Day 156 Bible Readings – 2 Samuel 7: 28 (ESV)

I attended an all-day event yesterday and it fried me. I went to bed as soon as I came home, so I missed my bible readings. These readings are for June 6.

Day 156 Bible Readings – 2 Samuel 7: 28 (ESV)

2 Samuel 7 & 8, Acts 2: 22-47, Psalm 86: 1-10

2 Samuel 7: 28 (ESV)

“And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.”

Verse 7 from 2 Samuel 7 shows how much faith David had in God. It took quite a long time for David to finally become king of Israel. He spent many years on the run from King Saul and refused to kill him because he was an anointed king. But like all of us, David went through a period of despair with God and joined the Philistines for a time. When Saul finally died, there was still strife in his kingdom as he did not want to force his reign on the kingdom. So David had to endure 7 years and six months of his kingdom being split and ruled by two kings. When he finally became king of Israel, he ruled for 33 years.

David had experience with waiting and seeing God’s promises to him eventually come true from the time he killed Goliath at around age 16 to the time he became the only king of Israel at age 30. David’s declaration about God in verse 7 is the foundation of his faith because he knew God was God, and based on his experiences God can be trusted. I know God is God, but I think I sometimes waver on whether God’s words are true as I am still waiting for some big promises that God made to me. But perhaps this is the nature of people a sinful person, we always have doubt in God and therefore have the need to renew our faith in God daily.

Day 155 Bible Readings – Acts 2: 21 (ESV)

2 Samuel 5-6, Acts 2: 1-21, Psalm 85: 8-13

Acts 2: 21 (ESV)

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Verse 21 from Acts 2 is Peter quoting the Book of Joel on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. I love this line, but it’s not as simple as a person calling on God to save him and not having faith and obedience to God. I think people use this line to say that anyone can call on God and get a miracle without having to have faith and obedience to God and his laws. While I would never presume to know the mind of God and his grace, which means that there can be miracles when a person calls on God without having faith or obedience to God. I think that to rely on Grace does not make sense. Why even call out to a God that you don’t believe in or obey to save you?

But for the person who has faith in God, prays to him daily, reads and knows the Bible, and follows God’s laws to the best of their abilities given our sinful nature, calling on God to save you is a promise God has made to you for your faith. And God always fulfills his promises. And while sometimes it doesn’t seem like God always saves, the true believer has the faith to know that God sees the future farther and further than we can and what may seem like a disaster in the moment in the end turns out to be best thing that ever happened in a true believer’s life.

Day 154 Bible Readings - Acts 1: 7 (ESV)

2 Samuel 3: 22-39, 2 Samuel 4, Acts 1, Psalm 85: 1-7

Acts 1: 7 (ESV)

“He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

Verse 7 from Acts is the response Christ gave to his disciples when they asked him when he would restore the kingdom of Israel. It was an important question for them since they knew from the Last Supper that Jesus had instituted a new covenant with them. But Jesus chose not to answer them because the answer might have discouraged them, and he did not want to do that.

I like this verse because I read it I can just imagine what his disciples must have felt when Jesus gave this answer. I’m sure they felt bewildered, frustrated, and confused. Jesus didn’t say No to the question, but he did give them a definite answer. It made me think of all the times in my prayers I have asked God over and over and over again when I would get an answer to a question, and the answer I would always hear is “soon” or “it depends on timing.” This experience has always been very frustrating to me because I couldn’t understand why God wouldn’t give me a direct or straight answer. He must know the timing; why doesn’t he just tell me? But after reading this verse, I now know that if Jesus had given me the answer I was looking for I might have been discouraged or depressed. And God wanted to spare me from experiencing discouragement and depression because he loves me as a father loves his child. God is always looking out for us and we must remember that, even though we sometimes experience frustration when we don’t get an answer right away to our prayers.

Beyond Paradise movie on Tubi - with authentic Hawaii accents

 I recently watching the movie "Beyond Paradise" on Tubi - Tubi.

Not the best movie I've seen, but what I really loved was it sounds like they actually cast actors who can do a decent Hawaii accent. Either they are local actors or the dialect coaching is just spot on, but I was really shocked how good the good the accents were on the kids and the local people.

Since I grew up in Hawaii, I can listen to someone's accent and can tell if they grew up in Hawaii. Some people have the accent down pat because they moved to Hawaii as children or have lived there for a very long time. But they give themselves away as not being born in Hawaii, because they will pronounce a word or say a phrase and it just stands out because no one who was born in and spent their first five years in the Islands would ever pronounce a word that way or say that phrase. Or if they do say a phrase like "gee wiz", they will say it in a pidgin accent and not in a standard American accent. 

If you want to hear what sounds to be authentic Hawaiian accents at least to my ears, check this movie out!