Day 341 Bible Readings for December 8 – 3 John 1: 2 (ESV)

Zechariah 1-4, 3 John 1, Proverbs 23: 19-28

3 John 1: 2 (ESV)

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.”

Verse 2 from 3 John 1 reminds us that God always wants the best for us. God wants us to have good health and wealth, which is reflected in our soul. Pastor David Guzik wrote the following in his bible commentary on this verse, “Of course, we should always remember that God wants our best and plans only good for us. Often present material prosperity and physical health are part of that good He has for us – and this prosperity and health are absolutely promised as the ultimate destiny of all believers.’

I love and absolutely believe that prosperity and health are the promised destiny for all those who believe in God. But when we don’t have good health and prosperity, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love us. It simply means that God may be trying to teach us lessons on health, prosperity, and his plan for our life. God does want the best for us, always.

Day 340 Bible Readings for December 7 – Haggai 1: 5-6 (ESV)

Haggai 1 & 2, 2 John 1, Proverbs 23: 10-38

Haggai 1: 5-6 (ESV)

“Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”

Verses 5 and 6 from Haggai 1 tells us what happens to us when we focus on the wrong priorities and not on the work God has chosen for us. Haggai the prophet tells us we can so much, but harvest little. We can eat, but never feel full or have enough. We can drink but we will never our fill. We can clothe ourselves, but never feel warm. Finally we can earn money but it will seem as if we can’t  hold on to it and if will feel like we are putting our money in a bag with holes.

God created us and has a plan for our lives.  If we follow God’s plan for our lives, then our life will seem satisfying and full of abundance. However, if lose our focus on God’s will for our lives, it will feel like we are running in place and never getting anywhere. I know I’ve done this in my life when I was not focused on God. Nothing ever seemed to satisfy me when my focus wasn’t on trying to discern God’s will for my life and following what I had heard. I had a great paying job, lots of money, lots of material things, and lots of responsibilities and prestige at work. But I never felt satisfied ever. I was always hungry for more, and it was so frustrating at times. I never ever had the feeling that I had enough of anything, even though I was surrounded by an abundance of many things. It wasn’t until I turned my focus back to God that I found more satisfaction with my life and that forgotten feeling of abundance again.

Day 339 Bible Readings – 1 John 5: 14-15 (ESV)

Daniel 12, 1 John 5: 1-21, Proverbs 22: 28-29, Proverbs: 23: 1-9

1 John 5: 14-15 (ESV)

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

In verses 14 and 15 from 1 John 5, John tells us that we can ask anything of God because of our belief in Jesus Christ. We just need to ask anything of God in prayer and ask according to his will. We also need to have confidence that God will hear us, and our prayers will be answered if they are part of God’s will. Many folks who have commented on these Bible verses say that we need to pray to God about everything in our life because God cares about everything in our life.

I think that what is interesting in these verses is we need to ask for things that are part of God’s will, so we need to discern what is God’s will. If we think about and try to discern what God’s will is for our life, then our prayers for what we want will be quite different. I always try to add to my prayer request to let me know if this is God’s will, and if not, for God and the Holy Spirit to help me discern his will for my life. But it is probably a better idea to try and discern God’s will before praying for something, so you have a better chance of your prayers being answered.

Day 338 Bible Readings – 1 John 4: 18-19 (ESV)

Daniel 11, 1 John 4: 7-21, Proverbs 22: 17-27

1 John 4: 18-19 (ESV)

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.”

In verses 18 and 19 from 1 John 4, John tells us about the transformative love of Jesus Christ. Christ died for us – his is a perfect love for humanity, for us. Because Jesus loves us with a perfect love, we will not have fear in our life. God loves us so much that we need not feel the fear of punishment of our sin, because Christ died for our sins.

I think it’s hard sometimes to not fear God. We want to please God so much and when we fail, we think God will punish us. But God isn’t like our human parents. God’s love for us is perfect. God never wants us to be afraid of him because he wants us be happy.