Day 58 Bible Reading - Mark 9: 49-50 (ESV)

Leviticus 1 & 2, Mark 9: 33-50, Psalm 31: 9-18

Mark 9: 49-50 (ESV)

“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.””

Some theologians have speculated that fire in verses 49 and 50 from Mark 9 refers to troubles and suffering. But others have said that the fire refers to the Holy Spirit. I like the interpretation of fire being the Holy Spirit. As followers of Christ, we will be salted with the Holy Spirit. But to keep our faith constant and unwavering, we will have to keep the Holy Spirit in ourselves at all times. If we keep the Holy Spirit within us, then we will have always have peace. But I can see why the fire could be interpreted as troubles and suffering. When our faith is tested by troubles and suffering, our faith becomes stronger and we grow closer to God.

Day 57 Bible Reading - Mark 9: 23-24 (ESV)

Exodus 39-40, Mark 9: 1-32, Psalm 31: 1-8

Mark 9: 23-24 (ESV)

“And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!””

When I read verses 23 and 24 from Mark 9, I tried to imagine myself as the father of this child who needed healing. This man had so much belief in Jesus. I don’t know for myself if I would have that kind of belief in someone to heal my child. But the father does say to Jesus, “help my unbelief”, so he did have doubts but he asked Christ to help with his doubts. Christ healed the father’s son, even when it looked like the child had died. I’m trying to imagine what the father thought because the spirit did come out of the child, but then the child was lifeless. The father’s faith was tested again, until Jesus brought him to life. Asking for God to help us with our doubts even if we believe, is probably the wisest thing to do because there are times in our life when our faith will be tested like this father.

Day 56 Bible Readings - Mark 8: 33 (ESV)

Exodus 37 & 38, Mark 8: 1-38, Psalm 30: 8-12

Mark 8: 33 (ESV)

“But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””

I’ve always found verse 33 from Mark 8 very interesting. When I read his passage, I always think of Peter as just being mindful of any harm coming to Jesus and warning him. When Christ scolds him, it makes me realize that a person can so easily and unwittingly be used by Satan. God can do all things, but Satan whispers doubts in our ears and make us wonder if God is really that powerful even though we have evidence as did Peter to the contrary. We have always remind ourselves if our thoughts and words are contrary to the truth we know about God and the Christ.

Day 55 Bible Readings - Exodus 36: 1 (ESV)

Exodus 35 & 36, Mark 7: 31-37, Psalm 30: 1-7

Exodus 36: 1 (ESV)

“Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”

I find verse 1 from Exodus 36 very intriguing. God filled the people who would be building the ark of the covenant with the necessary skills to build and decorate it. Does this mean if God tasks us with doing something, he will fill us with the “skill and intelligence” to complete the task? I think the answer is yes. I think of all the times God has asked me to do something, and I had doubts about doing the task. But if I just allowed myself to follow God’s wishes, I found myself able to complete the task even though I wasn’t sure at the start that I knew what I was doing. Did God fill me with “skill and intelligence” but I didn’t know it? I don’t know. I would like to think God did, because I know without God’s help I wouldn’t have been able to complete the task. So the next time God asks me to do something, I’m not going so much of doubter. I’m going to just do it, and trust that God will provide me with the skills I need to get the job done.

Day 54 Bible Reading

Exodus 33 & 34, Mark 7: 1-30, Psalm 29

Mark 7: 18-23 (ESV)

“And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean. And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.””

In these verses from Mark 7, we read of Jesus redefining the strict laws for eating laid down by the Pharisees. But I think Jesus in some way also expanded the kosher laws to include all things that enter our heart. If we hear things and let it enter our heart that are not in keeping with God’s laws in the both the Old an New testament, then slowly but surely it can start to poison us so when it does come out it will defile us. These last few weeks, Holy Spirit has been convicting me of listening to people who are all doom and gloom. I told myself I listen to these people because I am an open-minded person and I like to hear different points of view on a topic. But Holy Spirit has been warning me that listening to people with negative points of view is not a good thing for me because I feel depressed afterwards. If I look back on the track record of these people in predicting world events and trends, I have to say that 80% of the time their predictions have not come true. Some people even refer listening to doom and gloom as “fear porn”. So I stopped listening to them and my mood has improved because I think I am by nature a very optimistic person. And of course, Holy Spirit was right. I was letting myself take in something that started to defile me inside.

