Day 73 Bible Reading
Numbers 1, Luke 1: 27-38, Psalm 38: 1-11
Luke 1: 38 (ESV)
“And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let
it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
S. Brenda Elfgirl - A spiritual healer told me that I was an elf in my first incarnation. I'm now an elf-human female singleton living in the Arizona desert. I used to post about my life, but now I am posting freewrites about my past lives. I am treating it like a writing prompt, If an idea for a past life comes to me, I will write it down and post it. Is it fictional or real? Does it really matter? The story comes from somewhere.
Day 73 Bible Reading
Numbers 1, Luke 1: 27-38, Psalm 38: 1-11
Luke 1: 38 (ESV)
“And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let
it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
Day 72 Bible Reading
Leviticus 26: 14-26, Leviticus 27, Luke 1: 1-25, Psalm 37:
32-40
Luke 1: 19-20 (ESV)
“And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the
presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good
news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that
these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be
fulfilled in their time.”
I like verses 19 and 20 from Luke 1. The angel Gabriel punished
Zechariah for not believing his words. We don’t have angels punishing us for
our non-beliefs, but I know sometimes I felt that I was being punished God for
lack of beliefs. When I pray for something and Holy Spirit tells me it will
come, I sometimes have doubts. When I have doubts, I don’t get the thing I want
until the very last minute. At other times when I don’t have doubts, the thing I
prayed for comes immediately. So is it a form of punishment from God when I
have doubts and the thing I want doesn’t come until I have given up all hope? I never thought of it in that way, but it
might be a form of punishment from God for lack of belief in his promise. What
do you think?
Day 71 Bible Reading
Leviticus 25 & 26: 1-13, Mark 16, Psalm 37: 21-31
Leviticus 26: 1 (ESV)
“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image
or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to
it, for I am the Lord your God.”
Verse 1 from Leviticus 26 has been part of prayers to God these
last few weeks. It feels like the Holy Spirit is convicting me of making idols
of people I follow on social media. I love great thinkers and people who
predict future trends. I daily read their Substack articles, listen to their
podcasts, and read everything they post on X. They have become my new “idols”. But
there is no greater thinker than God and no one can predict future trends because
God has the final say on what will eventually trend in our lives. I still read
their posts on X and read whatever they post on Substack, but I’ve decided to
not listen to their podcasts since they take up more time. Do I miss the
podcasts? Yes, because I would listen to them while doing other things. Will I
go back to listening to them? Eventually, but not until I can listen to what my
“idols” say while still remembering that God is ultimate authority in the world.
Day 70 Bible Reading
Leviticus 23 & 24, Mark 15: 33-47, Psalm 37: 10-20
Mark 15: 39 (ESV)
“And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in
this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
I’ve always liked verse 39 from Mark 15 because it makes me
wonder what the centurion saw while Jesus was dying on the cross to make him
utter that statement. I love The Chosen TV series, and there is so much
speculation on whether the centurion who is quoted in Mark 15 will be Atticus
or Quintus. Was the centurion referring to change in weather that was happening
when Christ was being crucified? Was there something specific in Jesus’ face
that the centurion witnessed? My imagination runs wild when I think about what
the centurion saw at Jesus’ crucifixion. I like that the centurion was another
gentile who has recognized the divinity of Christ. I wonder what I would have
said had I been there at the crucifixion as a gentile.
Day 69 Bible Reading
Leviticus 21 & 22, Mark 15: 1-32, Psalm 37: 1-9
Mark 15: 31-32 (ESV)
“So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to
one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down
now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with
him also reviled him.”
Verses 31 and 32 from Mark 15 remind me of that scene from
the movie “The Last Temptation of Christ”, where Jesus steps down from the
cross and leads a different life. It’s a fantasy of course, because at the end
he gets back on cross and dies. If Jesus had saved himself as he could have,
then we wouldn’t have the resurrection and we wouldn’t believe in him. If
Christ had gotten down from the cross, there wouldn’t be a Christian religion. I
wonder if those chief priests and scribes who saw Jesus die remembered their
words when the Christian religion was being formed. They tried to snuff the
early Christians out, but it didn’t work. The beliefs of Christ took over the
world and we are better because of it.
Day 68 Bible Reading
Leviticus 19 & 20, Mark 14: 43-72, Psalm 36
Mark 14: 72 (ESV)
“And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter
remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will
deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.”
Whenever I read verse 72 from Mark 14, I often wonder how Peter felt. Jesus had told him what would happen, and he didn’t believe him despite having seen all the miracles and healings that Jesus had performed. I’ve been listening to David Guzik’s bible commentaries, and he said that Peter made the mistake of not praying before answering Jesus. Would Peter’s actions have changed had he prayed? Did he even have time to pray in the moment? Peter comes across as a passionate guy and I’m not sure he’s the type of person who would have stopped and prayed before he spoke? But I think David Guzik has a point nonetheless. Before we speak or do anything, we need to pray. In prayer we may come to know our own mind better, and may make different decisions, different choices. Maybe not but I like to think it might make a difference.
I've had a rough weekend, so I fell behind in bible reading posts and am getting caught up.
Day 67 Bible Reading
Leviticus 17 & 18, Mark 14: 17-42, Psalm 35: 19-28
Mark 14: 27 (ESV)
“And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is
written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”
I was listening to a commentary from David Guzik on verse 27
from Mark 14, and he said when Jesus made this prediction to his disciples it
was because he knew their minds and what they would do before they did. It made
me wonder if Jesus knows the minds of all of his followers like he knew the
minds of his disciples. Does he know what we’re going to do before we do it? Does
he see all of our choices and waits to see what choices will we make? I like to
think Jesus knows my mind, but I’m also of the opinion that he waits to see if
I will make the right choice. He is so patient with me. More patient than I am
with myself. And when I make a mistake, he leads me to ways of repentance with
kindness and firmness. That’s my experience of Christ at least. What is yours?
Day 66 Bible Reading
Leviticus 15 and 16, Mark 13: 32-37, Mark 14: 1-16, Psalm 35:
11-18
Mark 13: 32 (ESV)
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
I was listening to a discussion today on the hypostatic union
which is the idea that “Jesus Christ is true God and true man”. Or in other
words, Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine that these two natures
cannot be separated. Verse 32 from Mark 13 was cited as evidence for the idea
of the hypostatic union, because even Christ said he himself does not know
everything that God knows. Only God knows everything or is omniscient. I like
the idea of Christ being fully human because that means he knows everything
about being human because he has experienced it for himself.
Day 65 Bible Reading
Leviticus 14, Mark 13: 1-31, Psalm 35: 1-10
Mark 13: 31 (ESV)
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass
away.”
I like verse 31 from Mark 13. Jesus’ prediction about his
words have certainly come true. I find it so interesting that the Bible is
still alive and well long after his death on the cross. There were many men who
claimed to be the “Messiah” in the time when Jesus was alive. But only the true
son of God prevailed out of all those who were claiming to be the Messiah. Even
if you have no belief in God, you have to give credit to the Christian religion
and how it was spread all over the globe. People only resonate with what they
consider “truth and authenticity”. There must be something to the Christian
religion to give its longevity, despite all the forces that have tried to stamp
it out today and in the past. No one can convince anyone to believe in God, the
Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It’s something you have to experience it for
yourself. And when you have an experience of faith, it will change your life
forever.