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Monday, June 6, 2011
DAILY BIBLE READING GUIDE (June 6th – June 11th)
Monday – John 6.1-71
Meditation: What do you want? Do you want to be satisfied or do you want to be saved? That is the question that this passage lays out. The answer, Christ tells us, comes only from the bread of life. He is the bread of life. If we want anything in this life, it comes from him. Is Christ the bread of your life? Is he your satisfaction? Or are you still trying to find pleasure in the things this world has to offer?
Tuesday – John 6.36-71; Luke 8.4-15
Meditation: How do you know if you shared the gospel right? What proves to you that you didn’t mess up? Jesus makes one thing clear: don’t grade your performance on peoples’ responses. Here Jesus gives a clear gospel message, and is in fact the gospel living right before their eyes. This is perfect evangelism. Yet what happens, the entire crowd leaves him. Fifteen thousand people walk away. We think if one person isn’t convinced by our witness we are a failure. Take hope in the same thing Christ did; he knows the Father is working, his job is to just do his will. Share the gospel, not judging your success on the people who flock to follow you, but on doing the Father’s will. You’ll find more happiness in that than you will 500 false conversions.
Wednesday – John 6.36-71; John 17.14-17
Meditation: This world does not like the gospel. But that doesn’t mean we should back down from the truth. When the crowds respond negatively to Christ, he doesn’t change strategies. He continues to give them what they need to hear: “Believe in me to find life.” In the same way, when the world or our friends or family ridicules us, we should not be shocked or swayed. Our hope rests in the truth. That is a foundation that will never be shaken.
Thursday – John 6.36-71
Meditation: What does unbelief look like? Is it the atheist or agnostic? Is it the one who hates the Bible or lives in blatant sin? Jesus shows us here that unbelief is more than that and that’s why it’s so dangerous. Sometimes unbelief reigns in a group that is following Jesus daily. Sometimes it’s even in those who call themselves his disciples. Belief isn’t passive – being in a certain group, claiming a certain title (whether it’s “disciple” or “Christian”). Belief is actively pursuing and consuming Christ – seeing him as your only food, your only satisfaction, your only salvation.
Friday – John 6.36-71; 1 John 5.3
Meditation: Do you have a problem with Jesus? The crowds didn’t believe who he was. They didn’t like what he had to say. What about you? Do you have a problem with him? How can you tell? God tells us to look at our lives. Believing what Jesus says isn’t about just nodding our heads at the right time, or giving an “amen”. It’s demonstrated in our changed lives. Dead lives, lives of unbelief, they look dead. And changed hearts, alive hearts, hearts that believe who Jesus is and what he says, they show it too. Your life testifies what you believe. What is it saying?
Saturday – John 7
Meditation: What do you want? Do you want to be satisfied or do you want to be saved? That is the question that this passage lays out. The answer, Christ tells us, comes only from the bread of life. He is the bread of life. If we want anything in this life, it comes from him. Is Christ the bread of your life? Is he your satisfaction? Or are you still trying to find pleasure in the things this world has to offer?
Tuesday – John 6.36-71; Luke 8.4-15
Meditation: How do you know if you shared the gospel right? What proves to you that you didn’t mess up? Jesus makes one thing clear: don’t grade your performance on peoples’ responses. Here Jesus gives a clear gospel message, and is in fact the gospel living right before their eyes. This is perfect evangelism. Yet what happens, the entire crowd leaves him. Fifteen thousand people walk away. We think if one person isn’t convinced by our witness we are a failure. Take hope in the same thing Christ did; he knows the Father is working, his job is to just do his will. Share the gospel, not judging your success on the people who flock to follow you, but on doing the Father’s will. You’ll find more happiness in that than you will 500 false conversions.
Wednesday – John 6.36-71; John 17.14-17
Meditation: This world does not like the gospel. But that doesn’t mean we should back down from the truth. When the crowds respond negatively to Christ, he doesn’t change strategies. He continues to give them what they need to hear: “Believe in me to find life.” In the same way, when the world or our friends or family ridicules us, we should not be shocked or swayed. Our hope rests in the truth. That is a foundation that will never be shaken.
