaken over time. It's the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you've been hungry for more. It's as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He's the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.
 ^9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
 ^13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.

Christ Holds It All Together

 ^15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.  ^18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

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Psalm 76:1-12 (The Message)

Psalm 76

An Asaph Psalm

 ^1-3 God is well-known in Judah; in Israel, he's a household name.
   He keeps a house in Salem,
      his own suite of rooms in Zion.
   That's where, using arrows for kindling,
      he made a bonfire of weapons of war.

 ^4-6 Oh, how bright you shine!
      Outshining their huge piles of loot!
   The warriors were plundered
      and left there impotent.
   And now there's nothing to them,
      nothing to show for their swagger and threats.
   Your sudden roar, God of Jacob,
      knocked the wind out of horse and rider.

 ^7-10 Fierce you are, and fearsome!
      Who can stand up to your rising anger?
   From heaven you thunder judgment;
      earth falls to her knees and holds her breath.
   God stands tall and makes things right,
      he saves all the wretched on earth.
   Instead of smoldering rage—God-praise!
      All that sputtering rage—now a garland for God!

 ^11-12 Do for God what you said you'd do—
      he is, after all, your God.
   Let everyone in town bring offerings
      to the One Who Watches our every move.
   Nobody gets by with anything,
      no one plays fast and loose with him.

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Proverbs 24:21-22 (The Message)

30

 ^21-22 Fear God, dear child—respect your leaders;
   don't be defiant or mutinous.
Without warning your life can turn upside down,
   and who knows how or when it might happen?

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Verse of the Day

“Don't brag about tomorrow! Each day brings its own surprises.” - Proverbs 27:1

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

The 19th President of the United States (1877–81), Rutherford B. Hayes wrote, “Unjust attacks on public men do them more good than unmerited praise. They are hurt less by undeserved censure than by undeserved commendation. Abuse helps; often praise hurts.”

Bible Readings for October 3, 2016

Today our passages are Jeremiah 1:1–2:30; Philippians 4:1-23; Psalm 75:1-10; and Proverbs 24:17-20. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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Jeremiah 1-2:30 (The Message)

Jeremiah 1

Demolish, and Then Start Over

 ^1-4 The Message of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah of the family of priests who lived in Anathoth in the country of Benjamin. God's Message began to come to him during the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amos reigned over Judah. It continued to come to him during the time Jehoiakim son of Josiah reigned over Judah. And it continued to come to him clear down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah over Judah, the year that Jerusalem was taken into exile. This is what God said:  ⁵"Before I shaped you in the womb,
   I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
   I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
   that's what I had in mind for you."
 ⁶But I said, "Hold it, Master God! Look at me.
   I don't know anything. I'm only a boy!"
 ^7-8God told me, "Don't say, 'I'm only a boy.'
   I'll tell you where to go and you'll go there.
I'll tell you what to say and you'll say it.
   Don't be afraid of a soul.
I'll be right there, looking after you."
   God's Decree.
 ^9-10God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,
   "Look! I've just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered!
See what I've done? I've given you a job to do
   among nations and governments—a red-letter day!
Your job is to pull up and tear down,
   take apart and demolish,
And then start over,
   building and planting."

Stand Up and Say Your Piece

 ^11-12God's Message came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
   I said, "A walking stick—that's all."
And God said, "Good eyes! I'm sticking with you.
   I'll make every word I give you come true."  ^13-15God's Message came again: "So what do you see now?"
   I said, "I see a boiling pot, tipped down toward us."
Then God told me, "Disaster will pour out of the north
   on everyone living in this land.
Watch for this: I'm calling all the kings out of the north."
   God's Decree.
 ^15-16"They'll come and set up headquarters
   facing Jerusalem's gates,
Facing all the city walls,
   facing all the villages of Judah.
I'll pronounce my judgment on the people of Judah
   for walking out on me—what a terrible thing to do!—
And courting other gods with their offerings,
   worshiping as gods sticks they'd carved, stones they'd painted.
 ¹⁷"But you—up on your feet and get dressed for work!
   Stand up and say your piece. Say exactly what I tell you to say.
Don't pull your punches
   or I'll pull you out of the lineup.
 ^18-19"Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work.
   I'm making you as impregnable as a castle,
Immovable as a steel post,
   solid as a concrete block wall.
You're a one-man defense system
   against this culture,
Against Judah's kings and princes,
   against the priests and local leaders.
They'll fight you, but they won't
   even scratch you.
I'll back you up every inch of the way."
   God's Decree.

