Daily Bible Reading - June 26, 2018

Today's Reading:

Mark 8:1-21

2 Samuel 19

Daniel 12

Listen to the Bible

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts and Commentary on Today's Reading 

One of the most inspiring passages of Scripture is found in Daniel 12, it says:

Daniel 12:3 "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

We live in a world that worships the stars. There are movie stars, rock stars, football stars, public figures of all kinds which bare a claim to "stardom".  But as attractive and appealing as these "stars" appear, especially to the millennial generation, they aren't really stars at all. Scripture plainly states that the real stars are God-fearing people with a holy witness and a life-changing message that brings salvation to lost souls.

But the enemy of souls works very hard to prevent us from becoming one of God's shining stars. For to be a shining star, of the everlasting variety, we must first experience God's Creative power - personally. To inhibit or prevent this from taking place in our hearts, Satan offers us spiritual evolution, also known as adaptation. 

In evolutionary science, a species must adapt. The evolutionary message is one of survival of the fittest. If they do not adapt to their environment, creatures will die. Similarly, the spiritual message of our culture says, "Adapt to your environment or you will be alienated, cut off, and die (in a social sense)."

But to be among the God-glorifying stars, who will shine for all eternity, we need to avoid the lying message of spiritual evolution, and embrace spiritual creation - actually partaking of - in a personal and spiritual sense - in the Work God did to birth our world.  I shared this concept in my blog from January 1, so I invite you to read it again, to see the steps of spiritual Creation, which we experience in the same steps as the Creation Week.

In Creation, the first step was the Spirit hovered over the waters (Genesis 1:2). This is spiritually fulfilled as the Holy Spirit comes to us, quickening us to Life in God. To prevent this enlivening and quickening process, the devil tells us to adapt to this world. He tries to deceive us into thinking we must fit in here, to survive.

Next, God created Light (Genesis 1:3-4). In a spiritual sense, He enlightens us with His Truth, separating us from the darkness of our pasts. But to prevent this enlightenment, the devil tells us that Bible Study is boring. Spiritual evolution imposes the lie that we mustn't get too serious about God because we don't want to be "weird".

The third step of physical Creation was that God divided the waters from the waters. Since water, in Scripture, represents people, this dividing is the spiritual calling out from ungodly relationships. Dark relationships hamper and even inhibit our relationship with God. We cannot fellowship with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) mingling Christ with Belial. But spiritual evolution presents the lie that our choices of close friends is no big deal. Once again, if we believe the "adapt-to-this-planet-to-survive" lies, we cannot be effective citizens of our Father's Kingdom.

Next, when God created the world, He made plants bearing fruit (Genesis 1:11). This is also the next step in spiritual Creation. As we abide in Him, we bear His Fruit. But the evolutionary lie which Satan uses to prevent this is: "but everybody's doing it, why can't I?" 

On the fourth day God made the sun, moon, and stars. In spiritual application this brings us full circle to our key verse from Daniel 12. We shine like the stars, as we turn others to righteousness. But spiritual evolution entices us to reject God's shining Calling. Instead, of shining to God's glory, we are tempted to admire and emulate the fallen stars of this world.

As my mother used to say, "just because everybody's doing it, doesn't mean you should." In a place where darkness thrives and the stars are fallen, God has called us to be a "peculiar people". That means we're not supposed to fit - we're called to stand out. We're not meant to go with the flow - we're called to go against the natural current. We're not to adapt to this sin-sick environment - we're to live by God's Grace as citizens of our Father's Kingdom.

In other words, being one of Yahweh's stars is the ultimate weirdness. We don't look like, talk like, live like, or find pleasure like the world. We remember that the path of this world, with all its wickedness, is the path of destruction. And righteousness and truth will always be unpopular in a place where the lies of spiritual evolution are embraced.

Matthew 7:13-14  "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  

What about you? Where are you going? It is my hope and prayer that you have not "bought into" the lies of spiritual evolution. May you accept your Creator's Calling and live for Him instead. Then the powerful promise of Daniel 12:3 is for you:

Daniel 12:3 "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."