Day 53 Bible Reading

Exodus 31 & 32, Mark 6: 30-56, Psalm 28

Mark 6: 48-50 (ESV)

“And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.””

Something about these verses from Mark 6 struck me today. It must have been so terrifying for the disciples to see Christ walking on the water. But then Jesus says to his disciples, “Take heart, it’s me. Do not be afraid.” Wouldn’t it be so amazing to hear the voice of Christ crying out to us when we are in scary situation? I was trying to remember if I was ever in a scary situation and praying to hear God’s voice, but getting to scary situations isn’t a normal event for me. The last situation I was in where I think I had some fear was the first time I drove cross country, which was six years ago. I had mapped out my route so I knew where I was going and the route, but I had never driven over two days by myself to another state. I have friends who do it all the time over the holidays, when they drive cross country to visit parents. My cousin drove from California to New Jersey by herself to visit her parents, and she was under 21 years old. I was so proud of her. I’m not sure I could make that same trip, because I have fears of travelling alone in my car for that many days. But if I did make a similar trip like my cousin, it would be so cool to hear the voice of Christ telling me not be afraid because he is with me and guiding me the whole way.

Day 52 Bible Reading

Exodus 29-30, Mark 6: 1-29, Psalm 27: 7-14 

Mark 6: 11 (ESV)

“And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.””

I like Verse 6 from Mark 6 because it reminds me that I may not be liked wherever I go. We’ve been taught that everyone is supposed to like us and if they don’t, then there is something wrong with us. Here Jesus is saying to his disciples if people do not receive or like you, move on and don’t worry about it. Remember the parable of the sower. Not everything you say will take root. But you must keep sowing. But be kind and treat them well. This is a good reminder when telling someone you are a Christian. You many not be received with kindness, but that is okay. Shake off the dust and move on.

Day 51 Bible Reading

Exodus 27 & 28, Mark 5: 21-43, Psalm 27: 1-6

Psalm 27: 1 (ESV)

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

I love verse 1 from Psalm 27. I remember reading this psalm, but this verse never stood out until today. I am developing a love for any bible verse that refers to Jesus as a light in the darkness, and this verse is perfect. I’m not a tattoo-type person, but “Psalm 27: 1” might be a good candidate for a tattoo if I were to ever get one. I also like the use of the word “stronghold” because this word is often used to talk about addictions. But instead of an addiction, my strong “stronghold” is God. Does that mean I’m addicted to God? I kind of like that thought.

Day 50 Bible Reading

Exodus 25 & 26, Mark 4: 30-41, Mark 5: 1-20, Psalm 26

Mark 4: 30-32 (ESV)

“And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.””

I love the mustard seed parable, which I posted earlier when we were going through the Gospel of Matthew. After reading a few bible commentaries, I didn’t know that some theologians consider these birds as “emissaries of Satan” because of what Jesus said earlier in Mark 4 in the parable of the soils. The birds devoured some of the seed and Jesus tells his disciples that “Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.”  Some theologians say that the size and status of God’s work are not necessarily a benefit because of our sinful nature.  Was Christ referring to the corruption in the temples in his time? There have been many large Christian churches that end up in the headlines because of their corrupt practices. One thing I do believe is that our sinful nature will come out eventually, no matter how hard we try to push it down, and we have to pray to God to help us detect those “birds” early and keep them out of every growing faith tree.

Day 49 Bible Reading

Exodus 23 & 24, Mark 3: 31-35, Mark 4: 1-29, Psalm 25: 16-22

Mark 4: 9 (ESV)

“And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.””

