Tag Archive | God

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 11

Jan11

Day 11. Reading in Job 29 – 31. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

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Job 29.

In this whole chapter, Job remembers how “it used to be…”  when God’s “lamp shone on my head….”  when ” the friendship of God was upon my tent… when the almighty was yet with me… when my children were all around me.” He remembers sitting at the gate and both young men and nobles respected him and called him “blessed.”  He helped all in need; the blind, lame, poor, and persecuted.  Men listened to him and waited in silence for his counsel. “I chose their way and sat as chief.”

  • Lord, I have been there too. I’ve gone through periods when I would reminisce “how it used to be.” and long for those ‘good old days.’  I feel like such a “fair weather friend” sometimes, receiving blessing as if it was my due, and bemoaning when tough times come.
  • It’s good for me to remember Your blessings, Lord, and be thankful. But do You love and care for me any less in times of sorrow or pain? No, I’m the one who looks away from You. I hope I can remember Psalm 23:4. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me…”

Job 30.

Job showed us his “glory” in the previous chapter. Now he shows us what his life has become (at least, from his perspective).  “NOW they laugh at me, men who are younger than I.”  “Now I have become their (jeering) song; I am a byword to them. They abhor me; they keep aloof from me…..they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.”  WOW.

He describes what his favored life in the sunshine has become. “NOW my soul in poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.”  He feels he’s been thrown into the mirey clay and become like the mud, dust, and ashes he lies in.

And NOW, the worst of it. Job feels God has deserted him. “I cry to You for help and You do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.”

  • It takes a very dark time of depression and despondency for a believer to feel that God has truly deserted him.  I mean, where can you go if God is silent?  Many times it’s here that the devil comes to cause further doubt and fear. “Has God really said that He loves you…?  How can a sinful, despicable person like you think that God has saved you…?  God’s has turned His back on you. You’ve sinned one too many times. YOU ARE LOST!” 
  • What to do in times like this?  Praise God, we have His Word. A tiny spark of faith in all that darkness can be whipped into flame by his powerful, living Word.  Pick it up, read it aloud, pray it, meditate on it.  You can speak it back to that taunting devil…just as Jesus did in the dessert.  Resist Satan with the WORD. (It is a sword, after all.) Read gospel passages. Pray them. Believe them.  God does not lie. “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” Romans 10:17  Doubts and the devil must FLEE God’s word.

Job didn’t have the written Word of God, but when his soul rises in faith, it’s when he proclaims God’s promises.  “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.” (13:15)  “For I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth….and in my flesh I shall see God.” (19:25-26) “But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”  “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.”  (23:10, 12)

Job 31.

Job is now more bold as if he stands in court to proclaim his integrity.  Notice the many “if… then let” statements he makes. If I’ve sinned in this way… then let punishment come. 

Example:  “If I have raised my hand against the fatherless…. then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.”  

Or, “If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together, if I have eaten its yield WITHOUT PAYMENT and made its owners breathe their last…..let thorns grow instead of wheat and foul weeds instead of barley.”

And so, “The words of Job are ended.”

 

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 10

Jan10

Day 10. Reading in Job 24 – 28. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

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Job 24.

Job continues to refute Eliphaz’s statement that the wicked are punished for their sins and suffer (i.e. himself).

LOOK at the rich, he says, they do NOT suffer! They prosper, even though they do the very things God hates (mistreatment of the poor, widows, and orphans as well as freely committing murder, theft, and adultery). They grow richer, more powerful, and successful. 

Job’s accusation to God is quite bitter in verse 12. “…God charges no one with wrong.” But in verse 24 he seems to renege. “They (wicked) are exalted a little while, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others.”

  • I often vacillate like Job, thinking all the millionaires and billionaires of the world just keep getting richer and do not suffer for the way they cheat and treat others.  But, when I study Revelation, I also see God’s wrath.  He will judge, we can be sure of that!  But right now, he is “patient, not willing that any perish.” 
  • And who am I that I should escape judgment. ONLY BY HIS MERCY and GRACE in “His looking at Jesus and forgiving me” do I have hope.

Job 25.

Bildad’s third comeback is brief. “Dominion and fear are with God. He has might. He is Light.”   “How can man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm.” …be right before God?

Job 26.

A brief reply by Job magnifies the Lord God, showing His power and wisdom in creation. Job even states two modern truths 1) the earth “hangs” in space. It’s not held up by an elephant or the shoulders of Atlas, and 2) the earth is a circular globe and NOT FLAT. (vss. 7, 10)

 (This chapter is only a portion of his reply to Bildad (and the others) that covers chapters 26-31.)

Job 27.

Curiously, Job here defends his own integrity. He says nothing he has done has caused this great calamity to come on him. (And he is correct.)  Not bragging in himself, nevertheless he says “I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go: my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.”

  • This is actually how we should resist the devil when he comes to us with accusations. If we have confessed and repented of our sin, his accusations are not valid. We should “resist him.” The Holy Spirit will “convict” us of sin and send us to the cross of Christ. But Satan “accuses” us of sin and offers no hope.

