28 Thursday Feb 2013
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As we wrap up our reading in Leviticus (while I feel relief in completing it), I must remember these are not merely empty words of ridiculous instructions. These are standards for God’s people to live by. The wisdom and insight these words provide to the Israelites should be proof enough of a sovereign and loving God who provides everything we need whether we realize it or not.
10 Sunday Feb 2013
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Today is a very exciting day because we get to start one of the most exciting and powerful books of the Bible, Acts! This is such a powerful book because it is foundational to all believers. This is our heritage, it is the place where it all started for our faith. There is also a lot of controversy in this book. There are some things that believers, and non-believers alike, find difficult to accept. But, if you can get past all that, you can find this book to be a guide for what God intended us to be and do as a result of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. There is instruction, judgement, grace, and forgiveness in this book. Let us all strive to learn and apply the things this book means to teach us.
09 Saturday Feb 2013
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Proverbs 8:34 caught my attention today, Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. May we always be the ones who wait at the doorway of God for His instruction. The time we spend each day reading through His word is what is being talked about here. We are waiting at His doorstep for Him to open His words to us as we read. What a powerful picture this is to me.
05 Tuesday Feb 2013
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The last part of today’s reading in Exodus was a great reminder to keep the Sabbath. There are definitely some practical reasons to keep the Sabbath, such as restoration both mentally and physically. However, we must not forget that this is our weekly opportunity to be restored spiritually. Yes, we are to spend time with God daily, but without focusing and reflecting on God with deliberate intent, it is difficult to set the proper direction for our lives. The Sabbath should be our time to course-correct our path each week. It is no wonder that we arrive at a place sometime in the future and can’t figure out how we got there. The application of today’s reading for my life is to take the Sabbath each week to deliberately review where I’ve been and properly set my path for the coming week (not the coming year). It’s easy to set lofty goals, but if we cannot focus on the here and now, we will miss that mark every time.
11 Friday Jan 2013
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Today’s reading always makes me wonder how deception and sin could turn into God’s perfect plan. As I read the story of Jacob, I kept thinking to myself how wrong he was with the decisions he made. Then I realized that in the end, none of the things he ended up possessing came without a heavy cost. After all, the deceiver became the deceived when it came to receiving his bride(s). And while this man became the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, it did not come without great sacrifice and cost. Could it have been that the cost came because of the sins of the father? I have to believe that it did. For this reason I must always be careful with my actions and the downstream affect it will cause to my family. God’s grace is sufficient for me, but there are always consequences to the choices I make. I hope I always keep that in mind and work hard for the future of my family.
05 Saturday Jan 2013
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In today’s reading in Genesis, Abram shows wisdom and some foolishness throughout. He was foolish to not trust God in Egypt. Though I can empathize with his decision making, its easy to look at a situation and decide you need to protect yourself, but God wants us to trust in Him. God does everything for His honor and glory and we need to trust that He knows what is best for us in the light of eternity.
Conversely, Abram shows some wisdom when he responds to the King of Sodom in Genesis 14:22-23, 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ It would have been easy to accept the reward for Abram’s actions, but in the long run, the cost would not have been worth it. We can apply this wisdom in our lives as well by considering the cost of some of our decisions in life. Is it worth the cost of acquiring things such as wealth, notoriety, or relationships when we weigh it in the light of what should matter in our lives?
04 Friday Jan 2013
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The first time I read through all of this genealogy, I have to admit it was a bit boring. However, as I read it this time… it is still boring. In all seriousness, this is the story that sets the stage for everything else that happens in the Bible; including the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. The key to appreciating these parts of the Bible is to realize there are no insignificant parts. All this information is important. In the end, it all leads us through the story of imperfect humans who need the saving grace of a perfect God.
03 Thursday Jan 2013
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My big observation from today’s reading was actually made a while ago. When I first read through the Bible a few years back, I came across the story of Noah and realized that there really are no perfect men. If you read through the entire Bible you will see that everyone in it, with the exception of Jesus, had sin in their lives. Noah, the only man God chose to save from the flood, got drunk so drunk that he left himself exposed for the world to see (I assure you, even in my college days I never got THAT drunk!). But here he is; the man God chose to save, and he not only exposes himself, but he causes one of his sons to sin as well. The beauty of it all is that God knows we are Imperfect, yet His plan is perfect! The actions of Noah’s son Ham sets in motion the formation of the Canaanites. These are the same people who will develop the Promised Land the Israelites will later inherit. Don’t let the significance of the future impact of this story pass you by. No matter what happens in our lives, God is always in control and His perfect plan will be fulfilled.
01 Tuesday Jan 2013
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The reading in Genesis today made me thing of the time of Moses when it was written (since Moses wrote it). The way Moses describes everything God created is so literal. I love seeing the innocence and simplicity in his description of the complex world God created. As humans we like to have explanations for everything that is complex, but in reality, there is no explanation for a God who can create everything that is around us. Praise be to a God who made all of this for us.
In Psalm 1, the verse that stood out to me was verse 1, Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. We all make choices in life. We have the choice to listen to evil and half-truths or we can listen to what God has to say. God’s voice comes to us in many forms. Sometimes He speaks to us through the Bible and sometimes He chooses to speak to us through others. We must ensure we surround ourselves with people who are able to speak God’s truths into our lives.
31 Monday Dec 2012
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As I read this morning, I could not help but think of my wife. From verse 10 where it starts with, A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. She is an amazing woman who deserves to be praised in all she does. I am blessed!
Daily Devotion 