2019 Bible Reading Plans

2019 Bible Reading Plans

The following are a few 2019 Bible Reading Plans from various sources.  Make a commitment today to faithfully read the Scriptures more next year than you did this last year.

After all, the mantra “no pain, no gain” also applies to spiritual disciplines.

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Genesis Through Revelation Bible Reading Plan

Read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with daily readings of three to four chapters.  From www.heartlight.org.

Download: PDF

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52 Week Bible Reading Plan

Read through the Bible in a year with daily readings from the Epistles, the Law, History, Psalms, Poetry (Job, Proverbs, etc.), Prophecy, and the Gospels.  From www.bible-reading.com.

Download:  PDF

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Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Read through the Bible in chronological order.  This is one of my favorites.  From www.esv.org.

Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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Historical Bible Reading Plan

The Old Testament readings are much like the order found in Israel’s Hebrew Bible and the New Testament readings are in the order in which the books were written.  From www.blueletterbible.org.

Download:  PDF

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Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

This is the classic M’Cheyne Bible reading calendar that will let you read the New Testament and Psalms twice and the Old Testament once.  From www.edginet.org.

Download:  PDF

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5 Day Bible Reading Program

Read through the Bible in a year with readings five days a week.  From www.BibleClassMaterial.com.

Download:  PDF big_lines

And a special thanks to Ligonier ministries for the reminder.

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Is Your Heavenly Father Like Your Earthly Father?

Is Your Heavenly Father Like Your Earthly Father?

In my devotional time today in Proverbs 5, I discovered some words of wisdom I would like to share with you:

Proverbs 5:1-2 – My son, pay attention (listen carefully, give heed, obey) to my (not the world’s) wisdom; lend (extend, stretch out) your ear to my (not the world’s) understanding, (why) that you may preserve (watch, keep, guard) discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge.

The Proverbs are all about wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.  And the key to living in these blessings is to forsake the wisdom of this world, which is moronic (mōría) at best, and embrace the wisdom that only comes from God (1 Cor. 3:19).  It’s a daily choice, sometimes an hourly choice, we can make.

So how ’bout it?  Are you up for the challenge?

And one more:

Proverbs 5:21 – For the ways (path, journey of one’s life) of man (each man, you and me) are before the eyes of the LORD, and He (the Lord) ponders (to make level, to weigh, to guard or watch carefully) all his (each man, you and me) paths (goings, the circle of a camp).

Did you catch the meaning of this proverb?  Our life’s journey, our life’s choices are laid out before the Lord.  Nothing is hidden from Him.  He sees all.  Everything.  Good and bad.

Is that a good thing that nothing is hidden from God?  Or not such a good thing?  That depends on your view of God as your Father.


What is Your Heavenly Father Like?

There are two ways to look at this proverb.  And they are basically determined by our perception of what God the Father is like and how we choose to interpret the word, ponder (pālas).  One way is to focus on the part of the definition that means “to make level, to weigh.”  The image would be of a large legal scale, with our actions on one side and God’s righteousness on the other.  We would then see God as a great Judge with a mighty hammer waiting for us to cross the line, to do something disappointing to Him, something embarrassing to His character.  And once the scale becomes unbalanced towards our sin and not His righteousness, WHAM! – down comes the hammer.  In essence, “All our lives are before the Lord and He is waiting, just biding His time, until we mess up.  And when we do, geez, out comes His iron fist.”

This is a picture of an abusive father who is head over a dysfunctional family.  This is not what our God is like.

The other way to view this proverb is to focus on the other meaning of the word, ponder.  That would be to “guard or watch carefully.”  Now we see the Father as a caring, careful Parent who wants to make sure His beloved children are safe, protected, and not somewhere where they could get hurt.  He’s waiting everyday at the bus stop for them to arrive home.  He’s sitting in the stands watching every soccer game they play to make sure they don’t get hurt.  He’s hands on, proactive, and always involved.  And our blessing comes from knowing our lives are always “before the eyes of the Lord.”

This is a picture of a good father who lovingly leads a wonderful family.  And this, my friend, is what our God is like.

Rejoice today that your life is hidden with Christ (Col. 3:3) and the very hairs on your head are numbered (Matt. 10:30), and not simply counted.  And know how much your loving Father can’t keep His eyes off you— His beloved child.

Rest in that today.

