Read the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 18, 1 Chronicles 28-29
As David was nearing the end of his life, he wanted to equip his son and equip his people to continue worshipping God with their whole hearts and lives. What at your end-of-life goals?
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”
1 Chronicles 28:9-10 ESV
“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.”
1 Chronicles 29:11-13 ESV
What’s that LAST thing You Want to Say to your Children Before You Die? – FormerAtheist58
Take my Life and Let it Be – Norton Hall Band
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Read the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 17, 1 Chronicles 25-27
God is a God of order. He always has been and He always will be!
But, I’m a woman of chaos. Always have been… but by God’s grace He can change me to be more like HIM! Please, Father!
Father, help me. 🙏🏻 Please. 🙏🏻 Help me to be a good steward of my time, talents, treasure, and testimony. 🙏🏻 Help me to do things decently and in order. 🙏🏻Guide my thoughts, my steps, and my words and conform me into Your image. 🙏🏻By Your Grace and For Your Glory! Amen.🙏🏻
1 Chronicles 27:25-31 ESV — “Over the king’s treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel; and over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah; and over those who did the work of the field for tilling the soil was Ezri the son of Chelub; and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite; and over the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite. Over the olive and sycamore trees in the Shephelah was Baal-hanan the Gederite; and over the stores of oil was Joash. Over the herds that pastured in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite; over the herds in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai. Over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite; and over the donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite. Over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. All these were stewards of King David’s property.”
Read the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 16, 1 Chronicles 22-24
1 Chronicles 22:12-13 ESV — “May the LORD grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed.”
Read the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 15, 1 Chronicles 21
And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the LORD—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.”
Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.”
But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.
Read the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 14, 1 Chronicles 18-20
“Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” 1 Chronicles 19:13 ESV
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 2, Romans 13
Personally, I don’t often struggle with obeying America’s government authorities. I agree that I should obey the speed limit and make a complete stop at a stop sign. I agree that I shouldn’t steal or murder or lie in court.
My government allows me to freely worship and to teach my children all the ins and outs of our Christian faith. When I was a homeschooling parent, my state’s laws allowed me the freedom to choose any curriculum I believed to be appropriate for my children, and now as a director for a local LifeWise program, I’m honored to be able to help public school children learn the Bible even during hours with parental permission.
But what would I do if I lived in a nation that forbade such practices?
What if my country regulated what pastors were allowed to say from the pulpit?
What if my country said I wasn’t allowed to teach my children the Bible or take them to church?
What if my country banned prayer altogether, even a child’s silent prayer before eating lunch or taking a test?
What if my nation wouldn’t allow me to choose a private Christian school or a Christian homeschooling curriculum?
What if my government banned homeschooling altogether?
When would I say, “I must obey God rather than men,” (Acts 5:29) and refuse to submit to the government’s orders?
Many of our brothers and sisters in other nations are currently wrestling with these issues, and I’m afraid many of these issues are on the horizon for us as well. Please join me in prayer.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the freedom that we in America have enjoyed for hundreds of years, the freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth, the freedom to teach our children the Word with passion and conviction. I pray that we would make the most of this freedom while we have it. I pray that we would not give up meeting together, and that we would teach our children diligently, verse by verse and precept upon precept. I pray for our brothers and sisters in other nations who do not enjoy these freedoms. I pray that You would give them wisdom about when to submit and when to refuse. Help them to have genuine love for their enemies and to overcome evil with good. Help them to remember that Your Word is their most powerful weapon. Please, Father, fight their battles for them and shelter them under Your wings. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Romans 13:8-14 ESV
What do I think about night after night, day after day? Am I thinking about loving and obeying God or loving and obeying my own fleshly lusts?
Before coming to faith in Christ, sexual immorality was a normal part of my life, but by God’s grace those chains have been broken. But what about quarrelling and jealousy? What about selfishness and gluttony? What about laziness and pride?
Am I putting on Jesus Christ every morning, clothing myself with His righteousness? Or am I still walking in the lusts of my flesh?
Am I loving the Lord by loving my neighbor? Or do I simply “love me some ME“?
Again, the Word brings conviction and forces me to ask hard questions about how I’m living and where my treasure and pleasure are found – in Christ or in created things, in the Word or in the World?
Heavenly Father, You are my greatest treasure. Your Word is both convicting and comforting. I need Your help to live a pure, holy life. Please speak deep into my heart, that I would live for You and not for me, that I would follow You rather than my flesh. I know that Your ways are good and good for me. Please help me to trust You moment by moment and walk in the obedience of faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior. Amen.
Found It in Jesus – Stephen McWhirter and Matt Maher
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 1, Romans 12
“Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil;
hold fast to what is good.’
Romans 12:9
I love Romans 12. It’s so full of practical wisdom. I’d love to memorize all 21 verses in order, so I could remind myself of every ounce of it every time I needed it.