Thursday – John 6.36-71
Meditation: What does unbelief look like? Is it the atheist or agnostic? Is it the one who hates the Bible or lives in blatant sin? Jesus shows us here that unbelief is more than that and that’s why it’s so dangerous. Sometimes unbelief reigns in a group that is following Jesus daily. Sometimes it’s even in those who call themselves his disciples. Belief isn’t passive – being in a certain group, claiming a certain title (whether it’s “disciple” or “Christian”). Belief is actively pursuing and consuming Christ – seeing him as your only food, your only satisfaction, your only salvation.
Friday – John 6.36-71; 1 John 5.3
Meditation: Do you have a problem with Jesus? The crowds didn’t believe who he was. They didn’t like what he had to say. What about you? Do you have a problem with him? How can you tell? God tells us to look at our lives. Believing what Jesus says isn’t about just nodding our heads at the right time, or giving an “amen”. It’s demonstrated in our changed lives. Dead lives, lives of unbelief, they look dead. And changed hearts, alive hearts, hearts that believe who Jesus is and what he says, they show it too. Your life testifies what you believe. What is it saying?
Saturday – John 7
Monday, April 25, 2011
DAILY BIBLE READING GUIDE (April 25th – 30th)
Monday – Luke 22.1-24.53
Meditation: Easter is said to be the greatest day in the Christian calendar. But how do the truths we celebrate at Easter impact the rest of our year? By the grace of God, when Jesus does rise on Easter morn he spends his remaining time here teaching his disciples about this greatest of days and how they are now to live. Pray today that God would make Easter more than a day of celebration, but an event that shapes every day to follow in your new risen life.
Tuesday – Luke 24.13-49; Romans 8.28; John 20.24-29
Meditation: The greatest time in Christian history also seems to have been the most chaotic. The events of the week leading up to Sunday left those how followed Jesus confused and afraid. So when Jesus meets with them, his first response is to remind them that those things were far from chaotic but rather the plans of God. He also reassured them that he was real and that if he was real, so was their salvation. Easter is a time of life back from the dead. A day God promised in Scripture and worked out not in chaos but by his plan, and in that day accomplished our salvation, a salvation just as real as our resurrected Lord.
Wednesday – Luke 24.49; John 16.4-11; Acts 1.8
Meditation: Jesus promises that his departure will be a time of great blessing for us, because he will send the promised Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts. It is the Spirit that will empower us to do all that Christ has called us to do. When Jesus is telling them this he puts extra emphasis on the power of the Spirit to change the hearts of the world. How is that we have the force behind bringing hearts to life residing inside of us and we sit twiddling our thumbs and talking about how ineffective we would be in evangelism?
Thursday – Matthew 28.9-10
Easter is also just a time of great celebration, for God has done great things for us. A time of good news to be spread among all God’s people. A lot of times we can be guilty of celebrating without thinking about what or why we are celebrating. We lose the point of Easter in the midst of celebrating Easter. Make sure you don’t do that. Fill your mind today with what we are celebrating, let no other thought come in but Christ risen for you, and let those thoughts serve as the foundation for your happiness and rejoicing today and for your life.
Friday – Matthew 28.18-20
Meditation: What do we do now that Easter is over? Easter is not the ending of the story but the beginning of the disciples’ task. What is that task? Make disciples. Go, baptize, teach them. This is our new call that springs from the truths that Easter brought to life. Jesus is alive, you are alive, now tell the world how they can live. But how can we possibly be responsible for such a great task? Jesus calms our fears by assuring us, he is with us the whole way. Are you celebrating Easter by living out your new purpose in life? Are you living like Jesus is right there with you? Helping you, guiding you, but also watching all that you do?
Saturday – John 5.1-47
Meditation: Did you celebrate Easter this whole week? Prepare your heart to continue that celebration in worship tomorrow.
Meditation: Easter is said to be the greatest day in the Christian calendar. But how do the truths we celebrate at Easter impact the rest of our year? By the grace of God, when Jesus does rise on Easter morn he spends his remaining time here teaching his disciples about this greatest of days and how they are now to live. Pray today that God would make Easter more than a day of celebration, but an event that shapes every day to follow in your new risen life.
