You have probably already begun to see features or read articles about making resolutions for the coming year. A majority of us say we make them. A whopping 73.7% of men, and 74.26% of women plan to make resolutions in the coming year. An even more impressive figure, 141.1 million Americans, or roughly 55% of the people, say that keeping the resolutions are within their reach.
For many of those with a faith background, there is a passion to also make resolutions for a deeper spiritual commitment during the coming year. Many of us attempt to read through the Bible in a year, to improve our church attendance, or even to increase our giving, but often we fall short of those goals. May I encourage you this year to join with us in forming some habit to improve the way we study and understand the Bible? I have put together a daily plan of Bible reading that will help you build a way of understanding the historical context of Scripture, making appropriate applications of the Scripture, all the while forming good habits of daily Bible reading.
Research has shown that it takes about 21 days to form a habit. Then to make it a real life-style change, continue the habit for another 90 days. Several psychologists refer to this as the 21-90 rule. If we start reading from the Bible now, 111 days from January 1st will put us close to Easter, April 17, 2022. Are you up for the challenge? Invite your friends to join us. Sign up on the form. Our first day will be on Monday, January 3, 2022.
The First 21 Days
We will start our journey slow and easy. We will read one verse each day, think about how the verse applies to our life, and ask God to bless us in the reading and hearing of His Word. The main version of the Bible listed will be the New International Version.
Links provided make twelve other
versions
available to you, including a Spanish version. English versions are available as either
translation or paraphrase
.
We will build fellowship with each other by offering our thoughts in the reply tab at the bottom of this page. Each day, you can answer the thought question yourself, or you can comment and respond to the post of someone else. Not only are you learning to read Scripture, but you are reflecting on it and communicating your understanding of it to others. You are building your own understanding of your personal
context
of the Bible.
week one
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week two
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week three
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Today we’re planning the funeral for my father in law. He was a godly man and such a mild personality. Today he is soaring high! He has no more pain and confusion. I pray he and my parents who have gone before are having a wonderful reunion. The road to follow for my mother-in-law will be rocky. My trust is in God’s perfect plan and He will make that known to us.
There have been times in my life that I wholeheartedly put my hope in God, and He saw us through that situation. The bigger the circumstance, it seems easier to do so. So today, with my inconvenient circumstance, I’m going to put my hope in Him, just as I did when my Mother had cancer. Even in the every day hustle, God desires us to lean on him. Today, I am reminded to do so, and he will renew my strength. 💕
Due to my age and health walking and running are quite difficult. But I know this passage still works for me as God fills my spirit up as I see Him move.
Yesterday I baptized a lady who was terrified of water. The pure joy in her heart afterwards touched my soul. We were all filled with hope and renewed energy to honor and please God!!
I love how the living Bible can take one verse of scripture in different seasons of our lives to show us what we need to hear, feel and know for that season. I lost my husband in Aug. Today’s verse was a two for one for me. 1: is the reminder of how I have managed to get through all of this. It is His strength, comfort and peace! 2: I know through Terry’s faith and God’s Grace and promises that he will soar in God’s presence! Also run and walk again without growing weary and faint when he gets his new body. Pulmonary Fibrosis took that away from him.
Waiting on the Lord, trusting In the Lord ..to immerse oneself completely in His word so that we gain new strength. Reminds me of Lamentations His compassion and love are new every morning. How those who know not God put one foot in front of the other is beyond me. But we are so guilty of not taking advantage of His strength.
When I repented and made the “good confession of faith” I was ten. My change from unsaved to saved was not a night and day difference in the life I was living in the fourth grade. But I knew in that ten-year-old heart, that I needed Jesus to live there. So since then, I have grown in my faith and dependence on Him to carry me through the good and the tough times in my life. My prayer is that I always have that childlike love for Jesus in my heart, and praise Him for His blessings that are new every morning.
Sis, that is so sweet. I was the same way, I was 8 when i went forward, I even remember the dress I had on and sometimes I can’t remember what i had for breakfast! It’s a feeling that lasts forever. I went forward again years after that, I was being pulled out of my pew, I couldn’t have stood there one more minute without going forward. I just had to tell God and everybody else that I sure wasn’t perfect, but I wanted him in my heart forever. The things I have been through I would NOT have survived without Him.
