Who are you?

Reading: Jeremiah 1-2 and Acts 18

 

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-5, Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

 

Thoughts: With the world constantly pouring into us how much better you will be with this or that, or that we are not failures. We have been fed the line that if we don’t have what others have we are not enough. God reminds us in Jeremiah that He formed us in our mothers womb, and before he did so he knew us and that he had a plan for us. I know I struggle with how I see myself, not just the physical, where I feel like I’m not attractive but also that I’m not intelligent or wise and I can’t be used by God because of these limitations. These passages remind me that he knew me before my mother even had a thought of having a child. We need to keep our perspective on who God says we are and not what the world thinks of us.

 

Prayer: Father God you are the speaker of life, you created all things and formed me in my mothers womb. You know the hairs on my head and the plans you have for me. I thank you that you do have plans for me and work in my life. I thank you that you are teaching me every day. I ask for forgiveness for the places I fall dawn and ask for your help to get back up and to continue to work in me that I can better reflect your love. Help me to see the next steps you have for me and the strength to take the steps you have for me.

What are your priorities?

Playing a little catch-up, this was a rough few days with the wife getting a much needed getaway and my kids keeping me busy. I was keeping up with my reading but didn’t away get something writen down for a verse and didn’t get to putting down my thought on the verse until today’s reading. Here is the reading and verses as well as today’s thoughts. 

October 9

 

Reading: Isaiah 65-66, Psalm 124, and Acts 11

 

Scripture: Isaiah 66:12-13, For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 

 

October 10

 

Reading: 2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33, Psalm 75, and Acts 12

 

Scripture: Acts 12:22-23, And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

 

October 11

 

Reading: Nahum 1-3 and Acts 13

 

Scripture: Acts 13:17-18, The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

 

October 12

 

Reading: 2 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 34, and Acts 14

 

Scripture: Acts 14:2-3, But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

 

October 13

 

Reading: 2 Kings 23, 2 Chronicles 35, and Acts 15

 

October 14

 

Reading: Habakkuk 1-3 and Acts 16

 

Scripture: Acts 16:28, But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

 

October 15

 

Reading: Zephaniah 1-3 and Acts 17

 

Scripture: Zephaniah 1:18, Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

 

Thoughts: As I sit here working to get a loan to be able to build a home for my family, money has been weighing heavy on my mind. How much do I bring in? How much is God’s? How much do we need for all the other things like food and gas? All things running through my mind and this passage stuck out to me and making me think of our current situation in the United States. So many of the people in this nation are more worried about the big green god, their “gold and silver.” Zephaniah reminds us that when we don’t have the right focus and allow God to be supplanted by the things of this world, we could easily be wiped away with the non believers.

 

Prayer: Father God your are our provider, you are the one who created all things and own the cattle on a thousand mountains. I think you that you are leading and guiding me. I thank you for my family and the provisions that you give us every day. I ask that you help me to steward well those things you have given to me, help me to be kind and loving to my family and those around me. All I have is your and I place it all in your hands that it will prosper and grow. I thank you that you have a plan for us and that we have the ability to see your works.

What fires are burning?

Reading: Isaiah 62-64 and Acts 10

 

Scripture: Isaiah 64:2-3, as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

 

Thoughts: There are so many uses for fire, but as useful as it is the destructive power of fire can be found almost everywhere. Just as fire’s power is known by everyone, we are called to make known the Power of God. This passage was using Fire to describe God. Are we pointing to God when these wondrous things happen and sharing the awesome power of God when we experience it. This passage brought the image of Moses and Mount Sinai, the mountain everything going on around it. God came down to the mountain and gave Moses the tables, I imagine there would have been some sort of shining and rumbling from that mountain. These events have been documented and shared for generations. What are the little things that we are seeing God do that we are not sharing even with our family?

 

Prayer: Lord God, you are creator of all things, I thank you that you are the provider and orchestrator of all things. You may not be shaking the geological mountains today but you are moving mountains in the lives around us. I thank you for the provision that you have given me to steward, I thank you for my family and friends that I get to walk with. I ask that you help me see the mountains that you have moved in my life and those that you are working in me to move. Help me to grow in your love and share you love with those around me.

What to fear?