In contrast, Job asks, “What is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?” 

  •   Job 27:19-23 says, “He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone. Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off. The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight. It claps its hands at him and hisses at him from its place.” 

WHOA!   These verses emphasize to me to speed with which our “stuff” can be gone.  These remind me so much of the catastrophe which has hit the Los Angeles area just this week, where, in just hours, thousands of people have lost all they have in wind-blown fires.  The Palisades Fire completely burned up a very high-end, wealthy neighborhood over night with 100 MPH winds whipping flames out of control.

  • Father, give me compassion for all these people!  And keep me from holding my “stuff” tight and depending on it.  May I look ALONE to You, God, from where everything comes, even my life,

Job 28.

Job now tells his “friends” about wisdom. (His is no less that what they claim theirs to be.)  Their advanced ages do not automatically produce wisdom.  In verses 12-18, he asks twice, “Where shall wisdom be found? From where does wisdom come?

In these verses, he sounds like Solomon in Proverbs 1:7 – 2:9.  Wisdom is worth more than silver and gold. It’s more precious than onyx, sapphire, and other precious jewels. It’s price is above pearls, crystal, coral, and topaz.

So where can one get such a precious commodity? Job tells us in verse 29. “Behold, the FEAR OF THE LORD, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”  (See Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 9

Jan9

Day 9. Reading in Job 21 – 23. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

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Job 21.

Job’s turn.  All along, his mocking friends have claimed that his suffering is caused by his wickedness and that he should repent. 

Job (perhaps) clears his  throat and says, “Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.” He describes wicked people from his point of view.  They DO NOT suffer (like Job).  They…

  • live to an old age and grow mighty in power
  • their offspring are established
  • their homes are safe from fear
  • no “rod of God” is upon them
  • their livestock multiply 100%
  • their children dance, play, rejoice, and sing to the tambourine, lyre, and pipe
  • they spend their days in prosperity 
  • they go to the grave in peace
  • they boldly say to God, “Depart, we don’t want Your knowledge, why should we serve You? What profit do we get if we pray?”
  • One day, they die in full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure, with their “pails full of milk” and their bone marrow moist. 

Does this look like me? Job seems to ask.  “How then will you comfort me with “empty nothings”? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Job 22.

Unable to stay silent, Eliphaz arises to speak a third time. And he gets rather nasty with Job.  “God doesn’t really care about you at all, Job!  He takes no notice of you.“

Then, he lists various sins against humanity as the reason for Job’s trouble, saying that he’s treated his brothers, the needy, the widows, and the orphans foully, sending them away empty and crushed.

Next, Eliphaz gives Job advice that is good in itself but not in the way he says it. “Agree with God about your sin. Receive instruction from His mouth and keep His Words in your heart. Return to the Almighty, delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift your face to God.  Make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you.” (vss. 21-23, 26-27

Eliphaz seems to relate these good things as acts of penance or as good works done to appease God, INSTEAD of heart acts of love towards a Heavenly Father. 

Job 23.

It’s almost in meekness that Job answers.  It’s as if he’s talking to his own heart.

  • “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat! I would lay my case before him.”   “I would know what He would answer me and understand what He would say to me.”  “Would He contend with me in the greatness of His power?  No, He would pay attention to me.”  “I would be acquitted forever by my Judge.”

I love Job’s confidence in God. He’s obviously had a sweet relationship with Him before all this happened, and he KNOWS he stands “acquitted” before God. 

  • In Christ, we can have that same confidence when we stand before God in “the final courtroom.” (“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life…” 1 John 5:11-12)

Job may be in a humbled state right then. It may seem he can’t find God to talk to Him how he desires.  But in faith, he can say, “He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”   “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.” (vs.12)

Yes, Job knows God is sovereign in all His ways (“He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him back? What he desires, that He does. For He will complete what He appoints for me…” vs. 12-14)  Job may be “terrified at His presence,” but he stands in the knowledge that “though God slay him, yet will he trust Him.”

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Sadly, tomorrow, we will see Job back in his former mood. “The unrighteous prosper.”  That leads to a terse comeback from Bildad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 3

Jan3

Day 3. Beginning with the five books of Moses, the Torah, in Genesis 8-11. 

I’m reading through God’s Word again this year, but I’ll TRY to write/blog about it differently. Instead of an overview of the text, I want it to be more personal.  (But old habits die hard!)

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

Genesis 8.

Today, in these chapters, I see God’s SOVEREIGNTY (His power and authority over the Earth and every living creature in it). “He’s got the whole world” and every single living thing (including ME) “in His hands.”