Verse 9 from Mark 4 is one of my favorite sayings of Christ. God is all around us, in everything we do, in what we say and sometimes in what other people say, but only if we have the “right” ears to hear will we hear it as God. I think of all the times I have prayed for answer from from God, and the answer has come from a random thing I’ve seen on TV, from a random passage from a book, from a conversation with a friend even. But only if I was open to hearing it. If wasn’t open to hearing it, then I think God could have sat down next to me on my bed and shouted it in ear my ear and I wouldn’t have heard it, because I was too wrapped up in wanting to get the answer in the way that I wanted to receive the answer and I already knew what the answer should be. I didn’t want God’s way and his answer. I wanted my way and my answer. I had an issue that I was praying about and I wasn’t getting an answer. A friend suggested that I do a certain thing to solve it, and I dismissed it because it wasn’t the answer that I wanted. But after a few months, God did start to give me clues as to what his answer would be and, and in the end his answer was exactly what my friend had recommended months earlier. God was speaking through her to me, but I didn’t have the ears to hear it because I was too caught up in wanting my way and my answer, and not God’s way and answer. I could have saved months of anguish and doubt, if only I had ears to hear.

Day 48 Bible Reading

Exodus 21-22, Mark 2: 18-28, Mark 3: 1-30, Psalm 25: 8-15

Mark 2: 21-22 (ESV)

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.””

Verses 21-22 from Mark 2 has always been confusing to me. I’m not sure I quite get it, but from reading various commentaries I have come to understand that Jesus was talking about himself and his mission in these statements. His teachings were so different than what was being traditionally taught in the temples. Even though the coming of Jesus was foretold in the Old Testament, what we he was teaching was so radically different that everyone would have to have a new way of looking at things. Did Christ know he was creating a new religion with his teachings? Or did he want Judaism to expand, to change to encompass his teachings? I don’t even know the answer to this question, but history tells us the people in Jesus’ time did not want to change and expand their beliefs to embrace Jesus’ teachings. So a new religion was formed, and one that would overtake and shape all of the Western world. I often wonder what our world would have been like if Jesus’ teachings would have been embraced by the majority of his people after the resurrection. Would our history still have been as violent? Would we have found other people to persecute? I don’t know. But I would have liked to experienced that world.

Day 47 Bible Reading

Exodus 19-20, Mark 1: 29-45, Mark 2: 1-17, Psalm 25: 1-7

Psalm 25: 4-5 (ESV)

“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”

Verses 4-5 from Psalm 25 reminded me that we need pray to Christ these verses every day or our own version of it. If we pray a prayer like this every day, it will help in those times when something happens in our life and we don’t understand God’s purpose for it. I like the series The Chosen, and to support them finishing the series, I decided to watch Season 4 in the theaters. I don’t want to have spoilers, but I think it will come as no surprise if you read the Bible, that there are things that happen in the series so far that have to do with miracles and death. Why do miracles happen for some and not for others? Why do some people die young and others live to a long age? These are issues I know as Christians we will wrestle with at some time or another in our life. My friend Amy died many years ago from a brain tumor, that she discovered when her migraines got worse. I remember the last afternoon I spent with her. It was horrible. She didn’t even know who I was, and I was her best friend. She felt so far way from me, and it was the most painful thing in the world to experience. She was so young and bright. She was my role model in many ways. I delivered her rent check once when she wasn’t feeling well from the brain tumor and realized her monthly rent was equal to my monthly paycheck. That floored me! I remember desperately praying to God to understand why my friend had to die so young and feeling so angry at God as well. I look back on that experience now, and I know if I had been praying to God more frequently to understand his ways, I would not have been so distraught and angry at God.

Day 46 Bible Readings

Exodus 17-18, Mark 1:1-28, Psalm 24

Exodus 17: 3 (ESV)

“But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?””.

Verse 3 from Exodus 17 made me ponder how often I have asked God for a miracle thinking it would solve my problems, only to find out that I was saddled with new problems that again needed prayers. I know it comes off as ingratitude by people of Jacob but isn’t that the way of being human. We want our freedom, but when we get the freedom we realize there is a whole new set of problems. I admire people who start their own businesses because I know I couldn’t do it. I liked the comfort of having a regular paycheck, not having to worry about health insurance, getting paid for sick time, and all the other perks of working for someone. When you work for yourself, you become responsible for everything including the work that brings in the revenue. I think my mistake in the past is I didn’t have a Moses in my life to talk to God about my new set of problems after my miracle. I figured that well, I asked God for that one miracle and he came through and I can’t turn around and ask him for another one. Now it was my turn to solve it on my own. But I see now that my attitude was wrong. I should have kept relying on God for guidance in my life and not feel embarrassed to ask for another miracle. Not that my own decision making was that bad, but I’m sure with God’s guidance my life would brought me closer to him and may not have taken so many years for me to want to be closer to him.

