Category Archives: Daily Reading

Post with each day’s reading.

2012 Day 78 – Mark 14

17 Saturday Mar 2012

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There is a lot to absorb in today’s reading. The first thing that stood out to me was in verse 62 when Jesus answers the high priest’s question as to whether He is the Christ or not, “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Even when Jesus answers truthfully He is still called a liar and is beaten. This is something for us to remember. Just doing the right thing and telling the truth about Jesus does not guarantee that everything turns out ok. Notice that Jesus points to His reward in heaven, not here on earth.

The second thing that stood out to me was Peter’s denial of Jesus. It took Peter 3 times before he reaches verse 72, Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept. The tough part is seeing Peter walking right into the middle of it. However, the really good news here is that Peter still becomes one of the foundations, The Rock, of our faith. No matter how bad we mess up, God can and will still use us.

2012 Day 77 – Matthew 26

16 Friday Mar 2012

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I think one of the most amazing passages in the whole Bible is in the second part of verse 39, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” It is amazing to me that even though Jesus realizes the amount of suffering he will have to endure for us, He still chooses to follow God’s plan. I’m not sure I could knowingly go into the kind of suffering Jesus had to endure. It makes it that much more incredible and precious to me that He has so much love for us.

2012 Day 76 – Matthew 25

15 Thursday Mar 2012

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Whenever I read verses 35-36 I am challenged to be a good and faithful servant. I hope that when I get to heaven Jesus is able to say this of me, For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ I order to fulfill God’s desires of me, I must be deliberate in the way I serve. Service will not come to me, I need to open my eyes and seek it out.

2012 Day 75 – Matthew 24

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

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When we read verses 4-8 where it says 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. we as Christian get very excited. We think, surely this is the “beginning of birth pains”. We all need to be careful that we not lose sight of our purpose here on earth and focus on the end. God has us here for a specific purpose and we are to focus on our relationship with Him and on being a reflection of Him. If we know Him well, we will not be deceive by those claiming to be Him.

2012 Day 74 – Mark 13

13 Tuesday Mar 2012

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In verse 14 where it says, “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’standing where it does not belong–let the reader understand–then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”, it is talking about acts of desecration of the temple. There were several times the temple was desecrated before Christ; in 597 BC when Nebuchadnezzar looted the temple and took Judea captive; and in 168 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes sacrificed a pig to Zeus on the temple alter. This past summer I participated in a study of the book of Daniel and much of the book prophesied about the coming Messiah and the history before and after. Verse 14 is a reinforcement of prophesy of events that would end up happening in 70 AD when the Roman General Titus (no relation to the book of Titus) will place an idol on the site of the burned out temple. What is important to see here, in my mind, is that God knows, for the most part, the people of this earth don’t respect Him. Hard times for believers will come and we should not be a surprise. God knows what is coming and is certainly not surprised.

2012 Day 73 – Luke 21

12 Monday Mar 2012

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Being a believer is the most important and rewarding thing I have ever done. And while it is rewarding and eternally sufficient, it is also not meant to be easy. We tend to want to water down our faith in order to increase our chances of the rest of the world liking us. The truth is we should not be surprised that most of the world either hates us or are are being told they should. In verses 17-19 Jesus makes it clear, “17 All men will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By standing firm you will gain life.” I tend to get upset when I see someone post something on Facebook or Twitter that makes believers look bad, but this is no surprise to God. All we can do is pray that we become as good of a reflection of Christ as we possibly can and God will work on the hearts men and women towards a loving relationship with Him. In the end, our reward is that we have gained eternal life.

2012 Day 72 – Luke 20

11 Sunday Mar 2012

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In today’s reading I do not have a verse that struck me, but instead I have an observation. As Christians we will sometimes win battles here on earth, but in the end the war is not ours to win. Jesus was able to combat and dispute everything they threw at Him, and yet, they still killed Him. I know what you are thinking… “In the back of the book it’s says we win” and that is true, just remember that God’s path to His final plan sometimes leads us to lose some wars in order to arrive final victory. My point is this; we may be smarter than the people around us and may be able to logically win a philosophical battle, but most importantly the plan is that we are obedient to God. Unless there is heart change in the individual we are talking to, no amount of logic or smart responses will ever convince someone to have a relationship with God. There is a time when bold defense of our faith is needed and there is also a time when defense of my faith is nothing more than a victory for me and does nothing to further the Kingdom of God.

2012 Day 71 – Matthew 23

11 Sunday Mar 2012

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After reading Matthew chapter 23 all I can say is, Wow! Jesus does not hold back as He condemns the religious leaders. Six (6) time Jesus says “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!”, He also says “Woe to you, blind guides!”, and finally He calls them “You snakes! You brood of vipers!” Jesus does not mince word with these men who are supposed to be leaders. They are more concerned with how they appear than with the spiritual health of the Jews. As I read this I could not help but think of those who call themselves leaders of our faith, along with myself as a believer. Are we hypocrites? Are we blind guides? Are we a brood of vipers? I hope not. But if we are, we know exactly how Jesus feels about it.

2012 Day 70 – Mark 12

10 Saturday Mar 2012

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I love how verses 32 and 33 show the voice of reason coming out of one of the religious leaders after he asks Jesus what the greatest command is; “32 Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” what is even better was Jesus’ response in verse 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” It was almost like Jesus says, “Finally, someone has a clue!” The key is to remember that to love God with all our hearts is the Greatest Command. This means loving Him above all else; above career, friends, even family! Sometimes that is a hard pill to swallow.

2012 Day 69 – Matthew 22

09 Friday Mar 2012

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Today’s reading in Matthew 22 shows how much the religious leaders wanted to stump Jesus. Both the Sadducees and Pharisees worked very hard, but at ever turn Jesus had an answer. What stood out to me today was verse 22, “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” In this verse Jesus is making it clear that heaven is for real. God is the God of the living and not the dead. I love knowing that I will see the people I love once again in heaven. It brings me comfort and joy knowing that those who believe in Christ and His saving grace will be with me for eternity.