Reading: Isaiah 60-61, Psalm 111, and Acts 9

 

Scripture: Psalm 111:10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

 

Thoughts: As we are entering October and the much of the world around us is presenting more things that could bring fear, what should we truly fear? It appears that much of the Halloween decorations center around death, whether tombstones, skeletons, or the undead, zombies, vampires, and mummies. It looks like much fear centers around death. Part of the fear that we should have when it come to God is the fear of who we are without Him and where we will be/go if we do not have Him in our life. When we fear the things of this world all we do is get anxiety, we can not change this world but when we seek the one who can and seek Him, we do not just get knowledge, but we grow in wisdom from the Father. Seek God and get in His Word and find a way to praise Him even in the midst of fear trying to drown out the voice of God.

 

Prayer: Lord God, you are who I faer, I know that I have allowed distractions into my life, and I ask that you help me to remove them. Help me to prioritize my time with you. You are worthy of all my time and effort. I place my life, my family, and my finances in your hands. Help me to steward all that I have for you and seek you all my days and in all my ways.

Coming back to the refuge

Reading: Isaiah 58-59, Psalm 5, and Acts 8

 

Scripture: Psalm 5:11; But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.

 

Thoughts: Over that last several months, I have been drifting and not fully trusting in God but leaning on my understanding and walking in what I thought were God’s ways but not seeking God. I was taking refuge in my time to myself and in my own selfish desires. Lately I have been hearing the call to come back to the feet of God, to sit and listen, to cry out to Him about those things that are going on. Let us come back to that first love we had when we first met Christ let us rejoice that we have refuge in you and place that banner that we can look to and return to when life gets us down.

 

Prayer: Father God, you are worthy of all praise, you are greater than any other god. I humbly come before you returning and asking you to wash me again. Fill me again with your love. I long to sit in your presence. I long to hear your voice. Open my ears again to hear you to discern your voice from the things that call me away.

Do I fit in the All being blessed?

Reading: Deuteronomy 28 and Galatians 3

 

Scripture: Galatians 3:7-8 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

 

Thoughts: As I read this passage, I got the reminder that not only do we need to remember what God saved us from but also who we have become when we chose to follow Jesus. Yes, we have a past and it has been washed clean by the blood of Christ. With the acceptance of the washing those sins are washed clean and set as far as the East is from the West, we are to no longer dwell on that past. This passage speaks of the adoption into the family of God. God made a promise to Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky yet he had two sons. Even coming out of Egypt there were 600,000 men meaning probably about 2 million people walked out of Egypt. Still, a number that can be counted. We are now grafted in and adopted into God’s family made co-hair with Christ. We need to remember what we were saved from and who we became. We are sons and daughters of the one true King.

 

Prayer: Father God, you are so wonderful, and your mercy abounds. I thank you that you have called me and adopted me into your family. I thank you that when you called me you cleansed me and called me to strive for a closer relationship with you. I thank you that you are refining me and molding me into the man I am meant to be. I and that you help me to continue to release the things in my past that are not who I am. I ask you to help me to love as you love, and be a good steward of the blessings in my life. I pray that I may be a light to this world to share your love and mercy with this broken and messed up world.

What are we doing or saying we should do?

Reading: Deuteronomy 25-27 and Galatians 2

 

Scripture: Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

 

Thoughts: We have been given great freedom in Christ, no matter what our background is Jew or Gentile. Just as Cephas(Peter) is being called out about not living by the rules or traditions that he was calling out others to do, we have a tendency to do the same thing. We are calling out a sin in someone’s life as we sit there with that same sin in our lives. It is easy to sit up on our tower and point out all the things wrong with others as we try to hide our own issues. Paul may have been calling out Peter for doing one thing and saying another but he came to him with a humble heart he has aired his laundry he had talked about watching Steven get stoned, tracking down Christians to have them brought to trial. He calls himself the chief of sinners. Are we praising God for what he brought us out of and pointing to what He is doing in our lives? When we speak to others let us encourage and lift them up not tear them down. We are not going to beat someone into heaven. We need to love as God loves and seek God’s heart for the world around us.

 

Prayer: Father God, your ways are higher than my ways, your knowledge far exceeds anything I could think. I fall on my face and seek you and your glory in my life. I ask you to reveal to me my insufficiencies. Help me to walk in your way and in our light. I thank you for the opportunities to seek you and share what you are doing in my life. I ask that you help me to be the light to this world and walk beside those who are struggling so that I can help them up and not condemn them when they fall. Help us to remember where you brought us out and the work you are still doing in our lives. Help me to overcome the sins I have and that you have washed clean.

You have been recruited!!!