First, I need to be reminded that my body is a living sacrifice for God, that I might walk daily in the holy obedience of faith.
Second, I need to be reminded not to think of myself too highly, but to remember that my faith is a good gift from God, that I might serve Him by serving others in my teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and serving.
And then, I need to be reminded that my love must be genuine and sincere, free from hypocrisy, that I would hate what is evil and cling to what is good. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:6, Love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” Our culture says that we should applaud others’ choices, no matter what they are, but our Lord says that genuine love HATES evil and LOVES good.
And finally, I need to be reminded how to treat those enemies that genuine love will make, that I am not to repay wrong with wrong, but to overcome evil with good.
Light and love are our secret weapons in the fight against the evil one and those in his grasp.
Vengeance belongs to the Lord, not us. We are His servants, called to put on the full armor of God, to resist the devil and fight the good fight of faith. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, please help us to remember that we are Your soldiers, Your workmanship, Your children, Your servants, that we are in a battle between good and evil. Let us fight this battle well, with the sword of the spirit ready in our minds, mouths, and hands, overcoming evil with good by Your power at work in us. Let us not grow weary of doing good, knowing that at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart. In the Almighty and Good name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 29, Romans 9
In July of 1998, I found out I was pregnant with my second child. Our first daughter was two years old, and I was overjoyed that we were expecting again. Unfortunately, during a routine 12-week ultrasound, we discovered that our unborn son had a bladder obstruction. His bladder was as big as his head. This wasn’t good.
On September 10, the doctors attempted an in-utero procedure to place a stent to drain Tommy’s bladder into the amniotic sac, but the procedure was unsuccessful and four days later we found out that he had passed away in my womb.
When we first learned that Tommy had an obstructed bladder, I prayed for God to either heal him completely or take him quickly, but after losing him, I would have given anything for one more month or even one more day. I wanted to feel him move again in my empty womb anf see my belly grow big and round and full with him. I would have loved for him to grow big enough for me to bathe him and take his little handprints, even if I had had to do those things after he had died.
Friends, there is no better way or better time to lose your child. You are never ready for it. It all hurts.
But this devastating experience grew my faith exponentially. I leaned into the Lord and His Word like never before. I began praying and reading the Bible in earnest, and I learned to trust God like never before.
I ended up founding an online ministry and writing a book called A Child of Promise – part story, part Bible Study, part journal – for other moms and dads who found themselves in the position of carrying an unborn baby with a poor or fatal prognosis.
God used this pain not only for my own good, but also for the good of other hurting families. Like our reading in Romans 9, God is the trustworthy potter in each of our lives. He has mercy on those He wills, and He hardens those whom He wills. And all I can say is that I’m thankful for His sovereign, merciful hand that shaped both me and my son.
Heavenly Father, I know that You are good. I know that You are sovereign over heaven and earth. I trust You even when it’s hard. I pray for my hurting sisters. I pray that You will encourage them and fill them with Your supernatural peace that surpasses understanding. Be their calm in the storm. Hold their hand as they walk through the fire, and carry them when they can’t take one more step. I pray that Your Word would be a light to their feet and a light to their paths, pointing them straight to You. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 28, Romans 7-8
Giving birth to my stillborn son, Tommy, was a completely different experience than giving birth to my living children, not merely because the physical pain was less, but largely because there was no expectation of joy to come.
It’s hard to watch a mother in obvious pain as she groans and struggles in the pains of labor and childbirth, but the pain she’s experiencing is not without hope. That mother has hope during her pain because she knows that in the end she will hold a precious little bundle of love in her arms.
A few years ago I saw this definition of hope penned on a dry erase board in a friend’skitchen. “Hope – expectancy with desire.”
Hope – Expectancy with Desire
Expectation without desire is mere drudgery. Desire without expectation is just wishful thinking.
Expectation, combined with desire, puts fuel in our tanks and joy in our hearts. Hope enables us to keep pushing forward through the pain.
Dear sisters, hope is found in Christ. He is infinitely more exciting, and infinitely more certain, than any pot of gold you may be wishing for. All of creation is groaning today, but by faith in Christ, everlasting joy is coming. In this world we do indeed have trouble but we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. He has triumphed over sin and death. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, then you can be fully convinced that you will be raised from the dead, just as Christ was. This is our sure confidence and hope.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit, Till released from flesh and sin, Yet from what I do inherit, Here Thy praises I’ll begin; Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood; How His kindness yet pursues me Mortal tongue can never tell, Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face; Clothèd then in blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace; Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, Take my ransomed soul away; Send thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for the HOPE I have in Jesus, Your Son and my Savior. Lord Jesus, I’m looking forward to Your return with eager expectation and desire. In the meantime, may Your abundant mercy and grace bind my wandering heart to Thee.Amen.
Teach What is Good 
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