Read To Me Daily Semester 2Sample

1SAMUEL 7-8:
As we heard yesterday in 1st Samuel, having won the war with Israel, the Philistines thought their idol Dagon had given them victory. The ark of God was put in Dagon's temple. Then God not only proved that He is greater than Dagon by what happened in the temple, but He also struck the Philistines in all five of their territories with plagues of death, tumors, and rats ravaging the land. The Philistine fortune tellers and priests devised a creative plan to test if these disasters had happened on their own, or because of God's hand was against them. In the story it is clear that the Philistine people knew about the plagues God used against the Egyptians. Once again, God proved that He is God. For any any agnostic or atheist in the audience, this seems to me to be the kind of story that no one would have just made up, especially if you compare this with literature of the same age.

PSALM 94:
Today’ poem, Psalm 94, expresses trust in the face of injustice. The psalmist asks for God’s vengeance on arrogant and evil leaders. Those who take advantage of others are called ‘stupid fools’. There is a parable in the New Testament that forms an interesting parallel: Luke 12:20, where God says to the rich man, “You fool, this very night your soul will be required of you.”

ROMANS 2:25—3:20
In chapter 2 of Romans, Paul warned of a coming judgment of God, where God will judge everyone's secret life. The trouble is, however, that we all will be judged guilty of sin. Paul has shown us that it doesn't matter if you are Jew or non-Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, we all need a radical transformation. We need to become a ‘true Jew’, which is “one whose heart is right with God.” What each one of us needs is “a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit.” Paul calls this “circumcision of the heart.”

Let’s pray.
O Lord, our God, our King: Your reign is firmly set in place, and though this world has rebelled against you, we know that your plans and power will succeed. You are clothed in majesty and strength, and we worship You. Lord, we have heard Paul’s hard words for the Jews. He accused them of having all the answers based on the Law, but of personally breaking those laws whenever they found it convenient. And we Christians so often do the same. We know we should not commit adultery, but let our sinful desires take control when we think we have a good opportunity. Or we commit adultery in our hearts— even though we know what Jesus said about that. We know that we must love our fellow man, but we hate some and refuse to help others when we have the opportunity. We know that your Word teaches that we must be humble and be a servant to others, yet we are proud and choose rather to be served. And the list goes on and on. So today we repent again. We recognize that what Paul wrote applies to us. So we pray for forgiveness in Jesus’ name, and we ask for the Holy Spirit’s help for this day.