Well, Day 90 was actually about 10 days ago, but we celebrate today. Thanks to all of you who have taken this blessed ride with me. It has been a life-changing experience. As I was reading Revelations and had thoughts back to the OT prophecies, I knew I was making connections that I would not have made had I not read the entire Bible in such a condensed time period. I’m going to have to do this again, but not any time soon. Maybe next year. If you’re not finished yet, I encourage you to continue. We’ll be posting each week about our Bible-based healthly living plan and you can kee us updated with your progress.

Since the last post, we’ve read 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1-2 & 3 John, Jude and Revelation. That’s a lot of books but not really that many pages. I was still pretty impressed by the hearts of the letter writers towards the people they wrote to. That letter writing made me think of this blog. If blogs had the Internet had been around in Paul’s day, I can imagine him using it to keep in touch with the different churches. You know, I haven’t met many of you who visit and post but this blog allows us to encourage each other. We’re sorta doing what Paul and the other NT letter writers did. Sorta. Anyway, I feel priviledged to share with each of you and to have you share with me. I hope we continue to grow together.

The two scriptures I’ll share this week are perfect lead-ins to the healthy living challenge we’re starting tomorrow. I know I’ve read these before but they really struck me when I read them this time:

And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. – Tim. 2:9-10

And,

Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. -1 Peter 3:3-4

Neither of these scriptures is saying that women shouldn’t look their best. It’s not even saying that we shouldn’t wear things that make us look our best. Of course, we should. But we shouldn’t base our worth on that. 1 Timothy is saying that instead of drawing attention to ourselves by what we do to fix ourselves up or how we look, we should draw attention to ourselves because of our “the good things we do.” 1 Peter is saying that instead of being known because of how we dress and how we look, we should be known for the “unfading beauty” of our spirt.

I am encouraged by this because it puts us all on the same level playing field. Our society rewards physcial beauty and many times tolerates bad behavior in “the beautiful people.” God’s not like that. He created us all so we’re all beautiful to Him. We get His attention, not because of the way we look or the way dress but because of the way we live.

I’m going to keep these two scriptures in mind as I begin the healthy living challenge tomorrow. My goal is not to impress others by looking better, though I admit my upcoming class reunion does loom large in my mind. But I have to focus on making sure my spirit not only “looks good” but “is good” because that’s what people will see in the end.

That’s it for me. Let me know your thoughts. And don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

Has anybody finished the 90 Day plan yet? Had we stayed on schedule, we would have finished on Friday. As it stands now, we’ll finish this Thursday. It’s been a great ride, hasn’t it?

Since the last posting, we’ve made it through Acts, Romans, I Corinthians, 2 Corinthinans, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians and Colossians. Acts was wonderful as it is everytime I read it. Now that’s a book somebody ought to make into a movie! There’s so much action. It starts when the Holy Spirit falls on the believers on the Day of Pentecost and never lets up. What really struck me was that every kind of miracle that Jesus performed in the gospels, His disciples performed in Acts. Jesus was not there in body, but His work went on in full speed. It’s not suprising then that onlookers would would call His followers Christians, because they were like Him.

Then we move on to Paul’s letters. Reading those letters drove home for me what it means to be a minister: to love and care for the people that God has called you to serve. In those letters, Paul was clear to let the recipients know that his heart for full of love for them and hope that they would continue to walk in Christ. Yes, he challenged them, chastised them, and corrected them, but he also praised them, reminded them of who they were in Christ and let them know that he was pulling for their success. That’s a great model for a minister. He said something at the end of Phillipians that I had not noticed before:

As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness. At the moment I have all I need–more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen. -Phillipians 4:15-20

Here he’s telling the people that he doesn’t need them to send him anything; that his needs are met. Now that’s something. Paul probably could have gotten more from the Phillipians but he was clear to let them know that he didn’t need more. That’s a sign of trust in God to me because it goes against the tendency to store up for a future day. Paul had enough, and he clearly said it. Can you imagine a minister telling the congregation not to give money today because it wasn’t needed? It’s something to think about.

