60IN60 Day 55 - Sat Oct 31

It's Day 55 and we're in Psalm 141.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 2 - That's a great image - that our worship would be acceptable sacrifices in His eyes.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 54 - Fri Oct 30

It's Day 54 and we're in Psalm 140.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 12 - God upholds the cause of the needy.  He's got His eye on the hurting and struggling.

Help:
- Verses 9-11 - A very honest prayer, although not a particularly merciful one.  

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

* * * * *

Monday begins a new round of 60IN60.  You can get the new readings:

a. On the hallway table at Madison Baptist,

b. On the church website,

c. By emailing me at butcher@ymail.com,

d. Below.

1: Psalm 143 (Monday, November 2)

2: Psalm 144

3: Psalm 145

4: Psalm 146

5: Luke 1

6: Luke 2

7: Luke 3

8: Luke 4 (Monday, November 9)

9: Luke 5

10: Luke 6

11: Luke 7

12: Luke 8

13: James 1

14: James 2

15: James 3 (Monday, November 16)

16: James 4

17: James 5

18: Genesis 12

19: Genesis 13

20: Genesis 14

21: Genesis 15

22: Genesis 16 (Monday, November 23)

23: Genesis 17

24: Genesis 18

25: Genesis 19

26: Genesis 20

27: Genesis 21

28: Genesis 22

29: Genesis 23 (Monday, November 30)

30: Proverbs 10

31: Proverbs 11

32: Proverbs 12

33: Luke 9

34: Luke 10

35: Luke 11

36: Luke 12 (Monday, December 7)

37: Luke 13

38: Luke 14

39: Luke 15

40: Luke 16

41: Judges 6

42: Judges 7

43: Judges 8 (Monday, December 14)

44: Romans 9

45: Romans 10

46: Romans 11

47: Romans 12

48: Romans 13

49: Romans 14

50: Romans 15 (Monday, December 21)

51: Romans 16

52: Luke 17

53: Luke 18

54: Luke 19

55: Luke 20

56: Luke 21

57: Luke 22 (Monday, December 28)

58: Luke 23

59: Luke 24

60: Psalm 1

60IN60 Day 53 - Thurs Oct 29

It's Day 53 and we're in Psalm 139.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 7 - He is always with me.  A comfort when I'm struggling; a nuisance when I'm sinning.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

* * * * *

Monday begins a new round of 60IN60.  You can get the new readings:

a. On the hallway table at Madison Baptist,

b. On the church website,

c. By emailing me at butcher@ymail.com,

d. Below.

1: Psalm 143 (Monday, November 2)

2: Psalm 144

3: Psalm 145

4: Psalm 146

5: Luke 1

6: Luke 2

7: Luke 3

8: Luke 4 (Monday, November 9)

9: Luke 5

10: Luke 6

11: Luke 7

12: Luke 8

13: James 1

14: James 2

15: James 3 (Monday, November 16)

16: James 4

17: James 5

18: Genesis 12

19: Genesis 13

20: Genesis 14

21: Genesis 15

22: Genesis 16 (Monday, November 23)

23: Genesis 17

24: Genesis 18

25: Genesis 19

26: Genesis 20

27: Genesis 21

28: Genesis 22

29: Genesis 23 (Monday, November 30)

30: Proverbs 10

31: Proverbs 11

32: Proverbs 12

33: Luke 9

34: Luke 10

35: Luke 11

36: Luke 12 (Monday, December 7)

37: Luke 13

38: Luke 14

39: Luke 15

40: Luke 16

41: Judges 6

42: Judges 7

43: Judges 8 (Monday, December 14)

44: Romans 9

45: Romans 10

46: Romans 11

47: Romans 12

48: Romans 13

49: Romans 14

50: Romans 15 (Monday, December 21)

51: Romans 16

52: Luke 17

53: Luke 18

54: Luke 19

55: Luke 20

56: Luke 21

57: Luke 22 (Monday, December 28)

58: Luke 23

59: Luke 24

60: Psalm 1

60IN60 Day 52 - Wed Oct 28

It's Day 52 and we're in Psalm 138.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 8 - God is going to accomplish His purpose for my life.  The only one who can stand in the way of that is me.  I just need to obey.

Help:
- Verse 1 - "gods" - This obviously doesn't mean that there actually are other gods, but merely that there are things that people treat as "gods."

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 51 - Tues Oct 27

It's Day 51 and we're in 2 Peter 3.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 13 - I'm looking forward to seeing the world redeemed and finally see things be the way they should be.

Help:
- Verse 4 - "fell asleep" - Another way to say "died."
- Verse 5 - Probably a reference to the rising of the land out of the sea.
- Verse 16 - An acknowledgement that some of Paul's writings are difficult to understand.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 50 - Mon Oct 26

It's Day 50 and we're in 2 Peter 2.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 9 - I like the first half of that verse - the Lord knows how to rescue us from temptation.  The question is: will I let Him help me?

Help:
- Verse 21 - The idea here is that the more we know the more responsible we are at the Final Judgment.  In that sense, to hear the truth and reject it actually puts you in a worse position than you were to start with.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 49 - Sun Oct 25

It's Day 49 and we're in 2 Peter 1.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 8 - A great promise that if I am pursuing the characteristics that verses 5-7 mention then I will be fruitful.

