At the beginning of 2016 I announced to my church and here on my blog that I would be blogging through the Bible daily. I took this challenge on to help motivate our Spencerville Church family to study the Word of God consistently. It was an ambitious goal, but one I thought I could definitely achieve. Needless to say, I WAS WRONG! I believe I only made it through about 140 days give or take a few. Praise God though many still read through the Bible in a year even without the motivation of my daily blog.
Now in 2017 our church has once again set forth on an endeavor to read through God’s Holy Scriptures in one year. If you would like to follow the reading plan that Spencerville Church will be following in 2017 (a different plan than last year) you can do so by signing-up for our weekly update at the bottom of Spencerville’s website, and since we are already into 2017 here are the readings for this the first week of January:
I want to focus on chapter 2 verses 9 & 10 from today’s reading in this post.
As a pastor there are people whom like to share with me all kinds of “conspiracy theories” especially as they are related to the “end times” or rather the role those “conspiracy theories” will play in bringing about the end of time. Often these “conspiracies” are secrets, things most people can’t see but they are happening.
Today we began the Gospel of John, to many their favorite Gospel and according to some polls like Biblegateway.com’s poll the favorite book in all the Bible with none of the synoptic Gospels in the top 10. John is not my favorite of the four Gospels (Luke is my current favorite, it used to be Mark, so one day it could be John :)), but it does possess some of my favorite passages in all of scripture like John 3:17…yes I know everyone else talks about John 3:16 also great, but I love John 3:17.
One of my favorite stories, a story that some scholars doubt that it should even be in the Bible or the veracity of it, I embrace it as a true part of the canon, John 8:2-11.
And of course John gives the most clear picture of the role of the Holy Spirit in all the Bible (John 14-16)
The Gospel of John is a great book and you’ll be blessed reading a portion of it every seven days for the next several weeks.
In all the Bible there is much we can spiritualize, which is not always a bad thing, it helps us add personal application, but at times we should address what is really being said because those perspectives can add great application as well, just such a topic appears in the first chapter of John,
“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” -John 1:11
I have heard and I have applied and I do apply this to myself and really all humanity. Since we were all made by Him John 1:3 in a true since we are all Jesus’ “own people.” But that application is really a spiritualization of the text. The literal idea/intent John is expressing is that Jesus, came as a Jew, came to the Jews–first–His own people–His remnant, and they rejected Him. Now John is not talking about individual Jews, he is speaking of the corporate system of Judaism. Why do I even point this out? It is not to pick on the Jews, but to point out Jesus was not a Jew exclusively for Jews. His mission in the book of John is very clear, He is a global Savior. The very next two verses reveal this,
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” -John 1:12, 13
“To ALL,” who are the “ALL”? Those that were not born simply as Jews by blood/flesh/will of man, though this does not eliminate the ability of a individual born Jewish to be saved, but that salvation is no longer and should no longer be perceived as a matter of birth, but as a matter of heart!
Then we see again in John 1:29 a mission statement for Jesus and we see again it is global not localized to the Jewish nation,
“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” -John 1:29
Jesus’ mission is for all humanity and His desire is that all humanity will receive Him as their Savior. We are all invited to be part of the remnant of His seed.
Tomorrow’s Reading: The book of 2nd Thessalonians
The Proverbs are a treasure trove and literally every Proverb I am sure in some aspect can be applied to my life, but I will not just rewrite the Proverbs out in their entirety so here are the two that remind me of areas I need to improve:
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger. -Proverb 15:1Without counsel plans fail,
but with many advisers they succeed. -Proverb 15:22
Which of the proverbs from these two chapters is the Holy Spirit asking you to ponder on a little longer?
Tomorrow’s Reading: Ezekiel 43-48
In today’s reading of three beautiful Psalms one verse in particular stood out to me as a prayer request for my life.
“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!” -Psalm 90:17
Lord Jesus as I move out of this summer and begin another busy season in service to Your church may everything that we do as a church, that I do as a pastor be established by You! Let me not come to the end of the year and see the work any man or woman could accomplish on their own, but may we see evidence that truly You established our work for this season of ministry! -Amen
Tomorrow’s Reading: Proverbs 14 & 15