January 7
January 7
One Year Bible Readings:
Genesis 16:1-18:15
Matthew 6:1-24
Psalm 7:1-17
Proverbs 2:1-5
Supplemental Reading For The One Year Bible
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog
Genesis:
In Genesis chapter 17 we read about the second Abrahamic Covenant! This covenant was a conditional divine pledge from God to be Abraham's God and the God of his descendents. The condition? Obedience and consecration to God as symbolized by circumcision. In verse 23 I think we see another example of Abraham's prompt obedience to God's will for his life: "On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and every other male in his household and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, exactly as God had told him." Abraham does not hesitate - does not wait one more day - he and every other male in his household get circumcised that very day!
Q: How are you prompt with your obedience to God's will in your life? Are there some areas in your life where you feel like you might not be so prompt with your obedience?
In Genesis 18 we see some amazing hospitality from Abraham to God and two angels that appear along with God. Hospitality for strangers was important back in Abraham's day.
Q: What is an example of how you show hospitality toward strangers today? What are some areas in your life that God might be calling you to show more hospitality?
Matthew:
What a blessing to read the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6! I have to confess, I don't say this prayer very often... and Jesus seems to indicate pretty clearly that this is a good way to pray. I do pray often throughout the day - but usually it's pretty immediate stuff - bless this meal, thank you for this day, bless my time at work, etc. etc. What a great thing it would be if I could remember to actually pray the Lord's Prayer a bit more...
Q: How do you pray? Or, in how many different ways do you pray? Do you pray specific prayers regularly, like the Lord's Prayer? Do you keep a list of people by your bedside to pray for regularly? Do you pray by writing in a journal?
Matthew 6:24 has always always been a verse that's convicted me and still does today: "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." There is so much truth here in these 3 little sentences... Who are we serving in our lives today? I once read that one good indicator is to take a look at your monthly budget. Where does the money go each month? Interesting way to look at this. Maybe another way to look at this is how you spend your time each week. How much time is spent at work, volunteering, being with God, being with family/friends, taking a Sabbath, etc. Maybe looking at how we spend our
time and money is a good way to see who or what we are worshipping?
Q: Do you believe that it is true that we cannot serve two masters? What are some ways that help you make sure that you’re not serving money in your life?
Psalm:
Today in Psalm 7 verse 10 we read: "God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right." What stood out to me here is that it does not say that God saves those who "do" what is true and right. It says that God saves those whose "hearts are" true and right. As discussed in yesterday's Matthew 5 post, below, this is getting toward our interior motives and thoughts and hearts - the important thing is not what we do on the "exterior", but who we are on the "interior". And then certainly if our hearts are true and right, a natural outflow of this is doing good things on the exterior. But, it's the interior - our hearts - that matter most.
Q: How is your heart these days? Is it true and right? And do you believe that God is indeed your shield?
Proverbs:
Proverbs 2 verse 2 today is a fantastic teaching: "Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding." There is so much noise and static and distractions in our modern world today that I think it is often hard for us to "tune our ears to wisdom & understanding." With our 24 X 7 society, we can go 100mph and just kind of feel like we're doing fine... but are we really doing fine when we are going that fast and moving all the time? Can you find ways in your life to slow down and "tune in" to God? I think reading the Bible each day is one amazingly great way to do this!
Q: What are some areas of your life that you can "tune out" this new year so that you can spend more time "tuning in" to God and His wisdom?
Copyright © 2004-2012 One Year Bible Blog
One Year Bible Readings:
Genesis 16:1-18:15
Matthew 6:1-24
Psalm 7:1-17
Proverbs 2:1-5
Supplemental Reading For The One Year Bible
The following are excerpts from Mike’s One Year Bible Blog
Genesis:
In Genesis chapter 17 we read about the second Abrahamic Covenant! This covenant was a conditional divine pledge from God to be Abraham's God and the God of his descendents. The condition? Obedience and consecration to God as symbolized by circumcision. In verse 23 I think we see another example of Abraham's prompt obedience to God's will for his life: "On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and every other male in his household and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, exactly as God had told him." Abraham does not hesitate - does not wait one more day - he and every other male in his household get circumcised that very day!
Q: How are you prompt with your obedience to God's will in your life? Are there some areas in your life where you feel like you might not be so prompt with your obedience?
In Genesis 18 we see some amazing hospitality from Abraham to God and two angels that appear along with God. Hospitality for strangers was important back in Abraham's day.
Q: What is an example of how you show hospitality toward strangers today? What are some areas in your life that God might be calling you to show more hospitality?
Matthew:
What a blessing to read the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6! I have to confess, I don't say this prayer very often... and Jesus seems to indicate pretty clearly that this is a good way to pray. I do pray often throughout the day - but usually it's pretty immediate stuff - bless this meal, thank you for this day, bless my time at work, etc. etc. What a great thing it would be if I could remember to actually pray the Lord's Prayer a bit more...
Q: How do you pray? Or, in how many different ways do you pray? Do you pray specific prayers regularly, like the Lord's Prayer? Do you keep a list of people by your bedside to pray for regularly? Do you pray by writing in a journal?
Matthew 6:24 has always always been a verse that's convicted me and still does today: "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." There is so much truth here in these 3 little sentences... Who are we serving in our lives today? I once read that one good indicator is to take a look at your monthly budget. Where does the money go each month? Interesting way to look at this. Maybe another way to look at this is how you spend your time each week. How much time is spent at work, volunteering, being with God, being with family/friends, taking a Sabbath, etc. Maybe looking at how we spend our
time and money is a good way to see who or what we are worshipping?
Q: Do you believe that it is true that we cannot serve two masters? What are some ways that help you make sure that you’re not serving money in your life?
Psalm:
Today in Psalm 7 verse 10 we read: "God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right." What stood out to me here is that it does not say that God saves those who "do" what is true and right. It says that God saves those whose "hearts are" true and right. As discussed in yesterday's Matthew 5 post, below, this is getting toward our interior motives and thoughts and hearts - the important thing is not what we do on the "exterior", but who we are on the "interior". And then certainly if our hearts are true and right, a natural outflow of this is doing good things on the exterior. But, it's the interior - our hearts - that matter most.
Q: How is your heart these days? Is it true and right? And do you believe that God is indeed your shield?
Proverbs:
Proverbs 2 verse 2 today is a fantastic teaching: "Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding." There is so much noise and static and distractions in our modern world today that I think it is often hard for us to "tune our ears to wisdom & understanding." With our 24 X 7 society, we can go 100mph and just kind of feel like we're doing fine... but are we really doing fine when we are going that fast and moving all the time? Can you find ways in your life to slow down and "tune in" to God? I think reading the Bible each day is one amazingly great way to do this!
Q: What are some areas of your life that you can "tune out" this new year so that you can spend more time "tuning in" to God and His wisdom?
Copyright © 2004-2012 One Year Bible Blog
Recent
Archive
2024
January
One Year Bible CompanionJanuary 2January 3January 4January 5January 6January 7January 8January 9January 10January 11January 12January 13January 14January 15January 16January 17January 18January 19January 20January 21January 22January 23January 24January 25January 26January 27January 28January 29January 30January 31
February
February 1February 2February 3February 4February 5February 6February 7February 8February 9February 10February 11February 12February 13February 14February 15February 16February 17February 18February 19February 20February 21February 22February 23February 24February 25February 26February 27February 28February 29
March
Categories
no categories
No Comments