Apologies for the delay in Bible Reading posts. I picked up a cold somehow last week, and by Saturday the symptoms kicked me big time. First with extreme tiredness on Saturday afternoon, then I was feverish on Saturday night. Finally went to sleep, but I woke up on Sunday still not feeling all that great. About mid-morning I vomited and the mucous started. I spent most of Sunday day and night trying to sleep. I woke up Monday still not right, but I managed to finally get a meal down so I could take some night-time cold capsules. I woke up this morning feeling better, and I took some cold medicine to clear up the lingering cold symptoms. I did listen to my Bible Readings, but when I’m not feeling well the urge to think and write is just not there.

But I’m feeling better tonight, so I will try to get caught up as I’ve missed four days of Bible Readings.

Day 45 Bible Reading

Exodus 15 & 16, Matthew 28: 1-20, Psalm 23: 1-6

Psalm 23: 1-4 (ESV)

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalm 23 verses 1-4, some would say, are the most recited lines from the Old Testament. I love the imagery of God’s people being sheep, and God as the good shepherd. This is a God that give us a good place to sleep and takes us to water to drink. But this is also a God who restores our soul and makes us feel less fearful as we face death, and protected as well. I have recited Psalm 23 many times when I’ve needed comfort from the Bible. Someone should do a survey of how many times Psalm 23 is recited in a movie or tv show, because I bet that number will be high.

Day 44 Bible Reading

Exodus 13-14, Matthew 27: 45-66, Psalm 22: 22-31

Exodus 14: 22-23 (ESV)

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.”

I was listening to a bible commentary by Davidd Guzik on Exodus 14 verses 22-23, and he talked about every Christian having their “Exodus” moment. The “Exodus moment” is the moment in a Christian’s life when they felt that God had freed them, from whatever was enslaving them. For some that could have been a sin, for others it was an addiction like alcoholism or drugs, and for some that moment could have been when you realized Christ was your savior and had taken on your sin. Do you have an “Exodus moment”? My “Exodus moment” happened to me at a very young age, when I felt very unloved by the people who were raising me. It happened so long ago that I don’t even remember the exact moment, and I was so young as well. But what I do remember is hearing a voice inside my head telling me that I was loved, and that voice telling me he was Christ from the church. That’s all I remember, and it’s probably a fragment of a memory, but I remember the feeling I had afterwards that everything was going to be okay. I don’t remember much of church as a child except that we went every Sunday. And that experience of Christ speaking inside of my head would occur now and again when things weren’t going very well in my life. It wasn’t until these last few years that I felt like God was asking me to develop a deeper and more mature relationship with him, by reading the Bible every day, by getting into a good church, and by writing down daily what I’m grateful for and the miracles that I saw happen that day. It’s been an interesting journey and I cannot wait to see where it leads me.

Day 43 Bible Reading

Exodus 11-12, Matthew 27: 1-44, Psalm 22: 12-21

Exodus 12: 36 (ESV)

“And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.”

I like verse 36 from Exodus 12. God told Moses that when his people left Egypt in Exodus 4 that “you shall plunder the Egyptians, and this verse is the fulfillment of what God said. But I am very sure that when Moses first heard God say this, he didn’t expect it to happen in the way that it did happen. I have prayed to God to grant me things and situations for years, and never once did they ever come about exactly the way I had pictured them in my head. But when your prayers are answered, you experience first-hand the fulfillment of God’s plan but never it seems in the way you thought it was going to happen.

