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Insights and thoughts for Day 55 of Reading the Bible Cover to Cover in 365 days. If you would like to follow along with the book offered exclusively on Amazon, please refer to https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Bible-Cover-365-Days/dp/B0B6XSNMY6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?
This is a podcast sharing thoughts and insights for the accompanying the daily reading schedule for the book, Reading the Bible Cover to Cover in 365 Days.
Welcome to Day 55 of Reading the Bible Cover to Cover in 365 Days!
Let’s pray:
O Lord, help us lean into Your Word today. Teach us something new and open our hearts to receive Your message. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s see what’s happening in Luke chapter 11!
Jesus was praying. When He stopped praying one of the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. And Jesus gave him, and us, the Lord’s prayer. Jesus tells us to address God by saying, Our Father – I love that He includes Himself in this initial greeting. He uses the word, Our, meaning Jesus’ Father and our Father. We are grated into the kingdom of God and somehow find ourselves related to Jesus. This is grace and heavenly favor. The word hallowed means holy. God’s name is holy. God is holy. Then Jesus refers to God’s will as being holy, “Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.”
Yes, God and His will are holy and should be given reverence and worship due Him.
He tells us to pray for our daily food – a very simple, yet much-needed provision from God. We should know and believe He will answer our request. Then he addresses sin and tells us to pray for forgiveness in the same manner we offer forgiveness. It is important for us to let go of others’ sins against us for many reasons, but Jesus gives us potentially the most important reason. As we offer forgiveness, we are able to receive it. Next, He tells us to pray for the Lord to lead us away from temptation. The Amplified Bibles uses the phrase, “rescue us from evil.” We can expect the Lord will rescue us as we ask of Him.
The Lord’s prayer is a powerful prayer that addresses all our needs as believers. It’s important for us to pray this prayer and do it often.
Jesus gives us another Truth that we should pay attention to. Be persistent. Always be persistent. Verse 9 says, “Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.” The promise is in verse 10, “For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.” So, why would we ever stop asking, seeking, or knocking? In one of the other gospels, there is something added to this commentary. Jesus says as we ask, seek, and knock, we will be granted the gift of the Holy Spirit. In all cases, Jesus tells us to pray with persistence and we will receive from our gracious God.
There are a lot of Woes in this chapter. Woes to the Pharisees and to the lawyers. You can read all the transgressions Jesus accused them of, but there are a couple that stand out to me. In verse 46, He tells the lawyers that they load people up with burdens and do not lend a hand to help carry their burdens. Jesus gave His life so we could lay our burdens at His feet. Let’s be so grateful He does help us with our burdens. Then in verse 52, he accuses them of taking away the key to knowledge. He accused them of not discovering knowledge and preventing anyone from having it. Remember, in our last chapter in Luke, Jesus praised God for giving this knowledge to the lowly but keeping it from the learned men. This is Jesus in action accusing the very people who could have had knowledge but didn’t. Let’s pray for knowledge and be persistent in our prayers so we receive knowledge, wisdom, and discernment. God desires to give us these things.
Let’s see what’s happening in I Corinthians chapter 11!
Paul writes about order – the order of the divine. God is the Father and Jesus is the Son. And although some talk about Jesus being God’s representation here on earth, Jesus was always in submission to God and His Spirit. John 5:19 says, “So Jesus answered them by saying I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His own accord); but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way [in His turn].” Jesus operated in the power of Almighty God even though He was in submission to it. I believe we assign a different meaning – maybe a negative connotation and meaning to the word submission. But, when Jesus operated in God’s power, there was nothing He could not do. He fed thousands as He prayed to Father, God. He healed everyone who asked of Him in the name of the Lord. In the same way, we have access to this power as well. In John 17:21, Jesus prayed, “That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.” Jesus actually prayed we would be One with God and Himself. There is great power here. We are also in submission to God the Father and Jesus, the Son. When we are in submission to them and are carrying out the will of God, we have access to untold power. When we go our own way, we stumble and fall. Staying highly connected to the Lord, we operate powerfully. The same can be said for our husbands. As they stay connected to God, they live powerful lives. And as women, when we stay connected to our husbands and their authority as it pertains to their connectedness to the Lord. Then we live in Oneness with God and with one another. When there is contention in our homes, the power diminishes. I have seen this in my own home and in others’ homes too. There is power in all of us being in submission to God and His ways, and then as couples, we submit accordingly. Of course, Paul writes this plan fails when the husband tries to lead the family into sin. However, when working according to God’s plan, it is a beautiful thing. Going back to how Jesus prayed to His Father, Our Father, and His prayers were answered with miracle after miracle, we would never question the point of His submission to God. We can only admire it.
