Day 6 Bible Readings – Matthew 5: 8 (ESV)

Genesis 11& 12, Matthew 5, Psalm 6

Matthew 5: 8 (ESV)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Verse 8 from Matthew 5 stood out to me. I used to think this verse meant that if you are in pure in heart, you will see God in heaven when you die. On further reflection, I believe people who are pure in heart can see God everywhere. If you are pure in heart, you will see God in nature. You can also see God in actions of others. Becoming pure in heart can be cultivated by deepening your relationship with God. If you dwell in God’s word daily, you will become closer to God. A person with a pure heart is devoted to God and single-minded in their commitment to God. My goal is to develop a purer heart so I can see God in my everyday life.

Day 5 Bible Readings – Genesis 9: 12-13 (ESV)

Genesis 9 & 10, Matthew 4: 23-25, Psalm 5

Genesis 9: 12-13 (ESV)

“And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

Verses 12 and 13 remind me that a rainbow was made by God as a sign of the covenant he made not only with Noah and his sons, but with the earth and the animals. God’s covenant was that he would never destroy the earth again with a flood. I’ve always loved rainbows because they are a rare and beautiful thing to see in the sky. Whenever I see a rainbow, I always see it as a sign of good luck. I also learned in childhood to make a wish whenever I see a rainbow. These verses remind me to be grateful to God of his promise to not destroy the earth by flood. God did a reset on humanity, and from this covenant he promised not do another reset until the circumstances described in Revelation. While we should always be afraid of natural disasters, we do not need to worry about God destroying the earth again.

Day 4 Bible Readings – Matthew 4: 1-3 (ESV)

Genesis 7 & 8, Matthew 4: 1-22, Psalm 4

Matthew 4: 1-3 (ESV)

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

In verses 1-3 from Matthew 4, a tempter came to Jesus after his 40-day fast and asked him to use his gifts to appease his hunger. Bible commentator Charles Spurgeon noted that temptations will always come to us until we die. Jesus had done a fast with encouragement from the Holy Spirit, so he was following his father-God’s plan for his life which was to be tempted. But the tempter still came to him. If Jesus was tempted, then we must expect that we will also be tempted even when we are in our most devout frame mind. I think it is mistake that just because we consider ourselves a person of faith with a devout relationship with God, that we would never be tempted. I think devout people of faith should probably expect to be experience more temptation, because Satan will try anything to shake their faith in God. I can imagine a tempter saying to me, “if you are so devoted to God, why did this bad thing happen to you? God has abandoned you. Use your own brain to get out of this situation.” We must always be vigilant and rely on God to help us when the tempter comes into our life.

Day 3 Bible Readings – Genesis 5: 5-6 (ESV)

Genesis 5 & 6, Matthew 3, Psalm 3

Genesis 5: 5-6 (ESV)

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.”

In verses 5 through 6 in Genesis 5 we find out that from the beginning, God knows what our intentions are and thoughts that are in our hearts. We also find out that because God loves us so much, like a good father, God grieves in his heart when his children misbehave. I sometimes used to think that God was not always aware of what I did, what I thought, and what was in my heart. And I justified my reasoning by telling myself, that if God knew what was really in my heart, he would have answered my prayers. This justification is obviously wrong because God could have a million different reasons why he hasn’t answered my prayers. As humans we cannot know what God sees and knows because God sees and knows everything. Perhaps God didn’t answer my prayers because he saw into the future what would happen, and it wasn’t good for me or in the plan he had for my life. Whatever the reason we have to trust that God knows what is always good for us and we cannot assume that he doesn’t even know we exist, and we can do whatever we want. God does know us inside and out. God also loves us so much that he grieves for us when we do wrong or disobey him, because he knows what harm we will cause ourselves and others. And God doesn’t want us to harm ourselves, he only wants the very best for us.