  • Yesterday, I mentioned that the flood did not destroy the fish and sea creatures.  Why?  In my mind** it’s because they were needed to be the “garbage disposals” of all that rotting flesh from those who died in the flood (people, animals, birds, reptiles, etc.) God’s clean-up operation via the fish and sea creatures took a year to complete.  (**only my opinion)

 

Imagine the earth from space, with NO LAND visible and covered by at least 22.5 feet of water. Picture a large but tiny wooden boat, sealed shut, floating on that planet of blue. It had no sail, rudder, or windows. It went where the water, wind, and the LORD God took it. And the eight people inside had to trust God completely.

Torrential rain had pelted it continually for almost six weeks. Then silence.  (Except for the animals, it was good that they had so many animals to care for daily.) FIVE MONTHS after Noah entered the ark, it came to rest on the mountain of Ararat. Can you imagine that bump, scrape, and then… no more swaying?

THREE MONTHS later, the tops of the mountains poked through the water, but Noah couldn’t see them. SIX WEEKS later, Noah opened a window at the very top. Only the sky could be seen. Over the next THREE WEEKS, Noah sent out a series of birds to see if the land had dried enough. But Noah waited FIVE MORE MONTHS before uncovering the ark and looking out to see “the new world.”

TWO MONTHS later, one year and ten days after entering the ark, God told Noah, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and their wives with you. Bring out every living thing with you, that they may swarm on the earth, and (you all) be fruitful and multiply.” And Noah obeyed.

The first thing Noah did was to offer burnt offerings to the LORD from the “extra” sacrificial animals he’d taken into the ark. 

The first thing God did was promise them never to destroy the Earth with floods of water. (Next time, fire, as told in Revelation.)

Wow. Imagine ONLY YOU AND YOUR FAMILY alive on earth. It’s fresh and clean. There are no buildings, no roads, no maps, no footprints. No farms, markets, or cousins living a few miles away. You are alone.

Genesis 9.

The Sovereign God gives this tiny family commands and promises. 

  • Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth.
  • Every animal, bird, reptile, and fish will be afraid of you. I have given them all to you for food, plus the green plants.
  • Don’t eat an animal with blood in it (alive).
  • The lifeblood of every human and animal is sacred. It’s the “life” of a thing.  (Ever wonder why, when the EMTs come to an accident, the first thing they do is “stop the bleeding?”)
  • Every human or animal must be punished by death for killing a person.
  • I’m establishing a Covenant (Promise) with you and all creatures. I will never flood the earth again. The sign (proof) of that promise is My Rainbow. (Remember in Revelation that there is a complete “bow” around God’s throne. He’s taking some of this and putting it in the clouds as a sign that THIS RAIN that you see falling will not destroy the whole earth. 

Oh yeah, lest I think Noah and family are as perfect as Adam and Eve were in the beginning, they sin too in that new and fresh world. And Noah curses his second son. His descendants are the wicked Canaanites.

Genesis 10 & 11.

Genealogies. This one traces the LINE OF CHRIST, which began with Adam and Seth, through Noah and Shem, to Abraham.  Notice how life expectancy goes from 900+ years to 100 or less. 

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And right in the middle is the story of the TOWER OF BABEL. Yes, sin is growing again. And it is disobedience and pride –  the same sins I deal with every day.  

Sure, the post-flood people were fruitful and multiplied. But they did NOT disperse throughout the earth.  (Many believe that the LAND MASS OF EARTH WAS ONE WHOLE UNIT that separated into continents later, during the time of Peleg. (See Genesis 10:25 and 11:17-18)  If that’s true, dispersing themselves worldwide would have been comparatively easy.

Not only disobedient, but in their PRIDE, they proposed building a city, a TOWER with its top in the heavens, and a “name” for themselves.  Was this tower to worship their own strength and supremacy? Was it to reach so tall that no flood could ever cover it?  

Regardless.  God said NO.

Until then, everyone spoke Noah’s (Adam’s language).  There was no need for “Google Translate” or an interpreter.  EVERYONE understood, “Hand me that brick.”

Until they couldn’t.

God “confused” their language. He made some to “speak” in German, Russian, Swahili, Korean, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, Scandinavian, Italian, Hebrew, and English (?).   “Hand me that brick” would now be “Gib mir den Ziegel” in German.

CHAOS REIGNED until the groups of similar languages found each other and began to move away. And the tower was left unfinished.  Babel became Babylon.  In Revelation, there is REJOICING when that “Great Babylon” falls forever.  That symbol of sin, pride, defiance, and disobedience.

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And then, from 200 miles south of Babylon, from the great city of Ur, a man named Terah took his sons, Abram and Nahor, their wives, and his grandson, Lot, and traveled the great “crescent” route north and west to Haran, then stopped there for a long time.

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Meanwhile, way south in the land of Uz (not Oz), there lived a man named Job, his wife, and ten children.

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 2

Jan2

Day 2. Beginning with the five books of Moses, the Torah, in Genesis 4 – 7. 

I’m reading through God’s Word again this year, but I’ll write/blog about it differently. Instead of an overview of the text, I want it to be more personal.

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

 

Genesis 4.

