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, July 20 - Read for today: Psalms 115
Sunday, July 21 - Read for today: Psalms 116

Monday, July 22 – Read for today Genesis 28

A Meeting with God

     Jacob wasted no time in leaving home in fact he traveled a very long way the first day.  His mother had hatched a plan for his survival or escape from his brother Esau.  Jacob has been called a schemer or supplanter for the way he along with his mother worked to take the birthright from Esau.  God had already stated that Jacob would receive the blessing, but they still believed trickery was needed.  Jacob needed to learn much in the days ahead and a meeting with God was in order.  Jacob named the place Bethel where he met with God in a dream.  He saw a ladder reaching from heaven to earth with angels ascending and descending.  The Lord stood above and repeated the promises he had made to Abraham.  Jacob would receive the land he was on, his family would become a great nation and through this family would come a great blessing which would be the work of our Savior Jesus Christ. When  Nathanael  met with Jesus in John 1:47-51 Nathanael was amazed that Jesus has seen him under the fig tree ,but Jesus replied that he would see greater signs that this …”You shall see the heavens open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of  Man.” When Jacob saw the ladder between heaven and earth it was truly a picture of Jesus Christ showing that He would be the way to God and salvation.  When anyone is saved today they must come through Christ because there is no other way.  Jacob poured oil on a stone and honored the place as the house of God and the gate to heaven.  The Holy Spirit lives within us as believers.  Do we honor God with our bodies?

     Jacob made a vow to God that if He took care of him and returned him home then he would serve God.  Jacob had much to learn about a relationship with God.  We don’t make deals with God in order to win rewards but must only come to Him on His terms.  The years ahead would be used by God to bring him to a place of understanding this and making him humble before Him.  Do we try to make deals with God for future benefits or do we humbly bow before Him in recognizing our sins and weaknesses.  God wants to do a work in us before He will use us.  Let’s submit to him in all of our lives.  He will save us when we call on Him to cleanse us and He will use us as His servants as we yield to His will.  It is important that we be patient as God shapes us into His will for His plans.

Thoughts to consider:

What confidence do you have in God in times of trouble?  Psalms 16:8; 34:18; 145:18

How near is God to you? Jeremiah 23:23; Acts 17:27

For further study:

Where is God during the hardships of life? Exodus 33:14; Deuteronomy 20:1; Isaiah 43:2  

In Luke 15:11-32 what similarities do we see between Jacob and the prodigal son?

What lessons had to be learned? How is God working with us in our lives?



Tuesday, July 23-- Read for today: Genesis 29

Married and Unloved

     In Genesis 2:18 we read, Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.  From the very beginning, even in the Garden of Eden, with no worries, no struggles, and God as A Companion, God Himself said it was not good for man to be alone.  God created us designed us, with the need for companionship.  He made men and women with different gifts, different abilities, and different passions so that we might complement one another.  A couple obediently serving the Lord together can make an awesome and effective team.

     At the same time, some have the “gift” of singleness.  (See 1 Corinthians 7:7-8).  When single, you have more time, in some instances, to serve the Lord.  Among other opportunities, you can be out more evenings visiting and working with folks, without the concern that you might be neglecting someone at home.     I, however, do not have the gift of singleness.  I have long wanted to be married and thought I would get married long before I did.  It took a long for me to find the right lady, and a long time for the Lord to work on me and to get my heart right so that I would recognize and appreciate her when I found her.  I am very fortunate to be married to a very godly lady; the helpmeet that the Lord prepared for me.

     I know what it is like, however, to go home alone, night after night.  I know how discouraging and lonely it can be to go home to a dark and empty house.  I can tell you, however, from the experience of many I have worked with; something I think Leah would very readily tell you as well; there are worse things than being single.  You could be married to the wrong person, or you could be married (like Leah) and still unloved and lonely.  I believe Leah would also tell you, that having children will not fix a relationship and will not make your spouse love you anymore.

     What do you do if you find yourself unwillingly single?  First, serve the Lord diligently as you are and where you are.  Second, work on improving and growing your walk with the Lord.  Third, pray that the Lord will either change your heart, or change your circumstance.

       I have a new friend named Willshan.  He is a pastor in Haiti.  He once prayed, telling the Lord that he needed a wife, and that a pastor’s wife was so important that he wanted the Lord to select one for him.  Shortly thereafter, he preached in a church of about 1500 people.  After the service, as the folks were filing out and a they stopped to greet him, he happened to notice a young lady who was one of the last to leave.  She told him how much she appreciated his message and such, and Willshan thought nothing else about it.

     Later that night, the Lord told him in a dream that he was to go and ask that woman to marry him.  Willshan told the Lord “No”.  He said he didn’t even know the woman.  The Lord told him again, and again Willshan answered “No”.  Then the Lord told him that He was going to remove His blessing from Willshan’s ministry because he wouldn’t obey.  When Willshan woke up, he began crying and asking the Lord to forgive him for not obeying.  He went to the town where the church was and after a great deal of asking around and searching, he tracked the young lady down.     He went to her house and knocked on the door.  When she opened it, she was surprised to see the preacher there, but was polite and invited him in.  Willshan said, “No”.  I will not come in.  The Lord told me that I was you marry you.  Will you marry me, yes or no?  The woman hemmed and hawed.  Willshan asked again, “The Lord told me I was to marry you.  Will you marry me, yes or no?”  The woman told him she would pray about it, to come back on Wednesday.