Reading: Numbers 19-20, Psalm 47, and 1 Corinthians 9

 

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

 

Thoughts: How are we training? As a disciple of Christ, what are we doing to prepare ourselves for the fight that is to come? Athletes don’t just stagger off the couch onto whatever field they play on and expect to win. Do soldiers go into battle without knowing their weapons intimately? Then why do we sit back and expect that we will be victorious when we barely open the word once a week? In my past I know that there were times when it was months between times, I cracked open the Bible or even thought about going to church, and I can look back at those times and see the death spiral my life was taking and how it impacted those closest to me. As a worrier find other worriers to train with, find those who have been there before to strengthen and encourage you but also bring someone who is in need of encouragement along with that you all may grow and strengthen in the Lord. Yes, the battle belongs to the Lord, but we are called to fight it with all we have, and He will make up the difference. Be discipled, get disciplined, and become strong in the Lord.

 

Prayer: Lord God, you are my banner, my rally point, my place of refuge. You have the battle plans drawn up and ready to execute, and you are calling your army to ready itself. Your plans are greater than our plans they are higher than ours and we exalt you. I lay my life in your hands and take up your armor and sword so that I may walk in your power and authority over the evil of this world. I ask for your strength to fill me and lead me.

Who are these Jones people any way?

Reading: Numbers 17-18, Psalm 73, and 1 Corinthians 8

 

Scripture: Psalm 73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 

Thoughts: Are you trying to keep up with the Jones? This was the first thing that went through my mind when this passage stood out to me. Many times the Jones that we are comparing ourselves to may not be truly wicked but many flaunt what they have. With the invention of social media, this FOMO and longing for the life that others portray has ratcheted up the mentality of keeping up with those Jones. When the world has opened up the firehouse of comparison it is hard to not feel like the grass is greener over there. This not only goes toward the things and opportunities we have but also how content we are with our situations and our choices. I chose to love my wife and asked her to be my wife, yet so often we start looking at others, that grass over there because there is something that didn’t live up to our expectations. As we seek God and his will in our life He will fulfill every need we have. He also longs to bless his faithful servants, so how are you stewarding the things he has entrusted to you so far? 

 

Prayer: Father God, you are the creator of all things, you own the cattle on a thousand hills. You give and you take away. I thank you for the opportunity to steward those things around me. I thank you for my family and the people in my life. I pray that my stewardship is a praise to you and that I can point to you always in about all things. I thank you that you are molding and refining me as the silversmith does. I thank you that you call me even when I fall. I ask that you help me to be more content with what I have and not seek more than what you have for me.

Are you separating yourself?

Reading: Numbers 16 and 1 Corinthians 7

 

Scripture: Numbers 16:27-28 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.

 

Thoughts: A little leaven leavens the whole lump. God reminds us that we are to separate ourselves from the sinfulness of the world. Here in Numbers, we see where a group comes to Moses saying that they are worthy to be in the presence of God. After God shows who He chose to be the priest, He has Moses separate these men from the rest of Israel. When we find a sin in our midst we are to separate ourselves from it. Yes, there is forgiveness and reconciliation but until that person comes to the point of seeking that forgiveness we are to treat them as unbelievers, not shunning them or turning our backs on them but sharing God’s love and calling them back. Is there a sin in your life that needs to be confessed and to seek forgiveness for? 

 

Prayer: Father God you are worthy of all praise. I long to love as you love. I thank you for calling me out of my sins and offering your mercy and grace. I thank you for the continued sanctification that you are working in me. Help me to overcome the sins that continue to try to gain a foothold, help me to see and understand the calling you have put on my life. Lead me and guide me every day.

Tell others about your dwelling place.

Reading: Numbers 15, Psalm 90, and 1 Corinthians 6

 

Scripture: Psalm 90:1-2 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

 

Thoughts: We talk about our jobs, our homes, our cars, and our things yet how often is our true dwelling place actually with God and are we telling others about it? When I am face to face with others I can small talk but when it comes to sharing where my dwelling place is I struggle to share with people God’s love and the dwelling place He is preparing for us. Let us remember that we can’t take things with us when we go and our true home is with Him. Even if it has not been generations who have been following Christ you can start those generations now. Come to the family and grow in the Lord 

 

Prayer: Father God, you are our dwelling place, you are the light in the darkness. I thank You that You are casting out all darkness, out of me and my family, I ask that You open our eyes to that dwelling place in You and help us to live and walk in that light.

Going my own way?!?!

Reading: Numbers 13-14, Psalm 81, and 1 Corinthians 5

 

Scripture: Number 14:44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp.