Day 42 Bible Reading

Exodus 9 & 10, Matthew 69-75, Matthew 27: 1-10, Psalm 22: 1-11

Psalm 22: 1-2 (ESV)

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”

Verses 1 to 2 from Psalm 22 has probably been uttered by every Christian at some point in their life. Christ himself quoted verse 1 from Psalm 22 from the cross. Thoughts like these come up when we are going through a dark season in our life, and we don’t hear an answer from God. Our patience is stretched thin and we come to this dark place where we have the greatest doubt in God. Our faith is being tested as we wait to hear from God. I know I have had these thoughts many times. The only thing that saves me is when I remember how many times God has been faithful to me and answered my prayers. I think it’s the waiting that gets us. I was listening to a commentary on Exodus about the plagues and scholars have said the plagues took place over a year. Moses had to wait a long time to accomplish this first part of his mission. The silence also gets us as well, at least it does me. If I don’t get a hint of an answer from God, I feel abandoned. The patience and the silence engender feelings of extreme abandonment in me. In these times, I have to cling to faith as hard as I can, like a drowning person trying to keep above the water. But God always comes through, even though it seems to take a long time.

Day 41 Bible Reading

Exodus 6: 12-30, Exodus 7-8, Matthew 26: 47-68, Psalm 21: 8-13

Matthew 26: 53-54 (ESV)

“Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?””

Verses 53 to 54 from Matthew 26 remind that Jesus is the model by which we must surrender to God’s will for our lives. Jesus knew he was going to his death when he was arrested, but he submitted it to his fate so what was prophesized in the Old Testament would come true. It struck me one day when I remembered that Jesus was called the “lamb of God” and in Jewish culture lambs have been used a sacrifice, that Jesus was always going to be sacrificed to take away our sins. We had a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, but he did not. God was going to sacrifice his only son to free us from sin. Was Jesus always so sure of his submission? No, because he asked on that same night that the burden be taken away from him. The human part of him asked, but the divine in him surrendered to his father’s will. I have never been in the position of having to sacrifice my life for God, but I have had to sacrifice things that sometimes felt just as horrific such as my ego. The death of your ego is like a physical death in so many ways, but it’s not. And when I do manage to give something precious up to me, God always rewarded me in one way or another. And if felt like one door closed and another chapter in my life was closed, so a new chapter and a new door could be opened. And it always worked out if I reminded myself to surrender like Jesus to the plan for my life.

Day 40 Bible Reading

Exodus 4-5, 6: 1-12, Matthew 26: 31-46, Psalm 21: 1-7

Exodus 4: 10-12 (ESV)

“But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.””

Verses 10 through 12 from Exodus 4 makes me think of all the excuses I have given God as to why I’m not capable of some of the tasks he’s give me. I’m not this or that or whatever. But these verses remind us that God created everything and if he is with us, then he can help us figure out how to get the task done if we rely on him for help. It is amusing to think of God doing some earthly mundane task like “asking a boss for a raise”, but if that is the task God wants me to do then he must know the best way to get it done and have the best outcome. And if God helped Moses deliver his people out of slavery in Egypt, then God is surely capable of helping us with our tasks which probably aren’t as nearly impossible as what Moses had before him.

Day 39 Bible Reading

Exodus 1-3, Matthew 26: 1-30, Psalm 20

Exodus 3: 11-12 (ESV)

“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”  He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.””

I like verses 11-12 from Exodus 3 where Moses asks God a “why me?” question along the lines of ‘I’m a nobody with no power and you’re asking to me to this impossible task.” God tells Moses that he will be with him. I think of the many times I feel that God has asked me to do something that was not impossible, but was definitely not something I would normally do. I would pray and say to God that maybe I wasn’t the right person for the task, and that he picked the wrong person. But in my head God would always laugh and say “I will be with you, don’t worry.” And as always, God was right. I was able to do the task. It wasn’t pretty or perfect, but I tried my best and I completed the task. For myself I have to remember that whenever I am fearful of doing something, I need to pray to God for his advice and encouragement. To always ask if I’m doing the right thing, if I’m doing something that is part of God’s plan, and to ask for God’s help and his presence with me during the task. If I feel that God is with me, I know I can do anything.

Day 38 Bible Reading

Job 40-42, Matthew 25, Psalm 19: 7-14

Psalm 19: 14 (ESV)

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Verse 14 from Psalm 19 seems like such a good prayer to say to God whenever a person needs to say something important, before doing a teaching, or even before speaking to a loved one about a contentious item. By repeating verse 14, we are praying to God that whatever we are about to say to another person meets with God’s approval. And perhaps if it is not, then we are asking God to speak through us. I like the idea of thinking of each person we are speaking to as God, so whatever we say to them is kind and thoughtful and not mean or thoughtless. It would be great if we could have this thought every time we speak, but that would be hard. Not impossible but hard and would take a certain amount of discipline. But I feel we need to repeat this verse for the times we when speak to someone that are important and/or stressful.

