March 31
March 31
One Year Bible Readings:
Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20
Luke 9:7-27
Psalm 72:1-20
Proverbs 12:8-9
Supplemental Reading for The One Year Bible.
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog.
Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 18 is of note today: "Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you. They will judge the people fairly throughout the land." After Deuteronomy comes the book of Joshua, which is followed by the book of Judges. And then... Israel won't be satisfied with just judges. Israel will want a king...
Q: Who is your King today? Why do we look for earthly Kings? Should Jesus be enough, as our King?
Luke:
In the beginning of Luke chapter 9's readings today we read in verse 7 - "When reports of Jesus' miracles reached Herod Antipas, he was worried and puzzled..." This is of note. Herod was running the show in Jerusalem, and Jesus had made him worried and puzzled. Why? Maybe because in part Herod realized that he was not fully in "control" of everything as he thought he was... and I wonder about this today... Does Jesus maybe continue to make people worried and puzzled in our modern world today? Is it perhaps because, like Herod, we get worried and puzzled about Jesus when we start to realize we are not fully in "control" of things... that maybe there is something bigger going on around us. I pray that Jesus continues to make people worried and puzzled today - such that they realize that there is someone who is truly in Control and one to whom we can truly surrender our "control" to. For, in doing so, we will find true peace, joy & happiness for eternity. Q: How have you given the control in your life over to Jesus? If not, is now perhaps a good time for you to hand the "remote control" of your life over to Jesus? Will you?
Verses 23 through 26 are so amazing and I cannot personally read and meditate upon these verses often enough. They are beautifully convicting me once again today... ""If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process? If a person is ashamed of me and my message, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels." Putting aside our selfish ambition... this is tough folks! I know I am still struggling to do this. I still have so much selfish ambition within me... but, I am thankful that through Christ and through learning to carry our cross each day - slowly though surely it may be - our ambition will be morphed from selfish into godly. We know we are arriving closer and closer to true life when we care about the things God cares about. When we think about the things God thinks about. When we are ambitious for the things God is ambitious about.
Q: How are you doing with selfish ambition in your life? Will you drop the things you are carrying so tightly due to your selfish ambition, so that you can instead take up your cross daily?
Verse 13 I found intriguing - "But Jesus said, "You feed them.""
Q: If Jesus said this to his followers 2,000 years ago, think he might say this to us today as well? You feed them. Who might Jesus be calling you to feed in your life? Maybe feeding someone spiritually, mentally, or literally? You feed them...
Psalm:
I'll admit. I pay attention every single time the Bible talks about serving the poor. And it is a lot. And I think it is for a reason. Here it is again in Psalm 72 verses 12 & 13, speaking about Israel's king - "He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them."
Q: What about us today? Does this Psalm speak to us? Do we rescue the poor when they cry to us? (do we even listen for their cry?) Do we help the oppressed and those who have no one to defend them? Do we feel pity for the weak and needy? Do we rescue them? Do I? Do you?
Proverbs:
Proverbs 12:8 today teaches us: "Everyone admires a person with good sense, but a warped mind is despised." Let us pray for consistent good sense in our lives! A warped mind is a sad state of affairs indeed...
Q: How do we avoid warping our minds?
Copyright © 2004-2012 One Year Bible Blog
One Year Bible Readings:
Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20
Luke 9:7-27
Psalm 72:1-20
Proverbs 12:8-9
Supplemental Reading for The One Year Bible.
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog.
Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 18 is of note today: "Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you. They will judge the people fairly throughout the land." After Deuteronomy comes the book of Joshua, which is followed by the book of Judges. And then... Israel won't be satisfied with just judges. Israel will want a king...
Q: Who is your King today? Why do we look for earthly Kings? Should Jesus be enough, as our King?
Luke:
In the beginning of Luke chapter 9's readings today we read in verse 7 - "When reports of Jesus' miracles reached Herod Antipas, he was worried and puzzled..." This is of note. Herod was running the show in Jerusalem, and Jesus had made him worried and puzzled. Why? Maybe because in part Herod realized that he was not fully in "control" of everything as he thought he was... and I wonder about this today... Does Jesus maybe continue to make people worried and puzzled in our modern world today? Is it perhaps because, like Herod, we get worried and puzzled about Jesus when we start to realize we are not fully in "control" of things... that maybe there is something bigger going on around us. I pray that Jesus continues to make people worried and puzzled today - such that they realize that there is someone who is truly in Control and one to whom we can truly surrender our "control" to. For, in doing so, we will find true peace, joy & happiness for eternity. Q: How have you given the control in your life over to Jesus? If not, is now perhaps a good time for you to hand the "remote control" of your life over to Jesus? Will you?
Verses 23 through 26 are so amazing and I cannot personally read and meditate upon these verses often enough. They are beautifully convicting me once again today... ""If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process? If a person is ashamed of me and my message, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels." Putting aside our selfish ambition... this is tough folks! I know I am still struggling to do this. I still have so much selfish ambition within me... but, I am thankful that through Christ and through learning to carry our cross each day - slowly though surely it may be - our ambition will be morphed from selfish into godly. We know we are arriving closer and closer to true life when we care about the things God cares about. When we think about the things God thinks about. When we are ambitious for the things God is ambitious about.
Q: How are you doing with selfish ambition in your life? Will you drop the things you are carrying so tightly due to your selfish ambition, so that you can instead take up your cross daily?
Verse 13 I found intriguing - "But Jesus said, "You feed them.""
Q: If Jesus said this to his followers 2,000 years ago, think he might say this to us today as well? You feed them. Who might Jesus be calling you to feed in your life? Maybe feeding someone spiritually, mentally, or literally? You feed them...
Psalm:
I'll admit. I pay attention every single time the Bible talks about serving the poor. And it is a lot. And I think it is for a reason. Here it is again in Psalm 72 verses 12 & 13, speaking about Israel's king - "He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them."
Q: What about us today? Does this Psalm speak to us? Do we rescue the poor when they cry to us? (do we even listen for their cry?) Do we help the oppressed and those who have no one to defend them? Do we feel pity for the weak and needy? Do we rescue them? Do I? Do you?
Proverbs:
Proverbs 12:8 today teaches us: "Everyone admires a person with good sense, but a warped mind is despised." Let us pray for consistent good sense in our lives! A warped mind is a sad state of affairs indeed...
Q: How do we avoid warping our minds?
Copyright © 2004-2012 One Year Bible Blog
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