Chronological Bible Reading Plan

     Welcome to River of Life, First Baptist Lake Monroe and Ridge Crest Bible Church’s Chronological Bible Reading Plan.  Over the next several years, the members of these sister churches will be reading through their Bibles together in a chronological way, following the events of the Bible in the order in which they occurred rather than in the order in which they were recorded.  In addition the pastor and adult Bible study teachers will be teaching from the same passages we read each week.  At times, additional passages from the Psalms will be provided along with the chronological reading portion.

     I hope that you will prayerfully consider making a commitment to reading through the Bible with us.  As you approach each days’ passage and questions let me encourage you to: 

Pray – Pray before you read.  Ask God to make the scripture real to you and show you how it applies to your life.

Read – Read the scripture passage(s).

Ask – Ask yourself, “in what I just read is there a lesson to learn, a truth to embrace, an example to follow, a sin to avoid, a mistake to dodge, a change to make or a promise to claim?”

Meditate – Think about what you have read.  We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).

Remember God’s promise and condition in Jeremiah 29:13

 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

If you miss a lesson and would like it emailed to you,

 send me an email at rolwebperson@yahoo.com

Want a link to read the Scriptures?

http://www.biblegateway.com/

 Saturday, May 25- Read for today: Psalms 99

Sunday, May 26- Read for today: Psalms 100



Monday, May 27 - Read for today:  Job 10

An Honest Complaint

     Any good parent desires for their child to be honest and open about their feelings. The feeling may be wrong and unjustified but when things are aired out healing and understanding can begin. Job expressed himself to God saying that he would speak with bitterness of soul. Job was distressed and just could not understand why God would allow such suffering in his life. He knew he was not perfect but he believed himself to be upright and undeserving of this trouble in his life. He knew God could intervene so why did He do nothing as far as Job could see. We never want to be disrespectful or dishonoring to God and we are told that in all these things he never cursed God but he certainly did bear his soul. Why should we try to hide our feelings when God already knows them? God truly wants to hear our honest frustrations and distress over matters in our lives. This kind of open communication is fellowship as well as the sweet remembrances and open praises to our God. Honesty before God brings us closer to Him and builds the relationship but bottling up our feelings will distance us from Him in the relationship.

     Job recognized that God had made him and could do with him as he pleased like the molding of clay or the churning of milk into cheese. He also mentioned in verse 10 that the care of God preserves his spirit. Job was submissive knowing and believing that God loved him he was just having a hard time dealing with the trials with no answer from God. We too face hardships at times with no direct answer from God as to what or why. We may even feel like Job that it would be better not to have been born. How do we handle the frustrations? I believe this depends on our attitude and resolve. If our relationship with God is strong and consistent we can face these times in faith without sight knowing that He is there for us regardless of what we can see. We can be honest in our expressions without being disrespectful of God and learn patience in a new and deeper way.

Thoughts to consider:

 Numbers 11:15 –How deeply was Moses distressed at this point in his life?

Joshua 7:7—What is the flaw in the reasoning of Joshua here?

I Kings 19:4—Why did Elijah give up and want to die? What was at stake?

For further study:

Romans 14:23—How important is faith in God in our relationship with God and without faith how does God view our decisions?

I John 5:4 –What is the remedy for frustrations and unanswered questions from God?



Tuesday, May 28 - Read for Today: Job 11

Judging Others

     A new character, Zophar, appears in this chapter, to weigh in and give his opinion on Job’s situation.  From the beginning of his discourse, he comes flying out the shoot like a prosecuting attorney on the attack.  Should this stream of words go unanswered and such a talker be acquitted? (“Talker”, literally, “Man of lips”)  Should your babbling put others to silence, … You have said, … But if only God would speak and declare His case against you.  He accuses Job of lying, of false humility, and basically a hypocrite.  I’m glad this man was a friend of Job’s.  I’d hate to see how his enemies might treat him.

     In the last chapter of the book, Job 42:7 we read After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has’.  The tables were turned on Job and his friends.  The friends believed God was ticked and Job and that they were speaking God’s mind, while in reality God was ticked at them and Job was more accurately speaking God’s mind.

     It is a very dangerous thing to judge other people and to believe that you are seeing them, their actions and motives accurately.  It is also very dangerous to be pointing a finger at others when so often we are blind to the sins and shortcomings in our own lives.