 

Thoughts: I find it far too easy to do what I want to do than to do what others want to do. That almost goes up a hundred times when it comes to things God wants me to do. We by nature are selfish beings. We want our needs and desires filled before someone else gets theirs. If you don’t believe me that it is human nature to be selfish just look at a baby or young children. They have a need and they scream and cry until it is resolved then when kids start playing with others one of the most common things you hear is mine or something similar. We don’t want to share or give up things. After the 12 spies returned to Moses, they were afraid of what would happen if they went to take the nation. Then these warriors decided without God’s blessing or presence they would try to take this land. Even though there may be some of God’s plan in what you are striving for has He told you not now or just plain no. Open our ears to hear and our eyes to see when God changes the plan after we stop listening because of fear. 

 

Prayer: Father God. You are worthy of all praise. I sit at your feet and seek your glory. Thank you that you are calling us. I thank you that there is a plan and that even in my ignorance and arrogance you can still bring forth your plan. I thank you that you can use me even when I fall on my face. I ask that you help me to cast out all fear and abide in your love. I ask for discernment to see when I take a wrong turn. Lead me and guide me in all your ways.

Follow your own Counsel?!?!

Reading: Numbers 11-12, Psalm 148, and 1 Corinthians 4

 

Scripture: Numbers 11:33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague.

 

Thoughts: How often do we let something little into our lives and before we know it things are out of balance, something that on its own is not an issue but has become something that we are finding shame in. For instance, social media can be a great tool for connecting family and friends who are no longer living near one another, but I have found myself sitting and scrolling the feeds of Facebook and Instagram. Because of things I have heard I have avoided some of the other communities. Psalm 81:12 says it this way “So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.” If we are chasing after things that are not pointing to God, we are letting it become a stronghold that can develop into a sin. If we are not repentant and allow those sins to be a part of our lives, we will be turned over to that sin. Just as those of Israel who were not satisfied with the mana and charged out to get the quail consumed by the lust for meat God cut them out of his nation. Is there something you need to repent of remove and come back to a place where God is the center of your life? 

 

Prayer: Father God, you are so wonderful. I thank you that you are always calling us back. I thank you that your love and mercy can cover all the mistakes I have made and remove the burden of sin. I thank you that you broke the chains in my life, and I ask that you help me to remove the shackles that remind me of that past sin. I ask for your forgiveness for falling away from seeking you with my entire heart, mind, and body. You are worthy of all I have and all I am.

Getting Lost in the Mix

Over the last few weeks I have let my life get a little out of hand. I have been keeping up with my reading and normally there is a vers that stands out to me for one reason or another, yet here I am with the weeks leading up to Easter with nothing written. I let the business of work family and even TV get in the way of making time for God. My disciplines that I had developed in the discipleship classes that I have taken have gone out the window. God is calling me back into those disciplines, getting in the Word, journaling, and taking time to pray every day. It is easy to let many of those fall by the wayside as things change. My family has change that we will be working through for the next year and I pray that I can set these disciplines more firmly at the core of my relationship with God. Here is what I have been reading and the passages that have stood out to me. Seek God and dive deep into his Word 

March 19

 

Reading: Leviticus 16-17 and John 11

 

Scripture: John 11:37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

March 20

 

Reading: Leviticus 18-19 and John 12

 

Scripture: John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

 

March 21

 

Reading: Leviticus 20-21 and John 13

 

Scripture: John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

March 22

 

Reading: Leviticus 22-23 and John 14

 

Scripture: John 14:31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

March 23

 

Reading: Leviticus 24-25 and John 15

 

Scripture: John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

March 24

 

Reading: Leviticus 26, Psalm 12, and John 16

 

Scripture: Leviticus 26:42 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes.

March 25

 

Reading: Leviticus 27, Psalm 136, and John 17

 

Scripture: Psalm 136:7 to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;

March 26

 

Reading: Numbers 1 and John 18

 

Scripture: John 18:38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

 

March 27

 

Reading: Numbers 2, Psalm 46, and John 19

March 28

 

Reading: Numbers 3, Psalm 67, and John 20

 

Scripture: John 20:22-23 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

 

March 29

 

Reading: Numbers 4, Psalm 21, and John 21

 

Scripture: Numbers 4:5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

 

March 30

 

Reading: Numbers 5-6 and 1 Corinthians 1

 

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

 

March 31

 

Reading: Numbers 7 and 1 Corinthians 2

April 1

 

Reading: Numbers 8-10 and 1 Corinthians 3

 

Scripture: Numbers 10:35-36 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”