I’ll end on that note. Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

Has anybody finished the 90 Day plan yet? Had we stayed on schedule, we would have finished on Friday. As it stands now, we’ll finish this Thursday. It’s been a great ride, hasn’t it?

Since the last posting, we’ve made it through Acts, Romans, I Corinthians, 2 Corinthinans, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians and Colossians. Acts was wonderful as it is everytime I read it. Now that’s a book somebody ought to make into a movie! There’s so much action. It starts when the Holy Spirit falls on the believers on the Day of Pentecost and never lets up. What really struck me was that every kind of miracle that Jesus performed in the gospels, His disciples performed in Acts. Jesus was not there in body, but His work went on in full speed. It’s not suprising then that onlookers would would call His followers Christians, because they were like Him.

Then we move on to Paul’s letters. Reading those letters drove home for me what it means to be a minister: to love and care for the people that God has called you to serve. In those letters, Paul was clear to let the recipients know that his heart for full of love for them and hope that they would continue to walk in Christ. Yes, he challenged them, chastised them, and corrected them, but he also praised them, reminded them of who they were in Christ and let them know that he was pulling for their success. That’s a great model for a minister. He said something at the end of Phillipians that I had not noticed before:

As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness. At the moment I have all I need–more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen. -Phillipians 4:15-20

Here he’s telling the people that he doesn’t need them to send him anything; that his needs are met. Now that’s something. Paul probably could have gotten more from the Phillipians but he was clear to let them know that he didn’t need more. That’s a sign of trust in God to me because it goes against the tendency to store up for a future day. Paul had enough, and he clearly said it. Can you imagine a minister telling the congregation not to give money today because it wasn’t needed? It’s something to think about.

I’ll end on that note. Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

As you can see, we’re on Day 78 of the 88 Day Plan (or, Day 80 of the 90 Day Plan), meaning we’re about five days behind the official Bible in 90 Days Reading Plan. We’re going to gain some ground in the coming week, but it looks like we’re going to go over the 90 Days.

Since the last posting, I’ve made it through Mark, Luke and John. It was great reading them so closely behind each other. The repetition of events across the four gospels served to drive home a lot of points and aslo to highlight the differences in the presentations.

Reading through Mark, I was struck by number of healings that Jesus conducted. There seemed to be so many sick people who had no hope until Jesus. There was the man at the pool who couldn’t get in because people kept getting in front of him. I wondered why no one helped him, and then it occurred to me that people were probably trying to help themselves. Then there was the man who was dropped down from the ceiling so he could get ahead of the throng who was trying to get to Jesus. These people really needed help and Jesus was their only help.

As I read I wondered if modern medicine was a miracle in itself, thinking that we don’t have that many sick people today. Then it occurred to me that we did. We just don’t see them on the streets and out among us. They’re in hospitals, homes, other countries. Some of them could be healed with modern medicine, but many need a miracle that goes beyond medicine. Where is Jesus for those people? Something tells me He’s in us. So why aren’t we healing the sick? Something to think about.

In Luke, I was touched by chapter 18, verses 29-30:

“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you, everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, as well as receiving eternal life in the world to come.” -Luke 18:29-30 (NLT)

I always think of the heavenly reward in store for Christians, but not much about the earthly rewards. Here Jesus suggests that his disciples will be rewarded in this life and in the life to come. Does this imply material gain to you or spiritual gain or some combination? I’m going to have to ponder on this one.

In John, I smiled when I read the conversation between Jesus and his mother at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-12 (NLT)). For me it was such a typical mother-son exchange (except for the miracle part, of course), yet this was Jesus, our Saviour. How human He was!

Finally, I think the following conversation between Jesus and Peter sums up our lives as Christians:

At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you going to leave, too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life. We believe them, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” -John 6:66-69

I’ll leave you with those words. Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

As you’ve probably figured out, I’m a bit behind this week. I’ve just started Mark, which means I have some catching up to do. And just so you know, I feel guilty about it. I wanted to stay caught up. It actually felt good to stay on track. I sorta took pride in doing so, which should have been a big ole red flag. Duh? Now I take comfort in the scripture that Robin Lee Hatcher shared with those who may be struggling a bit on the 90 Day journey. It’s one many of you know very well:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1

So, if you’ve had a bit of a struggle on the journey, know that you’re not alone. Just don’t give up. Keep reading and, most important, keep enjoying the time that you spend with the Lord. I’ll stop beating up on myself now (you should, too) and move on to Matthew.

