Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 19; Joshua 18-19
So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?”
Joshua 18:3 ESV
Heavenly Father, You, are my chosen portion and cup; You hold the lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance, because You are the sovereign Lord over the drawing of my lot.
Let me not delay in whatever task You have called me to do. If you’re calling me to faith in Christ, I pray that TODAY would be the day of my salvation, that I would not put it off any more. If you’re calling me to share the good news of the gospel with a friend or neighbor or family member, I pray that TODAY would be the day that I open my mouth and speak the words of eternal life. If you’re calling me to cook and clean and wipe bottoms and noses, I pray that TODAY and EVERYDAY I would work heartily at the high and holy calling of motherhood, serving You, Lord, and not men. Whatever it is that you’re calling me to, I pray that the journey would start TODAY and that I would continue FAITHFULLY by Your strength and direction.
Help me, Father, to remember that You are the God of small beginnings, and that You are the God who leads and guides and calls. In the Name of Jesus Christ my Lord, I pray. Amen.
Softly and Tenderly – Fountainview Academy
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 17; Joshua 14-15
Heavenly Father, Thank You for the example of Caleb who followed You wholeheartedly. I pray that You would give my children faith like his. Give them strength to stand alone, trusting in Your promises and in the truth of Your Word. Help them to be steadfast in the light of ridicule and persecution. Give them the courage to swim against the current, to stand out from the crowd – not in pride but in humble submission to Your holy, revealed will.
Please, Father, give each of my children a faithful friend like Joshua to walk the lonely path of righteousness with them and to lift them up when they stumble.
Lord, You hold my children’s lives in Your hands. You alone know the number of their days. Please bless them with long life, sustain them physically and spiritually, that they may testify to Your Great Goodness for many, many years, and someday, Lord, many years from now, bring them into the Promised Land of Heaven to live in Your presence for all eternity.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, the true Savior and Sustainer of Life, I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 11, Joshua 8
Joshua read every word to all the people, and so should we. (Joshua 8:35)
We need the Old Testament as well as the New. We need all the words, those that Moses wrote and those that Jesus spoke, those that David sang and those that Isaiah prophesied, those that Peter spoke simply and that Paul penned eloquently. We need them all.
Men as well as women, children as well as adults, those who grew up with the scriptures and those who are unfamiliar with them, everyone needs God’s Word.
I understand that there is value in making our children’s ministries age appropriate. Children benefit greatly from making crafts and dancing around while singing songs about Joshua and Jericho. But children also need to study the Word as God’s inspired, true, trustworthy Word – not some fairy tale on par with “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The Bible is more than a series of inspirational stories to teach our kids to be good and kind and helpful, not to lie or cheat or steal. The Bible is the bread of life, even for children.
Additionally, children have an incredible ability to memorize the Word. Would you rather your children memorize “Hop on Pop” and “The Cat in the Hat” or the 23rd Psalm and the Sermon on the Mount?
And let’s not forget that children have been created by God to receive with simple faith the words of their teachers and parents. Children absorb truth (and lies) like thirsty sponges. Would you rather train your children to believe in tooth fairies and boogie monsters or the Holy Trinity and the miracles of Christ?
Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Proverbs 30:5 ESV
Proverbs 30:5 is a great verse for you, your husband, your children, your neighbor, and every person the Lord God created, to hide in their hearts.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word, that we might know You, what pleasing You and what displeases You. I pray that You will use me as an agent of Your glory and grace, guide me by Your Spirit, and shod my feet with the shoes of the gospel of peace. Help me to have childlike faith myself and to share the good news faithfully with all those whom You place in my path today, whether man, woman, or child, whether lifelong Christ-lover or lifelong Christ-hater. Give me the desire and the power to I love my neighbor as myself. In the Name of Jesus Christ who came to seek and save the lost we pray, Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 5; Joshua 1
Growing up, I fought a persistent battle with fear, especially fear of death. As an atheist, my life was the mere result of random chance. I thought I was the master of my own fate, and I knew I was not a very good master. I was just one of five billion people in the world, weak in both the physical and moral sense of the word.
Fear is the natural by-product of a lack of faith in a good, all-powerful God.
As God prepares Joshua for his new job as leader of the Israelite nation, God is so kind to remind Joshua that He is going with him and that He is a promise-keeping God.
Friends, if you are a child of God, God is with you, too. He will not leave you or forsake you. He is with you WHEREVER you go. But you need to be strong and courageous to do the things He has called you to do.
If he wants to reach the Promised Land, Joshua will have to step into the rushing Jordan River. Likewise, if you want to follow God, you will have to take that first step of obedience.
That first step is often the scariest. Speaking up when it’s easier to be silent. Knocking on a new neighbor’s door. Saying goodbye to a boyfriend who’s no good for you. These are hard things, but if we never take that first step we will never see where the road leads. And taking that first scary step is oh so much less frightening when you know that the Lord has called you to it, and that He is with you.