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The Focus of Our Faith

The Focus of Our Faith

The context of Psalm 3 deals with David’s great betrayal at the hands of his own son, Absalom, whom he dearly loved (2 Sam. 18:33).  Absalom had driven his father from the holy city, Jerusalem, and was seeking to usurp his kingdom and take his life.  David’s guilt as a failed father towards his rebellious son must have been unbearable.  Adding to that the guilt of his own sin with Bathsheba and the murder of his close friend, and her husband, Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam. 11:15), may have caused David to feel Absalom’s actions were justified, a fitting penalty for the sins of David’s past.

The future looked bleak.  There was division within his own family.  To regain his kingdom he would have to wage war against his own son, forcing him to repay evil for evil to the one he loved.  God was grieved and David was unsure as to what to do.


Our Focus

There is much for us to learn about God and our own problems in this psalm.  Note, for example, what happens when we, like David, focus on our problems and what others say about our situation:

Psalm 3:1-2 – LORD, how they have increased who trouble me!  Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.”

But now, the focus has shifted from what is before us to our God and all He has promised.  You can almost feel David’s faith begin to grow:

Psalm 3:3-4 – But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head.  I cried to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.

As Corrie ten Boom once said, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”

David realizes God has not abandoned him.  He has cried out to his Lord, our Lord, and his voice had been heard.  God was still on His throne and He still loved his son, David, no matter how desperate the circumstances.  The same truth applies to each of us when we get our focus off our problems— the immediate, the overwhelming, and focus instead on what lasts— the Eternal, the Lord, the Sovereign One.

And the result of that change in focus?  No more fear.  Rest and peace in the face of turmoil.  Confidence in Him and Him alone.  “God’s got this. I’ve nothing to fear.”

Psalm 3:5-6 – I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.  I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

After all, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).  Great question.  Answer, no one.  Not even Absalom.

This thought brings great courage to David.  God is not finished with him yet.  Today and tomorrow are just setbacks.  But God’s plan endures to all generations.

Finally, that confidence is expressed in action.  David, and each of us, find our prayers going from “Help me, please, for I am dying” to “Arise, O Lord” and do what You promised to do for your children.

Psalm 3:7-8 – Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God!  For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.  Salvation belongs to the LORD.  Your blessing is upon Your people

Did you get that? “Your (God) blessing is upon Your (God) people.”


The End from the Beginning

One final thought, did you notice all of God’s actions are recorded in the past tense (have struck, have broken)?  That’s right.  For the child of God, we can rest in faith knowing what God has promised to do has already been done in the eyes of the Lord.  His Word never changes.  If God promises to do something for us, in faith, it’s already done.  It’s finished, established, completed, done.  Time is a construct of man, not of God.  He sees everything, past, present and future, in real time.  Scripture calls that seeing “the end from the beginning” (Isa, 46:10).  We simply have to rest, by faith, in the completed work of the Lord even though our eyes may see, for a time, something quite different.

David saw Absalom’s rebellion and his kingdom, the one promised to David by the Lord, ripped from his hands.  But not God.  None of that surprised Him.  God knew how all of that was going to turn out and His knowledge of the future was not based on changing circumstances, but on what He had promised David in the past.  What was currently happening, in God’s eyes, were merely details.

So we should also live our lives with the same focus on Him, with eyes of faith, seeing the truth of what God sees and not what our circumstances cause us to fear.  The promises our faithful God has made to each of us are true, and will come to pass, regardless of how dark and bleak our circumstances may seem today.  And living in the reality of this faith, to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), will give us the peace and assurance in Him that will help us know our Lord sustains us and gives us the confidence to proclaim, even in the midst of the battle, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around” (Ps. 3:6).

Psalm 3:8 – Salvation belongs to the Lord, Your blessing is upon Your people.

The “Your people” also include you and me, those chosen in Him “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).  And His blessing is upon His people.  Take a moment, stop fretting, and rest in that.

Pray for the Lord to open your eyes today to see the wonder of His grace and sovereignty in all things (Ps. 115:3) and to teach you how to live like children of the Most High God (Rom. 8:17).  Which, as incredible as it sounds, you are.

Praise be His Name!

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The If / Then in Repentance

The If / Then in Repentance

We have previously talked about the importance of understanding our responsibility regarding the if / then passages in Scripture.  In these, the promise of God (then) is contingent upon some completed action on our part (if).  One always precedes the other.  One is always contingent upon the other.  When the if is satisfied, the promised then is realized.  But the opposite is also true.  If there is no if, there will be no then.  If no condition is met, there will be no fulfillment of the promise.  It’s Contract Law, 101.

