It's Day 31 and we're in Mark 11.
Is the Bible an old dusty book? Nope - ". . . the Word of God is living and active. . ." (Hebrews 4:12). Dig into today expecting it to speak to you.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 2 - "which no one has ever ridden" - Jesus was doing something that no one else had ever done, or ever could do, in heading to the cross for our sins.
Help:
- Verse 14 - Why does Jesus curse the fig tree? It's not because He's having a bad day and lost His temper. This passage is a "sandwich" - a story starts, then is interrupted by another story, and then the original story is concluded. When that happens, the two stories are always intimately related. Here Jesus curses a fig tree (verses 12-14), goes and clears out the compromised Temple (verses 15-19), and then the fig tree is dead (verses 20-21). Jesus cursing the fig tree is symbolic of Him cursing the Temple system. He is laying that aside for the new open door that will happen through His death on the cross.
- Verses 27-33 - The point of this is that the religious leaders wanted to hold onto their popularity among the people but also didn't want to acknowledge John as a prophet. Jesus targeted their hypocrisy.
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.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
60IN60 Day 30 - Tues May 30
It's Day 30 and we're in Mark 10.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 21 - "felt a love for him" - I love that line. Jesus wasn't trying to beat him down with what He's about to ask the young man. He wasn't trying to prove a point with the man's failure. Jesus told him to leave everything behind because it was the path to life.
Help:
- Verses 2-12 - There are other passages that flesh out further details on divorce. This passage emphasizes the main point, which is that marriage is sacred.
- Verse 18 - "Why do you call me good?" - Jesus was, of course, good because He never sinned. I think He said this because the man came to Him thinking He was another teacher, albeit a "good" one.
- Verse 23 - Being rich makes it easy for us to love this world. It's hard to have money and not have it rule you.
- Verses 24-25 - This goes along with the teaching Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount about the path to God being a narrow road.
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.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 21 - "felt a love for him" - I love that line. Jesus wasn't trying to beat him down with what He's about to ask the young man. He wasn't trying to prove a point with the man's failure. Jesus told him to leave everything behind because it was the path to life.
Help:
- Verses 2-12 - There are other passages that flesh out further details on divorce. This passage emphasizes the main point, which is that marriage is sacred.
- Verse 18 - "Why do you call me good?" - Jesus was, of course, good because He never sinned. I think He said this because the man came to Him thinking He was another teacher, albeit a "good" one.
- Verse 23 - Being rich makes it easy for us to love this world. It's hard to have money and not have it rule you.
- Verses 24-25 - This goes along with the teaching Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount about the path to God being a narrow road.
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, May 29, 2017
60IN60 Day 29 - Mon May 29
It's Day 29 and we're in Mark 9.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 43-48 - The point of these verses is not to mutilate yourself, but to do whatever it takes to avoid hell. Do I have that level of concern about hell and the destination of many of my friends?
Help:
- Verse 12 - The "Elijah" figure is John the Baptist.
- Verse 29 - That is, being "prayed up" and having been before the Lord in prayer and therefore being close enough to Him to manifest that kind of power.
- Verses 49-50 - This is obscure. The verse 49 reference probably means that suffering and struggle will come our way. Verse 50 probably means that we need to have the "flavor" of Christ defining 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.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 43-48 - The point of these verses is not to mutilate yourself, but to do whatever it takes to avoid hell. Do I have that level of concern about hell and the destination of many of my friends?
Help:
- Verse 12 - The "Elijah" figure is John the Baptist.
- Verse 29 - That is, being "prayed up" and having been before the Lord in prayer and therefore being close enough to Him to manifest that kind of power.
- Verses 49-50 - This is obscure. The verse 49 reference probably means that suffering and struggle will come our way. Verse 50 probably means that we need to have the "flavor" of Christ defining 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.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
60IN60 Day 28 - Sun May 28
It's Day 28 and we're in Jonah 4.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 6 - Am I happier about the things I have than the people God desperately loves?
Help:
- Verse 1 - He was angry because Nineveh was an enemy of the Israelites. He wanted justice, not mercy.
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.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 6 - Am I happier about the things I have than the people God desperately loves?
Help:
- Verse 1 - He was angry because Nineveh was an enemy of the Israelites. He wanted justice, not mercy.
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.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
60IN60 Day 27 - Sat May 27
It's Day 27 and we're in Jonah 3.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 5 - You never know who's ready to say, "Yes" to God.
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.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 5 - You never know who's ready to say, "Yes" to God.
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.
Friday, May 26, 2017
60IN60 Day 26 - Fri May 26
It's Day 26 and we're in Jonah 2.
Remember that your daily reading in the Bible isn't about gaining information - it's about changing your life to be more like Christ. That means that you need to take action on what God speaks to you about.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 2 - God hears us when we cry out in our distress.
Help:
- Verses 1-10 - It has long been presumed by many that Jonah was alive in the belly of the fish, but it never actually says that. Some of the wording (see verses 5-7 especially) lends itself toward the idea that Jonah died in the fish. The miracle would then be that God raised Jonah back to life.
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.
Remember that your daily reading in the Bible isn't about gaining information - it's about changing your life to be more like Christ. That means that you need to take action on what God speaks to you about.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 2 - God hears us when we cry out in our distress.
Help:
- Verses 1-10 - It has long been presumed by many that Jonah was alive in the belly of the fish, but it never actually says that. Some of the wording (see verses 5-7 especially) lends itself toward the idea that Jonah died in the fish. The miracle would then be that God raised Jonah back to life.
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.
Thursday, May 25, 2017
60IN60 Day 25 - Thurs May 25
It's Day 25 and we're in Jonah 1.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 3 - Why did Jonah run away? Because the Ninevites were enemies of Israel and he didn't want to go preach to them and give them the chance for mercy. It's sobering to know that God loves everyone - even my enemies.
Help:
- Verse 2 - "come up before me" - That means that the accumulated weight of their sin had reached a place where it demanded action. It wasn't that God wasn't paying attention before that or was unaware before that.
- Verse 5 - "asleep" - This could be because he's so exhausted because of the stress of the event or it could be that he is at peace about running away from God and finds sleep easy.
- Verse 7 - "lots" - God obviously doesn't always influence the outcome of such things, but in this situation, He spoke to the sailors through something they could understand.
- Verses 8-10 - They believed in provincial gods - gods that had a limited scope of power. When they heard Jonah say that his God was the God of the sea, they knew why the storm had happened.
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.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 3 - Why did Jonah run away? Because the Ninevites were enemies of Israel and he didn't want to go preach to them and give them the chance for mercy. It's sobering to know that God loves everyone - even my enemies.
Help:
- Verse 2 - "come up before me" - That means that the accumulated weight of their sin had reached a place where it demanded action. It wasn't that God wasn't paying attention before that or was unaware before that.
- Verse 5 - "asleep" - This could be because he's so exhausted because of the stress of the event or it could be that he is at peace about running away from God and finds sleep easy.
- Verse 7 - "lots" - God obviously doesn't always influence the outcome of such things, but in this situation, He spoke to the sailors through something they could understand.
- Verses 8-10 - They believed in provincial gods - gods that had a limited scope of power. When they heard Jonah say that his God was the God of the sea, they knew why the storm had happened.
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.
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