Day 29 Bible Reading

Job 11-14, Matthew 20: 1-19, Psalm 17: 6-12

Matthew 20: 14-16 (ESV)

“Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.””

These Bible verses of Matthew 20: 14-16 made me reflect on how hard it is to sometimes to watch how God blesses people. Some people seem to get all the breaks, whether they deserve it or not. But I am reminded in these verses that God’s grace is according to his will and plan and not what it seems like each of us deserve. God’s grace is full of surprises, according to one commentator. We also cannot really see the other person’s life. We only see what they want us to see. We don’t know what they went through to get to the point where they are now. I know I have the grace and protection of God, and have been aware of it most of my life. That awareness is in itself a gift of God’s grace. When my mother died and I felt held and safe and protected in the palm of Christ’s hand during my saddest moments, I wondered what it would be like not feel that sense of protection. I remember thinking to myself, I don’t know how people face the death of a parent without knowing Christ in their life. When I read about someone struggling to understand what is going on in today’s world and how confused and fearful they feel, I wonder if they have Christ in their lives. It’s not that I don’t experience fear and confusion, because I do, but I also have my faith in Christ to pull me back from the edge, to remind me that whatever is going on is a part of God’s plan for humanity. I might not understand it all right now, but I know that at some point in the future it will all make sense and I will have that “Aha!” feeling. That’s what God was intending, that’s what he wanted to happen so it all works out for the best for all of us.

Day 28 Bible Reading

Job 8-10, Matthew 19: 16-30, Proverbs 3: 11-20

Proverbs 3: 13-16

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.”

Verses 13 through 16 from Proverbs 3 made me think about what exactly is Wisdom. From the Christian point of view, Wisdom can be found in the Bible and teachings of God and Jesus Christ. Most of what we read in Proverbs seem like common sense that people figured out over years and years of experience. But in Verse 3, we read that you can find Wisdom but you might not always understand it at first. But once you do understand Wisdom, it seems to open so many doors. When you find Wisdom, you will come to see that it is better than the profits from silver and gold which was the money at the time Proverbs was written. From an understanding of Wisdom, you will receive a long life and riches and honor. If we follow the teachings of the Bible and Christ, God has a plan for us. And if we follow God’s laws, then we have to believe God will give us a long life and the money needed to fulfill his plan. For me, the Wisdom part makes so much sense. It’s the applying of the Wisdom to my life and the understanding of it that is so hard. I consider myself a smart person, and I think what I do is compare God’s Wisdom to what I know. When I do that, God’s Wisdom sometimes doesn’t make sense. Which is crazy I know because God sees and knows everything, and I can only see a little bit. These verses stood out for me as a reminder to once again trust God in all things. He has Wisdom, he has the 360 degree view of my life that I don’t have.

Day 26 Bible Reading

Job 4-7, Matthew 19: 1-15, Psalm 17: 1-6

Psalm 17: 3 (ESV)

“You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.”

Verse 3 from Psalm 17 made me pause in thought when I read the commentary on Psalm 17 by Pastor David Guzik (enduringword.com).  Pastor David wrote that David was referring to the test in previous psalms which he said he passed. Pastor David also said that there are three (3) questions that every Christian must ask themselves: 1) Do I allow God to test my heart; 2) Can I be corrected; and 3) Will I listen to others when they tell me I may be wrong?” I believe God has tested my heart and I did allow myself to be corrected, but I don’t think I was very joyful about it. When I experienced God’s testing, it was hard. I knew I was being tested by God, and it pained me because I didn’t know why at the time. And I think testing for my happened when God didn’t answer my prayers right away. It felt like God was ignoring me and it hurt. It was hard to keep my faith in the middle of the test. But God always answered me at what seemed like the very last minute of the very last hour, when I had all but given up hope that I would receive an answer. And when I was in this state of holding on to the slimmest of hope, a sense of peace would always come over me. I knew that whatever happened was always going to be for the best, that it might take a long time, maybe even years to feel that way, but I would eventually come to know that it was all for the best. And when my prayers were answered, most of the time I felt like it happened at the exactly right time and place. It felt like God waited for me to come to a sense of peace so no matter what happened, my faith would still be intact and strong and I would be in a state of total surrender to his will and his plan. It’s a paradoxical state of being to be in surrender to God’s will, because you have to be okay that you might not get what you want but what God does give you will be in your best interest always.