Jeremiah 2

Israel Was God's Holy Choice

 ^1-3 God's Message came to me. It went like this: "Get out in the streets and call to Jerusalem,
   'God's Message!
I remember your youthful loyalty,
   our love as newlyweds.
You stayed with me through the wilderness years,
   stuck with me through all the hard places.
Israel was God's holy choice,
   the pick of the crop.
Anyone who laid a hand on her
   would soon wish he hadn't!'"
         God's Decree.  ^4-6Hear God's Message, House of Jacob!
   Yes, you—House of Israel!
God's Message: "What did your ancestors find fault with in me
   that they drifted so far from me,
Took up with Sir Windbag
   and turned into windbags themselves?
   It never occurred to them to say, 'Where's God,
   the God who got us out of Egypt,
Who took care of us through thick and thin, those rough-and-tumble
   wilderness years of parched deserts and death valleys,
A land that no one who enters comes out of,
   a cruel, inhospitable land?'
 ^7-8"I brought you to a garden land
   where you could eat lush fruit.
But you barged in and polluted my land,
   trashed and defiled my dear land.
The priests never thought to ask, 'Where's God?'
   The religion experts knew nothing of me.
The rulers defied me.
   The prophets preached god Baal
And chased empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.
 ^9-11"Because of all this, I'm bringing charges against you"
         —God's Decree—
   "charging you and your children and your grandchildren.
Look around. Have you ever seen anything quite like this?
   Sail to the western islands and look.
Travel to the Kedar wilderness and look.
   Look closely. Has this ever happened before,
That a nation has traded in its gods
   for gods that aren't even close to gods?
But my people have traded my Glory
   for empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.
 ^12-13"Stand in shock, heavens, at what you see!
   Throw up your hands in disbelief—this can't be!"
         God's Decree.
"My people have committed a compound sin:
   they've walked out on me, the fountain
Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—
   cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.
 ^14-17"Isn't Israel a valued servant,
   born into a family with place and position?
So how did she end up a piece of meat
   fought over by snarling and roaring lions?
There's nothing left of her but a few old bones,
   her towns trashed and deserted.
Egyptians from the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes
   have broken your skulls.
And why do you think all this has happened?
   Isn't it because you walked out on your God
   just as he was beginning to lead you in the right way?
 ^18-19"And now, what do you think you'll get by going off to Egypt?
   Maybe a cool drink of Nile River water?
Or what do you think you'll get by going off to Assyria?
   Maybe a long drink of Euphrates River water?
Your evil ways will get you a sound thrashing, that's what you'll get.
   You'll pay dearly for your disloyal ways.
Take a long, hard look at what you've done and its bitter results.
   Was it worth it to have walked out on your God?"
         God's Decree, Master God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

Addicted to Alien Gods

 ^20-22"A long time ago you broke out of the harness.
   You shook off all restraints.
You said, 'I will not serve!'
   and off you went,
Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way,
   like a common whore.
You were a select vine when I planted you
   from completely reliable stock.
And look how you've turned out—
   a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine.
Scrub, using the strongest soaps.
   Scour your skin raw.
The sin-grease won't come out. I can't stand to even look at you!"
   God's Decree, the Master's Decree.  ^23-24"How dare you tell me, 'I'm not stained by sin.
   I've never chased after the Baal sex gods'!
Well, look at the tracks you've left behind in the valley.
   How do you account for what is written in the desert dust—
Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that,
   tracks of a wild donkey in rut,
Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex.
   Who could possibly corral her!
On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex—
   insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous.
 ²⁵"Slow down. Take a deep breath. What's the hurry?
   Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?
But you say, 'I can't help it.
   I'm addicted to alien gods. I can't quit.'
 ^26-28"Just as a thief is chagrined, but only when caught,
   so the people of Israel are chagrined,
Caught along with their kings and princes,
   their priests and prophets.
They walk up to a tree and say, 'My father!'
   They pick up a stone and say, 'My mother! You bore me!'
All I ever see of them is their backsides.
   They never look me in the face.
But when things go badly, they don't hesitate to come running,
   calling out, 'Get a move on! Save us!'
Why not go to your handcrafted gods you're so fond of?
   Rouse them. Let them save you from your bad times.
You've got more gods, Judah,
   than you know what to do with.