Help:
- Verse 10 - The idea here is not that we can lose our salvation, but that the fruit and change in our life allow us to know that we have truly been saved and that God is working in our lives.  Many, like the Pharisees of Jesus' day, believe they have God but the evidence points in the opposite direction.
- Verse 14 - A fancy way to say that he believed his death was near.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 48 - Sat Oct 24

It's Day 48 and we're in Ruth 4.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 17 - Out of this desperate situation came a child honored to be the grandfather of the great king David.  You never know what God may do with your small faithfulness.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 47 - Fri Oct 23

It's Day 47 and we're in Ruth 3.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Nothing really jumped out to me today.  Some days are like that.

Help:
- Verses 9-13 - This idea of "redeeming" seems odd to us because we live in a society where marrying for love is the only acceptable idea.  Throughout history, though, marrying for love was a minority idea.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 46 - Thurs Oct 22

It's Day 46 and we're in Ruth 2.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 20 - God's kindness extends even to those who have accused Him of abandoning them.

Help:
- Verse 1 - According the Old Testament Law, it was expected that the closest relative would take Ruth as a wife.  Of course, today we only think of marriage as a "love" thing, but that's a rarity throughout the whole of human history.
- Verses 2-3, 15-16 - One of the provisions of the Old Testament Law was that those bringing in the harvest were to leave behind what they didn't get on the first run-through.  That was left was for the poor to harvest.
- Verse 22 - It was a dangerous place out there.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 45 - Wed Oct 21

It's Day 45 and we're in Ruth 1.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 20-21 - This is a very honest evaluation of the way she sees her life.  Many feel like this.  (Whether it's justified or not is another issue.)

Help:
- Verses 13, 20, 21 - This is the way that she feels.  It's not necessarily an accurate understanding, but it reflects her feelings.
- Verse 15 - "her gods" - This is troubling - that she went back to her gods.  I don't really have a good way to deal with it except to see it as a tragedy.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 44 - Tues Oct 20

It's Day 44 and we're in Romans 8.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 3-4 - The last part of verse 3 and first of verse 4 really jumped out to me as something that I need to study at greater length.

Help:
- Verses 19-22 - Not only has sin impacted humanity, it has hurt creation itself.
- Verse 28 - Not saying that all things (even the bad) are good, but that God is working to redeem all things, even when bad things happen.
- Verse 29 - Predestination is a complex idea, but the short version is that God is His omniscience knows everything that's going to happen.  I believe that we have free will and are not just puppets.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 43 - Mon Oct 19

It's Day 43 and we're in Romans 7.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 4 - Part of the point of our lives: to bear fruit for God.

Help:
- Verses 7-13 - The fault is not in the Law, but what sin did through the Law.
- Verses 14-25 - We still struggle with sin because of the flesh.  He is setting it up to talk about the power of the Spirit in our lives.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 42 - Sun Oct 18

It's Day 42 and we're in Romans 6.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Nothing jumped out to me today, which is odd because this is such a rich chapter.

Help:
- Verse 1 - It's a misunderstanding of grace to think that we should just sin more so God can give more grace.  A proper understanding includes a hatred of sin and all that it's done to me.
- Verses 3-4 - Believing in Christ has caused us to spiritually participate in His death and resurrection.  He died for us and we are raised to spiritual life through Him.
- Verse 6 - Our old spiritual being was crucified with Christ and we have been raised to new spiritual life - a new creation in Christ!

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 41 - Sat Oct 17

It's Day 41 and we're in Romans 5.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 11 - I don't think we sufficiently appreciate how great the idea is that we've been reconciled with God.

Help:
- Verse 3 - This is not to say that we love problems for the sake of having problems, but rather (as the verses that follow reveal) that we appreciate the positive side effects that our struggles can bring in terms of spiritual maturity.
- Verse 13 - Awareness of our guilt is necessary for judgment.
- Verse 20 - As the awareness of our guilt increased, so did the need for grace.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 40 - Fri Oct 16

It's Day 40 and we're in Romans 4.

This chapter is rather complicated, but the main idea is that we are justified before God by our faith and not by works.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 21 - This is a good one to fall back on - what God has promised, He is able to perform.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 39 - Thurs Oct 15

It's Day 39 and we're in Romans 3.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 20 - The rules don't get us closer to God - they just help us realize how far away from Him we are.

Help:
- Verse 8 - Some twist the truth to argue that if we are saved by grace then we should sin more so there will be more of a chance for grace.  It's a complete misunderstanding of the offer.
- Verses 20-23 - The Law helps us to understand how far away from God we are.  It can't save us.
- Verse 25 - "propitiation" - An old word referring to the idea of God's wrath toward sin being satisfied in the death of Christ.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 39 - Wed Oct 14

It's Day 38 and we're in Romans 2.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 3 - Good question.  Get more humble.
- Verse 8 - "selfishly ambitious" - Make sure that God is our first priority, not our own name.

Help:
- Verses 25-28 - The point is essentially that it's the inward obedience that matters.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.