Luke 8-10

This passage took me 30 minutes to read. 

We often think that Jesus’ time of trial during his 40 day fast in the wilderness (Luke 4: 1-13) was the most that Satan could throw at him.  But if we do then we have missed the trials Jesus faced in Luke 8.  In verses 22-25 Jesus’ life was threatened by a storm that could have been from Satanic origins.  Jesus rested, assured of God’s plan for him.  In verses 26-39 Jesus’ title was exposed by a demonic source. Jesus addressed the needs of the possessed, and rebuke the demons.  In verses 40-48 the Jesus ability to heal because of someone’s faith was tested, but he trusted God to provide for the physical needs of the woman, and forgave her sins.  Finally in verses 49-56 Jesus came face to face with death, again, and trusted God for the victory.  All of these elements of a sin stained world  were heaped upon him, and Jesus stood up to the onslaught fearlessly.

Stuart

Psalm 93

This short psalm took about 2 minutes to read; tops. The psalmist make a very simple comparison; nothing in all the Earth matches the splendor of God.
I say Amen!
Stuart

Luke 4-6

Another long passage that took me close to 30 minutes to read.

I am uncomfortable with Luke 6:24-26; it’s not that I don’t believe these words to be true, I’m not sure how to apply them in my life.  I know that Jesus wasn’t telling his followers to go out and make their lives miserable, but rather that the natural outflow of a life committed to following his words would result in discomfort and abuse.  When we stand for what is holy in the midst of an unholy culture people will insult and accuse us of intolerance.  This part of the Gospel is unpleasant; but only in this life.

Stuart

Psalm 92

This psalm took less than 5 minutes to read. I wonder if this was a song sung every Saturday amounf Jewish families. The promise to the righteous in the last stanza should catch our attention; "The righteous will flourish..." A promise that we all need to hear.
Stuart

Luke 1-3

It is quite a change to go from reading about the total depravity led by the kings of Israel and Judah to recounting the story, in all the detail that Luke introduces, about the birth of the King of kings who rules over Israel, and the world.  Going from the stories of splendor that was lost to the poverty of Babylonian captivity, to the splendor that was surrendered to enter the captivity of sin stain creation.  The stark differences continue in Luke’s Gospel; the faithlessness of Zechariah, a picture of the failure of the Law, contrasted with Mary’s faithfulness and surrender, as a picture of the new life under a new covenant.  It is all quite a contrast; but a wonderful picture of the greatness of God’s work of redemption and grace.

It took me about 30 minutes to read this passage.

Stuart

2 Kings 22-25

This passage took me about 25 minutes to read.  It is so sad to read that the holy and righteous king Josiah had no son who would follow his example in serving God.  Neither of the two sons of Hamutal or Zebidah’s son sought the God of Israel as their father had.  How had they missed out on the message of piety that their father displayed?  What words of instruction did Josiah neglect to tell them about the wonder and wrath of the God of covenant?  Maybe the sons simply chose to reject the surrender that their father displayed, and God used that to fulfill His words of judgment against Judah.

Stuart

Psalm 91

I read this psalm in about 5 minutes. What really encourages me is the words at the end of verse 4; "his truth is a shield and protection." That will help me to stand firm in the faith; knowing that God's truth will protect me during the attacks.
On a side note, I did not read the passages in 2 Kings today. I allowed life and work to take priority over this discipline.
Stuart

2 Kings 19 - 21

It took me 15 minutes to read these pasasages which tell of the sin that led Judah into a tail spin that led to their destruction. I don't understand how Hezekiah could be such as upright king, and give the kingdom to that spoiled brat Mannasah. Under his rule Judah walked headlong into total rebellion against God's law. Chapter 21 ends with the good news of Josiah, the son of David who would repentr before God and seek to restore the law.
Stuart

Psalm 90

It is truely breath-taking to read the word penned almost 4,000 years ago. To see that the distress of life in the bronze age is nearly identical to that in the Internet age. In verse 13 Moses ask; "How long...?" We still ask it today. And God, in His infinite wisdom, refuses to answer us:  for now.
It took me about 5 mintes to read this Psalm.
Stuart

2 kings 15-18

This passage narrates the end the independant kingdom os Israel. Their downfall was due to their persistent rebellion against God. Their actions showed that they rejected God' laws and His covenant. The narrative also tells about the variability os the faithfulness of the kings of Judah.
This passage took me 25 minutes to read.
Stuart

Psalm 89

This long psalm took me nearly 10 minutes to read. Verses 3-4 talk about God's covenant with David regarding his eternal dynasty. God's faithfulness is so great that it continues beyond our sinfulness. Verses 30-37 speak to that point. It should be a great encouragement to us.
Stuart

