Tenth Dot Ministries

Daniel, 27 of 66

Joe — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:00:11 +0000

Daniel, 27 of 66

If you’re life could be remembered for one phrase, what would you want that phrase to be?

Ezekiel, 26 0f 66

Joe — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:00:49 +0000

Ezekiel, 26 of 66

Ezekiel is an interesting book that repeats a couple of phrases and ideas over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And again. And then again, again.

Lamentations, 25 of 66

Joe — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:00:20 +0000

Lamentations, 25 of 66

Lamentations was written as the prophet Jeremiah reveals the depth to which Israel had fallen from her once blessed days as God’s glorious children. Now those days are long gone and Jeremiah compares the nation to a virgin woman who has been raped, a woman widowed by the death of her husband and a mother whose children have been taken away. All three of these conditions are horrible, three of the worst conditions any woman could find herself in and this is the condition Israel is in during the ministry of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, 24 of 66

Joe — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:00:16 +0000

Jeremiah, 24 of 66

One of my Bible profs in college used to call Jeremiah the “wailing prophet”. He spoke early and often and he message was never good. In fact, quite frankly, Jeremiah’s whole life didn’t seem to go well. Every time he spoke people got mad at him, every time he pronounced judgment on Israel, the people scorned him and wished him dead. He actually got thrown in a pit in the stocks and people came by and through rotten food at him. All because Jeremiah conveyed the message of God to a stiff-necked and perverse people.

Get Changed (part 2)

Joe — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 07:00:59 +0000

If you missed yesterday’s TD, it would be worth your time and effort to read through and do it first before jumping into today’s TD. Click here to check it out.

If you’re ready to roll with today’s then let’s get changing!

Get Changed (page 1)

Joe — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:00:52 +0000

One of my favorite principles of Scripture is what I like to call the “put off, put on” principle. Simply stated: Whenever God tells us to take something out of our lives — to “put off” –, He also tells us what to put back in — “put on”. Check it out for yourself. Find passages of Scripture where God gives instruction about holy living and you’ll find this put off/put on principle at work.

Isaiah, 23 of 66

Joe — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:00:44 +0000

Isaiah, 23 of 66

Isaiah is an interesting book. Keep in mind that chapters and verses are not inspired by God like the words of Scripture — chapters and verses were added several hundred years after Scripture was complete to help in the corporate study of God’s Word. Having said that, it certainly seems like God was overseeing some of those chapter/verse assignments. It’s almost like Isaiah is a Bible within a Bible when you look at through its chapters and verses. Check this out:

    1.    There are 66 chapters in Isaiah, there are 66 books in the Bible.

    2.    There are 39 chapters in the Old Testament, 27 in the new. Isaiah 39 ends with captivity (like the OT) and chapter 40 starts with the proclamation of “comfort” for God’s people (ie. The coming of the Messiah, which begins in Matthew the first book of the NT — book #40 in our English Bibles)

    3.    Isaiah ends with final judgment and salvation…the Book of Revelation is all about final judgment and salvation. In fact, the last three verses of Isaiah speak of the “new heavens and new earth” — just like Revelation 22!

C’mon, you know that’s cool!

Song of Songs, 22 of 66

Joe — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:12:52 +0000

Song of Songs, 22 of 66

( 22 books down, 44 to go — we’re 1/3 of the way there! Thanks for connecting with tenthdotministries.com — share us with a friend and let’s help grow in Christ together!)

Without apology, today’s Tenth Dot is definitely PG-13, with some discussion about the beautiful relationship God designed for men and women to enjoy in the context of marriage. If you’d prefer not to (or not have your child) delve into that topic today, check this link for a past TD that might fit the bill in it’s stead! Thanks — Joe and Danny (actually, just Joe, I just wanted to throw Danny under the bus, too!)

I’m convinced that there are a lot of really smart people who have tried to read into the Song of Songs (or the Song of Solomon) things that just aren’t there. I’m talking about trying to spiritualize this book of the Bible to avoid the obvious, clear intention of the book — to write about the incredible intimacy one man and one woman can enjoy in the proper context of marriage. From the outset I (Joe) don’t believe this is a book that’s about God’s love for Israel or Christ’s love for the church. I don’t believe there are hidden messages we have to comb these pages for to really understand them. (Certainly God’s Word is full of truth and often complex — I’m not minimizing. All I’m saying is some people work hard to make you believe that this book isn’t about sex and intimacy when clearly the plain reading of the text tells us just the opposite.)

I don’t know if it’s because we’re afraid of the clear meaning or if because we have a hard time imagining God giving us a book extolling the virtues of married sex and two people being crazy in love with each other, but for some reason we’ve shied away from the beautiful picture of love and sex that is clearly present in this 117 verse poem. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I always understand the word pictures of this crazy love exchange, but the intent is clear as it is repeated over and over throughout the poem:

"My love is mine and I am his".

