Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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 355 of Reading the Bible Cover to Cover in 365 Days!
Let us pray:
O Lord, thank You for another day in Your Word. Teach more about You and Your ways today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s read about the resurrection in John chapter 20 today!
Mary Magdalene was the first to the tomb and saw He wasn’t there. In this rendition of the resurrection, no one accompanied her, and there was no angel to tell her He had risen during this first encounter at the tomb. She went immediately to Peter and John and told them He was gone. They ran to the tomb, and Peter went inside. Of course, Jesus was gone. He saw the burial napkin rolled up and set in a place by itself. This is representative of a Jewish custom that meant He was coming back. When an owner of an estate ate his dinner, he would signify whether he was done with his meal or if he was coming back to eat more food by the way he laid his napkin at the table. If it was folded up, he was coming back. So, Peter saw this particular sign Jesus left for Him. Jesus is alive once again and always will be! We can praise Him today for His commitment to be sacrificed for us!
When everyone left the tomb, Mary stayed, and we read that she sobbed by the tomb. And then the angels appear to her. One was standing by where Jesus’ head would have been, and one was standing at His feet. They asked her why she was sobbing, and immediately, Jesus appeared. He will always show up when we need Him most. Mary didn’t recognize Him at first, but she did when He said her name. Jesus is with us today, just like He was with Mary at the tomb. We may not see or recognize Him close by, but He is with us.
The first thing Jesus said to His disciples when He saw them was, “Peace to you!” Then He repeated, “Peace to you!” We read that He came to them eight days later, and again His first words were, “Peace to you!” Jesus came to offer us peace. May we fully receive the peace He means for us to have.
Last, He calls us blessed. In verse 29, He said, Blessed and happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and trusted and relied on Me.” Thomas didn’t believe Jesus was resurrected until He saw Him in person and touched the wounds on His hands and feet. We are fortunate to read about many things Jesus did, and so we believe.
We start a new book today called Habakkuk, and we are going to read all three chapters.
Habakkuk was a prophet who prophesied after Babylon took over Assyria and before the Babylonian empire overtook Judah. He saw the rise of the evil idol-worshiping Babylon. They were more evil than Judah, yet God chose them to bring judgment against Judah. The book of Habakkuk is a conversation between himself and God about the fairness of this judgment.
In Chapter 1, God shows Habakkuk evil, violence, perverseness, and strife. The wicked surround the righteous. He doesn’t understand why God would allow this to happen. In verse 5, God answers him. He raised up Babylon to bring judgment against Judah. Of course, Babylon thought their strength came from their own might and their gods. However, we know God is the only One Who could have made this possible.
In verse 11, God said, “Then they sweep by like a wind and pass on, and they load themselves with guilt, [as do all men] whose own power is their god.” Babylon was heaping up sins upon themselves. May we never become so vain that we think we can do anything by our power. We can do nothing on our own, but we can do everything through God, Who is to be glorified.
In this chapter, Habakkuk couldn’t understand why God would use a perverse nation like Babylon to bring judgment against a less perverse nation like Judah. It just didn’t make sense to him.
In Chapter 2, Habakkuk says he will wait for God to answer his questions. And in verse 2, God tells him to write this conversation down so that everyone will benefit from it.
God tells him that the proud person has a soul that is not right within him. However, the righteous live by faith. We have to ask ourselves what we seek: pride or faith. We feel powerful when we are prideful, while living by faith tells us that God has the power.
In verse 5, God says that wine and wealth are dangerous. Babylon is restless and greedy. It wants more and more and more. Yesterday in Proverbs, we read that wine makes people want more. Too much wine destroys lives, brings harm, and breeds violence. This is precisely what we see Babylon do. However, one day God will bring them down with all the people they have wronged. In verse 8, God says, Because you [king of Babylon] have plundered many nations, all who are left of the people shall plunder you.” And in verse 12, He says, “Woe to him who builds a town with blood and establishes a city by iniquity!” Habakkuk saw that God planned to take evil Babylon down once they were used for service by Him. We can deduce that no matter how bad things seem in our world today, the Lord's plan will come to pass.
God speaks against the idols Babylon clings to. In verse 18, He said, “What profit is the graven image when its maker has formed it? It is only a molten image and a teacher of lies. For the maker trusts in his creations [as his gods] when he makes dumb idols.” Babylon made weapons, among other things, and trusted in themselves and the weapons they made. They felt powerful with their things. In our case, we may put our trust in money, cars, houses, and nice things in our homes and think we are the ones who provide all these things. May we be careful what we put our trust in. As we see other countries destroyed by war, we must know that everything we enjoy can be taken away in an instant. God is the only One Whom we can trust in. Everything else in this world is temporary.
In Chapter 3, Habakkuk prays for a revival of God’s people. He praises God for all He has done, His magnificence and glory, and praises Him as the Creator of the world and everything in it. In verse 16, he is utterly terrified at the coming devastation to Judah and says he will wait for the day of trouble when Babylon will come against God’s people. He sees the desolation in advance and is disheartened by it. However, in verse 18, he says, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation!” Romans 8:37 are referenced here and says, “Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.” No matter our circumstances, we are more than conquerors through Christ’s death and resurrection. May our hope be in Him. May our faith be in Him.
Verse 19 finishes this chapter with, “The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!” May we be like Habakkuk and know that God is our Strength. He leads, guides, and directs us to His perfect will. He grows us up spiritually and draws us closer to Him. Our circumstances don’t define us; God defines us.
Let’s see what we can learn from Proverbs 24 today!
The beginning part of this chapter raves about wisdom. Verses 3-4 say, “Through skillful and godly Wisdom is a house (a life, a home, a family) built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation] and by knowledge shall its chambers [of every area] be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” Wisdom builds a house, understanding is the foundation, and knowledge fills the rooms with riches. May we seek godly Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.
There are also warnings not to envy what others have, as many verses throughout Proverbs tell us. Solomon knew we needed constant reminders not to envy and allow greed to rule our lives.
Verse 17 says, “Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles or is overthrown.” When those who hurt us are hurt, may we be careful not to be happy. We have read many prophets who spoke against Edom because they rejoiced when the Israelites and Judah were devastated by Assyria and Babylon. So, let’s not be like Edom and come under judgment by God.
Let us pray:
O Lord, thank You for all You do and all You are. Keep us Yours, and don’t let this world take our soul. You, and only You, are where life and love are. Keep us Yours forever, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.