Day 331 Bible Readings for November 28 – 1 Peter 2: 17-18 (ESV)

Daniel 2: 24-49, Daniel 3: 1-12, 2 Peter 1, Proverbs 20: 1-14

2 Peter 1: 17-18 (ESV)

“For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

When I read 2 Peter 1 verses 17 and 18, I thought about what an amazing thing Peter could be grateful for every year if he celebrated Thanksgiving. Peter heard God’s voice booming out from the heavens that Jesus Christ was God’s beloved son. This scene of God’s voice booming from the sky has been depicted in so many movies, and even parodied in a couple of Monty Python movies. I love the image of it and the sheer wonder of physically hearing God’s voice booming out from the sky. The gospels and now Peter’s letter does not give us the finer details of how God’s voice sounded when they heard it. They leave it our imagination.

I’ve always wondered what the disciples thought and how frightening it must have been for them to hear the voice of God booming from the sky. They also never describe the look on Jesus’ face when he heard the voice. Did he have a proud smile on his face as if thinking “that is my beloved father God”? I like to think that the disciples must have been so grateful to have such an undeniable physical confirmation that Jesus Christ was indeed the son of God. They would have given thanks every Thanksgiving that they were able to hear the voice of God. What miracle of God in your life are you grateful this Thanksgiving season?

Day 330 Bible Readings – 1 Peter 5: 6-7 (ESV)

Daniel 1, Daniel 2: 1-23, 1 Peter 5, Proverbs 19: 23-29

1 Peter 5: 6-7 (ESV)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

In verses 6 and 7 Peter tells us that we need to have a humble attitude towards God and accept whatever place he has for us in his plan, even if he has us in a humble place. God knows when it will be right time to exalt us. We need to cast all our cares and worries to him, because God loves and cares for us.

I know that following God’s plan is humbling, because it has often gone against what I want to do with my life. I like to think that I know what is best for my life, but I’ve learned over the years that God knows way better than me what is best for my life. That learning hasn’t been easy for me but I’ve trusted God since I was a child and I’ve relied on my memories of God answering my prayers in ways I could never have imagined, to get through my doubts about God’s plan for my life. And God has never failed me. Frustrated me yes with his timing, but God has always come through for me.

Day 329 Bible Readings – Proverbs 19: 21 (ESV)

Ezekiel 47-48, 1 Peter 4, Proverbs 19: 13-22

Proverbs 19: 21 (ESV)

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”

Verse 21 from Proverbs 19 gave me a chuckle because it so true. You can make up plan after plan in your mind, but the only plan that will work in the end is God’s plan. I have this wisdom so true in my own life. I had so plans for myself in high school and college, most of which never came true. In high school I wanted to be a lawyer with a CPA, so I could come back home and open up my own practice. Then in college I decided I wanted to be a language interpreter at the United Nations, so I took a language course. But two years after that I changed my mind after I heard a college alumni speak and disparage the U.N. Then I thought I wanted to work in advertising, so I changed my major. I remember going to some seminar before I left college, and we had to write down where we wanted to see ourselves in 20 years. I wrote down that I would have be living in New York City off Central Park West. Later when I did end up spending time in New York City, I decided I couldn’t live there because it was too crowded, and I didn’t think I could deal with riding the subway every day.

But if I study my life deeply, I am pretty sure that I was following God’s plan and not my own at least in the big things in life like career and where to live. If you asked me in college whether I would be reading the Bible every day and writing down my thoughts on what I’d read in a blog, I would have laughed. Reading the Bible every day was not on my bucket list. I mean it’s not like I didn’t want to read the Bible, because I did want to read it once from cover to cover. But only because my college theatre arts professor yelled at our whole class that we were missing all the references and homages in great literature because we were all Bible illiterate. But reading the Bible every day – NEVER! Yet here I am reading it every day and loving every minute of it, because I know I am fulfilling God’s purpose for my life.

Day 328 Bible Readings – 1 Peter 3: 8-9 (ESV)

Ezekiel 45-46, 1 Peter 3, Proverbs 19: 1-12

1 Peter 3: 8-9 (ESV)

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

Verses 8 and 9 from 1 Peter 3 shows Peter telling the Church in modern-day Turkey to have unity as people of faith. I think these verses are so relevant for today as there seems to be so much divisiveness in the world. We need to have unity as people of faith. We are all different and we have many different beliefs and customs, but we need to choose unity as people of faith as our beliefs in God and Jesus is what united us. We cannot harm others when others wrong us. Peter tells us we need to bless them instead.

I love how Peter writes that as a person of faith you are called to always bless people, even the ones who do you harm. I find myself blessing people who won’t agree with me or whose politics I don’t agree with or do not understand. I bless them and I ask God to show and school me why I am not more neutral in my feelings towards those who don’t agree with me. I don’t have want to not like people who don’t agree with me, and I want God to show me how to love everyone more even those who seem like my enemies. I don’t know if I will ever have the loving heart of Jesus Christ, but I want to try. Jesus loved everyone, even those who despised and hated him. Christ is the example I want to follow on how to treat everyone in my life.