Day 26 Bible Reading

Job 1-3, Matthew 18: 10-35, Psalm 16

Job 1: 21-22 (ESV)

“And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”

Verses 21 and 22 from Job 1 touched me today. Job’s first test from Satan was to have his wealth and his children taken away from him. Job was upset, but he did not blame God. I haven’t had the level of tragedy that Job experienced in my life, but I know I have blamed God in the past for all the bad things that did occur in my life. What I have uncovered this week is I don’t blame God for what happened to me, but I have anger at God for not stopping what happened. How could he allow me to have suffered so much from two significant events in my life? I didn’t even know I had anger at God for these events, because I had done some much work on them. But the anger is there, and I was holding on to it and resenting God for allowing the events to happen in the first place. I wish I had responded as Job had to this first test. If I find myself blaming God again for an event in my life, I’m going to read Job’s response to his first test to remind myself the correct way to respond. I can be sad and upset, but I cannot blame God. God will use whatever happens to us, good and bad, for our own good. And I have to trust that God always has my good in mind.

Day 25 Bible Reading

Genesis 49 & 50, Matthew 18: 1-9, Psalm 15

Matthew 18:8-9 (ESV)

“And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.”

Verses 8 and 9 from Matthew 18 stood out to me today. I don’t believe Christ meant to literally cut your foot off or gouge your own eye out because of sin. One commentator suggested that Christ is saying we must be willing to sacrifice in fighting against sin. In earlier verses, Christ said that if you sin in your heart and mind it is the same as committing the actual sin. For me this means that if you indulge in even thinking of the sin and do it constantly, then one day an opportunity will present itself to actually commit the sin and you will do it because you’ve already been thinking about committing the sin. What has sometimes shocked me when I watch an Agatha Christie movie is how easily people murder other people in her stories. But if you study the murder scene more closely, the opportunity to commit the presented itself and it was easy to do, that the person couldn’t overcome the temptation. And if we could see inside their heart and mind, I’m sure we would have seen constant thoughts of murder. So Christ is saying the best thing to do is not even think of the sin, so when the opportunity does present itself to commit the sin we wouldn’t even think about doing it because it would never occur to us. We must cut if off at the start, or it will as some people have said, spread like an infection in our heart and mind.

Day 24 Bible Readings

Genesis 47 & 48, Matthew 17, Proverbs 3: 1-10

Proverbs 3: 5-6 (ESV)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Verses 5 and 6 from Proverbs 3 stood out for me today. I think because I consider myself a very independent and smart person, I rely on my own understanding much of the time even though I think I trust in God with all my heart. But I am beginning to understand and to acknowledge that I have an ally in Christ and especially the Holy Spirit. It seems so silly to me sometimes to check with God for every little decision I make in my life. But there are so many stories which show us that it is the small decisions we make in life, and not necessarily the large ones, that truly affect our life. So I’m trying to check in with God more each day for all the decisions in my life. I’m trying not to make it such a big deal, just a quick prayer to ask Christ if I’m making the right choice and then a minute of quiet time to listen for a response. Most of the time I don’t hear much of a response, and I’m thinking probably because I think I use common sense to make decisions. But every once in a while, I think I hear a soft “no” or the word “really?” to a question about something I want or want to do. And when I follow God’s response to my question, it does seem that things really do turn out better. Not in a dramatic way, but in small ways that make me glad I have the Christ to ask for a second opinion, a gut check to tell me if I’m doing the right thing, if I’m going the right way, and most of all, if I’m following God’s plan for my life.

Day 23 Bible Reading

Genesis 45 & 48, Matthew 16, Psalm 14

Matthew 16: 24-25 (ESV)

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

I love these verses from Matthew 16. For me it means if you give your life over to Jesus and become his follower, you will find your true life. But to become a Jesus follower it does sometimes feels like you are carrying a very heavy cross. I have had to confess to Jesus my sins, all the things I feel guilty about having done or thought, and my worries. This is a new thing for me to ask God in prayer to take my worries. I had no idea I had so many worries I was carrying in my heart and soul. When I wrote them down, I was so shocked. I was worried about so many things. Sometimes the worries were trivial, sometimes they were legitimate to what was currently going on in my life, and still others seemed so silly to me when I wrote them down. I was crying the whole time as I made a list of my worries. But afterwards I felt free, like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders. My worries were my cross and they were so heavy like a physical wooden cross. I don’t know why I didn’t want Jesus to know my worries and to ask his help to share them. I think part of me was ashamed to have so many worries. I have this belief that I am a child of God, and it feels so shameful on some level to still have so many fears and worries about everything in my life. I was hiding it from myself and from Christ, like it was my problem and not God’s problem because I’m an adult and I can take care of myself and I don’t need God meddling in my personal business. It seems so silly now, but that’s what I felt and still feel. I’m going to keep writing down my worries and asking God to help me with them, because I don’t know if I exhausted the list of things I’m worried about in life. I’m going to keep losing the worry part of my life, in hopes of finding a newer life in Christ.  

