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
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 12; Philippians 2
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
Philippians 2:19-22 ESV
When you read this did you notice how Timothy is concerned not for himself, but for others, and that this is why Paul says Timothy seeks not his own interests, but those of Jesus Christ?
Dear sisters, I’m again reminded that serving others IS serving Christ.
I can serve the Lord by serving my husband breakfast. I can serve the Lord by listening attentively to my children as they tell me about their day. I can serve the Lord by washing dirty dishes and dirty socks. I can serve the Lord by chatting with a stranger in Walmart.
Who is the Lord calling you to serve today? How can you glorify God by being concerned for someone else’s welfare today? I’d love to pray for you. Leave me a comment below.
Heavenly Father, help me to look to the needs of others rather than myself. Help me to love You by loving my neighbor. I want to serve You, so give me the strength to serve the people you’ve made. Give me a humble heart toward You, so I can have a humble heart toward the people around me. This is only possible by Your grace. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Loving God, Loving Each Other – Fountainview Academy
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Read through the Bible in a Year: Proverbs 8; Philippians 1-4
As our children grow and even start families of their own, our role as prayer warrior grows, too!
Do you have children? Grandchildren? Make it your ambition and joy to pray for them.
Heavenly Father, I lift my family before You. Bless them with Your grace and peace. Make us partners in sharing the gospel. Begin – and complete – Your good work in them. May their love abound more and more day by day, with all knowledge and discernment, that they may know what is excellent and true, and so be found pure and blameless when Christ returns. I pray that they will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of Your name.
I pray that they will have confidence and boldness to share the truth of the gospel without fear. May the manner of their lives be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether we are together or apart, help us to stand firm in one spirit, having one mind, that we might strive mightily and fearlessly side by side, spreading the good news of salvation by faith wherever we go.
I pray that each member of my family would be humble in heart and mind, free from selfish ambition or conceit, looking out not only for their own interests, but also for the interests of others, counting others more significant than themselves. Make them into the image of Christ who humbled Himself from the beginning to the end of His life.
May they do all things without grumbling or complaining, children of God without blemish, shining brightly in the midst of a dark, twisted world, holding fast to the Word of Life.
I pray that they would rejoice in the Lord in all things, forgetting the things that lie in their past, and pressing on toward Jesus Christ, their greatest treasure and prize. Keep their lives from anxiety, worry, and fear. May they be filled with gratitude, praying always and about everything, that Your perfect peace will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
I pray that their lives would be kept free from idolatry, that their minds would be fixed on eternal matters and that they would remember that their citizenship is in heaven. Help them to be discerning and to think about what they’re thinking about. Teach them that great secret of contentment, so that they can be joyful in plenty or in want, for they trust that they can do whatever You’ve called them to do through Jesus Christ who gives them strength. Supply their every physical and spiritual need according to Your immeasurable riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Finally, Father, I pray that I might be a godly example for them, that they might put into practice what they have learned and heard and seen in my own life. Make my life a fragrant offering, a living sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to You. You are worthy.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and our Lord, I pray. Amen.
Philippians Chapter 1 – IC The Garden
Philippians 4 – Celebrate God – Project of Love
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 6, Numbers 35-36
“These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there. But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.” – Numbers 35:15-18 ESV
Intent matters. God knows our hearts. He knows our intentions. He knows when we mean to be mean. He knows when a day’s stewing has turned into an evening’s spewing, and He knows when a harsh word was spoken thoughtlessly with no ill will.
And yet, even accidents have consequences and penalties. Like Jesus said, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,” (Matthew 12:36 ESV)
You can’t unsqueeze an orange, and you can’t put toothpaste back into the tube.
Running a stop sign because you’re replying to a text or speeding down the highway because you’re late for work, cursing at your son or screaming hateful words at your husband, can have life-altering effects for you and others. Let’s be careful stewards of how we live and how we speak.
