Through the Bible

Nowhere in the Bible does God give us a command and tell us, “you need to read through the Bible” a certain number of times.  In fact, no where does God say, “Read it all the way through.” He does, however, tell us things like this: “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:6-7, HCSB). What God impresses on us is the importance of knowing and then growing up in the knowledge of our salvation. We’ve tasted the goodness of the LORD, so we crave the pure spiritual milk so that by it we can grow up in our salvation (cf. 1 Peter 2:2-3).  He impresses on us the importance, value and power of God’s Word for our spiritual food.

So, no matter what part of this plan you follow (or no matter what plan you follow), commit yourselves this year grow in your faith whether it is one verse at a time, one chapter at a time, one book at a time.  God tells us we will find contentment, joy and even happiness there.  He tells us, “Blessed is the person … who meditates on the Word of God day and night.  He will be like a tree planted by streams of living water” (cf. Psalm 1).  God make us all rooted and fruitful trees by the Word he plants in us.

There are two parts to the plan:

READING GOD’S STORY: ONE-YEAR CHRONOLOGICAL

Created by Dr. George Guthrie, this plan takes the material of the Bible and organizes it to flow in chronological order. Since exact dating of some materials or events is not possible, the chronology simply represents an attempt to give you the reader the general flow and development of the Bible’s grand story. Some passages are placed according to topic (e.g., John 1:1-3 in Week 1, Day 2; and many of the psalms). There are six readings for each week to give you space for catching up when needed.

Reading through the Bible like this will give us an aerial view of God’s plan of salvation.

In addition, we’ll take a slow walk through the psalms, about one a week.  The psalms are the songs and prayers of God’s people.  A slow and repeated walk through just a few psalms will allow us to meditate and maybe even memorize the psalms and make their prayers our own.  Each day I’ll write a devotion based on a small portion of the psalm and provide some points to ponder.  I’ll post these devotions HERE on this blog.  You can go to this site and sign-up to receive these emailed to you directly.  On top of this, the blog automatically posts to my Facebook page, so you can read them there.  OR, let me know and I can make you a print copy each week.

 

WE’RE STARTING JANUARY 3.  YOU IN?

This Week’s Readings:

Readings for the week of July 27:

One of the hardest things about summers for me is the shock to the routine.  After nine months of a pretty solid and regular routine all of a sudden the kids are home.  Throw in a few trips both for family and for ministry and all routing gets thrown out the window.  It is in a word defenestrated (I’ve always wanted to use that word!).  But while routines change one thing always remains – our God is faithful and his Word remains forever.

The readings for this week take us largely through the book of 1 Corinthians.  You probably noticed it already in chapters 1 and 2 last Saturday that Paul is driving and drawing the church toward a unity in faith, built on and founded on the one foundation, Jesus.  It is a unity in teaching that builds on that foundation, that teaches, corrects, rebukes and encourages in line with God’s inspired and inerrant truth.  And it is a unity that draws believers into fellowship with God, with each other, for mutual support and encouragement and to get things done, to tackle the mission God gave his church.  See if you can identify some of these specific things as you read this week.

Here are the readings for the week:

• 7/27 – 1 Corinthians 3-5, Psalm 97.
• 7/28 – 1 Corinthians 6-8, Psalm 98.
• 7/29 – 1 Corinthians 9-11, Psalm 99.
• 7/30 – 1 Corinthians 12-14, Psalm 100.
• 7/31 – 1 Corinthians 15-16, Psalm 101.
• 8/1 – 2 Chronicles 1-4, Psalm 102.
• 8/2 – See you in church!

Have a great week!  I’ll do my best to get some devotional thoughts out there for you.  But don’t stop eating if I stop preparing a meal for you.  God’s Word, the Bible, is like the refrigerator. Look in.  Check out what’s there.  And then eat it!  If all of us husbands stopped eating when our wonderful wives were gone to cook meals for us, we’d be starving!  But someone we manage.  With God’s Word we do more than manage to get by.  God makes sure that every time it’s a banquet.  It’s good food for the soul, a banquet of the finest fare.

This Week:

Readings for the week of June 21, 2015:

Below you’ll find the readings for the rest of this week.  I’ll be away from regular posting here for various reasons, but want to encourage you to carry on with your devotions.  It’s so important for our faith.  No one ever would have thought that David would fall as he did, but fall did he do.

This week I’m at Drive Teen Camp and, even though I’m not a teen anymore and even though I’m a leader at the camp, God is feeding my soul.  Here are two devotional suggest that struck me this week – so far.

• On Monday we studied contentment, learning how to find contentment.  This is what struck me as we studied Philippians 4.  The secret to contentment was the spotlight.  Discontentment comes when we shine the spotlight on ourselves and on what we think we don’t have but need.  Discontentment comes when we shine the spotlight on other people and wish we were more like them or had what they had.  Contentment comes when we shine the spotlight on God and his grace to us in Christ and in every part of our lives.  When we see his grace and his gracious working and shine the spotlight there, then we learn and find contentment.  “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
• Today we studied authenticity, learning how to be real before God and with each other.  As we considered the fear that we have of being honest with God and with his people, what David says in Psalm 51:17 struck me.  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit…”  Normally, when think about sacrifices and offerings, we think about bringing our very best, our most precious treasure.  God even taught his people that.  He said, “Don’t bring me your broken stuff.”  But here, God says, “I love your broken selves. So, come to me with your broken selves, broken and messed up by sin all the way through and through.  Come to me broken though you are and I will heal you.

God is feeding me.  I know that as you stay in his Word, he will feed you too.  Here are those readings:

• Monday (yes, I know I’m late): 2 Kings 19-21, Psalm 90.
• Tuesday (today): 2 Kings 22-25, Psalm 91.
• Wednesday (6/24): Luke 1-3, Psalm 92.
• Thursday (6/25): Luke 4-6, Psalm 93.
• Friday (6/26): Luke 7-9, Psalm 94.
• Saturday (6/27): Luke 10-12, Ecclesiastes 1.

Try this as you read, maybe even journal it.  SOAP.

1. S = Pick out one SCRIPTURE or verse that strikes you from that days readings.  Kind of like my big take aways from each day’s study above.
2. O = OBSERVATION.  What did you notice about that verse?  What is happening there?  Why is it happening?
3. A = APPLICATION.  How does this verse fit/apply to you and your life?
4. P = PRAYER.  Turn the application into a pray to your God.  Ask for his help.  Ask for his peace.  Thank him for what you learned to thank him for.  You get the idea.

Have a great week.  I’ll be back soon.  The accountability to write these and share them with you is really good for me.