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/

Monday, June 14 - Read for today: 1 Kings 7

Where are your values?

       1 Kings 6:38 tells us that Solomon spent 7 years building the temple, but here we learn that he spent 13 years building his own house. The temple was glorious, but it seems that Solomon wanted a house that was more glorious than the temple. “It does show the place which his own personal comfort and luxurious tastes had come to occupy in the life of Solomon . . . It is often by such simple, and unexpected tests, that the deepest facts of a human life are revealed.” (Morgan).

      At the end of the detailed, magnificent description of Solomon’s palace, the writer also mentions that some of the great architectural features of the palace were also used in the house of the LORD. We are left with the idea that as great as the temple was, Solomon’s palace was better.

     It amazes me some time, the number of things people seem happy to “give” to the church, that they would never allow in their homes.  Why is it that for so many, God ends up with the left overs?  Is that a depiction of where a person’s true values lay?

Questions for thought:

  1. When you serve the Lord, does He get your best or your left-overs?

For further study:

  1. Read Malachi 1:7-9.  What does this passage say about how the Lord considers our gifts to Him?

  2. Read Leviticus 22:21.  What types of gifts is the Lord pleased with?

Tuesday, June 15 – Read for today: I Kings 8

A Working Relationship

     Solomon and all the children of Israel were excited to see the Ark brought to the new temple and placed below the angel’s spread wings.  All had to be patient for the completion of the building of the temple and now it was ready.  The Ark was placed and Solomon lifted his hands in a prayer of praise. What did this pray consist of?  This can be summed up in one word-Relationship. Solomon wanted the moment to last in joy and peace before God. He prayed for God’s blessings and for a fruitful future in their relationship with Him. Solomon knew there would be times of disobedience and serious setbacks.  He knew that sin would come to a point that God would allow the enemy to prevail so Israel would turn back to Him. Solomon’s plea was that the relationship would be restored and that the people would enjoy the right relationship with God.

      We as believers today enjoy the privilege of having the presence of God in us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Do we really appreciate this amazing relationship?  If so then our prayer life should reflect this and our obedience should be apparent as we live our lives.  Great care was taken in the building of the temple and great care should be taken in our spiritual growth and in bringing glory to God.  Great sacrifices were brought to God. The offerings of many oxen and sheep along with other offerings to honor Him.  The celebration lasted for 14 days as all focused on the Lord and a great satisfaction settled upon the people as well as the king.  How satisfied are you in your relationship with God?  Are we giving Him what He is due or do our busy lives dominate all our time and energies?  We are the temple of the living God and the world needs to see Him abiding in us.  The world needs to see us lifting up His name for all to see.  Do you have a working relationship with God that is active and growing? Do we look for ways to honor Him?  

Thoughts to Consider:

Deuteronomy 26:10-Think of all of God’s blessings to you and picture yourself bowing before God and offering thanks.

I Chronicles 16:29-Consider ways that you can worship God and exalt Him before the world. Do we overflow with praise for Him?

For Further study:

Matthew 4:10-God is a jealous God and rightfully so as He is the only God.  Read this passage and consider ways in your life that you can give Him proper praise.

Revelations 14:7-God will judge this world and we should honor His ability to do so. Go to Genesis one and consider anew the power of His creation.

 

 Wednesday, June 16 – Read for today: 2 Chronicles 4

Accurate records

     Verse 18 says: “Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.”

     This is the way it should be. There was no attempt to keep an accurate account of what was given to the service of God. Even Solomon’s left hand did not know what his right hand did. There is a tendency in all of us to keep a strict account of what we give to God. We write it down in our ledgers; we keep accurate records (for taxes we claim) we rigorously observe the contract which we have entered into with Him; but the loftiest form of devotion overleaps such calculation.

     This generosity of the people reminds us of Mary’s. She never thought of the great cost of the precious spikenard which she broke over Jesus’s head. It was her joy to give her all; and it was only when Judas came on the scene, that we learn how much it was worth. Thus the churches of Macedonia abounded from their deep poverty unto the riches of their generosity, so that, beyond their power, they gave to the cause of God.

     This lavish generosity is the reflection of God’s. There is no measure in His bounty. It is heaped up, pressed down, and running over. He never says, I will give up to a certain amount, and hold my band; but He continues to give like the overflowings of the river of Egypt, or the abundance of the spring flowers, which cover the earth with a carpet. Ah, what a God we have, Who loves with a love that passes our understanding or reasoning; and when He gives, gives  abundantly, however much we may have asked or thought. How truly may we say with the psalmist. “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works that Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Questions for thought:

  1. When, at tax time, you get a statement showing how much you have given the previous year, how do you feel?  Do you feel proud?