Trying Out Another Sin-Project

 ^29-30"What do you have against me,
   running off to assert your 'independence'?"
         God's Decree.
"I've wasted my time trying to train your children.
   They've paid no attention to me, ignored my discipline.
And you've gotten rid of your God-messengers,
   treating them like dirt and sweeping them away.

 

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Philippians 4:1-23 (The Message)

Philippians 4

 ¹ My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don't waver. Stay on track, steady in God.

Pray About Everything

 ²I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn't want his children holding grudges.  ³And, oh, yes, Syzygus, since you're right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.
 ^4-5Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
 ^6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
 ^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Content Whatever the Circumstances

 ^10-14I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.  ^15-17You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I'll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I'm looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.
 ^18-20And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.
 ^21-22Give our regards to every follower of Jesus you meet. Our friends here say hello. All the Christians here, especially the believers who work in the palace of Caesar, want to be remembered to you.
 ²³Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.

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Psalm 75:1-10 (The Message)

Psalm 75

An Asaph Psalm

 ¹ We thank you, God, we thank you— your Name is our favorite word;
      your mighty works are all we talk about.

 ^2-4 You say, "I'm calling this meeting to order,
      I'm ready to set things right.
   When the earth goes topsy-turvy
      And nobody knows which end is up,
   I nail it all down,
      I put everything in place again.
   I say to the smart alecks, 'That's enough,'
      to the bullies, 'Not so fast.'"

 ^5-6 Don't raise your fist against High God.
      Don't raise your voice against Rock of Ages.
   He's the One from east to west;
      from desert to mountains, he's the One.

 ^7-8 God rules: he brings this one down to his knees,
      pulls that one up on her feet.
   God has a cup in his hand,
      a bowl of wine, full to the brim.
   He draws from it and pours;
      it's drained to the dregs.
   Earth's wicked ones drink it all,
      drink it down to the last bitter drop!

 ^9-10 And I'm telling the story of God Eternal,
      singing the praises of Jacob's God.
   The fists of the wicked
      are bloody stumps,
   The arms of the righteous
      are lofty green branches.

 

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Proverbs 24:17-20 (The Message)

28

 ^17-18 Don't laugh when your enemy falls;
   don't crow over his collapse.
God might see, and become very provoked,
   and then take pity on his plight.

29

 ^19-20 Don't bother your head with braggarts
   or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
Those people have no future at all;
   they're headed down a dead-end street.

 

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Verse of the Day

 

“[A Real Reason for Hope]Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on.” - 1 Peter 1:3

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Leading Yiddish author and playwright, Sholom Aleichem wrote, “Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.”

Bible Readings for October 2, 2016

Today our passages are Isaiah 66:1-24; Philippians 3:4b-21; Psalm 74:1-23; and Proverbs 24:15-16. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you missed a day, you can find all the readings at our blog, The Bible in a Year. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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Isaiah 66:1-24 (The Message)