During the past week and a half, I probably listened to Matthew on CD three times and started reading it two or three times, before finally reading it all the way through with the feeling that I had gotten what God wanted me to get from it. I think I’ve figured out why I had so much trouble. I think it’s because Matthew is so familiar to me. So familiar that I wasn’t allowing it to minister to me as it should.

But once I allowed the Word to do its work, things changed. You know, I laughed and I cried as I read this book. I felt the deep love, concern and compassion that Jesus had for the people. He felt deeply their need for leaders who would guide them and meet their needs. He saw a big job before Him, and very few helpers to assist Him.

I also saw the cruelty of the religious leaders and the people who followed them. As they schemed against Jesus, I thought of the way they’d schemed against Jeremiah. The religious leaders really didn’t like people who had a close relationship with God. That was true then and it’s still true today. These words of Jesus to His disciples rang fresh in my heart:

“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wary as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and beaten in the synagogues. And you must stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. This will be your opportunity to tell them about me–yes, to witness to the world. When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say in your defense, because you will be given the right words at the right time. For it won’t be you doing the talking–it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. -Matt. 10:16-20 (NLT)

Boy, did those words speak to my heart! They were true for Jeremiah, John the Baptist and Jesus, and they’re true for us today. I take comfort in the knowledge that what we go through has a purpose: it provides an opportunity to be used by God as His witness on the earth. Even though I know this is true, I have to remind myself often because sometimes I get lost in what’s happening in my life and lose sight of God’s purpose. I know I’ve missed many opportunities to witness for Him because I was so focused on what was happening to me that I wasn’t open for Him to use me like He wanted. There’s nothing I can do about the past (remember that “no condemnation” from Romans 8:1), but I can pray, and ask you to pray, that I do better in the future.

What do you you think? What are you going through this week? What opportunity to witness has God provided for you in the midst of it?

Well, it’s the first week of March and we’ve made it through the Old Testament. By the end of the month, our journey through the Bible will be complete. It’s been a quick journey and I’ve wanted to meander a few times but I’ve managed to stay on course. Now I’m ready to go back and vacation in some of the books that visited briefly during our journey. I’ve said I’m starting with Psalms but I’m very tempted to start with the books of the minor prophets that we read this week: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The message that was driven home for me this week is what it means to be friends with God. The prophets served to make God’s thoughts, wishes, and warnings clearly known to His people. As I look back over the entire Old Testament, I don’t remember a single time that God kept a secret from His people, or set them up in an unexpected trap. Can you think of one? He always let them know what He was going to do before He did it. That’s what a friend does: a friend lets you in on his plans and his expectations; that’s exactly the way God operated in the Old Testament.

You know, I just thought of a possible exception: Job. That said, I don’t think Job takes away from the truth of God sharing with His friends. In Job’s case, God was so sure of Job’s heart that He didn’t feel a need to warn Job because He knew how Job would react. Again, an example of a close friendship. God acts in much the same way today. He’s let us know both what He expects of us as Christians and what we as Christians should expect from the world. We know this in a very general way, but many times He lets us in on the specifics. Can’t you look back on situations and see how God prepared you for them? I know I can so I’m sure you can, too. As Jesus told his disciples in John 15:15 (NLT):

I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

I’d like to thank those of you taking the journey with me. You have helped to keep me on track. Knowing that you were here waiting and willing to share with me each week was a source of motivation and encouragment. Knowing I didn’t want to let you down, I pushed through sometimes when I wanted to fall off. This push towards excellence that we give each other is captured in Proverbs 27:17 (NLT).

As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.

Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

Do you realize that in a few days we will have read through the entire Old Testament? Well, we’re almost there. We’re on Day 62 of the 90 Day reading plan. For those of you counting, you’ll notice that I’m behind a day. Well, I taught this again weekend, and didn’t read my entire allotment each day. I’m at Ezekiel 40 when I should be at Ezekiel 47. I may catch up today, but we’ll play it safe and keep the day at 62. Since the 90 program only has 88 days of readings, we’re still on schedule to finish reading the Bible in 90 Days. We lost one day the first weekend I taught and we lost one day this weekend; meaning we can’t miss any other days if we’re to remain on schedule.

Now on to this week’s reading of Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel. As I’ve read the Old Testament, I’ve tried to keep my focus on the Old Testament and not draw conclusions or make comparisons to the New Testament. I found it difficult to hold to that position as I read Isaish, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel. While the prophetic references to Christ in Isaiah were unmistakeble, Jeremiah and Ezekiel made me see Christ as well. With Jeremiah, it was his life. You know, the guy had a rough road to travel. All he did was speak the words the Lord and given him and people went crazy. They plotted against him, beat him up, and threw him in jail. All because he spoke the truth the Lord had given him to speak. As I read what they (here I”m talking Judah’s religious leaders, the priests) did to him, I saw a preview of how the religious leaders would treat Christ. It’s a reminder that the truth is not always welcome, even within the religious community. Sometimes, they really do “shoot the messenger.”

Now Ezekiel was sorta deep. As a man of visions and allegory, he had his own challenges. Anyway, things got really deep when the Lord told him his wife was going to die and he wasn’t to mourn her because he was to be an example to Judah how they were going to act when Jerusalem was destroyed. Huh? Yet Ezekiel didn’t question or balk; he was obedient.

These Old Testament passages really do spell out the cost of serving of God, even though it’s hard to imagine the price being so steep today, at least not in the US. Today’s prophets seem to get television shows and celebrity, while yesterday’s prophets were often ridiculed and persecuted. But I wonder if we heed the words of the prophets today any more than the people did back then. What do you think of this passage? Do you think it applies to us/people today?

“Son of man, your people are whispering behind your back. They talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors, saying, `Come on, let’s have some fun! Let’s go hear the prophet tell us what the LORD is saying!’ So they come pretending to be sincere and sit before you listening. But they have no intention of doing what I tell them. They express love with their mouths, but their hearts seek only after money. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t do it! But when all these terrible things happen to them–as they certainly will–then they will know a prophet has been among them.” -Ezekiel 30:30-33 (NLT)

Well, that’s it for me this week. Don’t forget to share with us what you’re learning.

It’s now early Monday morning which means I’m about a day late posting this week’s 90 Day Bible Challenge reflection. I had a pretty hectic week with an out-of-town conference and a short visit with my three nieces. Though I got a little bit behind in my reading, thanks to the Bible on CD that I keep in my car, I should be caught up tomorrow.

Now on to the readings. This week was Isaiah and Jeremiah. As I read (and listened to) these passages, I very much appreciated how fresh Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah were on my mind. Having read those books, I had a very good context from which to read and understand this week’s two books.

What was really clear to me in both books, but especially in Jeremiah, was how much God wanted relationship with the Israelites. He wanted to be good to them, to love them, to call them friend (yes, I’ve been listening to a LOT of Israel Houghton and New Breed), and to be their Father, but they wouldn’t let Him. I felt His frustration as He looked on His creation, the people He had chosen and saw them behaving so foolishly. I could almost see Him scratching his head and going, “Huh?” Well, maybe not exactly, but you get my drift.

He watched these people build their own dead and powerless gods and choose to serve them rather than Him. He wanted them turn to enemy nations for help, rather than turn to Him. Then, to beat all, he watched Judah continue on her path of destruction after seeing where that same road had taken Israel. Why couldn’t Judah learn from what happened to Israel? Beats me, and I get the feeling that God felt about the same way.

Then you have God giving them chance after chance (even 26 chances for you New Breed fans) to get right with Him and then finally having to let them have their way and receive the fruit of their destruction–capture and enslavement. This was certainly not God’s plan for them, but ultimately their choice for themselves. I won’t even go into the parrallels we see in our own lives as our personal choices lead us down paths that God never intended for us to travel. Yet, He is there to lead us out. Every time. Do you hear me? Every time.

