by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This evening read Luke 5:17--39

For Whom Is Religion?

Is religion for those who are already perfect? Is it for those who are imperfect?

The scribes and Pharisees murmur against Jesus and His disciples, questioning why He eats with tax collectors and sinners. He explains,

31 “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luk. 5:31, 32).

Religion is binding people back to God. Tax collectors and sinners (and by the way, scribes and Pharisees) need to be brought back to God. Therefore, it is wrong to criticize someone for bringing people with sin problems into the church, but that person needs to be praised and helped in his efforts.

How do I treat the less than perfect?

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 Judges 9 and 10

God's Compassion

How compassionate is our God? If you read the Book of Judges, you will discover that God's compassion is measureless. After the judge Jair dies, Israel goes back into the sin of idolatry, and God says that He will no longer deliver them from the hands of oppressors, whom He sends to punish Israel. However, Israel confesses their sin, requesting of the Lord to do to them whatever He desires, but only deliver them from the hands of their enemy. Then Judges 10:16 shows what happens next.

16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel (Jdg. 10:16).

God does not provide a judge in the manner that He has in the past, but Israel finds a judge and God goes with the judge when he pleads for God's blessing.

This is not a lesson in encouragement to continue in sin, but it show us that our God loves us deeply, and is willing to forgive us, if we truly repent. So then, is their sin in your life for which you have not made full confession and for which you have not fully repented?

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 Luke 6:27--49

Do What He Says

Be sure to read Luke 6:27--49. Pay close attention to what Jesus says about our treatment of people who do not care for us. Then answer His question from verse 46,

46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?" (Luk. 6:46).

Did you find something in the evening's reading that you are not doing? If so, how do you answer the Lord's question in verse 46?

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 Judges 7 and 8

They Could Not Wait Until Gideon Was Dead

Every time I read the following verse, I am amazed.

33 So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god (Jdg. 8:33).

Why do we even know the name of Gideon? God raised him up to deliver Israel from the Midianites. Why was Israel under the oppression of Midian? God sent the Midianites against the children of Israel because of their sin of idolatry! Now, what is Israel doing that Gideon is dead? They are going back to idolatry! Did they not learn anything?

Human nature is slow to learn, slow to break old sinful habits, and slow to acknowledge the God of heaven. That being the case, make a point today of being quick

1. Quick to learn
2. Quick to break old sinful habits
3. Quick to acknowledge God

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 Luke 5:1--16

Just Do What He Says

We offer a million excuses and explanations why we do not have to do what the Lord says. Why not just do what He says?

Jesus and Peter are in a boat on the shore. The Lord tells Peter to launch out further into the lake and let down his nets and he will catch fish. Listen to Peter.

5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (Luk. 5:5).

Peter knows that Jesus is the Master; nevertheless, Peter believes that his experience tells him that he knows better than the Master of lakes and fish does. Yet, as though to prove Jesus wrong and to demonstrate his reluctant obedience, Peter says that he, as a slave, will do what the Master says. Oh is Peter rebuked! The catch of fish is so great that the net starts to break. Peter is humbled very low and says to the Master, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luk. 5:8).

You know what the Master of your life says to do. Quit making excuses and trying to explain to Him why you should not do what He says to do. Do what He says to do, and do it as soon as possible.

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