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, March 16- Read for today: Psalms 79

Sunday, March 17 - Read for today: Psalms 80

Monday, March 18 - Read for today: 1 John 1

True Fellowship

     Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is the story of a stranded sailor who lives for more than two decades on an island alone. One day he rescues from execution (by neighboring cannibals) a young native whom he calls ""Friday."" Friday proves to be a good student, helper and companion. Through Crusoe's witness, he even comes to faith in Christ.

   After so many years without fellowship, Robinson Crusoe at last had a Christian brother! Although it may sometimes feel as though we are as stranded as Crusoe, God intends fellowship to be an important part of the body of Christ.

     The phrase ""have fellowship with one another"" is not a command, but a simple declarative. That means our fellowship as believers is a product of something else--our fellowship with God (vv. 6-7).     The progression of thought in 1 John 1 is this. Since God is pure light, meaning He is utterly apart from all sin and darkness, we must live in the light if we are to know Him. Obviously, we are not without sin, but God has made provision for our sin in the blood of His Son (vv. 7, 9).

     Therefore, even though we are sinful we can enjoy intimate fellowship with God by believing His Word, taking His Son as our Savior, and living in obedience to Him. When we do this, we will find ourselves in company with others who have also found forgiveness and new life in Christ.

     John's point is that our fellowship as Christians is founded on the truth of the gospel. A person cannot claim to know God and yet knowingly live in sin. His life makes his witness a lie (v. 6). John wanted true believers to have fellowship, but only in the truth (v. 3).

     What does today's study have to do with doughnuts and coffee before church or a potluck supper in the church dining hall? Not much, really, although there is nothing wrong with the get-togethers we often label ""fellowship."" But John is talking about something much deeper--the unique union between God and His children and among His children.

Questions for thought:

  1. How much of your “fellowship” is more than skin deep? Do you have conversations with other Christian that is deeper than the conversations you’d have with neighbors or folks you work with?

For further study:

  1. Read John 17:21. What kind of fellowship are we supposed to have?

  2. Read Philippians 3:10. What do you think of this as a goal and a prayer? Is that your desire?



Tuesday, March 19 - Read for today: 1 John 2

A Battle on Three Fronts

     In verses 15 & 16 we read, “Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

     John doesn’t stop and simply tell us to not love the world, as he mentions in verse 15, but in verse 16 he goes on to tell us specifically what to look out for, what sins to battle against.

     First, John mentions the lust of the flesh. There are certain things, certain appetites our body has that are not sinful. These are good, and right. The Devil always seeks to cause us to take those things a step further and to turn them into sins. There is nothing wrong with food or eating or enjoying a good meal. To take it too far and to become a glutton, however, is to indulge the lust of the flesh. There is nothing wrong with working out and taking care of yourself, or resting and taking a break. Either of these taken to extremes, however, make what was intended for good, bad.

     The lust of the eye. I believe John here is referring to covetousness. We are to avoid looking on things to covet after them.

      Third, John warns about the pride of life. This is to desire the applause and approval of others. There is nothing wrong with wanting to do a good job, for quality and for the sake of a Christian witness, but not to impress others. This is the desire to outshine other people, to one-up them.      When we allow these things to consume us, we find them using up our God-given resources, and our God-given time. We major on the minor and ignore the important. Never forget we are in a war, and soldiers of the cross. Guard your mind.

Questions for thought:

  1. Which of these three areas do you battle with the most?

  2. How does one protect himself from stumbling in these areas?

  3. Does the way we spend our time and money demonstrate what areas we might be struggling with?

For further study:

  1. Read verse 17 again. What are we promised in this verse?

  2. Read Isaiah 55:1-2. What question are we asked in verse 2? Is this rhetorical?

  3. Read Romans 13:14. How do we avoid gratifying the flesh?

  4. Read Psalm 119:36-37. What did David pray in these verses?



Wednesday, March 20 – Read for today: I John 3 

Resting and Growing in God’s Love

     The wonder of God’s love for His children is impossible to fully grasp.  We know we do not deserve it but He gives it by His grace for all who will come to Him for salvation.  This relationship with God through His Son separates us from the world which does not know us. The world cannot relate to us at all because they know nothing of this love.  God however reaches out to the world to meet their greatest need over sin. All are still invited to repent of sin and know God’s grace and thereby enter into this special love relationship.  This relationship is a growing relationship now and on into eternity where a believer will know Him better. All this keeps us pure as we focus on God’s mercy and grace and guard our lives from besetting sins.  Abiding close to God daily keeps us from sins as we do not want to displease Him. Yes, we still sin and we need to confess our sins for a fruitful life of service to our Lord.  Also, at the same time, we need to remember that we as believers are washed from our sins in completion by the blood of Jesus for all eternity. God sees us as sinless through the shed blood of His Son for us. Because of this tremendous gift let us live holy lives for our Lord. Our daily sins cannot condemn us in our relationship with Christ but they can greatly hinder us today in our service to Him. Unconfessed sins hinders our prayer lives and fruitfulness for our Lord so we need to keep short accounts and be clean vessels as obedient servants.

      The foundation of a believer’s relationship with God is His love for us. This love is wonderful to receive and also wonderful to share.  This love is a love of action that speaks to the world as a testimony of God’s love.  When we practice this love God assures our hearts of our relationship to Him. We also receive confidence to live in this world for Him. This is the rest we have in Him. Doubts and fears disappear when we follow our Lord in loving and sharing with the world around us.  We then have a personal responsibility to make the right choices in life to honor our Lord and be a witness to the world. God’s love for the lost can be relayed through us by the ministry of the Holy Spirit when we are obedient to Him. Let’s reflect our Lord to the world about us by letting His love shine through us.