Tuesday – Luke 24.13-49; Romans 8.28; John 20.24-29
Meditation: The greatest time in Christian history also seems to have been the most chaotic. The events of the week leading up to Sunday left those how followed Jesus confused and afraid. So when Jesus meets with them, his first response is to remind them that those things were far from chaotic but rather the plans of God. He also reassured them that he was real and that if he was real, so was their salvation. Easter is a time of life back from the dead. A day God promised in Scripture and worked out not in chaos but by his plan, and in that day accomplished our salvation, a salvation just as real as our resurrected Lord.
Wednesday – Luke 24.49; John 16.4-11; Acts 1.8
Meditation: Jesus promises that his departure will be a time of great blessing for us, because he will send the promised Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts. It is the Spirit that will empower us to do all that Christ has called us to do. When Jesus is telling them this he puts extra emphasis on the power of the Spirit to change the hearts of the world. How is that we have the force behind bringing hearts to life residing inside of us and we sit twiddling our thumbs and talking about how ineffective we would be in evangelism?
Thursday – Matthew 28.9-10
Easter is also just a time of great celebration, for God has done great things for us. A time of good news to be spread among all God’s people. A lot of times we can be guilty of celebrating without thinking about what or why we are celebrating. We lose the point of Easter in the midst of celebrating Easter. Make sure you don’t do that. Fill your mind today with what we are celebrating, let no other thought come in but Christ risen for you, and let those thoughts serve as the foundation for your happiness and rejoicing today and for your life.
Friday – Matthew 28.18-20
Meditation: What do we do now that Easter is over? Easter is not the ending of the story but the beginning of the disciples’ task. What is that task? Make disciples. Go, baptize, teach them. This is our new call that springs from the truths that Easter brought to life. Jesus is alive, you are alive, now tell the world how they can live. But how can we possibly be responsible for such a great task? Jesus calms our fears by assuring us, he is with us the whole way. Are you celebrating Easter by living out your new purpose in life? Are you living like Jesus is right there with you? Helping you, guiding you, but also watching all that you do?
Saturday – John 5.1-47
Meditation: Did you celebrate Easter this whole week? Prepare your heart to continue that celebration in worship tomorrow.
Monday, April 18, 2011
DAILY BIBLE READING GUIDE (April 18th – 23rd)
Monday – John 4.43-54
Meditation: “Just give me a sign.” Have you ever asked that of God? Just a little more proof and your faith will be bolstered. You’re not alone. Many people think signs will spur them into greater faith, but “seeking signs” we are going to see is often a sign itself…a sign of unbelief. This week’s lesson isn’t a focus on sign-seeking but rather the problem of unbelief that plagued the nation of Israel and that plagues the world today. Do you believe? That’s the question for this week and I hope your answer will be, “Most definitely I do.”
Tuesday – John 4.43-45; John 1.11; Revelation 3.17
Meditation: Why do you need Jesus? Many people sought Jesus because they thought he could fix their problems. From diseases to demons, Jesus was the one who could right your ship. This was what the Jews were looking for and Jesus rebukes them for it. But why? Because in seeking signs and fixes of those problems, they missed their greatest problem. They needed Jesus, but not to fix their world. They needed him to fix them. Their hearts were the problem. Until they believed that, Jesus tells them they will never truly believe. What do you need Jesus for? Do you think he fixes what wrong in your life or do you believe that he fixes your biggest problem: YOU? The first seeks for signs, but the second finds a savior.
Wednesday – John 4.46-49
Meditation: This story serves as the example of unbelief. Here is a man who just wants Jesus to come and fix the greatest problem he has in his life. Or at least what he thinks is his greatest problem. Serving as an example of God’s wayward people, he longs for a sign, but doesn’t really believe that Jesus is the Savior of his soul. Would your life fit with this example? Someone who wants Jesus in their life but doesn’t necessary think they need to be saved?
Thursday – John 4.50-54; Hebrews 4.12
Meditation: Something happens when Jesus speaks to this man. Jesus’ words change this man’s heart in a way that will bring about a new hope for himself and for his whole family. The man realizes that Jesus is more than a miracle worker and finally the man believes. And this change is wrought by a simple response from Jesus. There is great power in God’s word, and that same power is available to you. Every time you open the Bible, you meet words that carry the same life-changing power. Are you looking for God to speak to you too, while the whole time his word sits unopened and his voice muted in the Bible you don’t read?