Day 22 Bible Reading

Genesis 43 & 44, Matthew 15: 10-39, Psalm 13

Matthew 15: 32 (ESV)

“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.””

I love verse 32 from Matthew 15. Again, we see the compassion Christ has for the people who follow him. He truly is the shepherd who cares for his sheep. If Jesus was unwilling to let his followers go away hungry when he was alive, would he not do the same for us now. Christ paid the ultimate price of his life to give us eternal life. It’s not that much of a stretch for hm to make sure we are always fed and will never go hungry if we follow him. Christ will meet our basic needs at the very least, but he can do so much more if we believe in him and give our lives to him. I think for us in today’s modern world, perhaps so much more than in the time when Jesus was live, we need more than our basic needs met for food and shelter. Our modern lives seem to be so much more complicated, and our needs are so much more complex. But I trust that Christ understands this and will meet our needs whatever they are if we follow and believe in him. But that’s the question isn’t it? How much do we truly believe in and follow Christ and all his laws and requests of us?

Day 21 Bible Reading

Genesis 41 & 42, Matthew 14: 22-36, Matthew 15: 1-9, Psalm 12

Matthew 14: 29-31

“He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”’

These verses from Matthew 14 remind me so much of my own journey with Christ. There have been so many times where I feel like God has asked me to trust him as a demonstration of my faith. And I have tried to do that, and so many, many times, I felt afraid and it felt like I was sinking. And then something happened which saved me, and it felt like Christ was reaching out his hand to me and saying the exact words he said to Peter. Except unlike Peter, my experience wasn’t as dramatic as his out on the sea of Galilee. Peter had to experience it once, whereas I’ve had this experience many, many times. And after all these years, I still have doubts even though I have so much evidence that God never breaks his promises to me. And maybe it’s because when God did fulfill his promise, it didn’t happen in exactly the way I wanted it to happen, didn’t happen like the picture I had in my head. But God always came through with his promise, and it was much later in hindsight that I realized his way was the best way for the thing to happen.

Day 20 Bible Reading

Genesis 40, Matthew 14: 1-21, Proverbs 2: 12-22

Matthew 14: 17-21 (ESV)

“They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

I love this story from Matthew 14 where Jesus feeds the crowd with five loaves and two fish. This miracle shows his power, and I think also shows his compassion for the crowd that had gathered to hear and see him. When we think of Christ we remember his miracles, but we should also think about how much he cared for the wellbeing of the people who were so eager to hear his words. Christ will do miraculous things in our lives, but he will also make sure that all our basic needs are met for food and shelter. God is a miracle worker for everything in our lives.

Day 19 Bible Reading

Genesis 38 & 39, Matthew 13: 36-68, Psalm 11

Genesis 39: 20-23 (ESV)

“And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”

Verses 20-23 from Genesis 39 shows that if God favors you, you will succeed no matter where you go. Poor Joseph! It seems as if he had no luck when he got thrown into prison on false charges. But even in prison, Joseph did well. He was put in charge of all the prisoners. And if you know the story of Joseph, this was all part of God’s plan. How many times have I been upset that I had bad luck and thought in that instant, God was not looking out for me. But in hindsight, the bad luck ended up being a good thing. When I moved and changed jobs, I made a financial decision to take my money out of an investment because I wanted to manage the money myself. It was the right thing to do because of the move, but if I hadn’t moved I would have left the money in that investment. A year later that investment fund went belly-up, and if I hadn’t taken my money out because of the move I would have lost a very large amount of money. So what I thought was bad luck turned out to be the best thing in the world for me financially. So the move in many ways turned out to be the best thing for me in more ways than one. God always seems to have a plan for our lives that works out for the best, even when we can see only see in in hindsight.

Day 18 Bible Reading – skipped a day. This was supposed to have been posted on January 20, but I fell asleep.

Genesis 36 & 37, Matthew 13: 18-35, Psalm 10: 12-18

Matthew 13: 31-32 (ESV)

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.””

