Day 222: Does It Matter How We Live?

Welcome to Day 222 of the Bible 365 Podcast! I'm so excited you are joining me on this journey through the entire Bible this year. Reminder that each episode in 2026 will have a brand new devotional.

Today we'll be reading through Ezra 10; I Corinthians 6; Psalm 31:9-18; and Proverbs 21:3. Invite a family member or friend to join you as we grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.

I'm so glad that you are here!

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Transcript

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Welcome to day 222 of the Bible 365 podcast. My name is Randy Goudow and today we're going to be reading through Ezra chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, Psalm chapter 31, verses 9 through 18, and Proverbs chapter 21, verse 3. The translation I'm using throughout this podcast is the Berean Standard Bible, also known as the BSB. Let's read. Ezra chapter 10. While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling face down before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites, men, women, and children, gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well. Then Shechaniah, son of Jehael, an Elamite, said to Ezra, We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land. Yet in spite of this there is hope for Israel. So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my Lord, and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law. Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we will support you. Be strong and take action. So Ezra got up and made the leading priest, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said. And they took the oath. Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohan, son of Eliashib. And while he stayed there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. And a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem. Whoever failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, according to the counsel of the leaders and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles. So within the three days all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain. Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel. Now therefore make a confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives. And the whole assembly responded in a loud voice, Truly we must do as you say, but there are many people here, and it is the rainy season. We are not able to stay out in the open, nor is this the work of one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter. Let our leaders represent the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at an appointed time, together with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us. Only Jonathan, son of Asahel and Jazeah, son of Tikvah, supported by Meshulam and Shabbathi the Levite, oppose this plan. So the exiles did as proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, each of them identified by name, to represent their families. On the first day of the tenth month, they launched the investigation, and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women. Among the descendants of the priest who had married foreign women were found these descendants of Joshua, son of Josedak and his brothers, Maessiah, Eli Ezir, Jarab, and Gedaliah. They pledged to send their wives away, and for their guilt they presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering. From the descendants of Emmer, Hanani, and Zebediah. From the descendants of Haram, Masiah, Elijah, Shemiah, Jehael, and Uziah, from the descendants of Pasher, Elioenai, Masiah, Ishmael, Nathanael, Josebad, and Elisa. Among the Levites, Josebad, Shimei, Kaliah, that is, Kalida, Pethiah, Judah, and Eliazar, from the singers, Eliashib, from the gatekeepers, Shalem, Telam, and Uri, and among the other Israelites, from the descendants of Parash, Ramiah, Iziah, Malkaijah, Midjamin, Eliazar, Malkaijah, and Beniah, from the descendants of Elam, Madaniah, Zachariah, Jehael, Abdai, Jeremoth, and Elijah, from the descendants of Zatu, Elio Enai, Eliashib, Madaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Azizah. From the descendants of Bebai, Jehohanon, Hananiah, Zabai, and Athli. From the descendants of Bani, Meshulam, Malek, Adiah, Jashab, Sheel, and Jeremoth. From the descendants of Pahath Moab, Adna, Kelal, Beniah, Masiah, Madaniah, Bezalel, Benui, and Manasseh, from the descendants of Harem, Eli Ezir, Ishijah, Malkaijah, Shemiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malek, and Shemariah. From the descendants of Hashem, Madanai, Matata, Zabad, Oliphalet, Jeremiah, Manasseh, and Shimi. From the descendants of Bani, Maedai, Amram, Uel, Beniah, Badiah, Keluhai, Vaniah, Merrimauth, Eliashib, Madaniah, Madani, and Jaesu. From the descendants of Benui, Shimi, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adiah, Magnadabiah, Shishai, Shiri, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shimariah, Shalem, Amariah, and Joseph. And from the descendants of Nebo, Jael, Matathiah, Zabad, Zabinah, Jedi, Joel, and Beniah, all these men had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life? So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers. The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never. Or don't you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, the two will become one flesh. But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body. But he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you are bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body. Psalm 31, verses 9 through 18. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress, my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well. For my life is consumed with grief, and my ears with groaning. My iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away. Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends, they flee when they see me on the street. I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel, for I hear the slander of many. There is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord. I say, You are my God. My times are in your hands. Deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Make your face shine on your servant. Save me by your loving devotion. O Lord, let me not be ashamed, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be put to shame. Let them lie silent in Sheol. May lying lips be silenced. Lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt. Proverbs 21, verse 3. To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the Lord than sacrifice. Today's devotional is coming from 1 Corinthians chapter 6. We're going to look at a few verses here. First I want to look at verse twelve and verse 13. Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Now when we're reading this, we need to understand. When Paul was saying, Everything is permissible for me, he says this twice, and then he says, Food for the stomach and the stomach for food. He is actually writing back to them what they were saying. There was a saying that was going around, everything is permissible for me. It kind of sounds like some of the grace messages that we hear in some circles today. So Paul was answering a statement they were making. He says, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, then he says, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, then he says, but God will destroy them both. Paul is addressing sexual immorality. And he says, the body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. The Bible says very clearly that sexual sin is a sin against the body, and there are consequences when you sin in that way. I heard a person say one time, Well, you know, all sins are the same, and you know, gluttony is the same as drunkenness, and while gluttony can definitely be a sin, if you eat too much chocolate cake versus drinking too much wine, you won't necessarily end up in the bed with someone who is not your spouse. So different type of sins can bring different types of consequences. Paul says in verse 18 flee from sexual immorality. What we do with our body, it matters. He goes on. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. And then these last two verses really brings it home. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body. Now uh hesitated to share this today for our devotional, but we are living in a culture that is absolutely bombarded, bathed in, and inundated with pornography, with sex, without relationship, without covenant outside of marriage. And I'm talking about people that attend church as well as those who don't. Today, I want to remind myself that I am not my own. I was bought at a price, and so therefore, I want to glorify God with my body. There are a lot of things that we could say right now. I want to encourage you and challenge you. If you are struggling in an area, if there's a vice in your life, maybe it's pornography, maybe you are in a relationship that is not of the Lord. You're having sex outside of marriage. Maybe you are in a relationship outside of your marriage that is ungodly. It's either adulterous or it's heading that way. I want to encourage you today to reach out to somebody, go to the Lord in prayer. But men, go find a man of God and don't hide that anymore. Get it out in the open, preferably a pastor, hopefully, who can walk with you and take you through some necessary steps to bring you to a place of freedom and for healing and restoration. If you're a woman, find a woman of God who you can confide in, who you can confess that to, share it, get it out in the open, don't hide it anymore. Because we are worth so much more. We have been bought at a price. What was the price tag for you? The price tag for you was three nails, a crown of thorns, and two pieces of wood. And our Lord laid his life down for you. You were bought at a price. Let's glorify God with our body. Let's pray. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. And my prayer today is that you would give all of us a greater understanding, a revelation that we were bought at a price. And so therefore, we need to glorify you with our body. I pray freedom over every single person who's listening who may be battling a type of vice or bondage or some hidden secret sin that has just a strong hold on them. And I just pray freedom over them. I pray that you'd bring them into a relationship with someone who can help them and walk them through to freedom. Draw us close today by the presence of your Holy Spirit and reveal your Son to us. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, Asher, hope you enjoyed today's devotional. If you're getting something out of the Bible 365 podcast, consider sharing it with your family and with your friends. Please continue to pray for me. I am praying for you. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with day two twenty three.