I’m praying for you.
Heavenly Father, please help us to take that first step of obedience, to strike out into the unknown. Help us to be strong and courageous, believing without a doubt that You will never leave us or forsake us, that You are with us wherever we go. Please guide us by Your Holy Spirit. Convict us of our sin, our sins of unbelief, cowardice, and complacency. Help us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. For the glory of Your Name, and in the power of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 3, Deuteronomy 31-32
And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.
“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.”
So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.
Deuteronomy 31:16-22 ESV
In reading Deuteronomy 32, the song of Moses, don’t forget these words from Deuteronomy 31. This song has purpose, as all songs do. Songs have the power to drill words deep into hearts. I can recite word for word songs from my childhood and my teenage years even though I haven’t heard them for years. How about you?
What songs are your kids listening to?
What songs are you listening to?
What music is playing in your car? In your home? In your mind?
What songs do you sing at church on Sunday mornings? Are they rich? Are they lovely? Do they draw your heart to worship the Lord and do they teach timeless truths?
If you’ve been reading my blog regularly, you’ll know I share a song to go with our scripture reading every day. I’m so very thankful that the Lord gave us the gift of music – that we can give it back to Him, but also that we can have a song reverberating in our own hearts and minds as we go throughout our day.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us the gift of music. We want to give it back to You. We want to worship You in song. With words and with musical instruments, we pour out our praise and our griefs before You. Help us pay careful watch to the music that we’re putting in our mouths and our minds. We want to memorize whatever is true and lovely and good and excellent and praiseworthy. We don’t want ugly songs stuck inside our heads. Please, Lord, prick our hearts with these words from Your Scriptures today and help us to be careful how we walk. In the Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) – Shane and Shane
There is a Fountain Filled with Blood
1 There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains: Lose all their guilty stains, Lose all their guilty stains; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. 2 The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day; And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away: Wash all my sins away, Wash all my sins away; And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away. 3 Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power, Till all the ransomed ones of God Be saved, to sin no more: Be saved, to sin no more, Be saved, to sin no more; Till all the ransomed ones of God, Be saved to sin no more. 4 E’er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die: And shall be till I die, And shall be till I die; Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die. 5 When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave, Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save: I’ll sing Thy power to save, I’ll sing Thy power to save; Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 30, Deuteronomy 26
The Lord has brought the people out of their slavery in Egypt, and now He is bringing them into this blessed land flowing with milk and honey. The commanded response, as well as the logical response of gratitude, is to offer back to God some of the fruit of this land – and not just any of the fruit, but the first fruits. Giving first fruits demonstrates faith and dependence on the Lord.
But, if I’m honest with myself (and with you), I must confess how stingy I am with the gifts that the Lord has given me, whether my time, my talents, my treasures, or my testimony. I treat these things as though I have earned them, not recognizing that they are gifts from God, given to me to give back to Him and to share with others. The Lord has blessed me that I might be a blessing to others.
How about you? Is gratitude your normal response to life? Are you living in a place of surrender to the Lord? Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, I pray that I would have a heart overflowing with gratitude for all that You have given me. Truly, what do I have that I haven’t been given? Where would I be today if You hadn’t led me by the hand every step of the way? Now, today, I offer back to You the first fruits of my labor. My children, my home, my work, my mind and mouth and money, are Yours. I give them back to You as an offering of praise. They are Yours. They were given to me by You, and now I again give them back to You, laying them down, prying my fingers off of them, leaving them on the altar of Your Holy presence. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 28, Deuteronomy 22-23
I’m prone to losing stuff. At least once a week, I can’t seem to find my keys, my purse, my sunglasses, or whatever. Usually the items are lost in my home, but sometimes I lose something when I’m out somewhere, most often my purse.
When I was younger (like, less than 40 ☺️), I forgot my purse in the grocery cart with remarkable regularity. I’d like to say I’m more careful than I once was, but I’m afraid that the real reason is that I rarely go shopping anymore, preferring the convenience of grocery pickup or delivery.
Well, anyway, it seems I’ve passed on my forgetful genes to my youngest son (and at least one of his siblings). For example, I remember one summer when said youngest son was playing basketball with a friend in our church parking lot. He took his wallet out of his pocket and carefully set it on the cement light pole for safe-keeping, fully intending to replace it in his pocket when the game was done.
You know how the story ends, don’t you? Several hours later, when he was getting ready to head to work, he discovered his wallet was missing, and, in fact, he couldn’t even remember where it was. Thankfully, after making some phone calls and driving around town a while, I recovered his wallet from the church parking lot without a hitch, and not even a dollar missing. 🎉🎉🎉
Which brings us to today’s passage, Deuteronomy 22:1-4,
“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.”