What I saw this week so much was the love of God. Yes, there was His wrath, but that wrath was shrouded in His love. It made me realize how little I love God in comparison to the depth of His love for me. There is no comparison. The good thing is, He doesn’t want a comparison. All He wants is a people who will love Him and show that love by obeying Him. I want to be in that number. How about you?

Before I close, I want to share a scripture that caught my eye this week because it was a bit funny and a bit sad. Isaiah 4:1 (NLT):

In that day few men will be left alive. Seven women will fight over each of them and say, “Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us be called by your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.”

I don’t know if this passage was prophetic or not, but it stands as a strong commentary on relationships today. Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

Congratualtions! We’re more than half way through the Bible this week. I hope you all are enjoying this experience as much as I am. This week we read Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. You know, the reading of Psalms and Proverbs marked the first time since I’ve being doing the 90 Day Challenge that I’ve felt I rushed through the passages. I don’t know about you but I wanted to savor Psalms; I didn’t do it though because I also wanted to stay on schedule. The upside is that I’m already planning out Bible Studies I want to do once the Challenge is completed. Thanks to Geigh for the heads-up on a possible sudy guide. If you have other suggestions, let me know.

You won’t be surprised to know that the scriptures that stayed with me the most this week were from Psalms. First, Psalms 50:13-14 (NLT):

I don’t need the bulls you sacrifice;
I don’t need the blood of goats.
What I want instead is your true thanks to God;
I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High.

Do you remember back in Leviticus and Deuteronomy when God gave all the laws and the rules for sacrifice. Well, it seems pleasing Him was not in the sacrifices themselves but in the obedience. That’s still true today. There’s no substitute for obedience. Keith Green wrote a song a long time ago, To Obey is Better than Sacrifice, that I loved. It’s beautiful, sad and encouraging all at the same time. There’s not much to add to the sentiment of the song or the scripture since the meaning is pretty clear. I’ll just say, Ouch!

Second, Psalms 116:15 (NLT):

The LORD’s loved ones are precious to him; it grieves him when they die.

Then, there is the Kings James version of that same verse:

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

You know the notion of God grieving at the death of one of His loved ones is a new thought to me so the New Living Translation (NLT) was interesting to read. It certainly sheds a new light on how God looks at the death of His people. I can see Him thinking of it as “precious” like the KJV uses, but to think of Him grieving puts the matter in a whole new light. I wonder why the NLT translators chose the phraseology they did. If you know, please let us in on it by posting a comment to the post.

The NLT version suggests to me a value that God places on the time that we live here on earth that I had not really considered much before. Sure, our time here is getting us ready for eternity and eternity is much longer than the time we’ll spend here, but yet this time is valuable and precious to the Lord. So it should be valuable and precious to us. I’m going to have to ponder on this during the upcoming week. Let me know what you think.

Have a great week.

Well, it’s Day 42 and we’re almost half way through the Bible. Can you believe it? You know, I’ve tried the Bible-in-a-Year program and even the Bible-in-2-years program and I didn’t make it through either. I wonder why this more intense version has been so much easier? After spending a few days in Psalms, I’m already planning what I’m going to do at the end of the 90 days. You guessed it: I want to do a study of the Psalms; something that takes me through them in about a month. I’m beginning to think that short-term works better for me than long-term. So, if you know of any study guide for Psalms, or Psalms and Proverbs, that can be completed over a month’s time, let me know.

For this week, the thought that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go as I read Nehemiah, Esther, Job and the beginnings of Psalms was: None of this makes sense unless you believe in eternity; following God only makes sense if you believe in eternity. The fact is, we’re not promised an easy life here. Look at what Job went through, all because he was faithful to God. Our obedience is required but it doesn’t come with a pass on life’s calamities, though I sometimes wish it did. Only when we look at time in the space of eternity do we get the full grasp of ‘abundant life’ and ‘everlasting life’ as God means them. Something to think about, huh?

The scripture that tagged me this week was Psalm 33:13-15:

The LORD looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.
From his throne he observes all who live on the earth.
He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do.

I have a hard time understanding what some people do, so it’s nice to know God understands us all. Since He does, I’m going to stop trying to.

Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.