Isaiah 66

Living Worship to God

 ^1-2 God's Message: "Heaven's my throne,
   earth is my footstool.
What sort of house could you build for me?
   What holiday spot reserve for me?
I made all this! I own all this!"
   God's Decree.
"But there is something I'm looking for:
   a person simple and plain,
   reverently responsive to what I say.  ^3-4"Your acts of worship
   are acts of sin:
Your sacrificial slaughter of the ox
   is no different from murdering the neighbor;
Your offerings for worship,
   no different from dumping pig's blood on the altar;
Your presentation of memorial gifts,
   no different from honoring a no-god idol.
You choose self-serving worship,
   you delight in self-centered worship—disgusting!
Well, I choose to expose your nonsense
   and let you realize your worst fears,
Because when I invited you, you ignored me;
   when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil,
   you chose what I hate."
 ⁵But listen to what God has to say
   to you who reverently respond to his Word:
"Your own families hate you
   and turn you out because of me.
They taunt you, 'Let us see God's glory!
   If God's so great, why aren't you happy?'
But they're the ones
   who are going to end up shamed."
 ⁶Rumbles of thunder from the city!
   A voice out of the Temple!
God's voice,
   handing out judgment to his enemies:
 ^7-9"Before she went into labor,
   she had the baby.
Before the birth pangs hit,
   she delivered a son.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
   Has anyone seen anything like this?
A country born in a day?
   A nation born in a flash?
But Zion was barely in labor
   when she had her babies!
Do I open the womb
   and not deliver the baby?
Do I, the One who delivers babies,
   shut the womb?
 ^10-11"Rejoice, Jerusalem,
   and all who love her, celebrate!
And all you who have shed tears over her,
   join in the happy singing.
You newborns can satisfy yourselves
   at her nurturing breasts.
Yes, delight yourselves and drink your fill
   at her ample bosom."

 ^12-13God's Message:
   "I'll pour robust well-being into her like a river,
   the glory of nations like a river in flood.
You'll nurse at her breasts,
   nestle in her bosom,
   and be bounced on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
   so I'll comfort you.
   You will be comforted in Jerusalem."
 ^14-16You'll see all this and burst with joy
   —you'll feel ten feet tall—
As it becomes apparent that God is on your side
   and against his enemies.
For God arrives like wildfire
   and his chariots like a tornado,
A furious outburst of anger,
   a rebuke fierce and fiery.
For it's by fire that God brings judgment,
   a death sentence on the human race.
Many, oh so many,
   are under God's sentence of death:
 ¹⁷"All who enter the sacred groves for initiation in those unholy rituals that climaxed in that foul and obscene meal of pigs and mice will eat together and then die together." God's Decree.
 ^18-21"I know everything they've ever done or thought. I'm going to come and then gather everyone—all nations, all languages. They'll come and see my glory. I'll set up a station at the center. I'll send the survivors of judgment all over the world: Spain and Africa, Turkey and Greece, and the far-off islands that have never heard of me, who know nothing of what I've done nor who I am. I'll send them out as missionaries to preach my glory among the nations. They'll return with all your long-lost brothers and sisters from all over the world. They'll bring them back and offer them in living worship to God. They'll bring them on horses and wagons and carts, on mules and camels, straight to my holy mountain Jerusalem," says God. "They'll present them just as Israelites present their offerings in a ceremonial vessel in the Temple of God. I'll even take some of them and make them priests and Levites," says God.
 ^22-23"For just as the new heavens and new earth
   that I am making will stand firm before me"
         —God's Decree—
"So will your children
   and your reputation stand firm.
Month after month and week by week,
   everyone will come to worship me," God says.
 ²⁴"And then they'll go out and look at what happened
   to those who rebelled against me. Corpses!
Maggots endlessly eating away on them,
   an endless supply of fuel for fires.
Everyone who sees what's happened
   and smells the stench retches."

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Philippians 3:4-21 (The Message)

 ^2-6Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they're interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ's praise as we do it. We couldn't carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God's law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God's law Book.
 ^7-9The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
 ^10-11I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Focused on the Goal

 ^12-14I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.  ^15-16So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.
 ^17-19Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I've warned you of them many times; sadly, I'm having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ's Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
 ^20-21But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

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Psalm 74:1-23 (The Message)

Psalm 74

An Asaph Psalm

 ¹ You walked off and left us, and never looked back. God, how could you do that?
   We're your very own sheep;
      how can you stomp off in anger?

 ^2-3 Refresh your memory of us—you bought us a long time ago.
      Your most precious tribe—you paid a good price for us!
      Your very own Mount Zion—you actually lived here once!
   Come and visit the site of disaster,
      see how they've wrecked the sanctuary.

