by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This evening read Matthew 26:26--50

Boasting of What We Will Do

Jesus predicts that Peter will deny Him, but,

35 Peter said to Him, Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You! And so said all the disciples (Mat. 26:35).

Peter truly means what he promises, because he truly believes that under the most trying circumstances he will remain loyal to the Lord. For the rest of his life, after this evening, he will be right, but as you know, on the very night that he made his boast, he denied the Lord. It is better not to boast, then to boast and later fail.

Do you boast of your abilities? Perhaps your abilities should just speak for themselves.

Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100

by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This morning read Leviticus chapter 13

Praise God for Hair and for Baldness!

I am not bald, but I do have a thinning spot on the back of my head and my forehead has receded some, but even under the Old Law, I am clean!

41 He whose hair has fallen from his forehead, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean (Lev. 13:41).

Whew! This verse is in the middle of a chapter dealing with diseases of the skin, especially leprosy. While no one wants to lose his or her hair, it is good to know that it is clean by the Law. There are many things to worry about in life, but the children of Israel did not have to worry about baldness being unclean. Now, they may have had other concerns about baldness, but whether it made them, clean or unclean was not on the list of concerns.

Likewise, there are plenty of concerns that we have, but let us make sure that we do not add to them. Be concerned with what God is concerned and try not to add anymore.

Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100

by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This evening read Matthew 26:1--25

Using Deception Is Not a Good Sign

The leaders of the Jews assembled

4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him (Mat. 26:4).

The word trickery can also be translated deception. If they have to use deception to take Jesus, then something is wrong. Right there, they should have examined what they were doing, and they would have seen that the things they were proposing were not right.

Watch yourself and see how you deal with people, especially with people with whom you disagree, or who disagree with you. Are you like Jesus or like the Jewish leaders?

Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100

by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This morning read Leviticus 11 and 12

Praise God for Open Diets!

The last two verses of Leviticus chapter 11 explain the contents of that chapter, saying,

46 This is the law of the beasts and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, 47 to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten (Lev. 11:46, 47).

Reading the chapter shows how well the children of Israel have to know what animals they can eat and what animals they cannot eat. It is complicated. They can learn the laws, but how much easier are the dietary laws of the New Testament! All animals are clean to us. We can praise God that we can concentrate on matters of the spirit.

Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100