I too was young. I felt an urgency as I rushed down the aisle and had not discussed it with my parents so they were surprised. Some people wrestle with feeling forgiven….never a doubt in my mind. But the struggle is to see things through Christ’s eyes. To not judge or fall into the trap of thinking I know what is best.
I do have joy in my heart today!! I’ve New Year decisions that will focus on me and the Lord!! I can’t even imagine picking a favorite song really, i have too many, but I always have loved, Take the Name of Jesus With You. We always sang that at the end of the service and i just always remember it making me feel happy lol. “I Can Only Imagine” is for sure one of my favorites…Now that my Jake is in Heaven that song gets me through sometimes, imagining what he saw on that day and how unbelieveably beautiful it was…I Can Only Imagine…..
I’m praying for you in this new year Maribeth. “Draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you.” I love the song “I can Only Imagine” also. My favorite old hymn is “Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine” and after the funeral service today when Steve talked about assurance, it’s been playing in my heart all afternoon. I should have had Bob sing that. My favorite new song is called “The Commission” by Cain. They’re a family trio that we heard live last month. It is a moving song!
Two years ago today my daddy passed away. I sing praises to God because I know he is in heaven. One of my favorite hymns is “It is well with my Soul”. I cannot sing that song without welling up with tears of joy knowing that it is well because I know Him.
Celebrating the victory of God through Jesus should be second nature. New songs .. I appreciate worship leaders who care about the messages we sing.
Present suffering…what feels like suffering compared to those who truly were persecuted for their faith ..seems self centered and ridiculous. Looking to a day when Christ is glorified and every knee shall bow makes anything we now face pale.
I think I’m trying my best to be more like God in my attitude toward people. I try to be compassionate in how I view and respond to people, and avoid being judgmental. I feel that using the gifts God has given me is my best way to be more godly. I love to cook and have people in my home. Being hospitable, and helping others in need or difficult situations is my way to give back to God with the gifts He has given me.
Sis…..everything you wrote is exactly what I wanted to say. You probably said it better lol, but I feel like i’m compassionate when listening to people and I don’t judge. God has gotten me through a lot with my kids and I know things happen and my heart goes out to people who are struggling with whatever is the issue. I text or email or call people that I know are in my same boat. I hope people see God in me that way
I think being non-judgmental in our response to people is so important on so many levels. It first shows God’s grace and long-suffering, patient nature. It also recognizes that we AREN’T like God in His role as judge. Judgment isn’t our job. Thanks, Sis.
If you come at folks with Judgement, people will likely drawn back or away from the communication. I love that we can show God’s grace in this way.
Reminds me of one of my fav books “In Pursuit of Holiness”. We are called to be set apart. To live in a way that the world notices not to earn heaven but because God is Holy. When you are an introvert it is difficult to reach out like Jesus did but dying daily to self we have to believe it is possible.
Blessings…we usually think of family, health, financial stability. When I see good Godly people who seem to have nothing but trouble in their lives I realize the constant is God and His spiritual blessings. Even when life is tough God is the same.
My dream is to finish strong and faithful until I move on to heaven( which is my ultimate goal)
Amen
Hope is to live to see all of my family faithful to God. To serve faithfully until Jesus comes again,
I hope this encourages someone…After reading today’s scripture, I randomly picked up a book on my nightstand that I’ve hardly looked at – if at all. It’s a little book called “God’s Promises For Your Life.” (NIV) It’s divided into sections, depending on what you’re dealing with. For example…”what to do when you don’t understand God’s ways,” “what to do when you have physical sickness,” “what to do when you need peace,” etc. Under each section, there are scriptures to remind you of God’s promises. I picked it up and casually stopped at “what to do if you’re discouraged.” What do you think was the VERY FIRST scripture listed? Psalm 31:23-24!! Keep in mind, I had just finished reading today’s scripture for this study. I was floored that I was being shown the very same scripture AGAIN. It was as if God was saying, “Don’t rush past this. I want this to “sink in.” It was a subtle reminder to me that He is always at work around us, even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Juli, I love that you shared this. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes our personal context so vitally important. That didn’t happen to everyone – but it happened to you. God is so concerned about each of us when we have “fellowship” with His words, that He steps in. Some will say, “Oh that is just coincidence,” but coincidence is just a word that says “there’s no such thing as miraculous.” It IS a great reminder that God is always at work!