While it’s clear Solomon was a man who didn’t exactly keep the marriage bed pure (140 wives when this poem was written — 6:8 — and of course hundreds more in the future), it’s also pretty clear that this woman was uniquely special to Solomon. The relationship expressed here surpassed any of the others he had and maybe was the only case of true love he experienced. Regardless, the devoted love and crazy sex life of these two lovers is rampant throughout all eight chapters of the poem!

Some may wonder, "why?" Why include a book of steamy love in God’s incredible love story to us? Why would God allow an entire book of His Bible to be dedicated to this topic?

I’d ask…why not?

Marriage, and sex within marriage, are two incredible gifts from God. Both of them were God’s idea from the beginning:

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" — Genesis 2:24

God’s Word shares details of intimacy between husband and wife on multiple occasions and never with condemnation. One example is the day Isaac was caught caressing Rebekah oustide the palace walls. Isaac was later condemned for lying about his relationship to Rebekah but not about caressing his wife in public!

"When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah…" — Genesis 26:8

In marriage, God makes it clear that the woman’s body is no longer hers alone, but is supposed to be shared with her husband and likewise the husband’s body is to be shared with the wife:

"The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife" — 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Sex is a gift God intended for marriage alone, and within marriage He intended sexual love to be expressed often. In fact, God only gave one reason why sex should be withheld for any serious length of time:

"Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control" — 1 Corinthians 7:5

God urges that the sexual union between man and wife stay reserved only for the marriage bed; in fact He warns that going outside that will result in judgment:

"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral" — Hebrews 13:4

Ultimately of course, I think God extols the virtures of marital (sexual!) intimacy because it is one of the only human relationship and bond strong enough to picture God’s incredible love for the church. That’s why Paul quotes Genesis 2:24 in Ephesians 5:31 followed by some amazing words of his own:

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" — Genesis 2:24/Ephesians 5:31

"This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church! — Ephesians 5:32

Although Paul clearly makes a connection between the sexual union and the union between a believer and Christ, that doesn’t dismiss all sexual references as mere metaphor; in other words, just because Paul tells us one of the purposes behind sex (a picture of the unique and unshared intimacy God desires with His children) doesn’t mean every reference to sex is just a hidden metaphor. In fact, if the plain meaning of the passage gives us no indication of the metaphor, it’s best to just assume it’s about sex! And if you need reasons why I don’t think God is opposed to giving us a whole manual on sex, back up a page and read those passages again!!!!!

The point is this: God gave us sex as a beautiful gift, one that He intends to be expressed between one man and one woman in the context of marriage.

Thank God for that gift today. Thank God for your sexuality. If you’re single, it’s a gift that God has given you to potentially one day share with some one else. Pray for His strength to preserve that gift and for His power to help you overcome the temptations of the enemy to sell out early. If you are married, thank God for the gift of sex and thank your spouse for the love you share. I hope that Song of Songs will become your loves story — two people wildly in love with each other, expressing their love through passionate words, passionate touch and passionate sex.

To the married couples, I ask you to end today by writing a love note, maybe even your own poem, to your spouse. Express your love to them and your desire to keep that love growing in the years to come. Don’t hold back the cheese, either — let it all out just as Solomon and his bride did in this book.

To the single reader, I ask you to end today by writing a love note to God. Thank Him for the gift of sex and ask Him to help you preserve it as you wait for your opportunity to express it in marriage. Ask Him to help you become Mr/Mrs Right instead of sitting around waiting for Mr/Mrs Right!

And above all, I hope you’ll see sex as God does — a beautiful gift that expresses in human relationship the kind of intimacy God wants to have with all of us! And married or single, we can each experience that intimacy with our Creator God!

If you really want to get crazy studying this book, check out this amazing web site and knock yourself out!

Ecclesiastes 21 of 66

Danny — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:00:21 +0000

Ecclesiastes 21 of 66

If you have ever read this book it is wonderfully refreshing and slightly depressing all at the same time. King Solomon is kind of on a rant about how meaningless life is. It’s quite funny. Here is a sample.

The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. 1:7

Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. 1:8

Nothing under the sun is truly new. 1:9

In future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now. 1:11

Everything is meaningless a chasing after the wind. 2:17

Fo though I do my work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, I must leave everything I gain to people who haven’t worked to earn it. 2:21

Proverbs, 20 of 66

Joe — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:00:32 +0000

Proverbs, 20 of 66

There might not be a more practical book in the entire Bible than the book of Proverbs. Some of these were written almost 3,000 years ago yet they are relevant today as the day they were quilled! Incredible truth packed into each of the 31 chapters of this amazing book, so much so, that instead of trying to just pick one or two verses from a chapter, I’ve chosen one verse from each chapter to give you something to meditate on.

I’m confident this is my best Tenth Dot ever for this reason: I’m certain to hit on something that will speak into your life!! Enjoy the next 31 pages (Page two is Proverbs 1, page three is Proverbs 2 etc….) Read just one or enjoy them all — just allow God’s PRACTICAL Word to speak into your life today.