Heavenly Father, Help us to be good stewards of every breath and every minute You give us. Give us the strength and wisdom we need to think before we speak or act. Let us not murder in our thoughts, words, or deeds. Let us not revile in return, but rather help us to overcome evil with good. Let us fight fire with the living water of Your word. Help us forgive others, remembering how much we have been forgiven. May we be holy as You are holy. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, we pray. Amen.
Jesus Paid it All – Joey & Rory
Part 1 of a 5-part series on “Reviling”
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I just loved reading Numbers 32 about how Moses handled this situation with the people of Gad and Reuben who wanted to stay on the east of the Jordan rather than crossing over.
Moses explained how he felt.
Moses remained calm.
Moses asked questions.
Moses shared his own personal experience.
Moses didn’t hide his faith.
Moses listened with an open mind to the other side of the argument.
And as a result, Moses helped everyone come to a mutually agreeable, God-honoring compromise.
Lord, I want to be a Peace-maker … not a Peace-faker – burying my head in the sand and letting bitterness fester in my heart … not a Peace-breaker – making selfish demands, storming and sulking, spewing angry words like lava. Help me to know when to speak up and when to guard my mouth with a muzzle. Help me to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to be angry. I want to be Your servant, correcting my opponent with gentleness and respect, pursuing peace, being an ambassador for Your kingdom rather than my own.In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, I pray. Amen.
I hope you’ll check out Ken Sande’s book The Peacemaker and his new ministry “Relational Wisdom 360” (RW360) for wise, practical help in being a peacemaker.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 140; Numbers 6:22-8:26
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 ESV
As Aaron and his sons prayed this over the people of Israel, I want to pray this over my family and nation. Will you join me?
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would bless my husband, my children, my grandchildren, and my nation with Your wisdom and peace. Guide them in the way that they should go. Protect them from the deceitful schemes of the evil one. Give them discerning spirits to recognize what is good and what is evil and grant them wisdom to choose that which is good.
I pray that Your face would be turned toward them, and that their hearts would likewise be turned toward You. Be gracious to them, Father. Pour Your love upon them according to Your steadfast love and mercy. May Your goodness shine gloriously upon them and out of them, that the nations of the world would be drawn to faith in Your Son.
I pray that You would smile upon them, filling their hearts with joy, hope, peace, and purpose, that they would know that You have good plans for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them. May they follow You all the days of their lives, acknowledging You in all their ways. Please, Father, make their ways straight – not crooked or deceitful or false, not devious or evil. May they not be ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first but also to the Gentile.
Finally, Father, I pray that the peace which surpasses all comprehension would guard their hearts and their minds in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the only path to peace. He is the Only Way to You, Father. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His blood is the covering that we need to be reconciled to You, Lord. His blood is the way of redemption. May they have peace with God and peace with man, peace in their hearts and peace in their homes. And may this peace draw them to worship You and tell others about You.
In the Holy, Almighty Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
CLICK HERE TO PRAY WITH ME ALOUD – VIDEO LINK ON YOUTUBE.
“The Lord Bless You and Keep You” Acappella Hymn – SE Samonte
“May the Lord Bless You” – Sing through the Bible
“The Lord Bless Thee” Scripture Song – Keep the Word
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 139, Numbers 5:1-6:21
Growing up my dad and my grandfather were both lawyers, I participated in mock trial and debate, and I watched countless episodes of Judge Wapner presiding over “The People’s Court.” 😄 I saw the importance of having a good judge as well as good witnesses and good evidence. The judge could only rule so far as the witnesses and evidence proved the case. Without good witnesses and good evidence, you couldn’t win.
In reading the very strange passage in Numbers 5 about how a jealous husband was to prove his wife either innocent or guilty of adultery, I was reminded of how often men and women simply don’t know what is true. In the case of adultery, there will always be at least one witness – the man or woman who you are with – but there is also another witness: God. We may not know what someone else is up to behind closed doors or in the dark of night, but we can trust beyond a shadow of a doubt that God does.