  2. Have you ever rejoiced, simply have you have been able to give that much?

  3. A man once told me how much he paid in taxes the previous year, and I marveled or commented on how bad it was that he had to pay that much.  He, in turn, said that he was grateful that he had made enough to pay that much.  Have you ever felt that way about what you give to God?

For further study:

  1. Read Matthew 6:3-4.  What does Jesus mean when He gives this command?

  2. Read Matthew 8:1-4.  Would you say that Jesus was practicing what He preached?

Thursday, June 17 - Read for today: 2 Chronicles 5

When God is with us.

     What is a temple but a fixed place where God and man meet? By extension, then, it is a place where God dwells or where his glorious presence is found. After the time of the writing of the Old Testament, Jewish religious writers called this glorious presence the shekinah. The word is derived from the Hebrew word meaning dwelling or settling, like a bird settling or dwelling in its nest. Christians have adopted the word and its interpretation as the presence of the glory of the LORD. As Solomon completed the temple in Jerusalem and brought in the ark of the covenant, the glory of the LORD settled into and dwelt within the temple.

     The priests serving at the temple dedication saw a visible manifestation of the presence of God. They saw the shekinah glory. Though God is everywhere, at that moment He manifested his glory locally; that was the shekinah. Though God is invisible, at that time He made His glory apparent to the human eye. That was the shekinah, which the Bible calls the glory of the LORD or the glory of Jehovah. There are a number of other times when the glory of the LORD manifested itself visibly and locally:

▪God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, a visible and local manifestation of his presence (Genesis 3:8).

▪He showed himself to Moses in the burning bush, and to the Israelites in the pillar of fire or smoke as they exited from Egypt.

▪The LORD descended on Mt. Sinai when he gave Moses the Law (Exodus 19:18).

▪The glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle in the wilderness when it was dedicated (Exodus 40:34).There were also a notable time when the glory of the LORD visibly departed:

▪Shortly before Solomon’s temple was destroyed, Ezekiel saw it depart in a vision, first from the temple itself, and then from the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 8-11).John 1:14 says, speaking of Jesus,  “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” Jesus was also the shekinah glory, manifested visibly and locally in Palestine for the thirty-three years of his life. Those who lived with Jesus lived in the presence of God. When Jesus entered Herod’s temple, the glory of God was present in the temple. When the Jewish people rejected Jesus, the glory left the temple. Jesus said the house of Israel was left desolate (Matthew 23:38), and within a generation the temple had been destroyed.

Questions for thought:

  1. Is the Lord present in you?

  2. What would cause the Lord’s presence to leave, say, the temple?  Can He leave a believer today?

  3. Might the Lord remove His blessing from the believer today?  If so, what might cause that to happen?

  4. Does the glory of the Lord so fill you, that those around you can see it, or notice it?

For further study:

  1. Read 2 Chronicles 7:3.  What was the people’s response when the Lord’s glory fell?  Have you ever responded like that?

  2. Read Romans 15:6.  What was Paul’s prayer?  How often do you see that played out today?

Friday, June 18 – Read for today: 2 Chronicles 6

The power of prayer

     Prayer works—and as of early 2007, we now have an academic's word for it. David Hodge of Arizona State University undertook “A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature on Intercessory Prayer” in cases of people with medical or psychological problems. Looking at seventeen research studies that have been done on this topic to date, he concluded that the evidence suggests that “prayer offered on behalf of another yields positive results . . . This is the most thorough and all-inclusive study of its kind on this controversial subject that I am aware of.

     Yes, God answers prayer. We knew this before Dr. Hodge's study, and Solomon certainly knew it many centuries ago. His prayer of dedication for the temple, which began with thankfulness for God's covenant promises, mainly consisted of petitions for significant areas of the nation's spiritual life. These included requests for His continued faithfulness, His special attention to prayers offered from the Temple, His forgiveness, His justice, and His favor and blessing. A thread runs through this prayer that when bad things happened to Israel, the cause would be sin. So when Solomon prayed about military defeat, he asked the Lord to forgive when the people repented. And when he prayed about famines and plagues, he again asked the Lord to forgive when the people repented. When he prophetically prayed about captivity, he did the same. No doubt Ezra intended verses 36-39 to be an extra exhortation to the returned exiles! Thematically, the cycle of sin and forgiveness is illustrated throughout the rest of 2 Chronicles.

     A substantial theology—that is, picture of God—can be found in this prayer. He is infinite and transcendent, but also personal and relational. He makes and keeps promises. He is just and holy. He controls the events of history. He mercifully forgives sin. He has a plan for the nations that includes answering the prayers of foreigners and spreading His glory worldwide (vv. 32-33).

