Day 2 Bible Readings – Genesis 3: 4-5 (ESV)

Genesis 3 & 4, Matthew 2, Psalm 2

Genesis 3: 4-5 (ESV)

“But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Verses 4 and 5 from Genesis 3 stood out to me today. The serpent said to Eve that if you eat of the apple, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”. I know that whenever I felt I knew better than God, I decided not to listen to what the Holy Spirit was trying to whisper to me. I became like God, thinking I knew good and evil and the plan for my life. And every time I had this attitude and did not listen to God, the decisions I made turned out to be bad ones. It took a long time for me to listen more to God than to my own mind. It is still a struggle to not want to follow my own mind and only follow the mind of God. But it makes sense because I am a descendant of Eve, and I inherited her sin of eating an apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Even though Eve and Adam sinned, God still loved them. After speaking to them, God made clothing for Adam and Eve and clothed them. I love that God still had mercy for his creations and made proper clothes for them. I count on God’s mercy when I sometimes I disobey him. No matter how much trouble I get myself in, God will always show mercy to me and clothe me in his love.

Day 1 2025 Bible Readings – Psalm 1: 1-3

Genesis 1 & 2, Matthew 1, Psalm 1

Psalm 1: 1-3

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.”

This is my 4^th year of reading the Bible in a year, and I can honestly say I feel blessed by God as is described in verses 1 through 3 from Psalm 1. Reading the bible daily has strengthened my relationship with God, and that was and still is my yearly goal. I’m not sure I have true delight in the law of the Lord, which is something I constantly try to improve on in my life. Reading the Bible every day has also made my faith like a tree, growing deep roots in my life. The daily dwelling in God’s word has nourished me, and the fruit that comes from it is the recognition of the many blessings and miracles God has given me and continues to bestow on me in my life. If truth be told, my leaves of faith still wither around the edges now and again as I go through the daily trials and burdens of my life. But I am thankful my leaves of faith do not fall off, but miraculously regrow and become strong again. I owe this renewal to my daily Bible readings, so I am proud once again to dwell daily in God’s word and I look forward to seeing what verses will cause me to ponder more deeply God’s love for me.

Day 365 Bible Readings – Revelation 22: 3-5 (ESV)

Nehemiah 13, Revelation 22, Proverbs 31: 21-31

Revelation 22: 3-5 (ESV)

“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

In verses 3 through 5 from Revelation 22, John sees an amazing vision of heaven will be like. I love that John sees nothing but the light of God. There will be no need for the sun or a lamp, and there will never be a night. God will be all the light we need in heaven and God will reign in heaven forever. This vision of heaven is so beautiful to me. I tend to associate so many bad things with the night and the lack of light. It seems like all the bad things that happen in the world always seem to happen at night or when there is an absence of light. God always brings the light to the darkness, and when he reigns in heaven there will be darkness and no bad things.

Day 364 Bible Readings – Proverbs 31: 10-12

Nehemiah 11:22-36, Nehemiah 12, Revelation 21, Proverbs 31:10-20

Proverbs 31: 10-12

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”

I love the description of a wife in verses 10 through 12 from Proverb 31. Lemuel tells us that an excellent wife is more precious than jewels, and that her husband will trust her because he will always gain by her actions. A husband can expect an excellent wife to do him good and not harm all the days or her life. I know when I was married, I was not always an “excellent wife” to my husband. We both loved God, but we were not serious about our own individual relationships with God. We could not rely on the word of God for how to guide our actions. I know our marriage fell apart because when things got rough, we had nothing but our love to hold us together and that was not enough. I think if we were stronger people of faith, we would have had God, his words, and the Bible to help us through the difficult task of being in a relationship. Having two people live and try to navigate life together when they’ve both been raised differently, are not of the same age, and are completely different in so many other ways is so difficult. I am now convinced that a married couple can only stay married if they follow and rely on Jesus Christ to help them stay together. From my own experience, it’s just too hard to stay married unless you have God helping you and your spouse to stay together and in love. I think if I was more into my faith when I was married I would have strived to be more of an “excellent wife”.