Today Our Daily Bread Psalms 106:1-49 & 2 Cor 2:14

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her daily journal.
Psalms 106:1-48
Joy in Forgiveness of Israel's Sins
1 Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
2Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise? 3Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does F94 righteousness at all times! 4Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation, 5That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.
6We have sinned with our fathers, We have committed iniquity, We have done wickedly.
7Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, But rebelled by the sea--the Red Sea. 8Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, That He might make His mighty power known. 9He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; So He led them through the depths, As through the wilderness. 10He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11The waters covered their enemies; There was not one of them left. 12Then they believed His words; They sang His praise.
13They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel,
14But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. 15And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul. 16When they envied Moses in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the LORD, 17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram. 18A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked. 19They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image. 20Thus they changed their glory Into the image of an ox that eats grass. 21They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, 22Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea. 23Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
24Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word, 25But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the LORD. 26Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them, To overthrow them in the wilderness,
27To overthrow their descendants among the nations, And to scatter them in the lands. 28They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, And ate sacrifices made to the dead. 29Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them.
30Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped.
31And that was accounted to him for righteousness To all generations forevermore. 32They angered Him also at the waters of strife, F95 So that it went ill with Moses on account of them; 33Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
34They did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the LORD had commanded them, 35But they mingled with the Gentiles, And learned their works;
36They served their idols, Which became a snare to them. 37They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons,
38And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canan; And the land was polluted with blood.
39Thus they were defiled by their own works, And played the harlot by their own deeds. 40Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people, So that He abhorred His own inheritance. 41And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, And those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand. 43Many times He delivered them; But they rebelled in their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity. 44Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, When He heard their cry; 45And for their sake He remembered His covenant, And relented according to the multitude of His mercies.
46He also made them to be pitied, By all those who carried them away captive. 47Save us, O LORD our God, And gather us from among the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise. 48Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!
Footnotes F94: 106:3 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read those who do. F95: 106:32 Or Meribah
~Lena’s Journalin~
Today’s Passage seems to be about destruction and tragedy, but truly it is about thanksgiving and what comes to pass with a lack of it.
Today’s passages are deep, and the reason I say “deep” is it touches on some really sore spots in our American independent thinking. It’s hard to talk about, because in America where we are so free, we can do anything we want at anytime we want and do it the way we think it should be done. We take it as an infringement on our freedoms for anyone (especially a human voice from God) to tell us we may have made a bad judgment call, or suggest that we may not be as good as God in our decisions after-all.
It’s hard to pick away on an outer crust of self trust, self reliance and pride- AHHH, hit the nail on the head there. We like that word here, we pride ourselves on it, but that word can take us, our kids, our neighbors, friends and family straight to hell!
Dear God, help me today….Do you guys realize love is not an ushy gushy feeling? Love came down from being the most supreme being in the whole universe and put on humanness for me, for you, for your friends, co-workers, family members etc. That love hurt badly for you, knowing full well you might reject Him and knowing the pain of rejection, but becoming vulnerable, because it would be better to initially be rejected than to allow an enemy to steal the hearts and lives of people and take them to a place they never belonged. These people have been lied to because of the cloak of deception. They were told they’d like to go there ! Oh God, help them see, they DO NOT want to Go there, they DO NOT want their worst enemy to “go there’. True love takes huge risks, risks of reputation, risks of being hurt (even spit at), risks of being vulnerable etc.
As I write today I feel this way. I love you and am willing to risk your good thoughts of me to tell you some deep things.
#1 we are being perfected and are not without sin, we are an imperfect people, who continually offend god, quench His spirit, etc. We need to repent of things daily. Our sins should be the means to keep us coming to God, saying we cannot save ourselves and we cannot keep and make ourselves clean- at all. The original sin and the root of all sin is PRIDE. Pride says- I’m OK, You’re OK, we’re OK, the world is OK, don’t judge me, don’t tell me I may not be OK, I’m fine (alone and without God’s spirit, without His presence etc.) Please remember the source of that thinking id pride. I’m getting to a place where I want to identify enemies of me, enemies of you and enemies of God and if I see one (pride) I flee it’s pull on me. I purposely say- I’m NOT OK- I need Your help God, I need to be with and around Your people. I need to be changed- always, and I know I will not arrive. I look forward to an eternity of change for Your work to appear in me.
#2 We’ve got to be thankful. Again this is also a pride issue. Being thankful is a choice. Make it today. Give thanks to God or even people for things you never though to, Exercise thanksgiving on purpose. Look for ways to be thankful and find them. Make it a purpose to find them and outwardly voice them. Is that hard? To one who’s been led into the sway of an evil unthankful world, it could be really hard. This is spiritual warfare engaged. One day all I did was complain, I was in satan’s evil forces, I’d joined them in their plight against me and others, I was a participator of darkness and no threat to God’s enemy at all, powerless against evil. The next day I rise up and GIVE thank by faith, I think thankful thoughts, I say thankful words, I GIVE thanks. When I do this I’ve crossed over to God’s “side of the lake”. I’ve engaged in warfare against the strongholds of darkness, I’ve become empowered by the mere acts of obedience and agreeing in action with God’s Word. I’m pushing back darkness.
#3 I make choices that effect my generations. I DO NOT, WILL not give my kids over (spiritual and natural seed) to an enemy’s devouring mouth. I am so on purposely aware of what could ensnare them and I protect them with a militant vigilance. I love them by saying absolutely NOT in some instances. I back up my words with caring action, by drawing lines, clear ones. I don’t let them hang out with just anybody, I won’t allow them to do or have everything they want, I “make” them be in God’s house and teach them His ways by faithful purposeful demonstration! I don’t drop them off at church, I take them there, because I want to show them how important “Christianity”, God’s Word and the regular fellowship of His body is to me and for them. I choose to love, honor and protect hem as I would myself. In this the devourer is rebuked and is not given a place in my home life or my children’s lives. I do this by my own obedient, open and willing heart that I set before the Lord daily in active daily demonstration. WHAT A SWEET SMELL.
That was my summary of what was being aid today throughout these passages- I love you. Really I do, Lena


(daily repetitive verse)
2 Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.