  • After the disaster of their sin yesterday, I’m almost despondent to begin the long history of the human race.  The triumph of Revelation 21 seems so far distant.  But God promised One would come who would be victorious over sin and Satan.  I’ll be looking for Him through the following 1,185 chapters. 

After the “multiplied pain of childbirth,” it seems like Eve thought her firstborn son, Cain, was that Promised One. “I’ve gotten a man with the help of the LORD,” she said.  But another boy, Abel, was born (and then another and many others and daughters).  I wonder if Eve remained hopeful, clear to the last son born to her. “Is THIS the One?”

Adam’s original job in Eden was tending the garden and the animals. Now, that work seems to be divided between the first two sons.  Cain worked hard in the fields, and Able had to work hard caring for the animals.  

The Bible doesn’t say WHEN offerings were first given to God. They were possibly to thank Him for the year’s success. When the time came, the men offered a portion of what they had gained.  Cain brought an offering from his produce. Able offered the firstborn of his flock.   Why did God not like Cain’s offering?

Maybe it was a heart attitude. Or, perhaps, it was the gift itself. But why? Later, God required Israel to give a tithe from their very first harvest.

It was probably both reasons.  If God required a “blood” offering (like Abel’s), and they both KNEW it, why didn’t Cain buy or trade some produce for a suitable animal?  Could it have been PRIDE that stopped him? Was that what made him so angry?

  • Lord, I sometimes begrudge giving up something I have to You or others.  And often, my PRIDE keeps me from humbling myself and asking for help from others.  Sometimes, I get angry because I don’t like feeling in the wrong.  Father, forgive me and keep me from these sins today.  Help me, like you said to Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for YOU, but you must rule over it.” 

Cain didn’t listen, and out of jealousy and anger, he killed Abel. I can picture him saying, YOU wanted blood: how about this? All the while shaking his fist at God.  (Maybe not.) So death entered the world like God said. And sin multiplied through Cain’s generations.

Genesis 5.

Hallelujah!  A third son was born to Adam and Eve, and it would be through Seth that the Savior would come. And look! People began calling on the Name of the LORD!  (4:26)

This chapter shows Adam’s genealogy through Seth. Notice those years!!! Notice the fruitfulness and multiplication of mankind (just as God instructed).  Then came NOAH, a savior, but not THE Savior. 

  • Father in Heaven, as I look at my son, granddaughters, and great-grandchildren, I ask that their hearts always seek You and “find favor in Your eyes.” Keep them from evil.

Interestingly, both Noah’s father, Lamech, and his grandfather, Methuselah, died the year OF the flood.  Whether IN the flood or not, we don’t know.

Genesis 6.

I thought sin in Cain’s heart was bad, but now, ALL mankind (except one) were greatly wicked. God saw that “every intention of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.”  Not a minute of goodness.  But Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.  WOW! What a contrast! 

  • Oh, God, I ask that You “Search ME and know MY heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24)

  God told Noah that He’d decided to “make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through them. I will destroy them with the earth.”  

But He provided Noah and his family a way of safety (salvation). Noah had 120 years to build a giant wooden ship for himself, his family, and a pair of all the animals and birds on Earth. God promised Noah “life” as long as he was in that boat. Today, God promises that all who are “in Christ Jesus” by faith will be saved.

So Noah got to work building the boat, just like God instructed, and filling it with food.

Did those wicked people notice? Care? Did they ridicule him? Try to stop him? Did he preach to them? Or ignore them?  120 years seems long to us, but remember, people then lived 900+ years. The Bible doesn’t say that Noah ever doubted or tired of doing God’s will. He worked for 1,640 months, trusting God.

  • What about me? I have doubted God’s will and way.  I’ve gotten “weary in well-doing.”  I’ve been impatient when I haven’t seen results.  Oh, Lord, help me to be like Noah – full of faith, and faithful.

Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark, for the saving of his household. By this, he condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness that comes by faith.“

Genesis 7.

The day came when God told Noah to get into the ark. He and his family obeyed, and the designated animals went into the ark with Noah.  God shut the door.

Jesus said, “For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were UNAWARE until the flood came and swept them all away.”

Seven days later, in Noah’s 600th year, on the 17th day of the 2nd month………………….

  • the fountains of the great deep burst forth
  • the windows of the heavens were opened
  • the rain fell upon the earth forty days and nights.
  • the waters increased and bore up the ark
  • the ark floated on the waters
  • all the high mountains were covered by 22.5 feet
  • ALL FLESH DIED THAT MOVED ON THE EARTH, birds, livestock, beasts, insects, and ALL MANKIND.
  • the waters prevailed on the earth for 150 days.

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  • Lord, am I ready for Your second coming?  Will I be busy doing earthly things and not looking toward the heavens for You?  May the treasures my heart desires all be in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 1

Jan1

Day 1. Beginning with the five books of Moses, the Torah, in Genesis 1 – 3. 

I’m reading through God’s Word again this year, but I’ll write/blog about it differently. Instead of an overview of the text, I want it to be more personal. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

Genesis 1.

