Plainfield Ponderings - Scripture Meditations

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Ponder the day of judgment with me!  Several passages say we ought to be eagerly awaiting the day of judgment.  Peter even says to hasten it.  Some view the day of judgment like it's a threat, or with negativity and fear.  That's not the picture painted for the people of God.  Even in the passages where it sounds negative and scary, we should look deeper in the context.  It's always pictured as a relief, a day we should want to come soon!  To God be the glory!

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Ponder the book of Obadiah with me!  It was written about the Edomites, whose backstory begins with Esau.  The Israelites and Edomites were brothers.  There's an interesting law in Deuteronomy about their relationship that should have benefitted the Edomites spiritually.  That's what unity among brothers always does - it helps people grow spiritually.  Let's think through this Edomite tragedy, what could have been, and what the ideal is in the church.  To God be the glory!

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Ponder with me two more Psalms of Thanksgiving!  These 2 will be our last for the week.  Psalm 136 is the one of the most repetitious Psalms in the book.  God's "steadfast love" is repeated 26 times - in every verse of the Psalm!  I'll try to define the term before reading this beautiful Psalm.  What a profound word!  Finally, we'll read Psalm 145 which is about the greatness of God.  His provision and His power are obvious things to focus on, but as the Psalm will point out, He's also great because of His care for the lowly.  The people we tend to forget about, God does not.  To God be the glory!

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Ponder a couple more Psalms of thanksgiving with me!  Today's reading is from Psalm 107 and 118.  Psalm 107 is about the return from captivity, and why they went into it in the first place.  It was because of their rebellion, and it was because of God's eternal love and faithfulness that they came out.  When God saves His people, His people ought to say so!  Psalm 118 is a psalm used in the New Testament about Jesus.  It's used by Jesus, Peter and by some Jews during the triumphal entrance of Jesus on the donkey's foal.  So, let's read this psalm with Jesus on our mind too.  To God be the glory!

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Ponder a couple more Psalms of Thanksgiving with me.  As many are gearing up for the holiday of Thanksgiving, we want to center our minds on the Giver of all blessings.  Psalm 100 is about giving Him thanks for who He is, His steadfast love, and His faithfulness.  Psalm 103 focuses on God's forgiveness and treating us better than we deserve...but it also has a hint in it about resurrection.  To God be the glory!

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Ponder some Psalms of Thanksgiving with me!  It's Thanksgiving week, and as we think about all the fantastic things we are blessed with, we must not forget that the origin of all of them, is God.  I'll be releasing some readings of some Psalms every morning, through Thanksgiving Day morning.  I hope these readings will help you think about all the amazing things God has done.  To God be the glory!

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Ponder with me about what Christ said about the Holy Spirit in John 7.  What did Jesus mean when He said that out of our hearts would flow rivers or streams of living water?  John gives a footnote about this text and says this would happen to all believers (7:39).  Let's trace it in the Old Testament and then connect it to Acts 2:38 and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  To God be the glory!

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Ponder with me about another conversation that takes place in John 7.  It all begins with some of the doubts people had about Jesus' origins.  They said in John 7:27 - "when the Christ appears we won't know where He is from."  What did they mean by that?  Furthermore, let's dig a little deeper into the Galilee problem.  What does the Scripture say about Galilee and the Messiah from the Old Testament?  To God be the glory!

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Ponder with me about distractions to having healthy marriages.  My wife asked me recently during our anniversary dinner date what the best year of our marriage was, and what was the most challenging year of our marriage?  Wow, great questions!  It created healthy conversation between us, but what has shocked me in reflecting back on our answers is that it came down to life-distractions.  Are we letting life get in the way of thinking about what our spouse needs?  To God be the glory!

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Ponder with me a conversation Jesus had with the Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7.  By this time, they wanted to kill Him in Jerusalem already, but Jesus makes this pilgrimage to the city anyway.  The first recorded conversation in John 7 begins with, "how can Jesus know so much when He's never studied?"  He never went to their schools, didn't have a personal rabbi as His tutor...nothing that would have impressed anyone in the education realm.  And yet, He was blowing people's minds with the Scriptures.  Jesus' response is, "I'm from God!".  He then proceeds to let them know how they can know that for certain and the reasoning He uses still stands today.  To God be the glory!

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