For example, when Peter preached his powerful sermon on the day of Pentecost that ushered in the birth of the church, he closed his message with an if / then promise.  Let’s look at this in context.  First, Peter concludes his message with a statement about Jesus and their guilt in rejecting and crucifying Him.

Acts 2:36 – “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified (now it’s personal), both Lord and Christ.”

Then, under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, the people cry out for an answer.  They long and seek for salvation, some deliverance from the guilt of their sin.

Acts 2:37 – Now when they heard this (the words Peter just spoke), they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Peter answers their question with an if / then promise regarding repentance and salvation.  They must do something (if) to receive salvation and the forgiveness of their sins (then).  If they fail to do what is required of them (if – repentance), then salvation does not follow (then). Watch how this plays out.

Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said to them, “Repent (if – the condition they must meet), and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (as an outward sign of their repentance and submission to Christ); and (then – the promise of salvation, the result of meeting the condition of repentance) you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Remember, the Holy Spirit is our proof of salvation.  Ephesians 1 says we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance” in Him (Eph. 1:13-14).  Again, no Holy Spirit, no regeneration, no changed nature— no salvation.  But you already know this.


Turn at My Rebuke

Yet even after salvation, we find the same if / then conditions and promises still apply in our lives today.  This is especially true regarding the sins we commit as a believer and our refusal to repent of them and give them up in exchange for a deeper relationship with the Lord.  Look at your own life.  You and I have areas right now that we struggle with and refuse to submit to Him.  But you also already know this.  The end result of this inaction on our part is a grieving of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) and a noticeable break in our fellowship with the Lord.  Can you relate?  Ever been there?

We even see this scenario played out for us in the first chapter of Proverbs.  In this chapter, the young man (representing you and me) is warned by his father and mother not to forsake what he has been taught and to not consent when sinners entice him to sin (Prov. 1:10).  The Lord then spends the next nine verses detailing the types of pressure each of us will face when we are tempted to sin.  There’s peer pressure, greed, anger, violence, acceptance, excitement— it’s all there.  Read it for yourself.

By the time we get to Proverbs 1:20, things change a bit in the text.  Now we have wisdom, the personified wisdom of God, calling out to this young man with the message of repentance.  In fact, we see wisdom calling out to anyone who will listen.  Wisdom calls out in the “open squares,” in the “chief concourses” and “at the opening of the gates in the city” (Prov. 1:20-21).  Wisdom is calling to everyone.  To those who are lost, it’s a message of repentance unto salvation.  To those, like the young man and you and me, it’s a message of repentance unto fellowship and a restoration of our intimate relationship with our Lord.

Wisdom’s message begins with a rebuke.  It’s like incredulously asking, “Just how stupid are you?”

Proverbs 1:22 – “How long, you simple ones (foolish ones, naive ones, stupid ones, moronic ones), will you love simplicity (what is foolish, stupid, moronic)?  For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.”

Wisdom asks each of us the same question: “How long, you foolish, moronic, stupid ones, will you love your stupidity?  How long, you fools, will you be enamored in your folly?”

Just like those who heard Peter’s charge in Acts 2:36, we also ask the same question:  “What must we do?”   The answer is simple.  But it’s an if / then answer.  It requires something of us in order to receive something from the Lord.

Proverbs 1:23 – “Turn (if – the condition that must be met) at my rebuke; Surely (then – the results of meeting the condition) I will pour out my spirit (Holy Spirit) on you; (then) I will make my words known (yada) to you.”

The promise is that God would pour (to gush forth, to flow) out the Holy Spirit on those who turned (turn back, returned) and repented at the rebuke (correction, reproof, chastisement) of wisdom.  And, as if it couldn’t get any better, He also promised to make His words known (yada) to those who repented and turned back to Him.  The word “known” is yada in the Hebrew and means to know, or be known, in a loving, intimate, experiential way.  The promise offered by the Lord is for Him to pour Himself out on us in the Person of the Holy Spirit and make His words become something we love because we have experienced them ourselves, first-hand, and have an intimate, loving relationship with Him.   Does it get any better than this?  Not for me.

But don’t get too excited.  This wonderful promise is conditional.  It’s the then side of the if / then equation.  There is something that is required in order to receive the promise from God.  Something each of us must do.