I keep thinking about how the Book of Revelation ended, with God living among His redeemed people on a new, pure earth without sin or sorrow.  It began that way in Genesis 1. I’m so glad it ends that way in Revelation 21 because this journey I’m starting to read today will involve some pretty ugly, sinful things.

  • O God of creation, create in me a new heart and restore a right spirit within me. (Psalm 31:10) 

Genesis 2.

After creating a perfect place for mankind to live, God created Adam and then Eve. They were made in His triune image with three parts, body, living soul, and spirit. Adam was made from elements of God’s good earth and received God’s breath/spirit of life.  Eve also, but with a rib taken from Adam’s side.  That left an empty space in him that only she could fill.  

“This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” he said of Eve.

The garden God put them into was beautiful and perfect, with fruit-bearing trees and a river of water flowing out of it.  Revelation says that the new Jerusalem will also have the River of Life flowing from it and the Tree of Life growing along its banks, bearing a different fruit each month.

But there was one tree in Eden that is not in the new heaven and earth because “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9). The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was in the garden to test Adam and Eve, to see if they would “love the Lord their God with all their hearts, souls, and minds.” 

Genesis 3.

I don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in Eden before the serpent tempted Eve. It must have been a while because they were used to walking with God in the cool of the day.

But it appeared, accused God of lying, of not loving them, and of withholding some good thing from them. Eve believed him and disobeyed God. And then Adam did too.

  • Oh, how often I believe the lies the “world” spins for me.  “Money makes you happy. Be proud of what you accomplish. Have fun and do whatever you like because God is love, and He won’t mind. Reading the Bible is a waste of time. 

O God, sometimes I believe those lies. I sin. Forgive me as you promised, for Jesus’ sake. (1 John 1:9)

God does not lie. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, death began its ugly takeover of their lives. Accusations, shame, fear, quarrels, hardship, and expulsion from the garden.

BUT!!!  God said that He would send “The Seed of the Woman,” who would crush the seed of the serpent (Satan). He would be injured in the process but would ultimately prevail. 

Jesus, God with us, our Savior, came in the flesh to die in our place and end sin and death. Then, as Revelation promised, He will rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that serpent will spend forever and ever in the lake of fire.

  • O God Almighty, You made us, loved us, saved us, and promised we will be with You forever. Hallelujah! I love You!

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 365 – the last day!

Dec31

   Day 365—We are in the LAST month of Bible reading for the year, studying THE REVELATION to John.

Day 365 – Revelation 19 – 22 (Rejoicing in Heaven, 1,000 years, Satan defeated, new Heaven/Earth, new Jerusalem, River & Tree of Life, Jesus is coming)

Revelation 19.

“Hallelujah! Salvation, and glory, and power belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just.”

“Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him, small and great.”

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready: it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.”  Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Then John saw a white horse ridden by One called “Faithful and True.” His eyes are like a flame of fire and on His head are many diadems. He has “a name written that no one knows but Himself.”

He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is “The Word of God.”  This One will defeat the nations and rule them. He will “tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”  On his robe and on his thigh, He has a name written, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

And the “armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white a pure” (the saints) were following Him on white horses.

“I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against Him who was sitting on the horse and against His army. The beast was captured, and the false prophet, who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the Mark of the Beast and those who worshipped its image.  THESE TWO WERE THROWN ALIVE INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE THAT BURNS WITH SULFER.”

Revelation 20.

Then John saw an angel holding the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer.” (Until the thousand years have ended, and he is released for a LITTLE while.)

Then John saw the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. (It’s when Israel’s promised King will reign on the actual earth from Jerusalem.  (A promise fulfilled to the Jews.)

After that, Satan will be released to try to deceive men again, and there will be a great war until fire from Heaven comes down and consumes them. THEN THE DEVIL WILL BE THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE AND SULFUR AND WILL BE TORMENTED DAY AND NIGHT FOREVER AND EVER!”

Next comes “the Great White Throne Judgment,” when all the dead will stand before God’s throne. Books will be opened and the dead will be judged by WHAT THEY HAVE DONE, as written in the books.  “If anyone’s name was not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.“. 

Revelation 21.

John then saw a NEW heaven and a NEW earth.  He saw “the Holy City” descending out of heaven from God, like a bride adorned for her husband.  GOD IS GOING TO DWELL WITH MEN, AND THEY WILL BE HIS PEOPLE, AND HE THEIR GOD. 

All tears will be wiped away. There won’t be death, no mourning, no crying, and no more pain.  All things will be made new. 

Then, an angel showed John the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God. It was radiant like the most rare jewel, crystal clear like a diamond.  It had a high wall with twelve gates. Inscribed on each gate was the name of one of the twelve sons of Israel.  The wall had twelve foundations made of twelve precious jewels, with each of the twelve apostles’ names on them. 

The angel with John measured the city. It was a perfect 1,500-mile cube (about 2 million square miles in volume). It mirrored the configuration of the Most Holy Place in the temple.  It was made of pure gold, transparent as glass. 