2 Kings 12-14

This passage took me 25 minutes to read. Each time the writer spoke of the kings of Judah he would condemn them for maintaining the high places. Each time the writer spoke of the kings of Israel he would condemn the idolatry of Jeroboam. Chapter 14 mentions a prophet named Jonah (vs 25).
I didn't read any passages yesterday because I was exhausted from a long and tiring work schedule. I'm thankful it was a non-reading day.
Stuart

2 Kings 8-11 & Psalm 88

This has been a long and difficult day.  I finally got some quiet time, while waiting on some work problems.  It took me about 20 minutes to read these 4 chapters and 1 psalm.  The passage in 2 Kings addresses the fulfillment of God’s judgment against the family of Ahab, king of Israel.  He spilt a lot of blood, and in blood his inheritance was removed from Israel.  It is in the darkest time of life that we sometimes fail to see God’s providence at work.  However, that’s all I saw in the reading at such a late hour. 

Stuart

2 Kings 5-7, Psalms 86, and 87

I had the opportunity, while at work, to catch up on all my reading.  I had gotten behind on the Psalms to have read.  I spent 20 minutes reading these passages.

The words of Elisha in 2 Kings 6:16 should be the words by which we, as Christians, live. “Don’t be afraid – those who are with us outnumber those who are with them!”  Then Elisha prayed and his servant was able to see the “great cloud of witnesses” that surrounded the army surrounding the city.  Surely Elijah passed on to his student the lessons he had learned from his fear of Jezebel; The God of Israel is greater than any threat and anyone who threatens a man of God.  Elisha put the lesson into practice and remained calm as he saw the army surrounding his city.  Either God had told him ahead of time, or Elisha expected God to deliver him. 

I also enjoy reading Psalm 87 and the promise of hope for those born in Zion; which applies equally to the spiritual Zion; the church.

Stuart

2 Kings 1-4

The first story in chapter 1 recounts how three commanders approached Elijah, each with 50 men.  This show of force was to persuade the prophet to visit the king.  Apparently the first two commanders had no regard for who Elijah was and the God whom he represented.  Therefore God showed no regard for their lives.  However, the third commander, who had to walk past 100 scorched bodied, realized with whom he was dealing, and humbled himself before God’s prophet.  The next three chapters deal with the transition from Elijah, a hairy man, to Elisha, a bald man, and the early ministry of Elisha.

This passage took me about 20 minutes to read.

Stuart

Psalms 81, 82, and 83

Well, I know that over the past few days I did get these Psalms read.
Psalm 81 on 6/15
Psalms 82 & 83 on 6/16
I don't remember how long it took me to read these passages, and I didn't record any thoughts as I read them. Sometimes I allow the reading plan to become a duty, rather than an act of worship. But that is not what I want it to be.

Stuart

Psalm 85

I remember reading something from Dutch Sheets on verse 10: "justice and peace have kissed each other" I noticed that verses 11 through 13 revisit three of the four characteristics declared in verse 10: grace and truth, then justice and peace. I think this verese deserved more attention.
This short psalm took me less than 5 minutes to read.

Philemon & Psalm 84

I spent 10 mintues reading these two passages.
Paul's letter to Philemon is very important for us today. The overall message, that I see, is to forgive our fellow Christian; completely and freely. Paul recognized that Philemon had every legal right to punish Onesimus, but since the slave was now a Christian Paul urged his owner to forgive him the crime completely. The cross paid for every sin.
Psalm 84 reminds us that being in God's presence is of greater worth than anything else in all of creation.

Stuart

Jonah

The story of Jonah is a picture of our life; God moves us to follow him into situations for which he has prepared us, but we try to avoid God’s work, or we dive into His work with our own intentions and agendas.  However,  just like with Jonah God completes His work, with the efforts that we offer Him, and He makes it beautiful.

It took me about 10 minutes to read this passage.

Stuart

1 Kings 20-22

It took me about a half an hour to get through this section, but I kept being interrupted.

These chapters cover the later part of Ahab’s reign in Israel.  The end of his rule was no more pleasing to God than the beginning.  God showed his mercy by allowing Ahab to be buried in peace because of his act of repentance before God.

Stuart

1 Kings 16-19

I did not read anything thing yesterday.  Fortunately, I was one day ahead in the reading plan and today was a day “off” on the DJ schedule.  It took me about 20 minutes to read these chapters.

These chapters deal with the rapid corruption seen in the nation of Israel’s leadership.  After Jeroboam’s rejection of the God of Israel each subsequent leader fled further from the truth.  Ahab seemed to be a king who would listen to God’s prophets, except that he kept listening to his wife.  Jezebel repeatedly undercut anything good that Ahab started to do, leading him, and the people further into idolatry.  By the end of the drought there were only 7,000 people, in a country of possibly millions, who had never bowed to worship baal.  Elijah had had enough and God raised up his replacement; Elisha.

