September 28
September 28
One Year Bible Readings:
Isaiah 54:1-57:14
Ephesians 6:1-24
Psalm 70:1-5
Proverbs 24:8
Supplemental Reading for The One Year Bible.
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog.
Isaiah:
Today we read Isaiah chapter 55, which is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible! I went to a wedding several years ago in Napa, California and God led me to a church in that town on a Sunday morning where the pastor preached an incredible sermon from Isaiah 55. It is a beautiful chapter for all of us who are Thirsty. Let us drink deeply of God’s Word today! Verse 1 tells us - "Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink--even if you have no money!"
Q: Are you drinking freely of the Bible this year? Even if you have no money, do you believe that God is inviting you to drink deeply of his True and Holy Water, His Word? Are you thirsty?
In verses 10-12 we read: “10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
Q: How do these above verses resonate with you, based on our One Year Bible readings? Particularly verse 11 above – is God’s Word accomplishing something in you this year through reading the Bible each day? Is the Bible “watering” you? Are you Thirsty? Do you feel that you are going out in joy and being led forth in peace? Have the mountains and hills burst into song before you? Are the trees of the field clapping their hands in your life today?
Ephesians:
We wrap up Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus today! His letter to the church in Philippi begins tomorrow! Ephesians chapter 6 verse 7 stood out to me today - "Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." I realize the context of this verse is that Paul was writing it to slaves. However, I think this verse works very well today for any of us that work a full time job. I'm sure you've probably seen movies or TV shows that make fun of working and basically encourage folks to work as little as possible when they are on the job. I think this is a horrible idea! I had a friend tell me once that if you are acting like a slacker at one job - perhaps a job you really don't like and are trying to get out of - you'll end up acting like a slacker at your next job, even if your next job is your dream job. You'll goof up that dream job because it will be hard to break habit the habit of being a slacker... So - I think each of us would do well to take to heart Paul's words here in verse 7.
Q: Are you working at your job with enthusiasm? Are you working each and every day as though you are working for the Lord? As such, are you not "stealing time" from your employer by surfing the net, socializing excessively, doing errands, arriving late, and this list could go on... If Jesus was your boss, would you act the same way at work that you do now? Well, is Jesus perhaps really your "boss" even if he isn't the one signing your pay checks per se...?
Psalm:
Psalm 70 verse 4 is awesome - "But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, "God is great!"" Indeed, I think as Christians we should be filled with joy & gladness. Yes, there will be tough times. And suffering. But overall, I pray we are filled with joy and gladness. And then the second sentence in this verse reminds me of an older Relient K song with lyrics that go something like this - "Your voice has broken my defense. Let me embrace salvation!" I like that thought. Let us embrace salvation. Let us love salvation. Let us literally cling to salvation...
Q: How often do you think about your salvation? When is the last time you have shouted something like, "God is great!"?
Proverbs:
Proverbs 24 verse 8 today is a great reminder that we should not get in the habit of planning evil.... :) - "A person who plans evil will get a reputation as a troublemaker." Okay, so I put a smiley face there, because probably none of us consciously decide we're going to plan something evil. However, I wonder if any of us maybe do get in the habit of planning things that really are outside of God's will for our life? This isn't evil on the surface. And we may not get a reputation as a troublemaker. But, if we are planning things and doing things that are outside of God's will for our life and how He wants us to spend our time, then we are essentially going against God's will. God's perfect will. I will confess that I all too often plan and do things that I know are outside of God's will for my life. And maybe I do these things so I get a good "reputation" among people... Well, perhaps my good reputation among people is actually a bad reputation to God because I'm doing things outside of his will... And I guess I've been thinking about this lately and thinking about how often I'm wasting God's time that he has blessed me with. And so maybe I'm getting the reputation of being a troublemaker in heaven...
Q: How about you? What's your reputation in heaven? Forget about your reputation here on earth... What's your reputation with God?
Copyright © 2004-2012 One Year Bible Blog
One Year Bible Readings:
Isaiah 54:1-57:14
Ephesians 6:1-24
Psalm 70:1-5
Proverbs 24:8
Supplemental Reading for The One Year Bible.
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog.