     Willshan left, and came back on Wednesday.  He asked the same question again.  She said she had prayed about it, and that the Lord had told her to marry him.  He said, “I have no house.  I have no income.  I have nothing but my Bible.”  She said she understood.

     They announced it in her church that next Sunday.  They were given two houses, and the clothes to get married in.  They have now been married over twenty years, have two children also serving in churches, and continue to minister together to this day.

     We still serve a miracle-working God!

Questions for thought:

  1. How is your marital situation?  Is it what you want it to be?  Have you discussed it with the Lord?

For further study:

  1. How might Ephesians 5:22-33 improve your situation?

  2. Might James 4:1-3 apply here?

  3. We know that the Apostle Peter was married because he had a mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14).  In light of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7:25 and following, does it make sense that some religions/denominations would refuse to allow their preachers/priests to marry?  How might Colossians 2:16-23 apply here?

Wednesday, July 24 - Read for today: Genesis 30

Why all the fuss about Children?

     When one reads Genesis chapter 30, one can read about how Laban tried to cheat Jacob repeatedly.  There is an awful lot of that going on.   There is more than enough subterfuge and dishonesty going around for all to have a part.  However, the primary thing one reading this chapter would have to notice is the great deal of emphasis there is on having children, even to the point of sisters competing with each other to see who could provide their husband the most sons.

     Granted, it was especially important in those days and in that culture to have children, especially sons.  Children helped carry on the family, and sons carried on the family name.  Children, and large families helped provide a measure of security, somewhat like the Sacketts of Louis L’Amour fame.  Children were also important in those times because, to some extent, they were their parents’ social security/retirement plans.  It was their responsibilities to take care of their parents in their old age.     The Men’s Fraternity Bible includes a study in its Winning at Work and Home section entitled “Are Children Worth It?”  That study provides the following:

THE QUALMS

     Money – Children are expensive.  Estimates indicate that it can cost close to half a million dollars to take a child from diapers to a college diploma.

     Time and Effort – Parenting is time-intensive and demands hard choices about how careers (yours and your wife’s) fit into the mix.

     Selfishness – Surveys indicate that the majority of young people today believe personal happiness, not raising children, is the main purpose of marriage.

     Culture – Some couples look at the world today and decide it is no place to raise a kid.  Those who do have kids say parenting is harder now than when they were young.

THE FACTS

     97% of all parents have no regrets in having children

     75% of parents assert that having children strengthened their marriage.  (*Gene’s note – however, I would say from experience with numbers of families that if a couple is having problems, children can increase those problems and difficulties rather decreasing them.  Differences in parenting styles, discipline, family priorities etc. are increased by the presence of children, not decreased).

     89% of all parents say that having children increased their enjoyment of life.

     81% of all parents say watching children grow up is life’s greatest pleasure.

THE BIBLE

     The Command – Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.  Genesis 1:28.

     The Reward – Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth.  Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them.  Psalm 127:3-5.  (“Are Children Worth It?  Men’s Fraternity Bible, Dr. Robert M. Lewis and Dr. Jeremy R. Howard eds.  Holman, Nashville, 2007.  Winning at Work and Home – session 9, np).  

Questions for thought:

    1. Do you have children?  Why or why not?

    2. What responsibilities go along with having children?

    3. There are a great deal of children in our communities who have no parents who care, or who have parents who are struggling so desperately to make ends meet that they very little or no time to spend with their children.  Others are unable, because of choices and lifestyle, are unable to be a biblical model.  What might you do to help minister to these children or to demonstrate for them what a godly man or woman looks like?

For further study:

    1. What do Proverbs 30:15-16 say about childlessness and the natural longing that often follows it?  How does God address infertility in Isaiah 56:3-5?

    2. How does Galatians 4:27 apply here?

 

Thursday, July 25 – Read for today: Genesis 31

Trusting our Lives and our Enemies to God

     God blessed Laban because of Jacob.  Laban himself admitted this in Genesis 30:27.  In spite of God blessing him because of his affiliation with a man who walked with God, he tried again and again to swindle and cheat Jacob.  He cheated him out of his lawful wife, and then seven years of additional labor, by giving him Leah instead of Rachel, whom Jacob had bargained for.  This caused Jacob and his descendants countless issues over the years.  When Jacob made a deal to continue to work for Laban in return for any offspring that ended up striped, or spotted, or whatever, Laban went through the flocks and removed any animals that might pass that trait down to their offspring (30:35-36).  Again and again Laban tried to cheat Jacob, over the twenty years he worked for him (31:41).  What was the outcome?

     God protected Jacob, 31:29, 42.  He blessed him, 31:41.  God also took the possessions He blessed Jacob with, away from Laban.  God blessed His child, and punished His child’s abuser.

