Day 102 Bible Reading - Psalm 57: 1 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 16: 21-22, Deuteronomy 17 & 18, Luke 14: 15-35, Psalm 57: 1-6

Psalm 57: 1 (ESV)

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.”

I love verse 1 from Psalm 57 and the imagery of God as a bird where one can find refuge during storms. I’ve been watching live cams on YouTube of bald eagles laying eggs and then both the mom and day eagle taking turns sitting on the eggs to incubate them. There was one video where the mama eagle spread her wings over her baby eaglets to shield them from the rain. 

Here's the video - Mombrella Popcorn:

We are like the baby eaglets taking refuge under God’s wings from the storms. Whenever I’ve felt a major loss in my life, I always felt like God was holding me in the palm of his hand and taking care of me and shielding me from the depression that was threatening to overwhelm my life. I don’t know how I would have gotten through those intense periods of loss without Christ in my life. I used to wonder how anyone gets through an intense loss without God in their life. How frightening it must be to think you’re all alone in the world with nothing outside of yourself to help you get through your life. I began to understand that without a strong faith in God, how easy it would be to turn to drugs and alcohol to help cope with feelings of pain and loss. Drugs and alcohol provide an escape from your feelings, if only just for a little while. I was lucky. My faith in Christ helped me to deal with the feelings of pain and loss, and I didn’t need to escape these feelings. With God’s help, I was able to move through the grieving process quicker and come out of it much stronger.

Day 101 Bible Reading - Luke 14: 11 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 15, Deuteronomy 16: 1-20, Luke 13: 31-35, Luke 14: 1-14, Psalm 56

Luke 14: 11 (ESV)

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Verse 11 from Luke 14 reminds us of life of Christ, and how he is a model for how we need to lead our lives. He humbled himself when he came to earth to be with us, and when he gave up his life for us he was exalted. If we can embrace being humble with joy, we will not be filled with a high opinion of ourselves and can enjoy life fully. We will be content in whatever places God gives to us. When we our full of ourselves and haughty, inevitably there will always be someone who comes along who will greater than us. At the same time, we cannot act humble so that other notice our behavior and we enjoy a very subtle form of spiritual pride. But in modern life, it is hard to be humble because we live in a society that praises achievement. I know for myself that when I try to be humble, I wonder if I’m being too meek or just lacking in self-confidence. I always pray to God that I’m doing the right thing because half the time I don’t know how I’m supposed to behave. But I think that’s a good thing for me, to always ask God what I need to do. It strengthens my faith and my relationship with him. And that’s the important thing to me right now.

Day 100 Bible Reading - Deuteronomy 13: 3-4 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 13-14, Luke 13: 1-30, Psalm 55: 12-23

Deuteronomy 13: 3-4 (ESV)

“..For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.”

These two verses from Deuteronomy 13 are Moses’ response to false prophets and others who say they can see the future and tempt us to worship other “gods”. When we come across these people, we must ask God for discernment. God allows such people to exist among us so he can test us. Are we truly faithful believers in him and his word or are we merely seeking a spiritual experience or even sign? Christ is our savior, but he also has commandments for us to follow. These are the few things God asks of us – to keep his commandments, obey him through the voice of the Holy Spirit, and serve him. I think the most important thing here in my experience is asking God for discernment. I constantly pray to God for discernment on what to do if I am at all confused or something doesn’t feel right, and I can’t come to an instant decision on what to do. Sometimes I do argue with God when he does give his advice, but over the years I’ve learned that if I don’t follow him my life doesn’t always turn out as well as I thought it would. Even if the response from God seems crazy and nonsensical, God always ends up being right.

Day 99 Bible Reading - Luke 12: 35-36 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 11-12, Luke 12: 35-59, Psalm 55: 1-11

Luke 12: 35-36 (ESV)

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.”

Verses 35 through 36 from Luke 12 give us advice from Jesus about waiting for his return and how we need to be focused on it and ready. I think it would be so amazing if Jesus returned, but at the same time I fear the return of Jesus because of what is written in the book of Revelations. My pastor talked about this year that we are starting to see the signs of the return of Christ as mentioned in Revelations. I do think there is a culling going on in mainstream denominations as they seem to be shrinking, and after COVID many churches closed. But I think the events I most fear from Revelations are the earth changes because those seem so destructive and disrupt so many lives. What I do not fear is Christ returning and the time of the judgement, because I have a good relationship with God. I know Jesus will recognize me and welcome me into his kingdom.