Isaiah:
Today we read Isaiah chapter 55, which is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible! I went to a wedding several years ago in Napa, California and God led me to a church in that town on a Sunday morning where the pastor preached an incredible sermon from Isaiah 55. It is a beautiful chapter for all of us who are Thirsty. Let us drink deeply of God’s Word today! Verse 1 tells us - "Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink--even if you have no money!"
Q: Are you drinking freely of the Bible this year? Even if you have no money, do you believe that God is inviting you to drink deeply of his True and Holy Water, His Word? Are you thirsty?
In verses 10-12 we read: “10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
Q: How do these above verses resonate with you, based on our One Year Bible readings? Particularly verse 11 above – is God’s Word accomplishing something in you this year through reading the Bible each day? Is the Bible “watering” you? Are you Thirsty? Do you feel that you are going out in joy and being led forth in peace? Have the mountains and hills burst into song before you? Are the trees of the field clapping their hands in your life today?
Ephesians:
We wrap up Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus today! His letter to the church in Philippi begins tomorrow! Ephesians chapter 6 verse 7 stood out to me today - "Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." I realize the context of this verse is that Paul was writing it to slaves. However, I think this verse works very well today for any of us that work a full time job. I'm sure you've probably seen movies or TV shows that make fun of working and basically encourage folks to work as little as possible when they are on the job. I think this is a horrible idea! I had a friend tell me once that if you are acting like a slacker at one job - perhaps a job you really don't like and are trying to get out of - you'll end up acting like a slacker at your next job, even if your next job is your dream job. You'll goof up that dream job because it will be hard to break habit the habit of being a slacker... So - I think each of us would do well to take to heart Paul's words here in verse 7.
Q: Are you working at your job with enthusiasm? Are you working each and every day as though you are working for the Lord? As such, are you not "stealing time" from your employer by surfing the net, socializing excessively, doing errands, arriving late, and this list could go on... If Jesus was your boss, would you act the same way at work that you do now? Well, is Jesus perhaps really your "boss" even if he isn't the one signing your pay checks per se...?
Psalm:
Psalm 70 verse 4 is awesome - "But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, "God is great!"" Indeed, I think as Christians we should be filled with joy & gladness. Yes, there will be tough times. And suffering. But overall, I pray we are filled with joy and gladness. And then the second sentence in this verse reminds me of an older Relient K song with lyrics that go something like this - "Your voice has broken my defense. Let me embrace salvation!" I like that thought. Let us embrace salvation. Let us love salvation. Let us literally cling to salvation...
Q: How often do you think about your salvation? When is the last time you have shouted something like, "God is great!"?
Proverbs:
Proverbs 24 verse 8 today is a great reminder that we should not get in the habit of planning evil.... :) - "A person who plans evil will get a reputation as a troublemaker." Okay, so I put a smiley face there, because probably none of us consciously decide we're going to plan something evil. However, I wonder if any of us maybe do get in the habit of planning things that really are outside of God's will for our life? This isn't evil on the surface. And we may not get a reputation as a troublemaker. But, if we are planning things and doing things that are outside of God's will for our life and how He wants us to spend our time, then we are essentially going against God's will. God's perfect will. I will confess that I all too often plan and do things that I know are outside of God's will for my life. And maybe I do these things so I get a good "reputation" among people... Well, perhaps my good reputation among people is actually a bad reputation to God because I'm doing things outside of his will... And I guess I've been thinking about this lately and thinking about how often I'm wasting God's time that he has blessed me with. And so maybe I'm getting the reputation of being a troublemaker in heaven...
Q: How about you? What's your reputation in heaven? Forget about your reputation here on earth... What's your reputation with God?
Copyright © 2004-2012 One Year Bible Blog
Recent
Archive
2024
January
One Year Bible CompanionJanuary 2January 3January 4January 5January 6January 7January 8January 9January 10January 11January 12January 13January 14January 15January 16January 17January 18January 19January 20January 21January 22January 23January 24January 25January 26January 27January 28January 29January 30January 31
February
February 1February 2February 3February 4February 5February 6February 7February 8February 9February 10February 11February 12February 13February 14February 15February 16February 17February 18February 19February 20February 21February 22February 23February 24February 25February 26February 27February 28February 29
March
Categories
no categories
No Comments