john14six

Reading for the week of: 4/27/2008 – 5/3/2008

Psalms 117-122

Hebrews 5-11

Ruth 3-4

Read from:  NIV,  King James,  New Living Translation  (link to BibleGateway.com) Link will open in a new window.

This week we start new chapters:

1 Samuel 1-13

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Reading plan from "Maranatha Chapel's: A Year in The Word"

The Capstone

Psalms 118:22 (NIV)
The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.

The capstone is Jesus and the builders are the religious leaders who refused to accept his teachings.  The building is religion.  A capstone was probably a crucial stone at one of the corners of the building.  This stone would support a great deal of weight and  it would define the size and shape of the building.  This is what Jesus does...he defines our religion he gives it shape and without him the building crumbles.  In his day, Jesus was mocked and rejected.  Little did they know.

Gideon - Judges 6-9

I did not think that I was going to enjoy the old testament as much as I have. I am in Judges and I am reading about the different Judges (aka Leaders) that have delivered Israel in the name of the Lord. The people of Israel continue in the pattern of breaking from the law of the Lord and worshipping other Gods and Idols. This leads to famine, despair and attacks from neighboring kingdoms. Each time the Lord raises up a "Judge" to correct the ways of Israel and deliver them in the name of the Lord. I just read about Gideon (Judges 6-8). I found it fascinating at how insecure he was in his calling and how he repeatedly asked for additional signs from the Lord. Here are the signs:

He placed an offering on a rock and from the rock, fire engulfed the offering. After receiving the sign, he followed the Lord's command and destroyed the alter of Baal and the Asherah pole next to it.

He then placed a piece of wool outside and asked the Lord for an additional sign: if only the peice of wool had dew on it and the rest of the ground dry...he could be convinced. The next morning, that is exactly what he found. The ground was dry and he wrung the dew ot of the wool. Still not convinced, he asked for another sign. This time he asked that the ground be covered with dew and the wool dry. The Lord delivered and he awoke to a dew soaked ground and dry wool. I guess he was finally convinced.

He assembled a huge army of over 20,000 men. The Lord said that the numbers were too many and that he need to send some home. He released 10,000 men and the Lord still said that there were too many. He said to take the men to drink from the stream. The men who kneeled to drink were sent home and the men who lapped up the water were sent to battle (~300 men). The Lord knew that if the battle was won by simply outnumbering the enemy, they would not acknowledge that it was the Lord, but due to their own hands. However, if they won with only 300 men, there would be no doubt that the Lord had delivered them....AGAIN!!!

When the time had come, Gideon assembled his army and prepared for battle. Waiting for a sign from the Lord, Gideon would attack. He told the men, do as I do. They were armed with trumpets and empty jars in with torches inside. He told them: "When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.'" Judges 7:18 (NIV). They defeated the Midianites and forced them from the land.

The Israelites pleaded with Gideon to be their king, but he refused, telling them that only God was their ruler. He did make one request. He asked for one earring from each of the men from their share of the plunder. From this he made an ephod as a sign of their battle. It became a symbol that would be worshipped by the people and became a a snare to Gideon and his family. Despite the peace that they enjoyed, they soon fell back into their old ways of worshipping other Gods and Idols. They soon forgot all the good things that Gideon had done.

This is a fascinating story. Who said the bible was boring.....NOT ME!!!

Reading for the week of: 4/20/2008 - 4/26/2008

Psalms 110-116

Luke 22-24

Judges 9-21

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This week we start new chapters:

Hebrews 1-4

Ruth 1-2

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Reading plan from "Maranatha Chapel's: A Year in The Word"

The coming Kingdom

I am in Luke chapter 17:20-37.

Jesus is asked about when the kingdom of God will come to the earth. He makes clear that there will be no doubt when it occurs. He also notes that the son of man must suffer and be rejected by this generation. This was true in the day of Noah and the day of Lot. They were eating and drinking and being married as Noah was loading up the Ark. It will be the same when he returns again. Some will be working together and one will be taken and the other left behind. It is so sad to realize how many people do not know the Lord and will be left behind. We will not know the hour or the day...do not be one that is left behind...if you do not know Jesus, do not wait a day or an hour to meet him.

More than a fan club

Luke 13:22-30 : The narrow door.

The Lord wants an intimate relationship with you and not just a fan club. He wants more than someone to say: I have heard of Jesus, I have been to church. He wants people to believe in him, to know that there is only one way to enter the gates of heaven: through the blood of Jesus. Through an intimate relationship with him. Many will not enter because they missed this point. Does he know you? He wants to know you...all you have to do is ask.

Reading for the week of: 4/13/2008 - 4/19/2008

Psalms 103-109

Luke 15-21

Joshua 15-24

Read from: NIV, King James, New Living Translation (link to BibleGateway.com) Link will open in a new window.

This week we start new chapters:

Judges 1-8

Read from: NIV, King James, New Living Translation (link to BibleGateway.com) Link will open in a new window.

Reading plan from "Maranatha Chapel's: A Year in The Word"

Psalms 91

This gives me great comfort:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the almighty -Psalms 91:1 (NIV)

Reading for the week of: 4/6/2008 - 4/12/2008

Psalms 96-102

Luke 8-14

Joshua 5-22

Read from: NIV, King James, New Living Translation (link to BibleGateway.com) Link will open in a new window.

Reading plan from "Maranatha Chapel's: A Year in The Word"

A puzzling parable

This parable was a little puzzling to me, so I went and got some help on this one. Not only did I find what I was looking for, but also a great series of commentaries on the New Testament. You can find the book here. Just to set the scene for this passage, the Pharises and the teachers of the law saw Jesus and his disciples eating and drinking and having a good time. They thought that the disciples were too cheerful. They were surprised that they were not fasting. Here is the passage and his answer:

33They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking." 34Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast." 36He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' "

He tells them that, while in his company, the disciples are very happy, so why practice a mournful ritual of worship. He already hints at the day when he will not be with them... in those days, they will fast. Verse 36 gets into the less strait-forward explanation. He uses the illustration of patching torn clothes. You would not tear a new garment, to fix the old garment...it just not make sense and they would not match. And then he talks about wineskins. Wineskins were made from the skin of animals to hold liquids. When they are new, they are flexible and able to expand. As they age, they get tight and can burst if you try to expand them. New wine must be put into new wineskins. He is using both analogies to make this point: He is not just patching up Judaism, but rather teaching something radically new. If he tries to explain his teaching in the constraints of the "old wineskin" of Judaism (practices like fasting), the result would be disastrous. This is totally new. He realized that his teachings may not be palatable to some: those who prefer the old wine would not enjoy the new wine. To them the old wine is better. You have to remember how much of a radical Jesus actually was (in a good way of course). His teachings were not immediately accepted and many did not get it. I have to admit that I had read this parable before and just did not understand it. I am really glad that I found the Tyndale New Testament Commentaries and figured this one out. I am constantly amazed at the depth of the teachings in the bible. I can see how you can read it over and over again and learn something new each time.

Psalms 90:12

A prayer of Moses the man of God: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalms 90:12 (NIV)

Reading for the week of 3/30-4/5

Psalms 89-95

Luke 1-7

Deuteronomy 25-34

Read from:  NIV,  King James,  New Living Translation  (link to BibleGateway.com) Link will open in a new window.

This week we start new chapters:

Joshua 1-4

Read from:  NIV,  King James,  New Living Translation  (link to BibleGateway.com) Link will open in a new window.

Reading plan from "Maranatha Chapel's: A Year in The Word"