God knows the secret thoughts of our hearts, and God knows the secret deeds of our bodies.
Is that scary to think about? Yes, frankly, it is. But it is also so very freeing. I don’t need to snoop through my husband’s online history or the pockets of his pants. I don’t need to dig through his trash or his wallet. I don’t need to track his driving history or figure out his whereabouts every minute of the day. Why? Because God always sees him, even when I don’t.
God is not only the perfect judge, He is also the perfect witness. He can judge perfectly, because He knows everyone’s heart and everyone’s motives, everyone’s thoughts and everyone’s actions. He can place blame with perfect righteousness and justice because He knows exactly what happened. He knows who said what. He knows the way of escape that He provided. He knows how your conscience was pricked. He knows it all.
If your life has been touched by the sins of fornication, lust, and adultery, then you know how far-reaching their tentacles can spread. As is often the case, the sins of others can lead you to into the snares of sin in your own life – the sins of bitterness, anger, jealousy, suspicion, manipulation, and the list goes on. Let me encourage you with the words of Peter, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling with reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9) and the words of Paul, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
I pray that we would take the higher road, the road of blessing and good, that we would live the more excellent way, the way of love. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not proud; it is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)
I pray that we would be like the model wife of Proverbs 31, that our husbands could truly trust us because we are faithful to do them good and not harm all the days of our life, that strength and dignity would be our clothing, that we would be able laugh at the times to come because we have such great faith in God. I pray that we would open our mouths with wisdom and that the teaching of kindness would always be on our tongues. (Proverbs 31:10-11, 25-26)
I pray that we would be 1 Peter 3 wives, bravely being subject to our own husbands, so that even if they do not obey the word, they might be won without a word by our respectful and pure conduct. I pray that our radiant beauty would come from the inside out, that the imperishable beauty of a gentle, quiet spirit would glow from within us. I pray that we would be holy women whose hope is in God, faithfully doing good and not fearing anything that is frightening.
Dear sisters, someday your boyfriend, your husband, your sons and daughters, will appear before the judgment seat of God. Someday their secret things will be judged. Someday what was hidden in the dark will be brought into the light.
But that isn’t only true for them; it’s also true for us. Our hearts and our lives will be laid bare before Him, too.
What will He find there? What will He unearth in our hearts? What will He witness in watching how we chose to live our lives?
Will He find bitterness, wrath, envy, and jealousy … or peace, faith, hope, and contentment?
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, You are the perfect judge, and You are the perfect witness. No one is hidden from your sight. Someday everything hidden will be brought into the light. I pray that my faith would be in You and not in me. I am so weak, Lord. I am so prone to wander, to leave the God I love. Help me, please. I need You. Give me Your strength. Help me to overcome evil with good because You are good and I am Your child. Help me to repay wrong with blessing because that is the example that You gave to me, that You loved me while I was yet a sinner. Help me to go and do likewise. Guide me step by steap in the way that I should go. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Brother, my Friend and Lord, I pray. Amen.
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
– Psalm 139:1-12 ESV
“They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”
– Romans 2:15-16 ESV
“Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
– 1 Corinthians 4:5 ESV
“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 ESV
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””
– Revelation 21:6-8 ESV
“”Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
– Revelation 22:12-17 ESV
Check out my video podcast from today’s lesson on YouTube.
Jesus, Our Judge and Our Savior – Sovereign Grace Music
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 119:161-176, Leviticus 25-27
“And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.”
Leviticus 25:10 ESV
My parents bought the house I was raised in when my sister was three and I was just a baby. They sold it when I got married.
I hadn’t been back to visit my hometown in almost two decades, but shortly after turning fifty, I had the opportunity to go back. Some of my neighbor’s homes had a fresh layer of paint, and the state capital building’s dome had a fresh layer of gold leaf, but underneath not much had changed.