I love the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13: 31-32. If you’ve ever held a mustard seed in your hand, you know how small it is. It’s so hard to believe that this tiny seed will go into a tree. I discovered on YouTube last year a channel called WorshipMob. I believe they call themselves “Jesu Co”. This group of various worship leaders from different churches in the Colorado Springs Colorado area. All of the singers are amazing worship leaders. The musicians are excellent as well. I love this song they do on the parable of the mustard seed.

Day 17 Bible Reading

Genesis 34 & 35, Matthew 12: 46-50, Matthew 13: 1-17, Psalm 10: 1-11

Matthew 13: 8 (ESV)

“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Verse 8 from Matthew 13 stood out to me today. I feel at times my Christian life is like the seed that fell on good soil, but the yield is often different from year to year. For the last three years, the seed has produced much grain which increases year by year. But the last three years prior to that, the seed produced barely any grain. I was trying to find a church to join, and I wasn’t having much luck. I did find a wonderful church where they had a 5 pm Saturday service that I loved. The pastor preached great sermons and the singing was very good, but that church was so far away from where I lived. Growing up we always walked to church, and I knew that if the church I joined was too far away I would find excuses not to attend. Three years ago I finally found a church I liked that’s a 10 minute drive from where I live, but I waited a year to join because I wanted to be sure it would be a good place for me to deepen my Christian faith. Holy Spirit led me to this church and I’m glad I followed God’s plan, because this church has exceeded my expectations of everything I was looking for in a church community.

Day 16 Bible Reading

Genesis 32 & 33, Matthew 12: 22-45, Proverbs 2: 1-11

Genesis 32: 24 (ESV)

“And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.”

Verse 24 from Genesis 32 struck me today. Jacob wrestled with God, only he didn’t know it was God until the morning. I like to think that I sometimes wrestle with God in my mind at night when I can’t sleep because of an issue I am pondering. This seems to happen when the issue is about something that I want to or need to do, and I don’t know whether doing the thing would be good for my life. I lie in bed, and I pray to God for guidance for the right course of action to take. Sometimes I lie there for hours praying and waiting for Holy Spirit to whisper something in my mind. And when I get an answer that I don’t particularly like, that’s when I feel like I wrestle with God. And yes, God always wins, and I do the thing he wants me to do. And of course, it always works out for the best in the end.

Day 15 Bible Reading

Genesis 31, Matthew 12: 1-21, Psalm 9: 13-20

Matthew 12: 14-16 (ESV)

“But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known.”

Theses verse from Matthew 12 struck me today as I was listening to a Bible commentary, since this is the start of the Pharisees beginning to plot the death of Christ. Jesus knew what was going on, but he had to carry out his mission. He had to fulfill the will of God and keep healing people, and at the same time he had to quiet things down so he could arrive in Jerusalem and be betrayed. Everything had to be done according to his father’s plan, to God’s timing. Everything had to be perfectly timed and done, so it would all fall into place. Jesus had unfailing obedience to God’s plan for his life. I often wonder how many times I have railed against having to follow God’s plan, endlessly complaining how it was taking too long, and why couldn’t things be done in my timing and not God’s timing. But in the end, God’s timing was always perfect, and everything worked out better than I could have ever planned because God is the ultimate project planner. He leaves no stone unturned with every possibility having been analyzed, so only the actions with the best outcomes are part of his plan. I see it happening that way every time and yet time and time again, I often doubt God’s timing because I don’t have enough faith in him and his plan. I pray that God give me more faith to trust in him and his plans that always, always work out for the best.

Day 14 Bible Reading

Genesis 29 & 30, Matthew 11, Psalm 9: 1-12

Matthew 11: 28-30 (ESV)

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I love these verses from Matthew 11. They are probably in my top 10 for favorite Bible verses. Jesus promises to give those of who are weary rest. Christ says he is gentle and lowly n heart, and that following him will be easy and our burden light because he will share it with us And by sharing it, he meant he will take our sins away from us when he goes to die on the cross. There have been so many times when I have been so weary in my heart in the past, and my only comfort was my faith in Christ. When my mother died and I felt so lost, I felt myself being held by Jesus in the palms of his hands because I was so emotionally fragile for a few days. I remember thinking back then, I don’t know how anyone deals with grief on their own without Christ in their life. I felt so luck and grateful to have my strong faith during that season of loss in my life. Jesus gave me rest from weariness, from my sadness, and he gave his protection.