Deuteronomy 22:1-4 ESV
Join me in praying, “Heavenly Father, if I find someone’s lost wallet or purse or dog, please help me to go the extra mile to restore it to him, even if it’s inconvenient.”
And suddenly I remembered the parables that Jesus told as recorded in Luke 15, the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:8-10 ESV
Friends, as much as we should seek to restore our neighbor’s lost wallet, how much more should we seek to restore a lost soul. A lost human is of infinitely greater worth than a thousand lost sheep or a million lost wallets.
What is more valuable to you, your neighbor’s stuff or your neighbor’s soul?
Heavenly Father, You are my greatest treasure. You are worth more to me than all the money in the world. Help me to love my neighbor as myself. Help me to love my neighbor’s children as I love my own. Help me to be faithful to love what You love, to be about my Father’s business of seeking and saving the lost. Please forgive me, Lord, for not making the most of every opportunity because of my own selfishness. Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours. I love You, Lord. Thank You for Your love for me, for chasing me down and running to me with open arms. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer I pray. Amen.
In the Valley (Bless the Lord) – City Alight, featuring Sandra McCracken
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 24, Deuteronomy 16
As I wrote about yesterday, I grew up the younger of two daughters to a hard-working mother and father. My mom went back to college to finish her degree when I started kindergarten, and then she started working full time. In spite of her long hours at work, she was still determined to serve a home-cooked meal for dinner every night. No McDonald’s drive thru or frozen pizza for us. Mom served us pork chops and potatoes or chicken breasts and stir fried vegetables, even after a long day’s work.
Likewise, my sister and I were expected to work hard, too. We had our own responsibilities around the home: washing our laundry, setting the table for dinner, unloading the dishwasher, taking care of our pets, and doing our schoolwork to the best of our ability. My parents didn’t tolerate laziness. We were capable of getting A’s at school, so A’s we should get. The thought of skipping an assignment or not studying for a test never even entered my mind.
Fast forward forty years to my life today.
There are so many conveniences – and so many entertainments – available, it’s become increasingly hard for me to really work hard.
Who needs to clean house and cook dinner? There are housekeepers and restaurants for that.
Who needs to plant and tend a garden? I can buy whatever I need at the store.
Who needs to go to the library or the grocery store? I’ve got the world wide web and grocery delivery at my fingertips.
Hence, I no longer feel the need for a time of rest, like the Lord gave to His people. The Lord knew how strenuous their days were, and He commanded them to set aside days for feasting and resting.
But, wait, I can just hear you saying, “Don’t you look forward to your annual vacation at the beach?”
Why, Yes. Yes, in fact, I do! I treasure those holidays spent watching the sun rise with my Bible open on my lap, meditating on the Lord’s words and listening to the waves’ quiet melody. But, to be honest with you, I don’t need a holiday like the Israelites did, and I’m afraid some of that is because almost every day for me is a holiday of sorts.
Ice cream and brownies aren’t only for birthdays.
Watching a movie isn’t only for that one special Saturday night in the summer when everyone piled into the station wagon and went to the drive-in.
Going out to dinner with my husband is a regular occurrence, not just a twice a year event reserved for Valentine’s Day and our anniversary.
In light of all this, I’m trying to be more conscious to fill my days with work. My work might be writing this blog or creating a YouTube video. My work might be studying and teaching a Bible study. My work might be embroidering a gift for my daughter or being a listening ear for a hurting friend, but I need to work. I need to make the most of the time God has given me.
I want to number my days that I may have a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
Maybe you can’t relate to this post at all. Maybe your days are “filled to the gills” with work – in the home and outside the home. Then, my words to you are these: Great! Good for you! God designed His people to work hard! God gave us the sun to light our days, and He gave us the soil to grow our food. God wants us to be diligent like the ant. But don’t forget to rest and feast. God also gave His people a weekly sabbath rest and annual times for dedicated resting and feasting. He designed us to need them, that we would have time to renew our minds and bodies, and that we would remember Him and be grateful for all we have.
Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV — Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV — Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Psalm 39:4 ESV — O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
Heavenly Father, I’m your child, and I want to be about Your business. I’m thankful for all that You have given to me, and for all that You have given me to do. You have created me for a good purpose, and You have good works that You want me to accomplish. Help me to be faithful and diligent with the time that You have given to me. Help me to work hard and to rest well with a grateful heart. Make me a good steward of my time, talents, treasures, and testimony. For the glory of Your Name I pray. Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 18; Deuteronomy 5-6
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
I like to begin my days with my own time in the Word. This means early mornings, but it’s so worth it. Rising before the sun starts my day off right and helps to set my mind on heavenly things. Then, as I go throughout my day – teaching English online, vacuuming, washing dishes, doing schoolwork, going for a walk in my neighborhood – my thoughts often return to what I read that morning or that week.
