Plainfield Ponderings - Scripture Meditations

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me one of the most ancient and strange laws regarding freeing slaves. However, the strange twist is not in the freedom but in the lawful keeping of a slave, if the slave wanted to permanently remain in the house of their Master. We will first think through how awesome it is that these ancient texts are so relevant and then we'll see if we can find ourselves in...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me how sincere thanksgiving ought to be seen in us. This week is Thanksgiving, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! I love this holiday so much. Please join me as we meditate on how superficial gratitude is a lot more common in our culture than the genuine. Where does all genuine gratitude end up, and with whom? To God be the glory! Please email me any comme...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me one of the strangest, weirdest, cryptic references in Scripture! It is Jude's reference to Satan and the Archangel Michael arguing over the body of Moses. We'll talk briefly about what piece of literature this reference comes from (it's outside the Scriptures) ... but we don't want the main point to get lost on us. It's about leaving room...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about the agendas we have when we come to Scripture. Because of our culture, upbringing or popular religious thinking (that we have accepted without thinking through it), we all have expectations we are bringing to God's word. What happens when God comes in direct conflict with those? This scenario is played out in Jeremiah 41-43 - let's ponder it toget...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about prayers of faith. Can we say that our prayers are of faith? Let's first look at what it means to have prayers of faith, and then we'll ponder the example of prayer that James gives - Elijah. There's a detail in Elijah's story that may shed light on what it means to have absolute confidence in prayer, like he had. To God be the glory! Ple...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about taking matters out of our hands and letting the Lord fix it. As Americans we love to think we can fix anything and everything. We love to think we can influence any situation. It's not true though. There are some things in life that are too big, which only God can fix...and even then, we might need to wait until the return of Christ for the ultimate re...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about what to do with our extra manna. We don't often think about the contribution of money on the Lord's Day as being a facet of one-another Christianity, but it's at the very heart of taking care of one another. Please join me in thinking about some principles to guide our hearts in pondering the contribution on Sundays. To God be the glory! Plea...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me the final two temptations from Satan in Matthew 4. They are all about shortcuts. The shortcut to show everyone Jesus is the true Messiah, and the shortcut of God's promise to Christ of all the nations (Psalm 2). Satan is all about quick fixes and short cutting the sacrifice of true love. Praise God that Jesus has had enough - be gone! To God be the glory! Pl...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me some applications to some very big topics - loving our neighbor as ourselves and the brevity of life. It may seem silly to ponder such big things in one lesson, but James gives them in back-to-back paragraphs. Hint - it all has to do with the context of our previous four lessons from James - peaceable relationships and worldliness. To God be the glory! Please ema...

Send Allen a text - Ponder the spiritual warfare in the wilderness between Christ and Satan, from Matthew 4. Christ, as our High Priest, is showing the way to fight temptation. Let's get into the mind of the devil, while also getting into the mind of Jesus. These temptations have so many layers to them, and it is all things we face today. I hope you'll join me - to God be the glory! Plea...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about how Christ helps us in our temptations. Although I don't know all the details, Hebrews is quite clear that Jesus is available and ready to help us in our temptations. The reason He is able to do so is because He was tempted in all things...which must be why the Holy Spirit was so adamant about sending Him into the wilderness to be tempted. To God be th...

Send Allen a text - Let's ponder worldliness a bit more. This is a bit of a continuation of the last episode. If I did not quite convince you that worldliness is idolatry, wait till you see the passages that speak of God's jealousy. Our love of the world has incited His jealousy, but that always has a specific context in the Old Testament. This lesson won't end negatively though, I...

Send Allen a text - Let's ponder the strong language James has about worldliness. He calls it spiritual adultery (4:4). That might not be as shocking on the surface, but when you compare it to how Scripture speaks of spiritual adultery in other places, you'll find it very compelling. I sure did. Ponder with me how worldliness might be more an affront to God than we might think. To God be...

Send Allen a text - Ponder the deaths of Nadab and Abihu with me. They were Aaron's sons and died by the hand of God in Leviticus 10 because they offered unauthorized fire. First, what does this say about God's commands? Secondly - what does this say about how we view God? Moses' comment to Aarron following the death of his boys is quite interesting. To God be the glory! Please emai...

Send Allen a text - Ponder another aspect of heavenly wisdom - being open to reason. This Greek term in James 3:17 is a super deep word! It's translated differently in almost every English translation. How does this wisdom show up in our everyday lives? We'll go to two examples in the O.T. to see it in action and then we'll apply it lastly in its original context - peace among belie...

Send Allen a text - Ponder what wisdom from above is all about. Heavenly wisdom shows itself in many ways, but one vital one that James brings to our attention is in peaceable relationships. What do our relationships in the church have to do with wisdom? Ponder it with me. To God be the glory! Please email me any comments or questions at grrreeley@gmail.com

Send Allen a text - Let's ponder the raging debate within our society about free speech and hate speech. One of the results from Charlie Kirk's assassination has been this ongoing debate. Both sides of the political isle are saying that the rhetoric needs to calm down. We need to stop the hate-speech. But how? Is it just a matter of reigning in words or does the issue of speech involve s...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about how James can say that we are justified by works and not by faith alone (2:24). Ironically, that is the only time in the original language of the N.T. where the phrase "faith alone" is found. This sounds very contradictory to what many are teaching today. Also, it sounds like a contradiction to what Paul says in Romans 3:28. How do these all go to...

Send Allen a text - This episode is a branch off of the last one. James 1 spoke about the prep work we need to do with our hearts, to help us listen to God better. In a context about listening to God, James said, "be slow to speak". This is the topic of a part of Habakkuk's prophecy. He'll speak about being silent before God, but why is that? Join me in this short devotional to...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about one of the key themes to religion in general - listening. It all begins with listening to God! It's how faith comes. James speaks about how to prep the heart to listen faithfully though. Listening to God with humility and openness does not happen naturally. We have to train ourselves to do this, which we call "prep work" in this episode. What...

Send Allen a text - Let's ponder much of the book of Jude together. Jude has much to say about false teachers, and it is very harsh. How can we keep our congregations pure from false teachers? Furthermore, how can we best deal with Christians who may have suffered harm from these messes in the church? Discernment is key here. To God be the glory! Please email me any comments or questions at g...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me some of the things Paul reminds the church about when encouraging them to stay faithful. Much of the New Testament letters are designed to help Christians stay true to Christ, and such is the case in Colossians 2. The things Paul reminds them of might come as a surprise, but let's think about them as the reason they were originally written - a reason to stay...

Send Allen a text - Ponder with me about what James means when he says that God does not tempt anyone (1:13). This is a statement about God's intentions, so we're going to dive into the mind of God a bit to think about HIs purposes. Also - what happens if my trials are not creating their desired effect? What if they are hurting more than helping? James will step on our toes a bit here. T...

Send Allen a text - Let's ponder the rest of the story in Daniel 1. Last week we talked about resisting temptation and used Daniel as a case-study about what it means to be resolved against temptation. This week let's look at the results of his uncompromising faith while also thinking about the attitude he did it with. This balance between a strong stand and lovingly respecting others is...

Send Allen a text - Ponder James as a whole with me. We're in a series about Blue-collar Christianity, which is a study of James. I want to throw this into the series to help us not lose sight of the entire book as a whole. It's a reading from James, start to finish, no interruptions. Without a doubt, it's how the early church listened to these letters...and with James, it might eve...