We must repent.  We must turn at the rebuke or correction and chastisement of the Lord.

It means to go back to where we were with Him before we jumped ship to blindly go after the trinkets and toys this world offers.  It means to embrace the eternal and reject the temporal, no matter how good the temporal may make us feel in the short run.  It means placing ourselves back under the Lordship of Christ as the Sovereign One.  We must repent of the selfishness of demanding our Christian life being about us, and not about Him.  And we must vow to never view Christ as a genie in a bottle, always at our beck and call, whose sole purpose, according to us, is to make all our dreams come true.

Turn.  Return.  Go back.  Repent.


But What If I Don’t?

I mean, what if I refuse to return to Him?  What if I’m ok where I’m at and don’t want to go through the pain and hard times that come with repentance?  What if I say, no?

I’ll close by letting you read what the Lord says about people who stubbornly refuse His rebuke.  These are sobering words.  Take them to heart.  Because they are a warning from Him.  Another if / then promise.

Proverbs 1:24-27 – “Because (if – the condition we have met) I have called and you refused, (if – the condition) I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because (if) you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, (then – the result of our actions) I also will laugh at your calamity; (then) I will mock when your terror comes, (to what extent) when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.”

But it gets worse.  What happens when we reject the wisdom of the Lord and inevitably begin to experience all the “terror” and “destruction” that “comes like a whirlwind” (Prov. 1:26-27)?  What happens when the Lord gives us what we want and allows us to experience the consequences of our own sin (Rom.1:24-28)?  What happens when we’ve had enough of God’s chastisement, throw up our hands in defeat, and begrudgingly come to Him on His terms?  What happens then?  How will He receive us?

Read this carefully.  These are sobering words.

Proverbs 1:28-30 – “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.  (why) Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.”

These are some of the most frightening words in all of Scripture.  They indicate there may come a time when our constant rejection of the Lord will dry up His grace.  A time when heaven is quiet and, no matter how hard we try, we can’t find the grace from Him we took for granted for so long.  The time may come, according to this if / then promise, when God allows us to experience the consequence of our sins and may give us exactly what we have asked for, what we have demanded— deliverance from Him.

Pray that day never comes.

And while you still can, turn at His rebuke and allow Him to “pour out my spirit on you” and “make my words known to you” (Prov. 1:23).  Because when He does what He has promised in the verse, you will begin to experience heaven on earth.

Return to Him today.

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The If / Then Promises of God

The If / Then Promises of God

If your resolution this year is to “understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God” (Prov. 2:5), then you must begin this vision quest by understanding how the if / then passages in Scripture work.  Simply put, you do the ifs, and God provides the thens.  One is contingent upon another.  One comes first, and the other follows after.  One is a condition that must be met, the other is the result of meeting that condition.  One is your responsibility, and the other is His.

Consider this passage from Proverbs 2:

Proverbs 2:1-5 – My son, if (condition) you receive my words, and (if you) treasure my commands within you, (to what extent) so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if (condition) you cry out for discernment, and (if you) lift up your voice for understanding, if (condition) you seek her as silver, and (if you) search for her as for hidden treasures; then (result of meeting the condition) you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

As you can see, the promise of understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God only comes after the if conditions are met.  One is contingent upon another.  Meeting the if condition is the key that unlocks the then promise,  If I want to understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God, then I must meet the condition set forth to receive that promise.  It is foolishness, according to this passage, to assume we will receive the promise without meeting the condition.

Some promises in Scripture are granted without a condition being met.1  Others, most in fact, have a condition attached to them.  For example, our salvation is based on meeting a condition:

Romans 10:9 – That if (condition) you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and (if you) believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, (then – result or promise) you will be saved.

Note that salvation comes after the condition is met.  Repentance and the acknowledgement of Christ as Lord is mandatory, not optional.  You cannot come to faith in Him any other way.  This is an if / then passage about salvation.


If / Then Passages

But there’s so much more.  Take a look at a few of these if / then passages.  See if you can begin to understand how important your part is in receiving the promises of the Father.

Matthew 6:14-15 –  “For if (condition – your action and responsibility) you forgive men their trespasses, (then – the result or promise from God) your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if (condition – your action and responsibility) you do not forgive men their trespasses, (then – the result or promise from God) neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

If we desire forgiveness from God, we must first forgive others.  First the condition, then the promise.  How important is it for me to forgive others who have wronged me?  It’s vital.  For without meeting the horizontal condition of forgiveness between me and another, God is not obligated to fulfill the vertical condition of forgiving me for my sins and transgressions.  This is not something to play around with.  This if / then condition has lasting, eternal consequences.

