April 5th Bible in a Year Readings

Deuteronomy 28:1-68 + Luke 11:14-36 + Psalm 77:1-20 + Proverbs 12:18
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Old Testament - I love the blessings for obedience that open up our Deuteronomy chapter 28 readings today!  I actually first heard these read at a wedding several years back.  The best man in the wedding read these verses as a blessing to the bride & groom.  Somehow I missed the "obedience" to God's commands part of the blessing... Obedience is quite a word I think for Christians to consider.  I'm not sure that it is a popular word for us sometimes.  I do believe that we are called to obedience as followers of Jesus.  Jesus himself was of course obedient - obedient even to death on a cross.  Is there an area of your life where you feel God might be calling you to obedience?  Will you obey?  Below is a little obedience humor for you... :)

New Testament - Jesus' teaching in Luke chapter 11 verse 23 is so important for us to understand - "Anyone who isn't helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me."   How does this verse speak to you?  For me it convicts me.  Yeah, maybe for some of my time I am helping Jesus and the Kingdom of God, but I think there is a lot of time where I am not working with Jesus.  I am maybe indulging in some seemingly harmless trivial pursuits or material pleasures - but they aren't really working with Jesus.  And am I then, at those times, actually working against Jesus?  I don't know.  I want to pray on this more.  I do know that we are called to rest & relaxation in our lives - a time of Sabbath rest each week.  We don't have to be frantically seeking to "do" & serve Jesus 24 x 7.  But, I do think it's possible that we can live our lives more "intentionally" - meaning, examine the intent of why we do what we do.  And ultimately, is what we are doing with our time helping and working with Jesus?  Or is it not?  I think being intentional with our time and how we are spending our lives is so important...  because time flies as we all know.

Jesus' teaching in Luke chapter 11 verse 36 is powerful for each of us to consider! "If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight is shining on you."  That second little clause there I think is key - with no dark corners.  I'll admit that I have traveled through life with some dark corners.  And it is no way to go.  The dark corners do affect the Light really shining in you and through you - and the dark corners I believe can affect your relationship with God.  I pray that if you know you have a dark corner in your life, confess it to God and Jesus.  Pray for forgiveness and repent!  God will fill you with light - a light that will penetrate and remove those dark corners in your life.  But, you've gotta confess them & repent of them with God...   You know it's worth it.  To live a radiant life, as though a floodlight is shining on you is the only way to live!

Bible.org's commentary on Luke chapter 11's readings today titled "Evidence that Produced Various Verdicts" is at this link.

Psalms - Today in Psalm 77 verses 11 and 12 we read – “I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.” I think these verses get at one of the amazing things about each of us reading the One Year Bible this year – both the Old & New Testaments. We are reading perhaps for the first time – or maybe the 17th time – about God’s miracles of long ago. We are "remembering" God’s miracles for our spiritual ancestors, for ourselves, and for those around us in our lives today whom we will teach about God’s saving love. As you are reading through the One Year Bible this year, are you truly "remembering" God’s miracles of long ago? Are you meditating on all of His mighty works and considering His mighty deeds? Are you being transformed by this process? And will you now go forth and help others in your life "remember" and meditate on God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit’s miracles of long ago?  Let us pray for "remembrance" today for ourselves and for others in our lives. If very modern day post-it notes will help you remember God's miracles and will help you meditate on all of God's works, then by all means please use as many post-it notes as you deem necessary! :) 

Verse 11 of this Psalm brings up miracles.  Has anyone read C.S. Lewis's book Miracles?  I have not yet, but hope to soon.  Please post up a quick review in the Comments section below if you've read it?  Thanks.

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 12 verse 18 is such a strong reminder that the words that come out of our mouths can either build people up - and even heal them - or tear people down - "Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing."  Are the words coming out of your mouth these days cutting people or are they healing people?

Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of Josh Baldwin's song "Evidence:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgNIeTPXBq4

Do you see God's Evidence in your life? Click here for Evidence!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Proverbs 12:18 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray that the words of your mouth bring healing to others. Pray that you never have reckless words that pierce others like a sword. Pray that your words are wise.

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  Back to my Deuteronomy chapter 28 reflections on obedience - do you think about "obedience" very often when it comes to your relationship with God?  Do you think obedience is a very popular concept amongst Christians today?  Do you think there are blessings that come along with obedience?  Have you experienced blessings in your life because of obedience?  Conversely, do you think there are consequences to disobedience?  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Bible readings at this link.

p.s. #2 - Download a schedule of our Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.

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Comments

[Ramona]

Deuteronomy 28:1-68

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, 14 but the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.

Reading this chapter one can see that in the total number of verses, 68 with 14 (20%) dedicated to blessings and the remaining verses, all fifty-six of them (80%) focusing on the curses that will come upon you and overtake you if you don’t obey. WOW!

You can see why God constantly reiterates the Laws and the blessings of obey or the consequences of disobeying. Failure to listen carefully and take heed takes an enormous toll on the law-breaker and the descendents.

Let him who has ears to hear let him hear!

Luke 11:14-36
24 "When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, `I will return to the person I came from.' 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and clean. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before."

I’m not sure if my understanding and the application of that understanding is correct with this text but I see each and every person going through the Bible in a year with Mike as one who is filling their “home” with the Word of God so that the evil spirit that has been swept out of the house will not find it empty when it returns with his friends.

When we desire the Word of God more than our necessary food, I believe nothing but nothing can enter us that is not of God because there is no space for anything else to enter. Think “stuffed.”

Psalm 77:1-20

This Psalmist poured his heart out to God telling God what he thought, that he had been forgotten. But at each interlude or at each “selah” the writer takes time to reflect and then remembers what God has done in the past and states in the closing verse,
20 You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

This sets him up to raise the level of his expectation to receive from God.

So often we get caught up in the battlefield of living that we forget what God has done in the past. We forget that God doesn’t change and what He did then He will do now, for us. It is good to rehearse in our own hearing the things of God because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) This sort of ties into Deuteronomy 28.

Proverbs 12:18

I think this little Proverb must really be studied because this seems to say at first glance that if hurtful words are spoken they must be bad. The last word in the Proverb, in the NLT, is the word healing. Hmmm, I’ve been hospitalized, five times, two for childbirth, one to have an ovarian cyst removed, once for a bad spider bite that became infected almost to the bone, and once to have the procedure that Condoleezza Rice just had a couple of months ago.

Some of the procedures that had to be done to get to the problem were painful. When someone has open-heart surgery, they take a saw and cut through your chest, pull the back the bone they just cut through, and then work on your heart. The process to get to your heart can be more painful and more dangerous than what they have to do to your heart to fix it. In the hands of a skilled Physician the risk of surgery is decreased and the more the surgeon operates the more skillful he or she becomes. However, if the auto mechanic performs the operation, well, your dead.

I guess I’m saying that cutting remarks may not be so cutting if they are directed by the Holy Spirit to fix an underlying problem. There are words that have been spoken to me that caused great pain because the words spoken pointed to truth about myself that I didn’t want to deal with. Cutting to get to the truth always hurts.

All truth is confrontational, especially the truth about oneself. I think this Proverb is speaking about the motivation behind the words that are spoken into a person’s life and the life skills wisdom has given the speaker to bring healing with the use of their words.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Margaret Holland]

Really enjoying reading thru the Bible and reading the comments and so far keeping up and not getting left behind!

[Debbie]

Mike, you didn't mention the curses which Ramona has pointed out are 80%!! The Jewish people have experienced them over and over sadly. Job too experienced the boils from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. God wants us to serve Him "joyfully and gladly" or else. It's terrifying to be the Chosen.

[Debbie]

Just to add. God's laws were for the Israelites' benefit and for them to treat others well and fairly. It wasn't that onerous.