In reading Paul’s letter here, I believe he is addressing an issue of rebellion in the church. While we may think wearing a head covering may be a somewhat unimportant matter to write about, there must have been actions that warranted his letter. The customs of the day were likely being overthrown and again, acts of rebellion happening. I don’t have a modern-day example of what could happen that would require such a letter, but there probably is one.
Lastly, Paul reproves the church for their poor observance of the Lord’s supper. Some people were overindulging in wine and getting drunk. Others went away hungry. So, there was inequality with which the Lord’s supper was being handled. He advised the people to eat at home, so they weren’t hungry and overindulge in the bread and the wine. It’s interesting how each person and then each church can develop bad habits that need to be reigned in. Let us take inventory of our own sin and lack of discipline and ask God to help us refrain from sin and be more diligent in discipline in all areas of our lives.
Let’s see what’s happening in Leviticus chapter 19!
God starts out by telling Moses, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
Then the Lord gives Moses instructions:
Respect your parents. Keep My Sabbaths holy. And again, we see the words, “I the Lord am your God.”
He warns Moses about making idols for themselves. Something to consider for ourselves – what are we putting higher importance on than God? The Lord gives Moses instructions about the peace offering and when to eat it.
God tells Moses about leaving some of the harvests for the poor. He gives Moses specific things they should do which would provide for the poor. This shows us God cares for every single person He created and provides for each one.
He tells Moses the people should not lie. They shouldn’t profane the name of the Lord. They shouldn’t steal. They shouldn’t talk badly about the deaf or blind.
God gives Moses all the do’s and don’ts for living according to His will. Thirteen times God said, “I am the Lord.” He signifies the importance of Who He is and that His commands are to be followed.
In chapter 20, God gives Moses more commands to give to the Israelites. We have seen most of them, but this time, God tells Moses what to do with the offender. If anyone gave their children to the fire god, they should be stoned. God was serious about stopping this ritual. And if anyone sees this is being done and doesn’t hold the person responsible, the Lord will cut his family off.
God considered Himself the Husband to these people, and if He saw them being a harlot and going to wizards, He would cut them off and they would not be included in the day of atonement.
Again, the Lord says, “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes and do them. I am the Lord Who sanctifies you.” Our God is holy. He sanctifies us and makes us holy if we follow Him.
God continued to tell Moses what should happen to anyone who committed sins that He instructed them not to.
The Lord was making a distinction between His people and the rest of the people in the world – the people in the land of Canaan which He was going to give them – the promised land. He warned them ahead of time not to participate in the things they did. All these things He said to distinguish His people from other nations. Verse 26 says, “And you shall be holy to Me; for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.” I can think of nothing better than to be His. Let us check with Him and make sure we aren’t doing anything that would prohibit us from being His.
Let’s see what’s happening with David in Psalm 55!
He is distraught here once again. He has been betrayed. We do not by whom, but it was a trusted companion and friend according to verses 13 and 14. In verse 14 he wrote, “We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company.” Even David was hurt by a trusted friend and someone he went to the house of God with. Many have been betrayed by people we care about and love. We can refer to this psalm for comfort. He writes “As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me.” Yes, the Lord is the only One Who can save us. When we allow God to save us and avenge us, He will do exactly that. Then David either teaches us or is talking to himself in verse 22 where he writes, “Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail.)” Yes, the Lord will hold us and keep us.
Let us pray:
O Lord, thank You for the teaching in Your Word today. Thank You for being our God and steadying our steps. Keep us in Your hands, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.