     I am sure Jacob could have sought and hired help.  He was, by this time, a wealthy man.  He could have tried to get even with Laban himself, but he didn’t.  He left it up to God.  God took care of the situation.  Through it all, God kept His promise (28:15).

     My brother Dusty is a vehicular homicide detective.  In other words, he does accident reconstructions when there is a fatality or life-threatening injury.  Sometimes, when he is on the road and is passed by a dangerous driver, he thinks, “That’s OK.  I’ll see you later.”  He knows that their actions will eventually catch up with them.

     Wouldn’t it be great if we could learn to let God fight our battles for us?  Wouldn’t life be much simpler if we trusted Him more, if we trusted Him to provide, and guide?

Questions for thought:

  1. Are there battles you are fighting that you should let God be handling?

  2. What are you trying to figure out, or work out, that you haven’t yet prayed about?  Have you realized that God can accomplish more in a heartbeat than you can in a lifetime?

For further study:

  1. How does Romans 12:19-21 apply here?

  2. How about Psalm 1:1-6?



Friday, July 26 – Read for Today Genesis 32

Wrestling with God

     Verse 26 records that when the “man” saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, Then He said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.”  But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me”.  Jacob wrestled with God.  He continued and continued and would not give up until God blessed him.

     I have a friend in Haiti named Wiljean.  In his early 20s, Wiljean was healed from brain tumors by the Lord.  Shortly after his healing and conversion, the Lord told Wiljean to leave where he was in Hinche, Haiti and to go to Cape Haitien to attend seminary.  When he arrived in the city, he had 50 cents Haitian in his pocket.  He had no place to stay.  He had no food, or clothes, didn’t know where the seminary was, and had no idea how he was going to pay for his school.  He just knew that God had told him to come.

     While standing on a street corner in Cape Haitien, a man came up and asked Wiljean who he was and what he was doing.  Wiljean replied that God had told him to come to town to attend seminary, though he had no money and didn’t know where the seminary was.  The man bought Wiljean a bowl of beans and rice and took him to the seminary where he dropped him off.     After taking the entry exams and qualifying to attend, Wiljean attended classes at the seminary for a week.  Then, he was called to the dean’s office and asked for payment for the classes.  Wiljean replied, “I have no money.  I just know that God told me to come to seminary”.  The dean told him he had two days to come up with the money or they would put him out of the school.  5 Days later he still had no money and didn’t know what to do.

     That Friday, he spent the afternoon in his room.  He prayed and cried.  He prayed and praised.  He danced before the Lord and prayed some more.  He said, “Lord.  You told me to come to Cape Haitien and to attend the seminary and that You would open doors.  You said that you would provide, but they are about to put me out of the school because I have no money.  I don’t know what to do, but I will praise You.”  He cried and he prayed.  He prayed and he praised.  He sang and prayed some more.     A Canadian man “happened” to be walking down the street outside Wiljean’s room, and heard all of the noise coming from the house.  He asked some folks on the street what was happening.  They answered that there was a young man in the house who believed God had told him to come to town and to attend the seminary.  The man had no money, they were about to put him out of the school, and so he was praying and praising the Lord, asking God to provide.  To make a long story short, the Canadian gentleman, having never met Wiljean, went to the seminary and paid Wiljean’s tuition and continued to do so until he completed school!

     Wiljean prayed and praised and fasted for days.  He wanted to see God work.  He wanted to see a miracle.  He wanted to see God fulfill His promise to him, and poor Wiljean didn’t know any better than to keep praying and to keep trusting.  He wrestled with God.

     “Sometimes God answers quickly, but often He wants us to persist in prayer.  We prefer microwave miracles; He wants slow-simmered maturity.  God often delays answering our prayers for a number of reasons: He uses the time to prepare our hearts, to test our motives, to alter the situation, or change a person’s heart.  But, there might be another cause for the delay.”  (Christianity Lite, p71).  Daniel 10:12-14 describes a time when a prayer’s answer was delayed because of a spiritual battle between angelic and demonic forces.

     “We see only a zillionth of what’s going on in the heavenly realms.  We may think we have it all figured out, but we don’t.  However, we can trust that God will ultimately overcome evil and have His way.     As we pray, delays aren’t the end of the world.  We just need to pay attention; stays focused, and keep our hearts fixed on Jesus.  Sooner or later the answer will come.  (Ibid, 72).

Questions for thought:

  1. Is there an area in your life that you may have given up on too quickly because you did not see answers as quickly as you had hoped?

  2. Are there people or situations you are no longer praying about because YOU have given up?  Why is that?  Is anything too difficult for God?

  3. Are you spending enough time with God to be able to recognize His voice when He speaks to you?  When was the last time you can remember for certain that He told you anything?

For further study:

  1. In Matthew 5:8, do you recognize the condition upon which seeing Jesus depends?

  2. What does John 14:21 and 23 say about Jesus making His will known to you?

  3. What reasons does James 4:1-3 give for unanswered prayers?

  4. What does Luke 18:1-5 teach us about praying?

For more information on Wiljean and the ministry going on in Haiti, please see http://opendoorhaiti.org



Saturday, July 27 - Read for today: Psalms 117

Sunday, July 28 - Read for today: Psalms 118