There was NO TEMPLE because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were the temple.

There was NO SUN OR MOON because the glory of God and the lamp of the Lamb gave it light.

There was NOTHING UNCLEAN, ONLY those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are allowed to enter the city.

Revelation 22.

The angel then showed John the pure, crystal-clear river of the Water of Life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  It flowed through the middle of the street of the city. Growing on either side was the Tree of Life with twelve kinds of fruits, one for each month.

The servants of God and the Lamb will worship  Him.  And they will SEE HIS FACE. (see 1 John 3:2)

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John then signs his name. “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.”   

The angel told John, “Do NOT seal up the words of the prophecy of this book (like the prophet Daniel was told to do in Daniel 8:26, 12:4-10), “for the time is near.”

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 

“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!

Let the one who hears (reads) say, COME!

He who testifies to these things (Jesus) says, SURELY I AM COMING SOON.

John says, AMEN. COME, LORD JESUS!

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We did it. What a glorious trip through the Word of Almighty God, from pure beginning to purity restored.  Glory, hallelujah!

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 363-364, Part B.

Dec30

 Day 363-364—We are in the LAST month of Bible reading for the year, studying the LETTERS of the Apostles.

NOTE: Usually, Sunday’s and Monday’s studies are posted together, but because these readings are so long, I will post them separately.

Day 364, Part B – Revelation 12 – 18 (Woman & dragon, Satan cast down, the Beast, 3 visions, 7 plagues, 7 bowls of wrath, 666, Babylon falls, Yay!)

This section of Revelation is filled with symbols and allegories. The people in the churches of John’s day would probably have understood their meanings more than we do. The sequence of events is not necessarily linear but often overlapping & repeating.

Revelation 12.

This chapter pictures Satan attempting to destroy the infant of a woman with a crown of 12 stars. But the child is taken to heaven and his throne before the Dragon can kill him. The woman (Israel?) is protected by God in the wilderness.

There is a great war in heaven. Michael and the angels fight against the dragon and his angels (demons). Michael’s army wins and throws the great dragon (that ancient serpent, the devil, Satan) down to earth with his angels.  Satan, “the accuser of the brethren” (remember Job?), is thrown down and mad. 

“WOE to the earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows his time is short.“

Revelation 13.

Then, an ugly, multiheaded, powerful “beast” emerges from the sea. (He looks a little like the beast in Daniel’s vision of end times.)  To this beast (Antichrist), the dragon gives his power, throne, and great authority.  The people of the earth worship the dragon and worship the beast. The beast speaks great blasphemies against God, His name, and His Temple.   The beast was “allowed” to make war on the saints and conquer them. All on the earth worshiped it, EXCEPT those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Then a second beast emerges from the sea, looking like a lamb, but speaking like the dragon. This beast can do miracles and deceive the people of Earth into worshiping the Beast. It has them make a statue of the Beast and he enables it to speak too.  It makes all who live on Earth to get the MARK on their forehead or hand, or they cannot buy or sell anything. 

The mark? 666 is “the number of a man.” In John’s time, this was clearly NERO.

  • And so, now there is an unholy trinity: the Dragon/false prophet, the Beast/Antichrist, and the miracle-working second Beast. 
  • NOTE: Even the required Mark of the Beast is a foul imitation of God’s command in Deuteronomy 6:4-8 to Love the LORD, the ONE TRUE GOD, with all their hearts, soul, and strength. They were to teach His Words to their children and…” bind them as a sign on your HAND, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes (FOREHEAD).” (Their actions and thoughts.)

Revelation 14.

The victory is at hand!!

The Lamb of God stands on Mount Zion and with Him, the 144K evangelists, with HIS name on their foreheads. John heard thunderous singing, like a gazillion harps singing a new song.  An angel comes from the temple and flies overhead, proclaiming the Eternal Gospel. “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgement has come.”

A second angel proclaims the good news, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality!”

A third angel proclaims, “If anyone worships the Beast & its image and receives the mark, he also will drink the WINE of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger.” And they will be tormented hell with the sulfur and smoke of the torment forever and ever with no rest, day or night.

Here, John inserts, “a call for ENDURANCE of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

Then John sees Jesus with a sharp sickle. He swings the sickle across the earth, and the earth is reaped.

Another angel with a sharp sickle goes to the “VINE of the earth” because its grapes are ripe.  So this angle swings his sickle and reaps the grapes and throws them into the winepress of the Wrath of God.  “And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood from it flowed from the winepress as high as a horse’s bridle for 184 miles.”

  • This reminds me of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is tramping out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”
  • Also, if you reread Mark 14:34-36 (and passages in Matthew & Luke), you will see that JESUS drank that cup of Almighty God’s WRATH for us, when he died on the cross, PUNISHED FOR OUR SINS. This scene in Heaven portrays God’s wrath on those WHO REFUSED THIS SO GREAT SALVATION.

Revelation 15.

Next, John saw a great and amazing sign in heaven, “Seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is FINISHED.”

