Pray for the safety of Vice President Biden who has been near a number of rocket attacks in Iraq.
Insurgents fired at least two rockets at the Baghdad's Green Zone Wednesday, just minutes after Vice President Joe Biden wrapped up meetings with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki expressing confidence that attempts to destabilize Iraq through violence will fail. The sound of the rockets being fired could be heard on the side of the Tigris River opposite the Green Zone, and Biden and al-Maliki themselves, were warned to stay inside. It was the second such attack in as many nights as Biden met with American and Iraqi officials inside the Green Zone, a fortified area in downtown Baghdad that houses government offices, agencies and the U.S. and British embassies.
There's nothing left of me�
a withered weed, swept clean from the path.
"In the end of the verse the similitude of withered grass, used a little before, is repeated, to intimate that their life during the captivity was involved in many sorrows which dried up in them the very sap of life. Nor is this wonderful, since to live in that condition would have been worse than a hundred deaths had they not been sustained by the hope of future deliverance. But although they were not altogether overwhelmed by temptation, they must have been in great distress, because they saw themselves abandoned by God."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
It gets better tomorrow. Promise.
"When Sharp Rebuke is Proper"
Titus 1:12-14
Reading from the English Standard Version:
12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, �Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.� 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
"A fundamental plank of the Christian faith is that all truth is God's truth. Obviously, the truths of Scripture find their origin in our Creator, but so do the truths of philosophy, the natural sciences, and so on, whether or not the person making the discovery follows the one, true God."
Interesting. In other words, if it is truth, its origin is God. I like that.
The false teaching on first century Crete was apparently very similar to what Timothy faced in Ephesus. The "Jewish myths" referred to were "probably legends told about biblical figures to justify the ascetic practices of the false teachers."
Church elders are to rebuke false teachers in order that they would return to the truth. However, we must consider the temperament of the person being rebuked. Some people respond better to kinder, gentler means than others. This calls for discernment.
"Unswerving Loyalty"
Proverbs 17:17
Reading from the English Standard Version:
A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
"There's no such person as a fair-weather friend. If a person's loyalty doesn't ensure his faithfulness to another in times of stress, he really isn't a friend--he's simply using the other person to satisfy his own social needs."
Ouch? Are we guilty of that? What is a true friend? The verse in Proverbs is a pretty good definition. Jonathan is probably the best biblical definition we have of a true friend. His friendship and loyalty to David almost cost him his life at the hands of his own father.
However, true friendship does not mean "blind loyalty" that refuses to acknowledge someone's mistakes or faults. "Only the truly faithful friend cares enough about us to undertake the often thankless task of pointing out where we're wrong." I have a friend like that. Thank you, Phillipp for being that kind of friend! Unfortunately, most "friends" are more concerned about being agreeable with each other than about speaking truth. "This is not loyalty." True loyalty will not allow a friend to continue down a path that is destroying them.
I pray that I will always be a loyal friend, as well, to those I have pledged friendship to. Give me discernment to know when it is appropriate to correct and when it is not. I also pray for discernment that knows how to approach someone to correct them, if necessary. I seldom presume to correct someone, anyway. I always feel like I have to get my own stuff in order before I have a right to correct anyone else.
Lord, I pray for great wisdom in the days ahead. You are moving, and we don't want to miss it. Nor do we want to run ahead of you and miss it if you turn. Keep us right behind you, following you at every turn. Things are truly exciting right now, and we want to serve you and do your will as we go.
Grace and peace, friends.