Questions for thought:

  1. Do you have examples of times that you “know” with no doubt, that God has answered your prayers?

  2. Why do you think it is that we spend so much time trying to figure things out ourselves and so little time praying when the Lord promises so much?

For further study:

  1. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the Glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20). Read this verse carefully. All promises are YES in Christ, but they must become AMEN through us. Amen means; it is true and certain. We must take God at His Word because His Word is true and just and we must use those promises in faith when praying. We add the AMEN with our lives because a promise means nothing if we do not claim it for ourselves. (From: Prayer changes everything, written by Bennie Mostert, published by Carpe Diem)

  2. Read Jeremiah 33:3; Mark 11:24; John 16:24; John 15:7; Isaiah 58:9; Ephesians 3:20; Matthew 7:7.  How do they relate to Isaiah 65:24?

Monday, June 21 - Read for today: 2 Chronicles 7

The needed revival

     In verses 13 & 14 we read, “If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

     The definition of revive is: “To return to consciousness or life : become active or flourishing again.”

     Often, we spend a great deal of time trying to get unbelievers to act like believers. The result of her efforts? -She was exhausted by her fruitless efforts and created such animosity among the unsaved that they became resistant to the Gospel.

     In reading today’s Scripture, we immediately notice something in the first few words: “If My people, who are called by My name.” That identifies the people who are being addressed.

     Why is this important? It is because we are the ones who need to be revived. The unsaved need to be -vived. I know there is no such word, but I hope you understand my meaning. They need to experience salvation.  Lost people are going to act lost.  They are.  The problem is when believers act like lost people.

     When we pray for the Lord to heal our land, there must be a revival of the people of God. We believers need to fall in humility on our face and cry out to the Lord to forgive us for losing our first love—the love of Christ.

     We must demonstrate our humility by confessing that we have strayed from God’s way and have gone our own willful way by loose living and indifference to the things of God. May God hear our prayers and bring life through faith in Jesus Christ to those who are spiritually dead.

Questions for thought:

  1. Do you need revival?  How do you know?

  2. What “signs” might one look for to indicate a need for revival?

  3. What signs might indicate a need for “viving”?

For further study:

  1. Read Psalm 80:19.  From where does revival come?

  2. Read Isaiah 57:15 Where does the Lord dwell?  How do we encourage this?

Tuesday, June 22 - Read for today: Psalm 136

 7 -11 Music.  Really?

       There is a catch phrase going around the evangelical world amongst those who are critical of contemporary Christian music; they call it “7-11 music” … meaning by that, that the same seven words get repeated 11 times.

     I guess this is supposed to come off as condemningly cute. I guess the repeating of the same little ditty that is a chorus tacked on to many hymns is categorically different. Or, as I’ve answered these critics about contemporary repetition, “You mean like ‘Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me’?”

     Before I lose the hymn-lovers or give the chorus-lovers a false sense of unbridled support, let me say two things …

     First, I’m not against traditional music and hymns. I love the old hymns and still enjoy singing many of them.  But music styles in the evangelical church have changed (Just as they did in the past and people condemned the hymns we now sing, because they were new and many were simply spiritual songs sang to the tunes of songs being sung in bars at the time). And the point is this: What they changed from is neither more right or wrong or better or worse than what they changed to. That tide goes the other direction as well.

     And secondly, neither side can throw at the other such condemnations as “7-11 music” or “silly hymn repetition” and do so from any spiritual high ground. Not without trashing Psalm 136 – our devotional for today. In this divinely inspired song of the Scriptures (which, by the way means it trumps both Isaac Watts and Michael W. Smith equally), the same four words repeat 26 times … if you miss the literary device, the words are “His love endures forever.” [The Hebrew word for steadfast love is difficult to translate. Other translations include lovingkindness, loyal love, faithful love, gracious love, and mercy. I prefer the Jesus Storybook Bible translation: God loves us with a Never Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.] I am guessing the writer (under inspiration of the Holy Spirit) wanted the main idea of God’s enduring love to be emphasized and remembered! Indeed! It is at the heart of the message about the relationship between God and Israel … and about God and His redeemed and chosen people of all time – that his covenant love (on a promise purchased and sealed with blood) is dependable for all time.

     Among the themes in Psalm 136 which give testimony to God’s enduring love are these: He is the God above all Gods, he is the creator, He is the sustainer. He struck down the Egyptian oppressors of Israel and delivered his people through the Red Sea. God then sustained them through the wilderness while making them victors over powerful kings – giving those lands to his people as an inheritance. And beyond that, God remembers our “low estate” … that we are but flesh and blood, and He sustains his people as they trust in Him.

Wow!  His love endures forever … indeed!

     Before we finish today, let me say one more thing about praise and worship. We are to be people of worship by our praise and adoration of God day in and day out of our lives in our personal relationship with him. But when we come together with others of the faith, we have an opportunity to kick that worship up a notch and do it together in a way you just can’t do it by yourself!

