Philippians 4:8 - Happy Halloween

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Halloween can be an evil holiday, worshiping satan, or it can be a fun day to dress up and have some candy. I choose the latter. We can bring glory to God by focusing on the good.

Lord, thank you for giving us the choice to celebrate or not celebrate certain days. Please help us to focus on the good and bring glory to your name in everything we do. Amen.

Psalm 140:1 - Blessed with non-violence

Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers;
     protect me from the violent,

As I read many of the psalms, especially 140, I am reminded how blessed I am that I do not live in fear each day. I live in a safe neighborhood, in a safe city, in a safe country. I know there are acts of violence out there, I see them on the news. But my life is so peaceful and protected. It is a blessing I had not really thought about before.

Lord, thank you for the peace and safety I enjoy. Please help me to remember what a blessing it is and please help those who are faced with violence and evildoers every day. Amen.

Psalm 37:7-8 - Do not fret

Be still before the Lord

     and wait patiently for him;

 do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

     when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

     do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Fret is an interesting word. It means to be constantly or visibly worried or anxious. This passage gives us why we might fret, the solution for fretting and the result. Anger and jealousy are two big reasons we fret. These may be the examined root cause of our worries, We can avoid fretting by being still before the Lord and waiting patiently for him. If we do chose to fret, the result will lead to evil and destruction (v. 9).

Lord, thank you for giving us a solution for our fretting. Please help us to be still, wait patiently and keep us from evil. Amen,

PS-Thanks Kathy Reppart Hameister for sharing about your mom's take on this verse. I think I would have passed right over the word fret.

Psalm 12:6 - Words

And the words of the Lord are flawless,
     like silver purified in a crucible,
     like gold refined seven times.

Psalm 12 focuses on our words. Our tongues are powerful and can be used for good or evil. Our word reflect what is in our hearts. As our perfect example, God's words are flawless. They never lie or falsely flatter.

Lord, thank you for the reliability of your word. Please help us to follow your example and use our words for good. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 - Man of lawlessness

He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

End of days prophecies are not something I usually focus on, but I don't remember reading this before. This passage (v. 1-12) talks about the Man of Lawlessness who will come before Christ returns. To me this sounds like many notable historical and current political figures.

Lord, thank you for preparing us for the evil in this world. Please help us to love truth. Amen.

Romans 12:21 - Choose goodness

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is so easy to be over come by evil. From road rage to peer pressure, evil can lurk close to the surface. It is our job as Christians to not allow that evil to overcome us, but instead choose goodness. Be merciful, kind, and loving. Remain convicted and faithful. God always provides a way out.

Lord, thank you for giving us your goodness. Help us to overcome evil. Amen.

Job 2:9-10 - Evil vs God

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”  He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”  In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

The question presented was this...

What are your thoughts about the existence of an evil one in view of the sovereignty of God?

The answer to this question lies just a couple verses after the prologue in Job (1:1-2:8). In chapter 2, verse 10 Job says, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” The sovereignty of God is made even more sovereign by the existence of an opposing evil force. Evil exists because God allows it to. There is trouble in this world by design. If there were no trouble, we would not need God.

Genesis 34:7 - Evil for Evil?

Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.

It was an awful thing. Jacob's daughter, Dinah was raped. Her brothers repaid this evil by deceiving and destroying an entire city, killing all the men and taking all the children and women and property. In the end Jacob rebukes his sons for their actions. How do we repay evil? When an atrocity is committed, that does not give us license to commit a further atrocity. Prayerful consideration is always the best way to react to any situation. Let God guide us.

Lord, thank you for being our sounding board, for hearing us and showing us what to do in every situation. Please protect us. Amen.