Stuart

1 Kings 13 - 15

I set aside 15 minutes to read these chapters.  This is the beginning of the brief histories of the kings of Israel and Judah.  Many of the stories are terribly sad because they show how easily “good” people are led away from following God.  It shows us that while God is pursuing after us to show us His love, we have an enemy who is pursuing us as well.  His weapons of war are lies and fabrications that look attractive.  But we learn that they are empty and meaningless, and lead only to loneliness and death.  The same fate that awaits Satan.

Stuart

Psalm 80

This short Psalm carries a message of dependance upon God, and a recognition that it was His great hand that lifted Israel from the slavery of Egypt to the rule unders Kings David and Solomon. The repeated plea is for the God of Hosts to restore Israel.
Stuart

1 Kings 10-12 & Psalm 79

I has to read the passages in 1 Kings in two sittings: my eyes were heavy for a nap.
The stories in 1 Kings 10 & 11 show the stark contrast of Solomons life: wisodm without measure and foolishness that is hard to grasp. Solomon is an example of Paul's word: "Bad company corrupts good character."
I wonder when Psalm 79 was written. The last part of verse 2 makes me wonder: "the flesh of those faithful to you [was given] for the wild animals of the earth." Who were these faithful ones slain? Their bodies left to rot?
All told I spent about 20 minutes reading, not counting naptime.
Stuart

1 Kings 7-9

This passage took me 20 minutes to read. Chapters 8 and 9 are the center piece to understanding God's responce to our acts of worship. Whether that worship is in word or deed if we are not being obedient than our faith is incomplete. It is hard to conceive why Solomon went from this level of dedication to total idolatry later in life. Yet it is a reminder to us that the lure of the flesh is very subtle, and we can easily be blinded by our own selfishness.
Stuart

1 Kings 4-6

Why did it take Solomon 4 years to begin the construction of the temple?  Chapter 6 of 1 Kings goes into some detail as to the design and construction of the temple.  Maybe it took 4 years to amass the materials, this is my theory.  Maybe he was doing something else those 4 years.  It took seven years to build that wondrous structure, and the description from chapter 6 indicates that it truly was awesome.  I’d like to build a replica of one of the Seraphim that was suspended over the ark.  I think that would be impressive.

It took me about 15 minutes to read this passage.

1 Kings 1-3, Psalm 78

The psalm was very long, so these passages took me 25 minutes to read. The psalm addresses the history of Israel and all that God did for them.
The passage in 1 Kings addresses Solomons rise to the throne in place of David, and how he established his rule.
Stuart

Psalm 77

This psalm took less than 5 minutes, but the words Asaph left are power recognitions of God's greatness and love. Verse 5 is a good reminder that sometimes when we wake up in the middle of the night: God is behind it, and we'd better seek him.
Stuart

Psalm 76

This psalm took only a few minutes to read. It is a wonderful song of praise to the glory of God. It should be a great comfort to those who follow God in faith, and a source of fear for all who fight against Him. The psalm end with the reminder that our God's authority is final: even over the rule of kings.
Stuart

Colossians

I took about 20 minutes to read this epistle. Having spent a great deal of time studying the Ephesian letter I am amaze at the similarities in the phrasing that Paul uses in this letter too.
Stuart

2 Samuel 21-24 & Psalm 75

It took approximately 20 minutes to read these chapters.

In 2 Samuel 21 we see another example of the disobedience of King Saul.  God sent a famine on Israel because Saul violated the covenant made during the time of Joshua.  Joshua 9 tells about the deception of the people of Gibeon toward Israel and the oath that the leaders of Israel swore WITHOUT asking God.  Years later Saul’s zeal to win God’s favor led him to attack these people.  Atonement was required.  Included in the “offering” were the lives of the sons of Merab, the older daughter of Saul who was offered to David, whom she bore to Adriel of Meholah (1 Samuel 18:19).  This was not a human sacrifice to appease God, it appears to be rather, at least to me, an extension of the rights of the avenger of blood as mentioned in the Law, (Numbers 35:19) since King Saul had violated a covenant.

2 Samuel 18-20

These chapters cover the battle between David's followers and Absalom's follower. This battle ended with the death of Absalom and 20,000 of his followers. The verse 19:7 is a rebuke from Joab to David regarding the king's responce to the death of Absalom. I have always been confused why David acted in such a way.
This passage took me 15 minutes to read.
Stuart

2 Samuel 14-17 & Psalm 74

The reading in 2 Samuel was a long passage so it took me about 20 minutes to read both sections. 

The story of Absalom’s rebellion shows the great contrast between a worldly leader, and a ruler after God’s heart.  Absalom feigned justice, David delivered. Absalom was merciless, David continued to show mercy.  Absalom sought the advice of the people  that he trusted, David sought the leadership of the God in whom he placed his trust.

One verse that caught my attention was 2 Samuel 15:7.  It talks about the end of a 40 year time frame.  I wonder if these events occur toward the end of David’s reign, and he is an old man nearing 70.