60IN60 Day 36 - Mon Feb 9

It's Day 36 and we're in 1 Corinthians 10.

Sometimes we only want to hear words of comfort from God, but we're reminded in Hebrews 4:12 that the Bible is "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit." It's great when we get an encouraging word, but we need to be convicted too. 

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 31 - Do all I do for the glory of God.

Help:
- Verses 1-4 - This is Israel's history.  We are being told to avoid their mistakes.
- Verses 20-21 - This has to do with people sacrificing meat to idols in Corinth.  That's obviously not a problem for us today.
- Verse 23 - By "lawful" here Paul means ok before God, not legally ok.  He's saying that there are things I may have freedom to do in Christ, but that may not be productive in some situations.
- Verses 32-33 - This obviously doesn't mean pleasing people by compromising the gospel.  He simply means that he does his best not to unnecessarily offend people so that he can win as many as possible to 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 35 - Sun Feb 8

It's Day 35 and we're in 1 Corinthians 9.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 25, 27 - We have to be disciplined as we pursue this.  Prayer, Bible study, carrying your cross, etc. don't come easily.  We need to do the difficult things.

Help:
- Verses 4-14 - Paul here is defending the right of a minister to be paid for his work.
- Verses 12, 15-18 - After having defended the right to be paid, Paul then speaks of the fact that he didn't exercise that right to be paid for his work as a minister.
- Verses 19-22 - Paul here is saying that he will do all that he can to make the gospel accessible to people, short of compromising the core truth.  To those who are Jewish, he presents the gospel and himself in a Jewish way to try to make the gospel as clear and appealing to them as possible.  A modern example: if someone was trying to reach a group of young people who disliked old songs, that person could use modern music (like rock praise choruses) as part of their effort to convey the Good News.

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 34 - Sat Feb 7

It's Day 34 and we're in Matthew 14.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 14 - I need to have that compassion for those searching for hope and truth.

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 33 - Fri Feb 6

It's Day 33 and we're in Matthew 13.

A tool for your reading that can be useful is a study Bible. A study Bible is just a Bible that has notes in it to help explain some of the harder passages. If you don't have one and would like me to recommend one, just let me know. I'd be happy to suggest a few good ones. 

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 23 - I want to see that abundant fruitfulness in my life.

Help:
- Verse 11-15 - This initially sounds like Jesus is trying to keep truth away from people, but that's not what it's saying.  Verse 12 is key: the one who listens openly and wants to know the truth will get more; the one listening to criticize will lose what truth they had.  Verse 15 is also important.  The word "otherwise" there doesn't "I'm keeping it from them" but "otherwise it would happen."
- Verses 31-32 - The kingdom initially looks small and unimpressive, but it'll grow into something expansive.
- Verse 33 - The kingdom starts hidden, but then shows up in influencing much.
- Verse 52 - With Jesus' teaching, people have both new truth (that He's sharing) and old truth (from the Old Testament, that's now clearer because of Jesus' words).

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 32 - Thurs Feb 5

It's Day 32 and we're in Matthew 12.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 7 - Our primary emotion toward those away from God should be compassion.

Help:
- Verses 1-2 - This had to do with the endless rules that the Pharisees made up for people to live by.
- Verses 31-32 - The "unforgiveable sin" is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which essentially is attributing the obvious move of God to Satan.  This is not a sin you can do accidentally.  It's something that would require a very hard heart.
- Verse 43 - The "waterless places" presumably refer to something in the spiritual realm.

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 31 - Wed Feb 4

It's Day 31 and we're in Matthew 11.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 22 - There are degrees of punishment on Judgment Day.  This should trouble us for a lot of Americans who have had multiple opportunities to hear the gospel and yet rejected it.  It puts them in a bad situation.

Help:
- Verse 3 - John the Baptist is doubting whether Jesus is the Christ.  Why?  Probably because John expected a political Messiah who would overthrow Rome and John is still sitting in jail at this point.  Jesus was the Messiah, but not the type of Messiah John was expecting.
- Verse 12 - This verse is a little obscure.  It most likely means that the kingdom was suffering from violent attacks.
- Verse 14 - A prophet like Elijah was to be the forerunner of the Christ.  John is filling that role for Jesus.
- Verse 25 - Not babies, but spiritual infants.  Those who are willing to come humbly and receive the truth.

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 30 - Tues Feb 3

It's Day 30 and we're in Matthew 10.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 39 - I have to be willing to lose my desires and follow Christ, presuming He has a bigger and better plan.

Help:
- Verses 5-6 - During Jesus' earthly life, His specific mission was to Israel.  It's only after His rejection and crucifixion that in Acts the door is opened to Gentiles.
- Verse 34 - This means that Jesus is divisive and is going to cause some disagreements as some follow Him and some dismiss Him.
- Verse 37 - This is not to say that we should not love our families (after all, the second greatest commandment is about loving people), but it does mean that our love for God should be the primary love of our lives.
- Verse 38 - Taking up your cross means sacrificing for Jesus.
- Verse 39 - We have to follow Christ and His teaching and presume that this will lead to a greater life than our own direction.

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.