Day 13 Bible Reading

Genesis 27 & 28, Matthew 10: 32-42, Psalm 9: 1-6

I do not have a specific verse for today to reflect upon, but instead I want to reflect on what happened in Genesis 27. God has a plan for each of our lives. He had a plan for Esau and Jacob, where Esau would bow down to Jacob. What happens in Genesis 27 shows us that no matter what we try to do, God’s plan will not be thwarted. He will figure out a way for his plan to be fulfilled. Isaac wanted to bless Esau and instead, ended up blessing Jacob by the deceit of Jacob on instructions from his mother Rebekah. Why Rebekah did this is unclear, but she did it anyway. I know if I look back on my own life there are things that I wanted that I didn’t get, and I was unhappy at the time thinking that God wasn’t granting me my desires. It was only in hindsight where I realized that what happened had put me on the best path towards getting the thing I wanted, but in a roundabout way. And when I explored it further, it turned out that the roundabout way gave me abundance of what I wanted. One good example is when I moved to the state where I live today. I had a five-year plan, and it ended getting delayed by a year. When the delay happened, I was really bummed out. But what ended up happening is in that year delay, my company did really well and I ended up receiving a large financial bonus before my move. I had more than money that I needed to move, and that extra money made my move very comfortable and left me in a great financial situation. So God has his own plan for my move and his way ended up benefitting me greatly, more than my own plan would have done. I wish I had had more faith at the time in God, and not been so unhappy and railing against God for the delay in my plan. But perhaps that was the lesson for me. Don’t look at delays in what I want as an unhappy event. Instead, I need to have more faith in God that there was a very good reason for the delay and that God is always going to give me what I want but only in a way that will benefit me the most.

Day 12 Bible Reading

Genesis 25 & 26, Matthew 10: 1-31 Proverbs 1: 20-33

Genesis 25: 23 (ESV)

“And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you[c] shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.””

I was listening to a Bible commentary on verse 23 of Genesis 25, and I was struck by the fact that even before Esau and Isaac were born God knew about each of them and had a plan for them. It makes me wonder what God planned for my life when I was in my mother’s womb. Did he have my whole life mapped out and planned? Did he know exactly where I would be at any moment from the time I was born until now? My pastor told us today we need to give to God our every worry today to be stress free in life, “to pray about everything.” And on inspiration from the Holy Spirit, I decided to say out loud all my worries to Christ, the good, the bad, the petty, the crazy, the small and the larger worries. I’m not one of those who pray out loud to God. I silently pray and I love to write everything what I’m thinking to God in a journal. The act of speaking was pretty scary to me, to hear in my own voice what I was worried to God and why, and to ask God help for all my worries. I cried the whole time, and at the end I felt like a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Was that in God’s plan while I was in utero? To hear me speak out loud today so he can take my worries from me, and be so happy that I did so? I think so because I felt God smiling down on me for my simple act of trust.

Day 11 Bible Reading

Genesis 23 & 24, Matthew 9, Psalm 8

Matthew 9: 20-22 (ESV)

“And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

I love the faith of the woman who thought if she only touched a piece of Christ’s clothing she would get well. Her faith was so strong for someone who had had an illness for 12 years. Instant healing seems so rare to me. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone who’s had an instant healing that I know. I know many, many people who have healed when they should have died. But their healing wasn’t instant. Still, the faith of this woman is so inspiring to me. I have a health issue that’s not painful, but more annoying than anything else. I pray about it daily and while it doesn’t seem to be getting any worse, it’s also not getting better. When I went to a healer, they told me this health issue would take time to heal. I’ve definitely made progress on it, but I would love an instant healing. I think I would have to ask myself “what would I need to believe to have an instant healing and what is blocking my instant healing?” Holy Spirit has been asking me to write about forgiveness, so I started doing that. People I thought I had forgiven years ago are coming up. I think Holy Spirit is telling me before I can be healed, I need to forgive because God wants me to come to him without the sin of pride and self-righteousness in my heart.

Day 10 Bible Reading

Genesis 21 & 22; Matthew 8: 23-24, Psalm 7: 10-17

Genesis 22: 1-3 (ESV)

“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac.”