 ^4-8 While your people were at worship, your enemies barged in,
      brawling and scrawling graffiti.
   They set fire to the porch;
      axes swinging, they chopped up the woodwork,
   Beat down the doors with sledgehammers,
      then split them into kindling.
   They burned your holy place to the ground,
      violated the place of worship.
   They said to themselves, "We'll wipe them all out,"
      and burned down all the places of worship.

 ^9-17 There's not a sign or symbol of God in sight,
      nor anyone to speak in his name,
      no one who knows what's going on.
   How long, God, will barbarians blaspheme,
      enemies curse and get by with it?
   Why don't you do something? How long are you going
      to sit there with your hands folded in your lap?
   God is my King from the very start;
      he works salvation in the womb of the earth.
   With one blow you split the sea in two,
      you made mincemeat of the dragon Tannin.
   You lopped off the heads of Leviathan,
      then served them up in a stew for the animals.
   With your finger you opened up springs and creeks,
      and dried up the wild floodwaters.
   You own the day, you own the night;
      you put stars and sun in place.
   You laid out the four corners of earth,
      shaped the seasons of summer and winter.

 ^18-21 Mark and remember, God, all the enemy
      taunts, each idiot desecration.
   Don't throw your lambs to the wolves;
      after all we've been through, don't forget us.
   Remember your promises;
      the city is in darkness, the countryside violent.
   Don't leave the victims to rot in the street;
      make them a choir that sings your praises.

 ^22-23 On your feet, O God—
      stand up for yourself!
   Do you hear what they're saying about you,
      all the vile obscenities?
   Don't tune out their malicious filth,
      the brawling invective that never lets up.

 

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Proverbs 24:15-16 (The Message)

27

 ^15-16 Don't interfere with good people's lives;
   don't try to get the best of them.
No matter how many times you trip them up,
   God-loyal people don't stay down long;
Soon they're up on their feet,
   while the wicked end up flat on their faces.

 

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Verse of the Day

 

“Don't fall into the trap of being a coward – trust the LORD, and you will be safe.” - Proverbs 29:25

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American newspaper and radio gossip commentator, Walter Winchell wrote, “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”

Bible Readings for October 1, 2016

Today our passages are Isaiah 62:6–65:25; Philippians 2:19–3:4a; Psalm 73:1-28; and Proverbs 24:13-14. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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Isaiah 62:6-65:25 (The Message)

^6-7I've posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem.
Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out,
reminding God to remember.
They are to give him no peace until he does what he said,
until he makes Jerusalem famous as the City of Praise.
^8-9God has taken a solemn oath,
an oath he means to keep:
"Never again will I open your grain-filled barns
to your enemies to loot and eat.
Never again will foreigners drink the wine
that you worked so hard to produce.
No. The farmers who grow the food will eat the food
and praise God for it.
And those who make the wine will drink the wine
in my holy courtyards."
^10-12Walk out of the gates. Get going!
Get the road ready for the people.
Build the highway. Get at it!
Clear the debris,
hoist high a flag, a signal to all peoples!
Yes! God has broadcast to all the world:
"Tell daughter Zion, 'Look! Your Savior comes,
Ready to do what he said he'd do,
prepared to complete what he promised.'"
Zion will be called new names: Holy People, God-Redeemed,
Sought-Out, City-Not-Forsaken.

Isaiah 63

Who Goes There?

¹ The watchmen call out, "Who goes there, marching out of Edom,
out of Bozrah in clothes dyed red?
Name yourself, so splendidly dressed,
advancing, bristling with power!" "It is I: I speak what is right,
I, mighty to save!"
²"And why are your robes so red,
your clothes dyed red like those who tread grapes?"
^3-6"I've been treading the winepress alone.
No one was there to help me.
Angrily, I stomped the grapes;
raging, I trampled the people.
Their blood spurted all over me—
all my clothes were soaked with blood.
I was set on vengeance.
The time for redemption had arrived.
I looked around for someone to help
—no one.
I couldn't believe it
—not one volunteer.
So I went ahead and did it myself,
fed and fueled by my rage.
I trampled the people in my anger,
crushed them under foot in my wrath,
soaked the earth with their lifeblood."