First, there was a vast “sea” of what looked like fiery glass. By it were those who overcame the Beast and with harps, they sang the song of Moses and the Lamb. “Great and amazing are Your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations…”

Then, out of the Sanctuary came the seven angels with seven plagues in seven golden bowls, FULL OF THE WRATH OF GOD, who lives forever and ever.

Revelation 16.

John heard, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God!”

  • First bowl: harmful and painful sores on those who bore the Mark of the Beast.
  • Second bowl: blood into the seas, killing every living creature in them.
  • Third bowl: blood into the rivers and springs of water.
  • Fourth bowl: on the sun so it scorched people with fire. (The people did not repent and give God glory but cursed the name of God.)
  • Fifth bowl: darkness on the Beast and his kingdom. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven, but they did not repent.
  • Sixth bowl: into the river Euphrates, so it dried up and prepared the way for the great kings and hoards from the East.  The dragon, beast, and second beast opened their mouths, and demonic spirits like frogs came out, going abroad to assemble all the kings of the world to assemble for battle at the place, ARMAGEDDON.
  • Seventh bowl: into the air, and a loud voice came out of the Temple, from the Throne, saying, “IT IS DONE!”  There came lightning, thundering, and a great earthquake so destructive that the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.  Every island fled away, and no mountains could be found.  Great hailstones, weighing 100 pounds, fell on the people.  AND THEY CURSED GOD!

Revelation 17.

Then, the seventh angel took John to view “The Great Prostitute” and her judgment. She was seated “on many waters,” picturing her rule over the peoples of many nations.  Written on her forehead was a name of mystery: “BABYLON” (code name: Rome).  She also sat on seven hills (again, Rome). She was drunk with the blood of the saints martyred for Jesus. The angel also explains the heads/horns of the Beast as kings who make war on the LAMB. 

The Lamb of God defeats them all, for He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Revelation 18.

Then, with the calls of angels, the announcement of Babylon’s fall is made known. 

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.”

All the kings of the earth weep and wail for her fall.

“Alas, alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour, your judgment has come.”

And all the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, for no one buys their cargo.

All the shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors on the sea stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning.

“Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth, For in a single hour, she has been laid waste.”

And a mighty angel took up a huge millstone and threw it into the sea saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and will be found no more.”

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(WHEW, that was hard!)

Tomorrow, rejoicing in Heaven!

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 363-364

Dec29

   Day 363-364—We are in the LAST month of Bible reading for the year, studying the LETTERS of the Apostles.

NOTE: USUALLY, Sunday’s and Monday’s studies are posted TOGETHER,  but because these readings are so long, I’ll post them SEPARATELY, today AND Monday. 

Day 363, Part A – Revelation 6 – 11 (Aspects of the Great Tribulation, the seven seals, 144K of Israel sealed, seven trumpets, two witnesses)

Revelation 6.

When Jesus, the Lamb, opens the first seals on the scroll, we see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse emerge, one after another, bringing antichrists, war, famine, and death to the earth. The fifth seal reveals those who had already been martyred, crying for God to avenge their deaths. The sixth seal brings great earthquakes and changes in the heavens, causing the people on Earth to cry and hide in terror.

Revelation 7.

Then there is a pause while an angel of God descends and “seals” 144K of Israel (12K from each tribe) to give them authority and protection to proclaim salvation saved in the Tribulation, having “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Revelation 8.

When Jesus, the Lamb, opened the seventh seal, there was absolute silence in heaven for a half hour. Then, an angel came to stand by the altar with a gold censer filled with incense and “the prayers of God’s people.” The smoke from it rose before God.  Then, the angel filled the censer with fire and hurled it on the Earth. There were peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

Next, angels with seven trumpets began to blow them, one at a time. At the first trumpet, hail and fire (and blood) were thrown onto the earth burning up a third of the vegetation. The second blast sent a vast burning mountain into the sea, turning a third into blood and killing a portion of sea creatures. With the third trumpet, a great star fell like a torch onto a third of the rivers, poisoning them. At the fourth trumpet, the sun, moon, and stars lost a third of their light.  “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth!“

Revelation 9.

At the fifth trumpet, John saw a star (angel) who was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.  He opened the shaft, and there arose from it smoke like a great furnace that darkened the sun. And from it came creatures like locusts and scorpions to kill and torment the people on earth for five months. (the 144K were spared this)  People longed for death but couldn’t. These creatures had a “king.” It was Apollyon himself.

At the sixth trumpet blast, God released the four angels, bound up at the Euphrates River. They were released and went in four directions, killing a third of mankind with plagues. 

“But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, DID NOT REPENT of the works of their hands, or give up worshiping demons and idols, nor did they repent of their murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, or thefts.”

Revelation 10.

After that, a mighty angel descended from the clouds and set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. In his hand was a little scroll, opened.  And he roared like a lion or many peals of thunder, reading from the scroll.  But a voice told John NOT TO WRITE DOWN what it said.  Then the voice told John to go over, take the scroll, and eat it (like Ezekiel did in 3:1). It would be sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach.  John obeyed.  