I love these verses from Genesis 22. Abraham was so obedient to God. His relationship with God was so clear and there was nothing hidden between them. When God called his name, Abraham did not hide and said “Here I am.” In contrast, I was reminded of Adam who hid from God after he ate the apple because of his shame. When God told Adam he was to sacrifice his only son Isaac, Abraham didn’t hesitate. He was automatic “Yes” and he left early the next to fulfill the task. I want to take inspiration from Abraham’s obedience. I am not an automatic “Yes” to life and certain not to Christ. I have to think, I have to analyze, I have to ponder, and I need to sleep on any decision I make. And sometimes depending on what Christ is asking, I have to ask for signs. The apostle I identify the most with, and have done so since I was a child, was Doubting Thomas. I’m the one who has to have proof to believe. I would like to change that this year. I don’t know what Biblical character I want to identify with, but I’m going to take on Abraham for a bit to see what it would be like to be that obedient to God. I want to say “I am here”, when God calls me name and be an automatic “Yes” to requests. I don’t know what my life will be like, but I’m looking forward to seeing how my life will change.

Day 9 Bible Reading

Genesis 19 & 20, Matthew 7: 24-29, Matthew 8: 1-22, Psalms 7: 1-9

Matthew 7: 24-25 (ESV)

““Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

I love these verses from Matthew 7. When I feel my faith weakening, I think of all that Jesus has done in my life and I feel my strength coming back. Jesus is the bedrock of my faith. Through the love of Jesus, I feel the power of the Holy Spirit who guides me. I think I especially love these verses because they are part of one of my favorite Christian songs – Firm Foundation by Maverick City Music.

For your listening pleasure.

Day 8 Bible Reading

Genesis 16-18, Matthew 16-34, Matthew 7: 1-23, Proverbs 1: 18-19

Matthew 7: 7-11 (ESV)

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

I’ve read these verses from Matthew 7 many times, but today I took a different meaning from them. I used to think you could only ask God once for the things that you want. But my reading from these verses tells me that God wants to us continually ask him for what we want, to continually seek for what we want because like a good father. And furthermore, God is like a good father in that he will never give us bad things but only good things. It’s part of God’s nature as our father to want to give us good things. I’ve been hearing from the Holy Spirit to look at everything that happens to me as a good thing. I hate being sick, but I praise God for this cold because it has shown me that I have a medicine cabinet that is well prepared for a cold, that I have vitamins that will help my body recover from the cold, and that despite the cold God has given me the strength to do my daily bible readings and the 30 minutes I committed daily to spend time with God on gratitude and miracles in my life, and anything else that comes up that day.

Day 7 Bible Reading

Genesis 13-15, Matthew 6: 1-24, Psalm 6

Genesis 13: 3-4 (ESV)

“And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.”

These two verses from Abraham spoke to me today. In Genesis 5, God told Abraham to go the land that “he will show them.” Abraham dutifully followed God’s command, until a famine came along. Then Abraham acted like he forgot everything God had told him, and hent to Egypt and got in trouble. Abraham’s faith in God and his promises slipped for a time in the face of a hardship or adversity. I know for myself that I have often strayed from doing what God wants me to do because of hardship or adversity. When my trust in God’s promises began to waiver because I was having a hard time in life. But I love how Abraham after all that delay, went back to the beginning of where he was to start over and to once again pray to God. I think verse 3 and 4 is a reminder to us when we waiver in our trust in God because of hardship or adversity, that we can always go back to beginning, reset ourselves, get right with God, and start all over again. God’s mercy for our distrustful nature is a daily thing, so each morning we can start over, give ourselves a reset, and pray to God.

Picked up some sort of bug on Saturday. Thought I kicked it and then it came back on Monday and I was feeling too unwell to post. So I took night time cold medicine which knocked me out, and I woke up today feeling much better. 

Day 6 Bible Reading

Genesis 11 & 12, Matthew 5, Psalm 5

Genesis 11: 4 (ESV)

“Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.””

I was struck by verse 4 from Genesis 11. In Genesis 5, God told Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” But Noah’s descendants didn’t want to obey God’s advice, and instead they wanted to stay in one place and not be separated. We read of this continually in the Bible stories. God tells people what to do, some follow and some don’t. Good things comes to those people who follow God’s advice, and not so great things come to those who don’t follow God’s advice. So even after the great reset of the flood that killed everyone except Noah and his descendants our sinful nature remained, and we chose again to disobey God. But in God’s mercy, he didn’t punish his people. Instead, he made his people all spoke different languages and he made sure they moved around to full the earth.

Day 5 Bible Reading

Genesis 9 & 10, Matthew 4:23-25, Psalm 4       

Psalm 4: 8 (ESV)

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety.”

