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In pastures green He leadeth me. Join me on the journey.
What's Going on Here?
We are reading our way through the bible one chapter per day. The idea behind my personal reading plan is to read through books chronologically, but not solely one book at a time. Thus on Monday we read from the books of the law, Tuesday the books of kings and judges, Wednesday the books of Jewish History, Thursday Books of Wisdom, Friday the Prophets, Saturday the Gospels and Sunday the Epistles. The next Monday we pick up at the chapter we left off in ancient history. You may think that this would be disjointed and would cause you to "lose your groove" but I have found the contrary to be true, the threads of promise, redemption and grace show up more clearly as I make my way slowly through these books in a parrallel fashion and when I pick up where I left off a week before I am reminded of things that stood out to me from last week's reading. Journaling is a big part of my processing scripture and fixing particular tidbits in my mind for the purpose of life application. I would love to have you join me!
Basic Reading Plan
Mon (Law): Genesis-Joshua
Tues (Rulers): Judges-Chronicles
Wed (History): Ezra-Psalms
Thurs (Wisdom): Prov-Jer
Fri (Prophets): Lam-Malachi
Sat (Gospels): Matthew-Acts
Sun (Epistles) Romans-Revelation.
The theme I have given each section is general. Joshua is not a book of the law and Psalms is not a book of history. The main chunk of reading in each section is, however, suitably classified as the theme it is under. In order to make the sections even out to have the same general number of books/chapters, this was the closest I could come. Otherwise one would be reading through certain sections (like the Law) for instance, much more often than the wisdom books, etc.
Posts
A Place of Fellowship....
(Fellowship is) an expression of both love and humility. [It] springs from a desire to bring benefit to others, coupled with a sense of personal weakness and need. It has a double motive – the wish to help, and to be helped; to edify, and to be edified. It has a double aim – to do, and to receive, good. It is a seeking by Christian people to know God better through sharing with each other what, individually, they have learned of Him already. J.I. Packer.
A few introductory words of encouragement....
Think of your time feeding on God's Word as a vital aspect of your health and wellness. You wouldn't go a week without brushing your teeth, or eating physical food, don't treat the nourishing of your soul by the Word of God with any less care.
Don't cram multiple chapters if you fall behind of plan, but *do* "back-read" if you have the passion and earnest desire to do so. My habit if I miss a chapter is usually to leave it until that book comes up again the next week (based on my own reading plan) and then read two consecutive chapters rather than the one I am scheduled to read.
Don't be legalistic about the when and how. If you don't get a quiet time in the morning, THAT'S OKAY. Find a moment in the afternoon to grab a drink, sit down and put your feet up, and soak up a chapter. And if that doesn't happen, THAT'S OKAY. Take 15-20 minutes at the end of the day to plump some pillows up in your bed and soak it up before you go to sleep. And if that doesn't happen, IT'S OKAY. Tomorrow is a new day. Don't let the enemy discourage you from spending time in the word TODAY because you didn't YESTERDAY. That's just dumb. Did you get that? DUMB.
If you don't have time to read, meditate. Allow God to bring a passage of scripture to mind and allow yourself to listen. Take time to be quiet in your spirit. While you are washing dishes, folding laundry, vacuuming... cleaning bathrooms.
Spruce things up. Get yourself a PRETTY journal and jot down little things that stand out to you. Use your favourite mug or a pretty glass to pour your favourite drink. Sit in your favourite spot (this could change from day to day and depending on the time of day you read. A sunny spot on the porch in the morning, a wing back chair and a blanket if it's chilly, a garden swing in the shade on a hot afternoon, or plumped up in bed with soft lamplight in the evening. Again, don't be legalistic about the location, pick a happy spot that fits the moment/opportunity.) Oh, and DON'T wait for the pretty journal. Plain lined notepaper or even a crumpled scrap paper will work just FINE until you get one....
Remember while you read, God's word is FOR YOU. yes, it was written to a particular audience in a particular time in history and for a particular reason. But it was also written with YOU in mind, TODAY in mind, and is designed to give you strength and wisdom for the journey.
Claim ONE part of the passage and take it to heart. Read through the chapter without too much introspection at first and see what part most stands out to you. Go back and look at that part more specifically and ask yourself what is in there for YOU?
Ask relevant questions. I usually look at a passage with 2 questions in mind. 1. What does this passage tell me about God's character? 2. What does this passage tell me about humanity (ie, ME, in relation to God? a final and very important question to ask is "What does this passage require of me on a practical level?" Write down one attitude, practice or truth you want you live out TODAY in light of what God has just revealed to you. This is how we take ownership of the Word of God and allow it to relate to us and shape us on a personal level.
Build yourself a monument. As I ponder a passages relevance to me I journal the thoughts that arise. Jotting them down somehow cements my convictions in my mind, almost like laying out stones in a monument so I can go back to that place later and be reminded. I also use those notes to come here and share my thoughts later with others.