I love these little “nuggets” that God gives us in our every day life. It’s like a little gift from Him, drawing our attention to God, or like it was for you, drawing you to a specific scripture. It gives me goosebumps! Thank you for sharing!
I think God is preserving us so we can carry on His work here in this life. He gave us memory, so we can fall back on and recall the times and events in our earthly lives when we rested in His arms or called upon His strength. We should never forgot or take for granted all He has done for us in offering eternal life. We need to then obey the great commission by passing it on to all with whom we come in contact. When I hear the word “preserve” I can’t help but picture the canning I have done over the years: jellies, jams, beans, peppers. They do keep for a long time; but I don’t usually keep them all. I give a lot of them away. So with God’s Good News. In some respects we preserve it by also giving it away.
I believe God has preserved me in spite of very difficult situations in which I had no idea how to put one foot in front of the other and could only rely on Him. I am a very private person but I believe God preserves us to help others who are in similar situations.
The thought of the creator of the universe walking among us is incomprehensible. Personally it means that nothing in God’s will is impossible. And that covers a slew of promises.
That God lives in me is something I don’t ponder enough. I live my everyday knowing God loves me, that Jesus died for me, that I need to live to honor Him. I know the Holy Spirit does dwell within me, but sometimes I overlook that power. He’s there as my Comforter. I need to lean on that in times of trial or sadness. I thank God for being present in my life here on earth every day. I am never alone. Thanks be to my God, the Three-in-One.
The indwelling presence is something we all need to be reminded of. We need to tap into His incredible power and never apologize that our hope lies in our Savior.
Waiting is never easy. Sometimes it seems like we wait our life away expecting something better to come along. Waiting on the Lord is having the faith to know the outcome of this world has been determined and knowing our job is to reach as many people as we can by being His hands and feet. We must talk to Him if we expect Him to hear us.
Amen, Marsha. Our human-ness causes us to want things immediately. We get impatient waiting on the microwave to reheat our cold coffee (voice of experience). Once we ask God for help, we need to first be silent and then wait patiently to hear his answers. My prayer today is for listening ears. Have a blessed day.
Well I did the last 2 out of order. What competes for singleminded pursuit of God? Good things. Family, friends, health concerns (not all good things) even church events and ministries.
1) salvation
2) family
3) the church
4) friends
5) money
6) food
1) family ..many family members have passed
2) jobs …come and go
3) financial security.. not always as secure as we would like it to be
4) government…obvious not the thing to put our trust in
5) health. Not something that doesnt change
6) home …easily can be taken away, changes over the years, moves become necessary
Day 14 won’t load.
God has protected me through His saving grace. He has protected me from myself through wise counsel of other Christians.
Unfortunately, taking after my mother who is now in heaven, I am a worrier. Worry and anxiety can consume my thoughts many days. My brother Tom May has mentioned this aspect of Mom’s personality before, saying if she didn’t have something to worry about, she worried that she wasn’t worrying. I am maybe not quite that severe, but worry does consume my thoughts often. I know I should turn these thoughts over God; and that is what I pray. But I also don’t always let go of them. It’s like I lay them at His feet, and then pick them back up again. My prayer is to strengthen my faith to the point that I will leave my anxieties at His feet and let God take care of them. His mercies ARE new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness O Lord!
Worry can consume me when it comes to my family. I envy people who act like nothing can rattle them. But then when troubles come the only way to deal with it is turning it over to God. So we become closer more dependant on Him.
This is a quote from my favorite verse in Psalms. Problems here on earth are real and devastating but putting full confidence in God makes us realize He has overcome the world and all else pales in comparison.
Couldnt get day 18 to load. I love Proverbs they are so practical. The Bible has so many warnings about fools. The key to wisdom is through the Word.
Day 19 wont load for me.
The Psalm is attributed to David and talks of God giving victory over evil. Although not all our plans are God’s plans when we are in the center of His will and asking for those things He has promised us He will answer.
Day 20 wont load. Doing all through Christ to me means filtering every decision, word out of my mouth, relationship etc through dying to self and Christ living in me.