Day 37 Bible Reading

Job 37-39, Matthew 24: 32-51. Psalm 19: 1-6

Matthew 24: 42 (ESV)

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Verse 42 from Matthew 24 I believe is a message for all Christians that can apply not only to when Christ returns but to our death. We do not know when our time will come to depart from the earth and we will meet Jesus in heaven, so we must prepare daily that our hearts are clean. We must ask nightly for forgiveness, tell God all that we have done good and bad, and be strong in our faith. I don’t want my last thought to be “am I right with God?” as I lay there dying. I want to wake up every morning knowing I am right with God. Every year I also think about everyone I know and ponder that if today was my last day, if there is anything I need to any of my friends that I would regret I didn’t say. I’m pretty much a straight shooter so I believe I’ve very honest with people, probably much more than they would like. But there are always a few things I know I hold back just because it’s not the right thing to say. I always ask myself if these things I’m holding back from a friend or relative, something I would regret not saying to them if I had the chance. Then if the Lord comes or my time comes, I know I will face either even with a clear mind and heart.

Day 36 Bible Reading

Job 34-36, Matthew 24: 1-31, Psalm 18: 43-50

Matthew 24: 4-7 (ESV)

“And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

Verses 4-7 from Matthew 24 made me think about whether we are now living in this time described by Christ. Because of social media we live in a time when people can become famous very quickly. Something they’ve said or done goes “viral” and they get millions of views. I don’t believe anyone has said that they are “the Christ”, but they come very close in terms of their influence and fame. People follow them until something happens and their new “idol” becomes tarnished. We hear rumors of wars, and sometimes it feels like nations are ready to go to war with each other. There are famines but they are not widespread yet, but there does seem to be a rise in earthquakes around the world. Are we in the end times? I don’t know. All I know is our world is shifting quickly and because of social media, we know about it in “real time”. I think what we need to hold onto in our seemingly “chaotic” world is The Bible and the teachings of Christ. They have survived for over 2,000 years in a world that is always changing and in times of world wars has been even more chaotic than they are now.

Day 35 Bible Reading

Job 31-33, Matthew 23, Psalm 18: 27-42

Matthew 23: 8-10 (ESV)

“But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.”

Verses 8-10 from Matthew 23 reminded me today I shouldn’t hold anyone up as greater than Christ. I can read commentary about the Bible from others, but my true authority is how I understand the text for myself according to my relationship with Christ. I felt convicted when I read these verses because there are so many people I admire and read their words and listen to them speak. I read everything they put out, buy all their books, listen to their podcasts if they have them, and ponder their words. These verses are reminding me that no one should stand above Christ for my authority. That when push comes to shove, the words of Christ and in the Bible are my true authority. Sadly some of the people I admire and listen to don’t have a relationship with Christ, but they are true giants in their areas of study. I know I have to be careful because their words and their theories do not have Christ at the center. And I think Jesus is reminding me as well with these verses that my true authority should only come Christ. He is my one teacher, my one father, and my one instructor. I need no other but Christ.

Day 34 Bible Reading

Job 28-30, Matthew 22, Psalm 18: 25-36

Psalm 18: 28 (ESV)

“For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.”

I love Bible verses such Verse 28 from Psalm 18 that talk about God being a light in the darkness. When I am in a dark space of fear, hopelessness, abandonment, or even confusion, I look to God to help me find my way out of the darkness. And even when I am feeling so lost that I forget sometimes that I have a relationship with Christ, it is he who reaches out to me to let me know that I need to call out to him, to reach for the light, and that light will help me find a way out of the darkness. I had a bad dream a few months ago where I was in a dark hall, and I kept calling out for someone to turn on the light so I could see and not feel afraid. In the dream. Eventually someone turned on the light and I felt the fear leave me immediately, and I woke up. In the dream I didn’t see who was it that turned on the light, but as I was thinking about what happened in the dream I realized that it was Christ who did it. Christ will always be the one to turn on the light in the darkness, and no one else, but Christ.