Friday – John 4.43-54
Meditation: Do you believe? Or are you just wanting God to fix your world without realizing what he really needs to fix is your heart? What a great testimony to the power of God that when we listen not only does he change us, but he can change those we love as well. This man journeyed from unbelief to belief and Jesus worked a greater sign than the man could have imagined: eternal life for him, his little boy, and his whole family.
Saturday – Luke 22.1-24.53
Meditation: Easter approaches. Is your heart alive? Christ’s return from the tomb is what bore that great hope. Rejoice in the resurrection that brings you life
Meditation: “Just give me a sign.” Have you ever asked that of God? Just a little more proof and your faith will be bolstered. You’re not alone. Many people think signs will spur them into greater faith, but “seeking signs” we are going to see is often a sign itself…a sign of unbelief. This week’s lesson isn’t a focus on sign-seeking but rather the problem of unbelief that plagued the nation of Israel and that plagues the world today. Do you believe? That’s the question for this week and I hope your answer will be, “Most definitely I do.”
Tuesday – John 4.43-45; John 1.11; Revelation 3.17
Meditation: Why do you need Jesus? Many people sought Jesus because they thought he could fix their problems. From diseases to demons, Jesus was the one who could right your ship. This was what the Jews were looking for and Jesus rebukes them for it. But why? Because in seeking signs and fixes of those problems, they missed their greatest problem. They needed Jesus, but not to fix their world. They needed him to fix them. Their hearts were the problem. Until they believed that, Jesus tells them they will never truly believe. What do you need Jesus for? Do you think he fixes what wrong in your life or do you believe that he fixes your biggest problem: YOU? The first seeks for signs, but the second finds a savior.
Wednesday – John 4.46-49
Meditation: This story serves as the example of unbelief. Here is a man who just wants Jesus to come and fix the greatest problem he has in his life. Or at least what he thinks is his greatest problem. Serving as an example of God’s wayward people, he longs for a sign, but doesn’t really believe that Jesus is the Savior of his soul. Would your life fit with this example? Someone who wants Jesus in their life but doesn’t necessary think they need to be saved?
Thursday – John 4.50-54; Hebrews 4.12
Meditation: Something happens when Jesus speaks to this man. Jesus’ words change this man’s heart in a way that will bring about a new hope for himself and for his whole family. The man realizes that Jesus is more than a miracle worker and finally the man believes. And this change is wrought by a simple response from Jesus. There is great power in God’s word, and that same power is available to you. Every time you open the Bible, you meet words that carry the same life-changing power. Are you looking for God to speak to you too, while the whole time his word sits unopened and his voice muted in the Bible you don’t read?
Friday – John 4.43-54
Meditation: Do you believe? Or are you just wanting God to fix your world without realizing what he really needs to fix is your heart? What a great testimony to the power of God that when we listen not only does he change us, but he can change those we love as well. This man journeyed from unbelief to belief and Jesus worked a greater sign than the man could have imagined: eternal life for him, his little boy, and his whole family.
Saturday – Luke 22.1-24.53
Meditation: Easter approaches. Is your heart alive? Christ’s return from the tomb is what bore that great hope. Rejoice in the resurrection that brings you life
Monday, April 11, 2011
DAILY BIBLE READING GUIDE (April 10th-16th)
Monday – John 4.1-42
This week we will look at Jesus encounter with the woman at the well focusing on the 2nd half of the narrative. Pray that God would use these meditations to transform your life.
Tuesday – John 4.27-30; Matthew 28.19-20
The woman, upon discovery of who Jesus is, leaves her water jar and makes a beeline for the town. She must tell others of this man who told her everything she ever did. She has experienced the grace of God, and she wants others to know of the salvation that can be found in Christ. She is very excited about what God has done in her life, so she tells others. Do you see a similar excitement in your life over what God has done for you? Do you have a similar zeal to share your faith with others? Pray that God would give us an excitement for evangelism like this woman.