The skywalks connecting the downtown buildings still shielded pedestrians from the Iowa cold. Huge piles of snow still rested in the corners of parking lots. The familiar Arby’s sign still stood beside East 14th street.
It was good to go back and remember what things used to look like, because it helped me remember how greatly other things in my life have changed since I grew up in that big old white house.
God has blessed me with four children on earth and two more in heaven.
I’ve lived in five different houses and three different states.
I’ve written books and recorded videos and shared the gospel with hundreds of people.
I’ve traveled to China and Hungary and Russia and Mexico.
My oldest two children have gotten married.
I’ve become a grandmother.
And more important than any of these incredible things, God has given me Himself. He has saved me and transformed me from an evangelical atheist to an evangelical Christian.
50 years
I remember when I celebrated my own year of Jubilee. Fifty trips around the sun. My year of Jubilee was hard in many ways. I was diagnosed with kyphosis and osteoporosis. I began seeing a physical therapist to help my posture, and I suffered my first broken bone – a stress fracture in my right foot.
But it was also very good. Trials bring growth. I’m learning that secret of contentment – that Jesus is my strength and that I need to rest in Him. I’m learning to lean on Jesus – rather than trying to do it all on my own. I’m learning to be faithful. I’m learning that my worth is not in what I do, but in who I am and who I belong to.
Have you celebrated your year of Jubilee yet? Jubilee or not, what would you like to learn this year? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave me a comment.
Heavenly Father, A Jubilee is no celebration without You. Help us to fix our eyes on You, the author and perfector of our faith. Help us to remember who we used to be – so that we can have hearts of gratitude for all that You have done. Help us, though, to remember who You ALWAYS are. Your grace is always with us. You are always good and You are always kind and Your goodness is everlasting. All my life You have been faithful. All my life You have been good. All my life I will sing of the mercies of God. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
King of my Heart / Goodness of God by Caleb and Kelsey
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 119:121-160, Leviticus 24
One summer morning, while on vacation in Pensacola Florida, my family decided to go see the Blue Angels practice. We got up early and headed out, only to get stuck in a crazy traffic jam unlike anything I’ve seen before. After moving a mile in an hour, we decided we needed to make another plan. We turned left, away from the Navy base, and motored to the Walmart parking lot where we joined a dozen other wanna-be air show watchers.
The air show was scheduled to begin at 10:30, and sure enough at 10:30 we saw a couple planes in the air, but it was nothing particularly earth-shattering. After about 20 minutes of this, out in the heat on an asphalt parking lot, several members of our family decided they’d rather go get a cold drink and a snack from inside Walmart than wait in the parking lot with their heads craned toward the skies.
Blue Angels over Walmart
Minutes after they disappeared inside, the magic began. The planes started flying every which way, roaring through the blue skies.
And they missed it.
Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly…. Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
Leviticus 24:2-3 ESV
I’m not good at doing things regularly or forever. I like to make plans. I like to start new projects. I struggle at maintaining the commitment once the novelty wears off. That’s one reason why I’m trying so hard to write here every day until I’ve blogged through the Bible.
But, friends, God commands us to be faithful, to keep our lamps burning, evening to morning, day after day, forever. He wants us to pass on our faith to the generations coming after us.
Do we have our eyes fixed on the skies, waiting for His return, and our hearts rooted in His Word that it can be that light to our path and lamp to our feet which He promised for us?
Or are we so busy shopping for cold Cokes and salty chips that we miss the real show?
“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.”
Luke 12:35-36 ESV
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 25:1-13 ESV
Heavenly Father, You are always faithful. Always. You never change. You never grow tired or weak or weary. You never get bored and give up. You are the perfect example of steadfastness. Help us, Father, to be faithful like You. We can’t keep our lamps burning on our own. Give us the oil of Your Spirit and the living water of Your Word that we may be found faithful. And embolden us to share the good news with others, that they may enter the kingdom with us, to the praise of Your glorious might. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Teach What is Good 
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