Well, Chronos, that went fast.
When I sat down to read Sunday’s scriptures, I was startled to suddenly find I had read all the way through Wednesday! What a stirring tale of false accusations, assassins, royal encounters, a two-week typhoon(!), and a shipwreck.
I like alternating between the history and the letters to the churches ... certainly provides perspective.
Key scripture, from December 7th: “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”
(Ephesians 4:2, 21-32).
Blessings,
Steve
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We’re reading The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation (Tyndale). It’s best with your own copy. Or, paste in this link to the daily reading schedule:
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This week's highlights:
Continuing: Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem (and his defense). Assassins! Paul brought before successive levels of government and Royalty ... and starts his Journey to Rome. Shipwreck! Malta! Rome! Paul writes to the Ephesians from Rome. The armor of God. Letter from Paul in Rome to the christians at Colosse (Colossians).
Comments:
December 3rd —Acts 23:16 — “Paul’s nephew, his sister’s son ....”
December 4th —Acts 24— Governor Felix (“who was quite familiar with the Way”) and his Jewish wife kept Paul with them for two years! ... Two years of listening to him preach the Gospel to them. We can only speculate about the impact of that, but the possibilities boggle the mind!
December 4th —Acts 25:19— Here’s some illuminating insight into how people think of the Gospel when not enabled by the Spirit to understand it: “... it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive.”
December 5th & 6th —Acts 27:14 and 27, 28:1-7— I never knew this: a fourteen-day typhoon (Wowzer!) preceded Paul’s shipwreck on the island of Malta (a place I hope to visit one day; there’s a lot of Christian history associated with it).
December 6th —Acts 28:11ff— The order matters, here:
Firstly, the church at Rome comes to meet Paul way out on the highway, well before he actually arrives in Rome. Secondly, Paul arranges for the local Jewish leaders to come to him (in his captivity) so he can explain how he came to be in that state (i.e., he preached the Gospel to them in the context of their Jewish heritage). Thirdly, Paul spent two full years preaching to all who came to visit him ... “And no one tried to stop him.”
December 6th —Ephesians 2:9— “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done ....”
December 8th —Ephesians 5:21 through 6:9— Nothing you read in this passage overrides the very first instruction: “...submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” If you can practice this first one every day, the others —which are examples of how it would work at that time in Ephesus— will present no problem for you.
December 8th —Ephesians 6:10-20— Recall that we encountered this phrase (‘the armor of God) way back in Isaiah; it is an actual thing, not just a convenient illustration for Paul to use in this letter. If you want to read a bit more about this, I wrote a piece: http://steveorr.blogspot.com/2015/08/fighting-in-borrowed-armor-lectionary.html
Here’s a great song that speaks to us armor-wearers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNFf3ykQvM
December 9th —Colossians 4:9— The letters of Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon could easily be renamed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Onesimus. He is the one person, aside from Paul, connecting the three books. He’s an interesting person. Watch for those connections as we move forward.
Next week:
The Letter to Philemon (a person; not a church, nor an evangelist). The letter to the church at Philippi. Letter from James to the Jewish believers who are living away from Israel. The letters to Timothy and Titus (evangelists).