Keep your actual quiet time concise. This will help make it more likely the habit will continue to happen on a regular basis. Better to spend 15 minutes in the word daily, than 1 hour once a week.
Don't require absolute "alone" and uninterrupted time (without kids around). If they are around, they can learn to not interrupt you for 15 minutes, just like you spend time with other people when they are around, you can spend time with the Lord with them around too.
Think of God’s Word as a love letter to you. When you read stories of God’s wrath in the Old Testament, think about WHAT love paid the price for all that wrath and how a hand that once smote anyone who dared touch the ark of His covenant now beckons YOU to draw near to the throne of grace. Read everything in light of who God is and how much He loves mankind that in spite of our being so deprived, His love story reaches out, encompasses us, washes us clean, and seeks to draw us near.
May you seek Him, may He be found by you, and may you be blessed on the journey.
Don't cram multiple chapters if you fall behind of plan, but *do* "back-read" if you have the passion and earnest desire to do so. My habit if I miss a chapter is usually to leave it until that book comes up again the next week (based on my own reading plan) and then read two consecutive chapters rather than the one I am scheduled to read.
Don't be legalistic about the when and how. If you don't get a quiet time in the morning, THAT'S OKAY. Find a moment in the afternoon to grab a drink, sit down and put your feet up, and soak up a chapter. And if that doesn't happen, THAT'S OKAY. Take 15-20 minutes at the end of the day to plump some pillows up in your bed and soak it up before you go to sleep. And if that doesn't happen, IT'S OKAY. Tomorrow is a new day. Don't let the enemy discourage you from spending time in the word TODAY because you didn't YESTERDAY. That's just dumb. Did you get that? DUMB.
If you don't have time to read, meditate. Allow God to bring a passage of scripture to mind and allow yourself to listen. Take time to be quiet in your spirit. While you are washing dishes, folding laundry, vacuuming... cleaning bathrooms.
Spruce things up. Get yourself a PRETTY journal and jot down little things that stand out to you. Use your favourite mug or a pretty glass to pour your favourite drink. Sit in your favourite spot (this could change from day to day and depending on the time of day you read. A sunny spot on the porch in the morning, a wing back chair and a blanket if it's chilly, a garden swing in the shade on a hot afternoon, or plumped up in bed with soft lamplight in the evening. Again, don't be legalistic about the location, pick a happy spot that fits the moment/opportunity.) Oh, and DON'T wait for the pretty journal. Plain lined notepaper or even a crumpled scrap paper will work just FINE until you get one....
Remember while you read, God's word is FOR YOU. yes, it was written to a particular audience in a particular time in history and for a particular reason. But it was also written with YOU in mind, TODAY in mind, and is designed to give you strength and wisdom for the journey.
Claim ONE part of the passage and take it to heart. Read through the chapter without too much introspection at first and see what part most stands out to you. Go back and look at that part more specifically and ask yourself what is in there for YOU?
Ask relevant questions. I usually look at a passage with 2 questions in mind. 1. What does this passage tell me about God's character? 2. What does this passage tell me about humanity (ie, ME, in relation to God? a final and very important question to ask is "What does this passage require of me on a practical level?" Write down one attitude, practice or truth you want you live out TODAY in light of what God has just revealed to you. This is how we take ownership of the Word of God and allow it to relate to us and shape us on a personal level.
Build yourself a monument. As I ponder a passages relevance to me I journal the thoughts that arise. Jotting them down somehow cements my convictions in my mind, almost like laying out stones in a monument so I can go back to that place later and be reminded. I also use those notes to come here and share my thoughts later with others.
Keep your actual quiet time concise. This will help make it more likely the habit will continue to happen on a regular basis. Better to spend 15 minutes in the word daily, than 1 hour once a week.
Don't require absolute "alone" and uninterrupted time (without kids around). If they are around, they can learn to not interrupt you for 15 minutes, just like you spend time with other people when they are around, you can spend time with the Lord with them around too.
Think of God’s Word as a love letter to you. When you read stories of God’s wrath in the Old Testament, think about WHAT love paid the price for all that wrath and how a hand that once smote anyone who dared touch the ark of His covenant now beckons YOU to draw near to the throne of grace. Read everything in light of who God is and how much He loves mankind that in spite of our being so deprived, His love story reaches out, encompasses us, washes us clean, and seeks to draw us near.
May you seek Him, may He be found by you, and may you be blessed on the journey.
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3 comments:
"Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel"
oh pride. What a plague it is to us.
Those are tough choices that Gad gives to David:
3 years of famine
3 months of bloody losing battles (to be swept away before your foes...ugh)
3 days of the sword of the Lord
none of those sound like good options.