All the Things God Has Done That Need Praising

^7-9I'll make a list of God's gracious dealings,
all the things God has done that need praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
his great goodness to the family of Israel—
Compassion lavished,
love extravagant.
He said, "Without question these are my people,
children who would never betray me."
So he became their Savior.
In all their troubles,
he was troubled, too.
He didn't send someone else to help them.
He did it himself, in person.
Out of his own love and pity
he redeemed them.
He rescued them and carried them along
for a long, long time. ¹⁰But they turned on him;
they grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned on them,
became their enemy and fought them.
^11-14Then they remembered the old days,
the days of Moses, God's servant:
"Where is he who brought the shepherds of his flock
up and out of the sea?
And what happened to the One who set
his Holy Spirit within them?
Who linked his arm with Moses' right arm,
divided the waters before them,
Making him famous ever after,
and led them through the muddy abyss
as surefooted as horses on hard, level ground?
Like a herd of cattle led to pasture,
the Spirit of God gave them rest."
^14-19That's how you led your people!
That's how you became so famous!
Look down from heaven, look at us!
Look out the window of your holy and magnificent house!
Whatever happened to your passion,
your famous mighty acts,
Your heartfelt pity, your compassion?
Why are you holding back?
You are our Father.
Abraham and Israel are long dead.
They wouldn't know us from Adam.
But you're our living Father,
our Redeemer, famous from eternity!
Why, God, did you make us wander from your ways?
Why did you make us cold and stubborn
so that we no longer worshiped you in awe?
Turn back for the sake of your servants.
You own us! We belong to you!
For a while your holy people had it good,
but now our enemies have wrecked your holy place.
For a long time now, you've paid no attention to us.
It's like you never knew us.

Isaiah 64

Can We Be Saved?

^1-7 Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend, make the mountains shudder at your presence—
As when a forest catches fire,
as when fire makes a pot to boil—
To shock your enemies into facing you,
make the nations shake in their boots!
You did terrible things we never expected,
descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.
Since before time began
no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who happily do what is right,
who keep a good memory of the way you work.
But how angry you've been with us!
We've sinned and kept at it so long!
Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?
We're all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.
Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.
We dry up like autumn leaves—
sin-dried, we're blown off by the wind.
No one prays to you
or makes the effort to reach out to you
Because you've turned away from us,
left us to stew in our sins. ^8-12Still, God, you are our Father.
We're the clay and you're our potter:
All of us are what you made us.
Don't be too angry with us, O God.
Don't keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.
Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.
Your holy cities are all ghost towns:
Zion's a ghost town,
Jerusalem's a field of weeds.
Our holy and beautiful Temple,
which our ancestors filled with your praises,
Was burned down by fire,
all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.
In the face of all this,
are you going to sit there unmoved, God?
Aren't you going to say something?
Haven't you made us miserable long enough?

Isaiah 65

The People Who Bothered to Reach Out to God

^1-7 "I've made myself available to those who haven't bothered to ask.
I'm here, ready to be found
by those who haven't bothered to look.
I kept saying 'I'm here, I'm right here'
to a nation that ignored me.
I reached out day after day
to a people who turned their backs on me,
People who make wrong turns,
who insist on doing things their own way.
They get on my nerves,
are rude to my face day after day,
Make up their own kitchen religion,
a potluck religious stew.
They spend the night in tombs
to get messages from the dead,
Eat forbidden foods
and drink a witch's brew of potions and charms.
They say, 'Keep your distance.
Don't touch me. I'm holier than thou.'
These people gag me.
I can't stand their stench.
Look at this! Their sins are all written out—
I have the list before me.
I'm not putting up with this any longer.
I'll pay them the wages
They have coming for their sins.
And for the sins of their parents lumped in,
a bonus." God says so.
"Because they've practiced their blasphemous worship,
mocking me at their hillside shrines,
I'll let loose the consequences
and pay them in full for their actions." ^8-10God's Message:
"But just as one bad apple doesn't ruin the whole bushel,
there are still plenty of good apples left.
So I'll preserve those in Israel who obey me.
I won't destroy the whole nation.
I'll bring out my true children from Jacob
and the heirs of my mountains from Judah.
My chosen will inherit the land,
my servants will move in.
The lush valley of Sharon in the west
will be a pasture for flocks,
And in the east, the valley of Achor,
a place for herds to graze.
These will be for the people
who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives,
who actually bothered to look for me.
^11-12"But you who abandon me, your God,
who forget the holy mountains,
Who hold dinners for Lady Luck
and throw cocktail parties for Sir Fate,
Well, you asked for it. Fate it will be:
your destiny, Death.
For when I invited you, you ignored me;
when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil;
you chose what I hate."

