60IN60 Day 13 - Sat May 16

It's Day 13 and we're in Exodus 1.

We'll come back to John.  We're going to visit different parts of the Bible during our 60 days: gospels, New Testament epistles, Old Testament stories, Psalms, Proverbs.  Each brings something different to the table.

 

Where God Spoke To Me:

- Verse 8 - "who did not know Joseph" - You can't rest on the way things used to be.  It's a new day and you have to face what's in front of you.

 

Help:

- Verse 1 - The context of this, for those who don't know, is that Israel has long been in Egypt and now God is going to bring them up to the Promised Land.

- Verse 15 - Because there were so many Israelites, either (a) these were the two midwives in charge of all the others or (b) the Israelites didn't normally call on the midwives at birth.

 

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 12 - Fri May 15

It's Day 12 and we're in John 7.

Where God Spoke To Me:

- Verse 17 - Obedience has to come first, then assurance and confidence follows.

- Verse 38 - I love that image - God overflowing from within us.

 

Help:

- Verses 8, 10 - Jesus means, "I'm not going to go up at the start of the festival and be the big presence you want me to be."  Instead, He went up secretly, waited until later in the festival, and then did a little teaching.

 

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 11 - Thurs May 14

It's Day 11 and we're in John 6.

Where God Spoke To Me:

- Verse 15 - Jesus didn't trust people's instincts to lead to the right thing.  Why do I sometimes?

 

Help:

- Verse 29 - This isn't saying that we just have to say we "believe" in Jesus and then we can go live our lives any way we want.  To truly believe in Jesus, I must then act on what He said to do (i.e. follow His teachings) because I believe that what He said is true is really true.  That's required to actually believe in Jesus.

- Verses 51-56, 60, 63 - This is the original "hard saying" from Jesus.  These are tough words.  The best way I think to understand it is that Jesus sacrificed His body and blood in my place, so therefore I have to receive that into my life in order to experience new spiritual life.  Obviously, we tie these words into what we celebrate at communion.

 

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.

Your Comments and Questions:

- "Where God spoke to me: Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Why: Jesus made at least five trips to Jerusalem and, other than his baptism by John, most of the important events recorded in the Scriptures happened in Jerusalem. He made his triumphal entry in Jerusalem where he was hailed by palm branches and called the Messiah.  He cleansed the temple. He confronted the religious authorities in Jerusalem, the last supper was in Jerusalem, he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane,  tried  and convicted in Jerusalem, and there he was crucified. It seems he was always going to Jerusalem, though he knew the final outcome.  One of my favorite songs is by Terry Talbot, brother of the very famous John Michael Talbot. However, non-famous Terry may be, one of the lines in a song is, “Don’t you know that you can find me on the road to Jerusalem?” That line has always stuck with me, for we all have our Jerusalems. It is there Jesus invites us to come and die to self." 

60IN60 Day 10 - Wed May 13

It's Day 10 and we're in John 5.

Where God Spoke To Me:

- Verse 13 - Most healers would gather a big crowd and publicize what they did.  Jesus quietly does it, then slips away without telling the man His name.  I like it.

 

Help:

- Verse 18 - We use the term "Father" so often in prayer that we take it for granted, but that was not something the Jews back then did.  They considered Jesus using that term to be provocative.

- Verse 29 - This is not saying that we're not saved by grace, but rather that our actions are going to reveal the true state of our heart - whether we've been changed or not.

 

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 9 - Tues May 12

It's Day 9 and we're in John 4.

Where God Spoke To Me:

- Verse 14 - "a well of water springing up to eternal life" - Nice image - I like the idea of God being within us and flowing out of us.

- Verse 34 - Is that what satisfies me?

 

Help:

- Verses 48, 50 - Jesus speaks those challenging words in verse 48, but then the man shows that he is willing to take Jesus by faith (and not by signs) by walking away without having seen the miracle.

 

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.

Your Comments and Questions:

- John 2: "As I was reading verses 20-21 it occurred to me that this may be referencing our human aging? It takes us years to 'contaminate' or harm our bodies but Jesus can cleanse us and raise our temple back? Am I on the right track?" - The immediate context of the verses is that Jesus tells them He can raise up the Temple in three days (v. 19). They think He's referring to the Temple building so they reply in v. 20 that it's taken 46 years to build the Temple so there's no way one person could build it back in three days. But Jesus wasn't referring to the Temple building. He was referring to the "temple" of His body, which would be killed but then raised three days later. This is a proof that Jesus knew what was coming as He went through His ministry. He knew that death and resurrection were the ultimate goals. Now, regarding your questions, it is true that we as believers are called "God's temple" (1 Corinthians 3:16). This is because the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Although the John 2 verses are specifically referring to Jesus' body, it is also true that Jesus does intend to make us into places where the Holy Spirit can comfortably dwell by working within us to get rid of sin.

- John 1: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ..." He's here and he likes us.

- Psalm 135: "Where the Scripture Spoke to Me: Verses 15-16. How: In this segment, Scripture is talking specifically about man made idols which shows what even the most hardened atheist knows: man is innately religious. You are going to worship something, like it or not, because we’re fashioned that way. Verse 18. This verse is short but shrewdly psychological: 'Those who make them will be like them.' If you worship money, you’ll become greedy. The 'there is never enough' through process will begin. If you’re after fame, generally scandal will follow. If you worship physical beauty, no matter how many face lifts or hair plugs you put in, no one is exempt from time.  I have never seen a beautiful corpse.  If you worship power, at some point others worshipping power, will take it away. Man, without God, trusts in these things but it’s futile because they have no everlasting qualities. Only God remains."

- Where God Spoke to Me: "17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.18 The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Comment: "This verse used to seem contradictory to me for several reasons despite what’s right before me in the above. We are judged. In Revelation, we’re told that the book will be opened and everyone will be judged according to his deeds. If it is for the Christian only, it’s what fruits have been produced since conversion. If it’s the Great White Throne Judgment, you’re sunk. In the above text, Jesus is not judging us, but God will. Jesus has not come to save us from hell but from God’s wrath. I don’t know all the Hebrew ramifications of the word “judged” but in Verse 18, I read this as “the one who believes in Him is not judged (condemned) but the one who does not believe has been condemned already. There’s a difference between judgement and condemnation.  Judgement has some leeway; condemnation is final."

60IN60 Day 8 - Mon May 11

It's Day 8 and we're in John 3.

Where God Spoke To Me:

- Verse 3 - "born again" - He's not offering a minor adjustment to our spiritual lives.  He's offering rebirth.

- Verse 20 - So true about why we shy away from God.  We have things we don't want to come to light.

Help:

- Verse 8 - The point here is that you can't see the wind but it still has an impact.  You can't see the Spirit, but he's still real and having an impact.

- Verse 14 - Moses raising up his staff (and people being saved by that from physical problems) is a picture of Christ being raised up on the cross (and us looking to that to be saved from our spiritual problems).

- Verse 25 - This question seemed to center around whether baptism was necessary for purification.

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 7 - Sun May 10

It's Day 7 and we're in John 2.

If you've got questions about your reading, I love answering those. Feel free to email me. Unless it's something personal, I'll usually anonymously share the question (and answer) in the following day's email so everyone can benefit from it.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 9 - I love the fact that with all the big important guests there the only ones who see the miracle are the servants.  God's not impressed with our power and position.

Help:
- Verse 10 - Despite what some Baptists will tell you, there is no way to have this story make sense without the wine that was made by Jesus being alcoholic wine.

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.