Revelation 11.

John is then told to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.  He is also told about God’s TWO WITNESSES, clothed in sackcloth, who will prophesy for three and a half years.  No one can harm them for that time. They will have the power to stop it from raining during that time, turn the earth’s waters into blood, and strike the Earth with all kinds of plagues. 

(Many people believe, from the description of their powers, that these two men are Elijah and Moses.)

At the end of those 3.5 years, the “beast that rises from the bottomless pit” will kill them.  All the world will see. Their dead bodies will lay in the street. People will refuse to bury them but rather rejoice over them, make merry, and exchange presents at their death BECAUSE they had been a torment to them. However, after 3.5 days, a breath of life from God will enter them and they will arise.  And God will call them from Heaven, “Come up here!”  And they will go up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watch. 

At that, a great earthquake will cause a tenth of the Great city to fall, killing 7K people and terrifying the rest. 

Finally, the seventh trumpet is blown. And, as a prelude, loud voices in heaven proclaim, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, an He shall reign forever and ever!”

Everyone falls on their faces and worships God, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for You have taken Your great power and begun to reign….” 

Then….. God’s temple in heaven was opened. The Ark of His covenant was seen within His temple!

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great sign appeared in heaven……….

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Day 364, Part B – Revelation 12 – 18  === See tomorrow.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 362

Dec28

   Day 362—We are in the LAST month of Bible reading for the year, studying THE REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST to John.

Day 362 – Revelation 1 – 5 (Meeting the reigning Jesus, His messages to 7 churches, into the throne room.)

John, an old man, and the last surviving apostle, is in exile on the prison island of Patmos (think Alcatraz) for his faithful preaching of the gospel. The churches he wrote to before are feeling the persecution and have begun to decline. This is a message of hope.

Revelation promises a blessing for reading it and ends with a warning about tampering with it.

1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”

22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Revelation 1.

A glorious introduction reveals the author and the recipient of the “revelation” letter.  It describes the Eternal triune God who was, is, and is to come. It depicts Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, and ruler of kings on earth, the One who LOVES us, has FREED us from our sins, and MADE us a kingdom and priests.  TO HIM BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER!  And He is coming soon, in the clouds, as he left.

John explains he was “in the Spirit” when he received this revelation and ascended to heaven.

(It makes me think of Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, except Paul was NOT allowed to speak of what he saw.)

In John’s experience, Jesus told him to ‘write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches.” 

Then John attempts to describe the glorified Jesus Christ.  I saw “One like a son of man, clothed with a long robe with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.”

WHEN I SAW HIM, I FELL AT HIS FEET AS THOUGH DEAD.

And what were Jesus’ first words to His beloved disciple?  “Fear not. I am the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” He tells John what to write: “The things that you have seen, those that are, and those that are to take place after this.”

Then, Jesus begins his messages to each of the seven churches in Asia Minor, listed in the route the “book” would be circulated, beginning with Ephesus (John’s church).

Revelation 2 – 3.

There is a pattern to the messages. First, Jesus identifies Himself in a certain way. Then, He lists the good things (if any) that are found in that church. Next, He raises a concern – what has gone wrong in that church, either with their own hearts or with the entrance of some false doctrine. Lastly, Jesus promises them a reward if they “conquer” (overcome the sin/threat and persevere to the end).

He does this with Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  Smyrna is a church under deep persecution and poverty, and Jesus states nothing wrong with them, while He says nothing good about Laodicea, giving only a warning to change while there is still time. 

Revelation 4.

John dutifully writes every word he hears, and then he looks up and sees an open door into heaven! (WOW!) He hears a voice saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place.” 

IMMEDIATELY, John, in the Spirit, was IN THE THRONE ROOM OF GOD!  And oh, what a sight that was.  He tries to describe the One seated on the throne and the throne in terms of radiant jewels – jasper, carnelian, emerald.

He describes 24 elders (maybe representing the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles) clothed in white with golden crowns.  He tries to describe the sounds and sights – flashes of lightning, peels of thunder, torches of fire, and in front, a reflecting pavement of crystal-clear glass.  There were “strange-looking living creatures” around the thrown who never stopped singing, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND IS AND IS TO COME!”

Everyone falls on their faces and worships Him, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 5.

Then John saw that the One on the throne was holding a scroll.  And angel shouted, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break the seals?”

No one was found in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, and John began to weep loudly.  But one of the elders said, “Weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that HE can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

But instead of a Lion, John saw a Lamb with a bloody throat as if it had been killed.  It was Jesus, and HE took the scroll.  When that happened, all the creatures and elders sang a new song.

“Worthy are YOU to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood, You ransomed people for God, from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

At that, all around the throne and in heaven, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands of angels broke into praise and worship.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory and blessing.”   “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 

And all fell down and worshiped.

(Can you imagine being John??)