I thought I wanted to right about the God’s rainbow and his promise to us, because I love rainbows and still experience childlike excitement whenever I see a rainbow. I grew up seeing a ton of rainbows so they are very familiar to me, but seeing a rainbow still fills me with such joy. But I was struck by the last verse of Psalm 4. If I have complete trust in God and Christ and I keep that knowledge at the forefront of my mind, I feel safe and in peace. But there were times in these last few years where my anxiety was palpable, and I could not get a good night sleep. I was only ever to calm myself down and finally sleep, when I remembered God’s promises to me and his faithfulness and how he has never let me down. My life has never been perfect, but I can honestly say my life has been what I would call “charmed” since I started believing in Christ. 

Day 4 Bible Reading

Genesis 7 & 8, Matthew 4: 1-22, Proverbs 1: 1-7

Genesis 7: 6 (ESV)

“Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters came up on the earth.”

I’ve read the Noah story many times, but this is the first time I noticed Noah’s age. In Genesis 5, we find out that age 500 he fathered, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. We never find out when God ask Noah to build the ark. All we know is Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters started. It struck me that Noah was building ark for perhaps 80 years or more, if one assumes that his three sons were old enough to help him. That’s a long time to work on the ark project. I’ve been brainwashed by the Hollywood depictions of the Noah story, where we get the impression that Noah built the ark in 10 years, maybe less. Noah is the first example of an obedient follower of God. I have a hard time imagining working on a project for that long. Did Noan not doubt? He had to wait, and let’s be generous, maybe 50 years or more for God’s word to come true. I am shamed by Noah’s patience. I pray for God for things and I expect it to happen fairly quickly. I think I need a sign that says “Remember Noah’s patience. His ark project took over 50 years, And he literally saved the world.” I need to meditate on Noah’s patience and remember his faithfulness and obedience to following God’s mission for him in his life.

Day 3 Bible Reading

Genesis 5 & 6, Matthew 3, Psalm 3

Genesis 5: 28-29 (ESV)

“When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.””

This passage from Genesis 5 stood out to me today because I think it means that God will use ordinary people to do his work. Noah came from cursed ground. He wasn’t great or special in any way. In Genesis 6, all we know of Noah is “was a righteous man, blameless in his generation”. He followed God’s law, but he was a sinner like anyone else. Lamech was also prophesying when he said Noah will bring relief from the painful toil of our hands. The toil of our hands I believe is referring to sin. God chose Noah and he made a covenant with Noah to protect him and his family from the flood waters. The arc that Noah built I think can also be seen as a symbol for the coming of Jesus Christ. Christ will be the one to save us from our sins, protecting us from the flood of the sins that have the ability to destroy not only our world but our life itself.

 Day 2 Bible Reading – Getting Caught Up

Genesis 3 and 4, Matthew 2, Psalm 2

Genesis 3: 1 (ESV)

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

This first line from Genesis 3 struck me. I have read this line many times but after watching a commentary on YouTube on Genesis 3, I now see this line as the beginning of sin. And how does sin begin? Sin begins with doubt. Doubt that what God has told is true. I reflected back on my life when I started down a dark path, and I believe it did start with doubt. I doubted whether my life was on track, whether I was doing the right thing in my life, doubt about everything and anything in my life. And when the seed of doubt is planted in your mind and you don’t put a stop to it, it grows. Doubt becomes like a rabbit hole that you fall down into, and it’s dark and disorienting. You become like Alice falling into Wonderland. You start to question everything and if you go too far, you must fight your way back to the light. I really need to read Alice in Wonderland and compare it to Genesis 3. I bet I’ll be able to find many similarities between how the Serpent framed his argument to Eve to eat the apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good an Evil. And yes it was Eve’s fault that she at the apple, but then Adam knew the rule and could have said something but he didn’t. And when God asked them what happened, Adam and Eve took no responsibility for their actions. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the Serpent. So in Genesis 3, sin is born.

Day 1 Bible Study

I messed up. I thought my new 2024 Bible Study was starting on January 4, but it started on January 3. The plan I am following is not a chronological reading of the Bible but consists of daily readings from the Old and New Testament and then switches back between Proverbs and Psalms. I like this way of reading the Bible because you start to see the prophecy of Christ in the Old Testament.

The Day 1 Bible Reading consists for Genesis 1-2, Mathew 1, and Psalms 1.  