^13-16Therefore, this is the Message from the Master, God:
"My servants will eat,
and you'll go hungry;
My servants will drink,
and you'll go thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
and you'll hang your heads.
My servants will laugh from full hearts,
and you'll cry out heartbroken,
yes, wail from crushed spirits.
Your legacy to my chosen
will be your name reduced to a cussword.
I, God, will put you to death
and give a new name to my servants.
Then whoever prays a blessing in the land
will use my faithful name for the blessing,
And whoever takes an oath in the land
will use my faithful name for the oath,
Because the earlier troubles are gone and forgotten,
banished far from my sight.

New Heavens and a New Earth

^17-25"Pay close attention now:
I'm creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
Anticipate what I'm creating:
I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I'll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They'll build houses
and move in.
They'll plant fields
and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won't work and have nothing come of it,
they won't have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God,
with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I'll answer.
Before they've finished speaking, I'll have heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,
lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,
but snakes—they'll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
anywhere on my Holy Mountain," says God.

 

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Philippians 2:19-3:4 (The Message)

^19-24I plan (according to Jesus' plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy's the real thing. He's been a devoted son to me as together we've delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I'm hoping and praying to be right on his heels.
^25-27But for right now, I'm dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I'm sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he's been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others.
^28-30So you can see why I'm so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, hale and hearty, how you'll rejoice and how relieved I'll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren't able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it.

Philippians 3

To Know Him Personally

¹ And that's about it, friends. Be glad in God! I don't mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don't mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry—so here goes. ^2-6Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they're interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ's praise as we do it. We couldn't carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God's law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God's law Book.

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Psalm 73:1-28 (The Message)

Psalm 73

An Asaph Psalm

^1-5 No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
looking up to the people
At the top,
envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
not a care in the whole wide world.

^6-10 Pretentious with arrogance,
they wear the latest fashions in violence,
Pampered and overfed,
decked out in silk bows of silliness.
They jeer, using words to kill;
they bully their way with words.
They're full of hot air,
loudmouths disturbing the peace.
People actually listen to them—can you believe it?
Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.

^11-14 What's going on here? Is God out to lunch?
Nobody's tending the store.
The wicked get by with everything;
they have it made, piling up riches.
I've been stupid to play by the rules;
what has it gotten me?
A long run of bad luck, that's what—
a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.

^15-20 If I'd have given in and talked like this,
I would have betrayed your dear children.
Still, when I tried to figure it out,
all I got was a splitting headache . . .
Until I entered the sanctuary of God.
Then I saw the whole picture:
The slippery road you've put them on,
with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.
In the blink of an eye, disaster!
A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare!
We wake up and rub our eyes....Nothing.
There's nothing to them. And there never was.

^21-24 When I was beleaguered and bitter,
totally consumed by envy,
I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox
in your very presence.
I'm still in your presence,
but you've taken my hand.
You wisely and tenderly lead me,
and then you bless me.

^25-28 You're all I want in heaven!
You're all I want on earth!
When my skin sags and my bones get brittle,
God is rock-firm and faithful.
Look! Those who left you are falling apart!
Deserters, they'll never be heard from again.
But I'm in the very presence of God—
oh, how refreshing it is!
I've made Lord God my home.
God, I'm telling the world what you do!

 

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Proverbs 24:13-14 (The Message)

26

^13-14 Eat honey, dear child—it's good for you—
and delicacies that melt in your mouth.
Likewise knowledge,
and wisdom for your soul—
Get that and your future's secured,
your hope is on solid rock.

 

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Verse of the Day

 

“God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.” - Matthew 5:11-12

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

English film and stage actress, a singer, an author, a theatre director, and a dancer, Julie Andrews wrote, “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.”