In praying about what to write today, I was reminded of Luke 6:45b ESV, “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” If my heart is full of grumbling, my mouth will be full of complaints, but if my heart is full of gratitude and wisdom, my mouth will be, too. I can’t speak of the Lord’s goodness, if I don’t in my heart believe that He is good. I know how much I need the Lord to renew my heart and mind daily. I know how prone to wander that I am. If I miss even one day with my Savior, I can feel it in my spirit.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:26 ESV
The only way for your tongue to speak wisdom and kindness is for your heart to be full of the wisdom and kindness found in the Word of God. Start there for yourself, and let your heart overflow into your children as you rise and sit and walk and lie down day after day. Just like you would casually tell your children about what you bought that day at the store or about that friend you ran into that day at work, share with your children what you learned that day in the Word or in the circumstances of your daily life.
Your children need the wisdom that comes from living. Let your successes – and your failures – guide them to the path of life in Jesus.
Heavenly Father, help me to sit at Your feet each and every day, day after day soaking in Your Word and Your presence. Draw me close to You that my life and my mouth may overflow with love for my children. May my mouth be full of wisdom and kindness. May my eyes be gentle and bright. May my ears be attentive and compassionate. May my mind be fixed on things that are above and not on the things of this earth. Help me to remember that this earth and its tribulations are passing away, while the unseen things are eternal and weighty. Fill my heart with Your love. Fill my mouth with Your Word and Your words. Help me to live for what matters. Give me the strength to love my children as myself, to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Make me Your mouthpiece, teaching truth diligently to my children – from the time they awake until they go to sleep – for the glory of Your Name and for the good of Your kingdom. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 17; Deuteronomy 4
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.’
Deuteronomy 4:9 ESV
There is truly no greater joy in my daily life than sitting next to my son, reading and discussing the Bible together. If God has given you children, He wants you to teach those children about Him. Is this a struggle for you? It was for me. I’d love to help.
First, I suggest you consider what roadblocks are getting in your way.
Are you or your children too busy? Do you not have even thirty minutes a day together at home?
Do you have a tense, angry, disrespectful relationship with your children? Do you struggle even just being in the same room with each other or talking for more than a few minutes?
Do you not have your own personal time in prayer and the Word?
Is your husband opposed to you sharing your faith or teaching your children about God?
Different struggles have different solutions.
If you’re overcommitted with extra curricular activities, or spending too much time on schoolwork, housework, or office work, you’ve got to find a way to rearrange your schedule. Get up earlier. Drop a club. Turn off the TV or put away the phone.
If you can’t stand your children and they can’t stand you, humbly approach them and ask for a do-over. Cut out of your life what’s stealing your focus and pay attention to your children. Play some games together. Cook a nice meal together. Listen. Hang out. Speak encouraging words. Show them that they matter to you. Ask them how you can pray for them and then do it.
If you’re not having your own time with the Lord, why would your children? Don’t expect from others what you’re not doing yourself. Your children won’t see the need for prayer and Bible study if you don’t. Reading the Bible isn’t a school subject. It’s an intimate, genuine, personal relationship with the author of the book.
If your husband truly has forbidden you from speaking to your children about God and your faith, this is a very difficult subject. Pray, sister, pray. Humbly petition the Lord to change your husband’s heart. Follow the words of 1 Peter 3 and have a gentle, quiet, meek spirit toward your husband and watch what the Lord does. Get help from your local church body leaders and look for open doors.
After considering the roadblocks and seeking to overcome them, then you’ve got to just start. There will never be a perfect time. Satan will try to keep you discouraged and flustered until the day your kids are grown and gone.
Pick a song and sing together. Singing helps reorient your mind and heart to the Lord.
Next, pray for the Lord to speak during your time together in the Word.
Then read a few verses or even a chapter or two together. If your child can read, let them read. Encourage them. Praise them. Sit next to them. Look them in the eyes and listen to every word they want to share.
After you read together, ask them what their favorite verse was and tell them yours. Have them write that verse down in a journal or in the margin of their Bible, and you do the same.
Finally, pray together. Pray for each other. Pray for your neighbors and friends and family. Pray for your country and for our world. Enjoy your time together. Make it the highlight of your day.
Dear friends, I don’t want to guilt you into teaching your children about God. Rather, I want to come alongside you and encourage you. God is good and He wants to bless you through your children and bless your children through you. I’d love to hear how it goes!
Heavenly Father, You know the desires of my heart, whether they are pure or selfish. I cannot hide from You. Please, turn my heart to love what You love and hate what You hate. Show me where I’m listening to the world instead of the Word. Show me where I’ve erected idols that are coming between us. I need Your guidance to train up my children in the way that they should go. Help me to keep my own soul diligently, that I might teach my children diligently. For Your glory and our good I pray. Amen.
Psalm 106:1 (Official Video) – Praise the Lord – The Corner Room
Teach What is Good 
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