Day 33 Bible Reading

Job 25-27, Matthew 21: 33-46, Psalm 16-24

Matthew 21: 45-46 (ESV)

“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.”

Verses 45-46 from Matthew 21 made me reflect how these verses from the Bible are reflecting what we sometimes go through in life today. There seems to be a parallel between “chief priests and Pharisees” and mainstream media. Do we rely on mainstream media to tell us who to believe and who to not believe? Or do we as Christians rely on The Bible and our relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit to guide us? If Christ were to show up today, would he be ridiculed and persecuted in the news because he did not follow their narrative? Who would we believe if we had personally experienced the teachings of Christ or had seen a YouTube video of him of one of his parables? Is our relationship with Christ strong enough to ignore what the mainstream media or the so-called “experts” are telling us? In my case, I try to first rely on my own discernment and then I pray to Christ and the Holy Spirit to guide me for more guidance. Christ has guided me my whole life and I have years of seeing and knowing that his plan for my life has always been correct. Christ is the only standard that I know I can trust because I know he has never failed me. And yes, sometimes it does feel like that I have been swimming upstream these last few years as I have relied on Christ to make decisions for my life. But I can only do that because I have many years of experience of relying on God’s guidance and seeing how better my life has been because of it.

Day 32 Bible Reading

Job 22-24, Matthew 21: 18-32, Psalm 18: 7-15

Job 23: 8-9 (ESV)

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.”

Verses 8 and 9 from Job 23 made me feel for Job. I understand his suffering because I have gone through it myself. When I was in a dark season and going through the things and events that life sometimes brings you and the world seemed dark, I wondered where was God in all of my suffering? In the dark hole I was in, I felt like I couldn’t feel God nor hear him, even though I was crying out for him. And I felt the kind of pain that made me double over and sob. The kind of pain that made me rock back and forth like a baby trying to somehow comfort myself. And I remember hearing ever so faintly a voice in my head that I associate with the Holy Spirit saying “Everything will be okay. Everything will be all right.” So even when I felt like I was in the darkest of dark holes, Christ reached out to me and sent me a lifeline of hope. I was comforted as only someone with faith in Christ can be comforted, and I was grateful that God had heard me and responded.

Day 31 Bible Reading

Job 18-21, Matthew 21: 1-17, Psalm 18: 1-6

Matthew 21: 12-13 (ESV)

“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.””

I am pretty sure Verses 12-13 from Matthew 21 are lines that are the subject of many pastor sermons. I had always thought this was Jesus’ way of letting everyone know that a church shouldn’t be a place of business. But over the years, I found out I was wrong. Only people of Jewish descent could go into the Temple in Jerusalem at the time. Non-Jews including the blind, handicapped, and others could only worship outside of the temple. Having the money-changers outside of the temple disrupted the prayer place for non-Jews. I always think of this verse when I am in a church service and people start talking during the sermon. I know these folks think they are whispering, but for me their voices are loud because everyone else is listening or taking notes. And it angers me so much when people talk during the sermon. The sermon is the best part of a church service, and why I go to church and how I choose a church. If the pastor cannot deliver good sermons, I will not stay in that church. I grew up Catholic, but childhood priests gave amazing sermons. I know from listening to other folks that great sermons is not normal in a Catholic church, but it was in my childhood experience. Sometimes I wish Christ would appear and shush the people who want talk during the sermons and tell them “my house is a  house of prayer, and you are an attention-robber!”

Day 30 Bible Reading

Job 15-18, Matthew 20: 20-34, Psalm 17: 13-15

Matthew 20: 26-28 (ESV)

“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

These verses from Matthew 20 stood out for me today. Jesus gave us by his life the true example of what it means to serve. He healed so many people, ministering to their needs, and doing whatever he could to bring comfort to their life. Christ gave us the model for what it means to serve in God’s name. I think sometimes when we have service opportunities in Ministry, it can sometimes inflate our ego and make us feel like we’re special and chosen by God. But we have to remember that through God’s grace we the opportunity to bring comfort to people, to ease their burdens and pains, and to follow in Christ’s footsteps as he served the people in Galilee.