      Don’t fight.  Worship.  We do that so much better when we get our eyes off of each other and get them on the Person we are called to worship.  Don’t you think that what is pleasing to Him is what should really matter?

Questions for thought:

  1. Which style of church music do you prefer?  Can you “worship” in other styles?  Why or why not?

  2. What do you feel is the most important element of worship?

For further study:

  1.  Read John 4:23-24.  What kind of worshippers does the Father seek?

  2. What does that mean?  How does one go about doing that?

 

 Wednesday, June 23 – Read for today: Psalm 134

The Watchmen

     Who are these that serve by day and night in the house of the Lord?  They are the watchmen appointed a place of service in guarding the temple. The temple and the articles within were precious and belonged to the Lord and they were to be watched carefully.  This service was truly an act of praise to God.  They were to be good stewards of these things and fulfill their responsibilities. What have we as believers been made responsible for?  We have our personal lives to guard as the temple of the Holy Spirit and we should be very careful that no defilement enters and that we lift up our Lord in the highest ways.  The Holy Spirit can be grieved by our actions as well as our lack of actions. This temple of the Holy Spirit within us is real and needs to be respected by all the body of Christ. Our God is the creator of heaven and earth and should be worshiped as He deserves. The watchmen served the Lord, day and night and we are never off duty in our obedience and diligence. Many corrupt things are at the doors of our lives that will bring dishonor so let us watch and defend the glory of the Lord by day and night.  Let us worship Him in this service as an example to those who come behind us.

Thoughts to Consider:

I Corinthians 4:2-What trust have you been given?  In what ways have we been found faithful?

I Corinthians 6:20- How can our bodies be used to bring glory to God?

For further study:

Matthew 25-How are talents in this story to be compared to our lives today and how are we responsible before God?

I Timothy 6:20 & I Peter 4:10—What are some things we need to guard against as we seek to serve God today?  What variety in service to God do you see among believers?

Thursday, June 24 - Read for today: Psalm 146

Our God . . .

     Our God is the God of Jacob who maintained his promise of the Messiah through years of sinful humanity. This God who made the heavens and the earth also designed to give his creation as an inheritance to his people, though we have not earned it. This God has remained faithful though we have not. This God is our God not because of anything we have done to earn it, but because he loves us.

     Reading this Psalm is a tremendous lesson in prayer. The attributes assigned to our God here have been the attributes God has had since the beginning of time. God has always upheld the cause of the oppressed, fed the hungry, set prisoners free, given sight to the blind and so on.

     Want proof? Look no further than Jesus. Our Savior literally gave sight to the blind while he was on Earth. He fed the hungry with earthly food while feeding them with everlasting spiritual food. Jesus constantly lifted up those who were bowed down–eating with tax collectors and admonishing those “without sin” to throw the first stone. Our Jesus loved the righteous and frustrated the wicked, forever, by his death on the cross.

     Those same attributes are still present today as Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, looking after the widows and orphans of this world–both believers and unbelievers–because of his incredible compassion. Our God still loves the righteous and frustrates the wicked as he guides his church to its eventual home in heaven.

Questions for thought:

  1. Which attribute of God do you count on the most?

  2. If you were to describe the Lord, how would you begin?

For further study:

  1. Read Hebrews 13:8.  What does this verse tell you about the Lord’s attributes today?

Friday, June 25 - Read for today: Psalm 147

God is the God for me

     In A Godward Life, author and pastor John Piper offers these thoughts: “Human strength can never impress an omnipotent God, and human bigness can never impress a God of infinite greatness…”

     Psalm 147 is a thrilling statement of hope for people who enjoy God being God: “He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names” (verse 4 ESV). Now this is more than we can absorb! “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it” (Psalm 139:6 ESV).

     The earth, where we live, is a small planet revolving around a star called the sun which has a volume 1.3 times that of the earth. There are stars a million times brighter than the sun. There are about a hundred billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, which is one hundred thousand light years across…. the sun travels about 155 miles per second, and so it would take two hundred million years to make a single revolution on its orbit in the Milky Way….

     The good news for those who enjoy God being God is that He enjoys them. He delights in those who hope in His immeasurable power. It is therefore no literary coincidence that the verses on either side of God’s greatness in Psalm 147:4-5 show Him caring for the weak (verses 3 and 6). He loves to be God for the weak and childlike, who look to Him for all they need.

Questions for thought:

  1. Do you often think of your need for God?

  2. Do you often think of how much He thinks of you?

For further study:

  1. Read Psalm 34:18.  Who, does this verse say the Lord is near?

  2. Read Luke 4:18.  Who did Jesus come to minister to?