Questions for thought:

 1. Are there areas/weaknesses/sins that are especially easy for you to spot in other peoples’ lives?

 2. What weaknesses in your life do you sometimes excuse or tend to downplay?

 3. What did David ask the Lord to do in Psalm 139:23-24?  Have you done that?

For further Study:

1. What does Matthew 7:1-3 tell us to do?  And Luke 6:36-38?

2. What would be required for us to obey the command of John 7:24.



Wednesday, May 29 - Read for Today:  Job 12

Learning from “Mother Nature”

     In Genesis we read, Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.  They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.  (Genesis 1:16) Genesis continues explaining in this and the following chapter, the assignment God has given man to rule and subdue the earth and the animals.  If we have been given the responsibility to rule and govern the earth and to look after the animals and such would you not think that would indicate that we are supposed to be wiser than the animals?  Wouldn’t that give you the idea that we are supposed to know and understand things that animals don’t?

     There were parts of “nature” created to teach us from the beginning, Genesis 1:14-16, but most of creation we were to see after.  It is interesting then that the Bible often tells us to ask the animals (v7) or to speak to the earth (v8).  Sadly, we who were intended to govern, rule, or tend to nature; the animals and such that are on our planet, are subjugated to learning from it.

Questions for thought:

1. What things might creation teach us?  Romans 1:18-20.  Psalm 148:4.

2. Remember the rainbow?  Genesis 9:11-17.

3. As you start your day today, take time to observe the sunrise, the beauty of the world around you, and thank God for the reminders of His love placed around you.

Further Study:

1. What other lessons does the Bible teach us through nature? 

See Proverbs 6:1-11; 30:24-32; Isaiah 1:2-4; Matthew 6:26-30.



Thursday, May 30 - Read for Today - Job 13

When God is Silent

     In verse 24 of today’s reading, Job asks Why do You hide Your face … (HCSB).     Job says, “I’ve been praying Lord, and I’ve been seeking Your face.  Lord, I’m going through a tough time here, I’m struggling and hurting.  God, why don’t You hear my prayers?  Why won’t You answer me?  Why won’t You heal me?  Are You even listening?”

       Is there anything more difficult in the life of a believer than to pray and pray and to hear nothing from heaven?  I prayed for a wife for many years, and Gladys for a husband even longer and yet there were long periods of time when it simply seemed that God was not listening or not answering.  There is a 400 year period of silence between the Old and New Testaments when there is no evidence that God ever spoke to mankind.  Imagine!  That is longer than our country has been in existence!

     Can you imagine how difficult it must have been on Abraham waiting for the birth of Isaac?  Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for Noah waiting in the Ark, or for the Jews in Egypt waiting on deliverance, awaiting a Messiah or a restored homeland?

     Job, earlier in this passage, demonstrates the attitude we are all to have during times of silence.  In verse 15a he says Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him.  He trusts God’s character, His love, and His wisdom that is beyond our understanding.     In My Upmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers says, “A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, ‘I know that God has heard me.’ His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.”       Silence gives us the opportunity to trust, to demonstrate our faith, and to abide in the Vine (John 15:4-5).

Questions for thought:

1. Are you going through a time when you are being forced to wait on God?

2. How do you respond to times of heavenly silence?

3. Do times of silence mean that you are necessarily out of God’s will?  Do they automatically mean that there is sin in your life?

Further Study:

1. Why was Daniel’s answer delayed in Daniel 10:10-14?

2. Can sin cause silence or a break in communication with heaven Isaiah 59:2?



Friday, May 31 - Read for today:  Job 14

Living life to the fullest

     In verses 1-2 Job comments on the shortness of man’s life.  How sad that we often get so busy living that we fail to notice, or think about how short the life we’re given is, at least the life we live on earth.  We often forget how valuable the time we have on earth is and how we are to invest this time wisely because so much of eternity depends on it.

     In this country we believe it is important for children to spend 12 – 13 or more years preparing for the future and for their careers.  Many parents set money aside to help their children in college.  Think of the number of years doctors, and lawyers, and engineers, and such spend in school, putting off working because they believe that the investment will pay off in the end.

     What is true of education and careers is even more true of eternity and the time we spend here preparing for it.  In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us to store our treasures in heaven.  Do you realize that the only time we have in which to do that is the time we are living right now?  No wonder the psalmist writes in Psalm 90:12, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Questions for thought:

1. How do you plan to “invest” your time today?

2. Will what you are doing today make a difference in eternity?

3. What can a person do to “store up treasures in heaven”?

Further Study:

1. What do Matthew 5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23, 34-36; Matthew 10:22, 10:39, & 19:29 say about rewards in the future? 



Saturday, June 1- Read for today: Psalms 101
Sunday, June 2- Read for today: Psalms 102