I wonder why, though, God included all of Israel in David's punishment, when he was the only one who sinned.
but praise the Lord for His mercy:
"And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel 'It is enough; now relax your hand'"
phew.
my Bible notes (as an iteresting aside) say that Ornan's thresing floor is today believed to be the very flat rock under the Moslem mosque, the Dome of the Rock...
>>I wonder why, though, God included all Isarel in David's punishment, when he was the only one who sinned.<<
Found this. Thought provoking.
Pride Kills
©1998 CrossPollen http://www.accuros.com/thornbush/pollen/1chr21_1.htm
Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, "Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring me word that I may know their number.'' …God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel. (1 Chronicles 21:1-7, NASB)
Why was God so angry when David numbered the fighting men of Israel? And why did He cause the people of Israel to suffer for David's sin, rather than David himself? Is there a mistake here? No, there is no mistake The account gives deep insights into the nature of sin and the true righteousness of grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ever since his youth, David was a warrior who fought the Lord’s battles. Although he had defeated many foes, there were still many potential adversaries who might rise up against him. Why shouldn’t he number his army? Why shouldn’t he count his strength, and ensure his preparedness for future conflict? Outwardly, David’s actions were blameless – but the Lord does not look on the outward appearance, but rather upon the heart.
What did the Lord see in David’s heart when he numbered Israel? The Bible says that David was moved by Satan. Satan is the prince of pride, and he tempted David through his pride. David forgot how the Lord had always fought his battles for him, and presumed instead that his success depended on the strength of his forces. How different David’s attitude had been in his youth, when he faced Goliath with a stone and a sling! At that time David had said, “The LORD saved me from the lion, and the bear, and he will deliver me also out of the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:36)
God had warned the Israelites not to forget Him and say in their hearts, "My power and the might of [my own] hand has gotten me this wealth" (Deut. 8:14). But this is exactly what David was saying to himself as he numbered Israel’s fighting men. This very same prideful self-sufficiency was also found in the hearts of the Pharisees who persecuted Jesus. Their ‘righteousness’ was founded on pride. The Pharisees trusted in their own strength of will, their own self-discipline, their own cultivated habits and abilities. They do not acknowledge that their own efforts at righteousness were futile without God’s empowering grace. In the same way, David would never have conquered except for God’s intervention.
Why then did God kill the Israelites for David’s sin? Because pride always kills the innocent. The pride of Adam brought death to all of humanity. The pride of Herod killed the infants of Bethlehem. The pride of the priests and Pharisees killed the Son of God. In all these cases the same pride is the cause, and results too are the same.
But is this fair, that the innocent suffer? It is more than fair, if we view the big picture. The sufferings of the innocent mirror the sufferings of Christ. They like Him were lambs led to the slaughter; and they shall specially share in Christ’s glory in the Resurrection (Romans 8:17).
Recall what Jesus said of the man born blind: His disciples asked Him, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus replied, “Neither, but that the glory of God might be shown through him.” Does this mean that God inflicted the man arbitrarily just so that He could heal him later? No – the cause of the blindness, the cause of every disease or affliction of every person innocent or guilty, is sin. The innocent man brought glory to God through his temporary sufferings, for his healing demonstrated redemption from sin.
David’s pride is no worse than ours. We too rely on ourselves rather than God, and ascribe our sucesses to our own ability rather than to His grace. Just as in David’s case our pride also kills the innocent. It kills our innocent children, when we profess a self-righteousness based on our own discipline and achievement, and we instruct them in the same. It kills dreams, it kills families, it kills businesses, it kills churches. It kills faith, when people see our behavior and reject Christ for the sake of our pride.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I stand before You as a murderer. In my self-reliance, I have killed others. Through my pride, I have murdered the innocent. Your own blood is on my hands, because my pride of heart is equal to that of Your murderers. Lord, by Your Holy Spirit expose the wickednesses of my heart. Show me the awfulness of my sin, that I may despise it and earnestly repent. And most of all, Lord, raise me up by Your Spirit of Life, the same Spirit that raised You from death, so that empowered by Your Spirit I may put to death every vestige of pride within my heart. Thank You that Your blood applied to my heart through the power of Your Spirit is more than sufficient to wipe my heart clean of every trace of pride and self-will.
"God sent an angel to destroy Jerusaelm, but when the angel started to destroy it, the Lord saw it and felt very sorry about the terrible things that had happened. So He said to the angel who was destroying, "that is enough! Put down your arm!" v15
David had said, "Let the Lord punish me, because the Lord is very merciful. Don't let my punishment come from human beings." v13
Truly David understood the righteousness and mercy of the Lord. I am not sure I have such a good grasp of the mercy part. I know it's true, but I live more in awareness of the righteousness part. I want to be steeped in teh knowledge of the mercy of the Lord.
"I won't offer a burnt offering that costs me nothing." v24
I love this. Sacrifice COSTS.
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