Thoughts to consider:

I Thessalonians 3:12-(Hebrews 13:1 & James 2:8)—Notice here the reliance on God to make our love increase for those around us. Are we leaning on Him for this testimony?

I Peter 1:22—See here the part that obedience has in increasing God’s love in us. Obedience is purifying 

For further study:

Deuteronomy 7:8—Consider God’s love for Israel in delivering them from slavery . How does this faithful love stir our hearts to serve others in our Love for Him? Our love as believers is being evaluated by others every day.

Ephesians 3: 17-19—See here the importance of learning deeply about God’s love so that we may grow into to all that our Lord want us to be. Think of ways to examine yourself to see how much you have grown in His love.



Thursday, March 21 - Read for today: 1 John 4

God is Greater

     Verse 4 of this passage says, “You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
     What is important in this verse is to note the ground of the conquers’ victory. How was it that they overcame the enemy? If there is any way that you and I can escape the extreme pressures of theological error today, it will be by this same way. We understand this way of conquering not so much by observing what John says as what he does not say. These “dear children” who are “from God” did not overcome the false teachers with all their subtle, stubborn error so beautifully and attractively presented because they had a superior intelligence. There is none of this. John says, “You overcame them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” In other words, it was not anything these Christians had that delivered them; it was the one who dwelt within them. It was the greatness of God that kept them straight. This is what will keep us straight today.     When you look around at the success of evil in history, and especially in our day, you can see that the enemy has great power. Think of our world and all that it is going on in terms of agony, struggle, evil, violence, and heartache, with confusion abounding on every side. When we think of the violence, the passion, the tears, and the death with which our world is characterized, we can see something of the greatness of the power of the enemy. No wonder someone has said:

Our race had a hopeful beginning,

But man spoiled his chances by sinning,

We hope that the story will end in God's glory,

But at present the other side's winning. (Copied)

     It does look that way, doesn't it? But it isn't—despite all the appearances. God is greater than the power of the enemy. In fact, it is almost ludicrous to put it that way. God is so incomparably greater that there is no contest whatsoever. This is where the eye of faith must always turn in hours of darkness, discomfort, or despair; turn to what the Scriptures reveal as the truth about God and how incomparably greater He is than anything that is present among or behind humans.

     In writing his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul considered Corinth, that beautiful city of culture and refinement with its love of wisdom and the great thinkers of the golden age of Greece, and he refused and resisted every approach on the basis of human wisdom and said, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The reason he gave was that the weakness of God is stronger than humans, and the foolishness of God is wiser than humans. That is the greatness of God.

Questions for thought:

  1. Can you think of an instance where you saw a Christian unexplainably come out on top of a situation he was expected to lose? To what/Who did you credit his victory?

  2. Can you testify to the truth of this verse in your own life?

For further study:

  1. Read Romans 8:31. How is this verse different similar to John’s experience in 1 John 4:4?

  2. Read Romans 8:37. Have you experienced the truth of this verse?



Friday, March 22 - Read for today: 1 John 5

Overcoming the world

     Verse 4 says, “because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.”

     Think about what the phrase “the world” means. Think of the moral pressures that we face in the world today, the outlook and standards of the godless society that is surrounding us, constantly trying to invade our minds with tremendous pressure to make us conform to these attitudes and standards of life. Think of the temptation to cheat and lie; to get ahead at all costs; to be dishonest, not only in filling out our income tax but in every aspect of business. Another temptation that comes upon us from the world is to be sexually immoral. We are encouraged to feed the fire and satisfy the urge, though it may be wrong and deadly. The pressures around us are tremendous these days, seemingly overpowering at times. There is the pressure to harbor wrong ideas, to react against others the way the world reacts, to strike back and give as good as you get, to be resentful and jealous, to be ambitious and cruel. Don't you feel all this? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—all this is of the world.

     How do you overcome the world? How can you go on, moment by moment, day after day, year after year, living a life that is absolutely contrary to that, based on totally different standards, totally different objectives, totally different values? And to endure not only for ten years, but for decades, against that kind of moral pressure? How do you keep unmoved in the midst of this and not only remain unmoved yourself, but reach out and win others to your side?

           John says it is “by faith”; that is all. Not by the faith that you once exercised twenty years ago when you first became a Christian, but by faith in the life of Jesus present in you now. By faith in Him at work in you, in the midst of the pressure, overcoming it with the pressure of His own life.

     I once heard of a captain of a ship who was describing what it was like to go through a storm. He described the ship in the midst of the waves mounting on every side, with the wind blowing hard and the pitiless rain coming down. The ship seemed a helpless victim of the storm, caught up in the power of these mighty elements that were raging on every side. Its doom seemed sure. But he said, “I stood there on the bridge of the ship and I grasped the railing. I felt the throbbing of the engines deep down inside the hull. The storm, the wind, and the waves seemed to be saying to the ship, 'You cannot come, you cannot come.' But I heard the answering throb of the engines saying, 'Yes, we shall; yes, we shall; yes, we shall.' And so we do.” That is the way we overcome the world.

     If we give in, if we reflect the same attitudes and actions as the world, we have succumbed to the world and to the wiles of the devil. We have lost our testimony and all power to witness. But if our dependence is on the life of the Son of God, His life is in us, and then, “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Questions for thought:

  1. How are you handling the pressures of life? Are you white-knuckling it, trying to overcome your difficulties, or are you resting in Christ at work in you?

  2. Paul once said that he considered all things lost to him for the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. How do you weigh your struggles when compared to knowing Jesus?

For further study:

  1. Read John 16:33. What did Jesus say we could find in Him? Have you found it, or are the things in this world still overwhelming you?

  2. Read Romans 8:35-37. What great truth are we reminded of in these verses?



Saturday, March 23- Read for today: Psalms 81
Sunday, March 24- Read for today: Psalms 82