John 15:10 – “If (condition) you keep My commandments, (then – result) you will abide (rest, dwell, make your home) in My love, (example) just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

How do I rest and abide in the love (agape) of Christ?  And how can I experience the abiding presence of that love like Jesus had with His Father?  By meeting the if condition of the if / then promise.  By keeping His commandments.  By doing what He tells me to do.  By loving Him through my obedience and not living a life of rebellion, apathy or arrogance.  After all, Jesus also said in another if / then passage, “If you love Me, (then) keep My commandments” (John 14:15).  Which means, if I love Him, then I will show my love for Him by keeping His commandments.  And if I don’t love Him, then I won’t keep His commandments.  Or, more frightening still, if I’m not keeping His commandments, then I must not love Him at all.  Which means our love for Christ can be clearly seen by our obedience to Him.  Not in our words, but in our actions (Luke 6:46).

We’ll close today with just one more.  This if / then promise was spoken to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus right before Jesus raised him from the dead in the sight of all.

John 11:40 – Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if (condition) you would believe (then – result) you would see the glory of God?”

Jesus was about to raise a man back to life who had been dead and buried four full days.  It was to be a powerful testimony that Christ is God and can do all things.  For me, it’s one of the greatest miracles in the New Testament.  But Martha would fail to see God in any of this unless she believed.  She was in danger of becoming hard hearted and spiritually blind, much like the Pharisees and others who made up the religious establishment of that day, to what was about to take place.  Instead of experiencing the glory of God, she would go back to her home unchanged, unmoved, and further away from the One who raised her brother from the dead.  Why?  Because of her lack of belief.  Jesus’ words to her were simple, “If you believe (the condition that unlocks the revelation of the glory of God), then (the result of her faith and belief) you will see the glory of God.”  And the opposite is also true.  “If you do not believe (condition), then (result of lack of faith) you will not see the glory of God.”

The spiritual magnitude of this momentous event for Martha was contingent on her belief— on the if part of the if / then promise from Jesus.

Are you beginning to see the importance of these overlooked if / then promises in Scripture?  Good.  Because there are hundreds of them.

For the next few weeks we’ll be looking at the if / then passages found in Scripture to discover what part we must play in receiving the promises from God.  Why?  Because fulfilling the if part is something we can do.  It’s something we can get better at.  Something the Lord has left in our hands.  Obedience to His Word is our responsibility.  And the promises for obedience, the results of the if / then promises in Scripture are, honestly, overwhelmingly wonderful.

Tomorrow we’ll begin looking at the if / then promises found in the Proverbs.

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1 – For example, God’s promise to Abraham is not conditional on anything Abraham would, or would not do (Gen.12:7).  See also Gen. 12:1-3; 13:15-16; 15:18-21; 17:6-8; and 35:11-12.

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377:  The Seven Letter Solution

377: The Seven Letter Solution

Often we are confused concerning the gifts of the Spirit, especially the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.  Questions still linger:  Are all the gifts for today?  Or, were some of them only for the time of the apostles?  And, if they are for today, what does the exercise of these gifts look like?  How are they manifested in the church today?

In order to understand the truth behind these questions, we must begin with a simple, seven letter word:  another.  There are two Greek words translated “another” in this passage.  The first is allos, which means “another of the same kind.”  And then there is heteros, which means “another of a different kind.”  Now, look at the passage in question:

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 – For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another (allos) the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another (heteros) faith by the same Spirit, to another (allos) gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another (allos) the working of miracles, to another (allos) prophecy, to another (allos) discerning of spirits, to another (heteros) different kinds of tongues, to another (allos) the interpretation of tongues.

Now we have three groups of gifts each divided by the word heteros – or “another of a different kind.”

Group One

Word of wisdom
Word of Knowledge

Group Two

Faith
Gifts of Healings
Working of Miracles
Prophecy
Discerning of Spirits

Group Three

Different kinds of tongues
Interpretation of tongues

Do you see how logically the Lord has presented this confusing passage about the gifts of the Spirit?  Do you see what He is trying to teach us?  If you want to know more, then keep listening.

The following is a study on 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

To download the slides to this message, click – HERE

Download this episode (right click and save)

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