Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 30
Morning

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”—“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”—So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.—Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.—“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord.”

Heb. 12:1, 2; Luke 9:23; Luke 14:33; Rom. 13:12; 1 Cor. 9:25, 27; Phil. 3:13, 14; Hos. 6:3

Evening

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

We have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. . . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”—Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

Lam. 3:27; Prov. 22:6; Heb. 12:9, 10; Ps. 119:67, 71; Jer. 29:11; 1 Pet. 5:6

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/daily.light/

Daily Light on the Daily Path

I recently can across a daily devotional entitled Daily Light on the Daily Walk. It is simply Scripture, but arranged in a way that I had never seen before. Here is a little information about how it came to be:

               
 

                “For over a century, Daily Light on the Daily Path has been a favorite devotional book of those who realize the tremendous benefit of reading and praying Scripture. Originally printed in the mid-1800s, Daily Light was born out of the devout faith of Samuel Bagster, a British bookstore owner determined to share his faith with his twelve children. The Bagsters’ daily practice of reading Scripture together, then connecting the day’s verses with other passages, inspired one of the children to compile their devotions for publication. The family discussed and prayed over the selection and arrangement of each verse until they were convinced that no further improvement could be made. After two years of prayer and consideration, the devotions were printed in two volumes for morning and evening reading.”

 

Here is today’s(January 29) selection:

Website: http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/daily.light/

 

Morning

“You are a God of seeing.”

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. . . . Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.—For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths.—”But God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”—”For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

But Jesus . . . knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.—”Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Gen. 16:13; Ps. 139:1-4, 6; Prov. 15:3; Prov. 5:21; Luke 16:15; 2 Chron. 16:9; John 2:24, 25; John 21:17

Evening

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.—It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to pre-sent your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.—So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. . . . Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.—Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Ps. 86:12; Ps. 50:23; Ps. 92:1, 2; Ps. 150:6; Rom. 12:1; Heb. 13:12, 15; Eph. 5:20; Rev. 5:12

Blessings, Ron Boersema

Words of encouragement

Deuteronomy 20:1-4

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’

A Challenge

For quite some time now one of my favorite passages is the Bible is the Jude Doxology from Jude 24-25.

Here are the verses: (from the ESV)

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

I see so much wrapped up in those two verses that Scripture talks about in other places. So here is my challenge:

When you read and reflect on those verses, what comes to mind? What other verses pop into your mind? What other Biblical principals or doctrines are you reminded of from this simple passage? Reflect on it and share a comment.

Blessings, Ron

Through it all

With all that is going on in the world today, take comfort in these words from Habakkuk 3 and proclaim to God that he is worthy to be praise through it all.

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.

Blessings, Ron

Another First

Yesterday I commented on the first parable of Jesus that Matthew records us. And, as this blog is about my observations in my daily devotions, I wanted to say that this wasn’t the first interesting thing that I noticed while going through this gospel. Having said that, what I am about to point out is not the first thing of interest that I noticed either, but I thought I would back up and share something else.

The year 2009 had a first for me in my life. I gave my first message at church. My text was the book of Jude and the reminder was to “contend for the faith” and to watch out for false teachers. A large part of the reason for why I gave a message on that was because I believe it is a very relevant and necessary message for the church today. What if you were to give a message at your church…what would you choose to say and why?

In chapters 5-7 in Matthew we read the first recorded sermon of Jesus. Have you ever wondered why he gave that particular message? What motivated him to make that his first? So as my way of encouraging others to study the Bible more this year, which was part of my second message last year, go to Matthew chapters 5-7 and read what Christ chose as his “first message” and see how it applies to the church today.

 

Blessing, Ron

Something to consider

Matthew 13:1-9 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

I think there is an important lesson to be learned from the fact that this is the first recorded parable for us in the ministry of Jesus. Many people will hear the Word of God, but the parable shows us what effect it will have in our lives based upon how it is received.

Do you desire to understand what God’s says and what it means for our lives today? The first thing to do is to “cultivate your soil”. Prepare your heart by prayer to have a desire to read it. Then ask God for for wisdom to understand which He promises in to freely give in James 1:5. From there, make it your life’s work to always be in the Word and studying it. When we do these things, the “fruit” that God’s Word produces will be evident… even “a hundred fold”.

Plans for the New Year

I recently gave a message at church on the Armor of God passage from Ephesians 6. At the conclusion I challenged people to be in the Word more and to know it better than they ever have before. Well the same advice is true for me as well. So my wife and I have decided to go through the New Testament in a different fashion than we have before. So far we have gone through the Bible three times, once from cover to cover in normal order and twice in chronological order. This time as we read through the New Testament we have decided to read it in blocks. We are reading three to four chapter a day and then repeating those chapter two more times and discussing them together as different themes and ideas pop out at us. So we will in effect be reading through the New Testament three times. So far it has been a rewarding time. We not only gain a deeper understanding of what we are reading, but we also get some great time together as a couple.

So what are your plans? How will you decide to grow in the knowledge of God and His Word this year? Maybe our plan isn’t for you. If you have never read the entire Bible from cover to cover, maybe you want to try reading through the Bible this year following one of various reading plans. Maybe you are just making a commitment to read the Bible more this year and if the whole Bible sounds like too much or if you just don’t know where to start, try a google, or my preference, a bing search for a Bible reading plan that will work for you.

A few final helps for Bible reading:

Read with someone… spouse if you are married.

Read it out loud whenever possible. Hearing God’s Word helps your comprehension.

Take notes, journal or underline when you read.

Let someone know your plan so they can encourage you.

And always pray as part of your reading especially for wisdom and discernment.

Blessings on your reading  journey.

How to know the will of God

Prvoerbs 2:1-5
My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

Blessed by the Psalms

    Today we finished our reading of the Psalms. The single biggest thing that I will take from this reading of the book of Psalms is seeing the character of God. Each day as we read a few Psalms I was reminded of how constant the love of God is for those who fear Him. I also couldn’t help but notice how those who trust in God, as referenced in the Psalms, always acknowledge the goodness or sovereignty of God in their lives no matter what they may have been going through. So as I end this year, and reflect on the Psalms, I want to echo the words that start Psalm 146: “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”

As you end this year, and look forward to a new one, take some time and reflect on the steadfast love of God.

Blessings, Ron