Genesis 1: 3-5 (ESV)

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

This passage from Genesis 1 stood out for me because God in the Old Testament created the world in terms of duality. For example, light versus darkness, night versus day, and morning and evening. The newly created world is a world of opposites or good versus bad. It isn’t until the birth of Jesus in Mathew 1 that God adds a third part to his created world. With the birth of Christ, God newly recreates the world changing it from a duality to a trinity with the birth of Jesus. Jesus is balance point between the two opposites in the world, or the person that stops us from going into the darkness since he is in the middle. No longer is there this duality of life and then death. With Christ, we have the world as a trinity. You are born, you die, but with Christ you are born again and will live with him in heaven after you die. This idea of the Trinity strikes me as revolutionary and evolutionary. Instead of us living in a dualistic world of opposites with no chance of escaping the darkness, with Christ we now have the neutral point between the two opposites. We have the point of neutrality where we are allowed to choose which side to follow. We have Christ standing in the way so we don’t go into the darkness of death.

No Bible Reading for today. My third year of reading the Bible in a year starts tomorrow. This year I bought the ESV Study Bible to supplement my daily Bible readings. It will be interesting to hear what the “experts” have to say compared to my own interpretation. I’m also thinking about getting a Bible atlas, although with internet search I think may be able to just do a search on a region to learn about it. I was watching a documentary called Aerial Britian and I had no idea that the King Arthur stories took place in Wales. They even showed the lake where the sword was thrown into. I think I may have to plan a trip to Wales to check that lake out. I loved the King Arthur stories when I discovered them in high school. I even have a hankering to read the Canterbury Tales, which I think we read in freshman or sophomore year of high school. I remember liking them back then, which makes me wonder if I would like them now as an adult.

Maybe a fun project for me in 2024 will be read books I still remember from junior high / high school that I loved. I loved Eugene O’Neil’s Long Days Journey into Night, Flowers for Algernon, Greek and Roman mythology, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Those are the books off the top of my head. Then there’s Catch-22, Homer’s Odyssey, The Scarlett Letter, Mourning Becomes Electra, and Animal Farm.

Other new things I want to try doing for Bible reading in 2024 is highlighting. m going to highlight the passages I like in my Bible. I don’t like marking up my books, but I’m going to try it with my new Study Bible. I think it will be fun to look back a few years later to see if the Bible passage I highlighted still has meaning for me.

Another fun project would be to read a Samuel Beckett play and find the Bible refences. I really don’t remember the play we were studying when my college theatre arts professor went on that rant about how no one in the class could figure out the Biblical references or allusions. I love Waiting for Godot so it will probably be that play. 

Day 365 Bible Reading

Revelation 22: 13 (ESV)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Today is the last day of my 2022 Bible in a year reading plan. When I read this line from Revelation 22, I found it a fitting way to bring this year of Bible Reading to a close. When I started my journey to deepen my relationship with Christ in 2021, I received a message that I needed to read the Bible daily so I could reflect on the word of God. My first thought was cool. It has been a goal of mine since college to know the Bible inside out and out, when my Theatre Arts professor screamed in my Becket class that most of great Western Literature references the Bible in some way, and we were missing out on the references if we didn’t know the Bible. In today’s world, this would the equivalent of watching Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies and not getting all the Kung Fu movie homages. In my senior level class of 12 students who were studying the great playwright Samuel Becket that semester, none of us had much knowledge of the Bible.

So after two years of reading the Bible in a Year, I can honestly say I still don’t know if I’ll ever get all the Bible references in a Samuel Becket play. But I’m going to keep trying to read the Bible every year in a year, because if the great writers of Western Literature loved the Bible enough to put Biblical references in their works of art then it’s worth it to me so I can deepen my understanding of my favorite Western Literature writers.

And I love that I start my day and end my day immersed in activities that deepen my faith in God. God is my Alpha and Omega, my first and last, and my beginning and my end.  

 Day 364 Bible Reading

Proverbs 31: 30 (ESV)

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

I love this line from Proverbs 31. I’ve met the most charming people who turned out to be total snakes and liars. These folks have so much charisma, and they hide their deceitfulness with their charm. Beauty is a complicated subject. True beauty is so fleeting and is in the eye of the beholder. It is rare for a woman not to be vain about her looks, but that beauty can be a trap. The women I know who are obsessed with their beauty pursue it more than they do their relationship with God. Most of these women are so insecure about their looks, even though they’ve been called beautiful their whole life. As a woman, I do want to be thought of as charming and of course beautiful. Who doesn’t? But for me the most important thing at this point in my life is that I want to be thought of as a devout Christian woman, who loves and obeys God.