Wednesday – John 4.31-38; Deuteronomy 8
Jesus uses his encounter with the woman as a teaching tool for his disciples regarding his priorities. He tells them that his food is ‘to do the will of Him who sent Him.’ Food is one of the most basic desires and needs we have and a topic our thoughts are often consumed with (especially men!). Jesus tells his disciples that his food is to do His Father’s will. The most basic need Jesus had while walking this Earth wasn’t what he was going to eat for dinner but how he was going to accomplish His Father’s will. Do you have a like desire to accomplish God’s will? What do you think about more: what you are going to eat or how you can do God’s will? Sadly, we are far too often much more concerned with our next meal than we are with doing God’s will. Pray that God would show you that ‘man does not live by bread alone but by ever word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’
Thursday – John 4.31-38; Matthew 9.37-38
One of the most often used metaphors for God’s work of salvation is sowing and harvesting. Jesus tells his followers to look up and see that the fields are ripe for harvest. This probably occurred while the Samaritans were coming out of the town in the distance. Jesus knew that a great reaping of souls was about to take place. God’s work of harvesting souls is not complete. He is still gathering his people, and there are still those in our community who need to be harvested unto the Lord. God allows us to work with him in this great work of harvest. Are you working with God in the harvesting of souls?
Friday – John 4.39-42; 1 Corinthians 1.18-31
The story of the woman at the well shows us that salvation is of the Lord and that God’s candidates for salvation often go against what would be expected. Nicodemus was everything a person would have looked for in starting a religious movement. The woman at the well would have been everything a person would not have looked for. However, at the end of the day, she has believed in Jesus where as Nicodemus leaves his meeting with Christ confused and disappointed. We can often have unbiblical expectations about what type of people would make good candidates for salvation. We want those who seem to have it together, who have money and prestige. However, God’s ways are not ours, and he often chooses those who we would least expect.
Saturday – John 4.1-42
John 4 ultimately shows us that Jesus and Jesus alone is the Savior of the world. Have you trust in Jesus? If so, then praise God that he sent his son into the world to save you. Prepare yourself today as we will gather for worship tomorrow.
Monday, January 3, 2011
DAILY BIBLE READING GUIDE (January 3rd – 8th)
Monday – John 1.1-18, esp. 1-3; John 20.31
Meditation: John’s purpose in this gospel is that people may believe Jesus to be the Son of God and therefore find life in him. The first thing John wants the people to know is that Jesus is none other than God himself. John explicitly calls him “God” and also notes that Jesus is eternal and that he is the Creator. These are titles and descriptions that are only true of God himself. This is important. If Jesus is indeed God then what he says and does carries with it an authority like never before and means that John is right…our eternity hangs in whether we believe him or not.
Tuesday – John 1.4-9
Meditation: Jesus comes and brings with him life and light. John is making it clear: Jesus has come to save. He will bring a light to open the eyes of the blind and life to bring the dead back to life. And Jesus will succeed in what he sets out to do. The darkness may try to overcome the light and continue to blind the world, but it will fail. Jesus’ work cannot be stopped. Thank God today for the light in which you live and the life that he has given your once dead heart.
Wednesday – John 1.10-13
Meditation: The great grace that is the coming of the Word is met not with joy but with opposition. The world refuses to recognize it. Even God’s own people love sin too much to run for their Savior. But Jesus does not leave us without hope. God promises that he will cause people to be born again, that his will will make sons and daughters even out of those in love with the world. Thank God today for your salvation and pray that you would never seek the things of the world over him again.
Thursday – John 1.14-17; 1 John 1.1-4
Meditation: How does God save? Not from a distance. The Savior is here. In Jesus, God’s glory is now on display like never before. It has left the temple and now shines for all to see. Jesus is also the fulfillment of grace and truth. Jesus doesn’t just speak the word of God, he is the Word. He doesn’t just promise salvation, he is the salvation. God’s promises are true, they are real, they are here. Thank God that you can trust him to keep his word. Pray for greater faith to always believe it.
Friday – John 1.18; Isaiah 6.1-7
Meditation: No one has ever seen God, yet in Jesus not only is God seen, he is made known. Relationship with God that should be impossible for sinners like you and me is now ours because of what Jesus has done. If you pray to God, recognize how undeserving you are to have an audience with the One True God and thank Jesus who not only reveals God to you, he makes him known.
Saturday – John 1.19-34
Meditation: Prepare your hearts for worship tomorrow by soaking up these next verses. Tomorrow, we hear the first witness to who Jesus is. John the Baptist will make it very clear. This is no mere man; this is the one we have been waiting for.
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