Bible in 90 Days – Day 1

Bible in 90 Days – Day 1

Genesis 1-16

See my first post about this Bible reading challenge here

For now I’m going to structure my posts like this. This is a new way for me to study so I may change it as I go along. I found that I’m easily distractible as I’m reading, because I have such a bent toward “study” in place of “reading”. This takes exponentially longer, and since there’s so much reading each day, I decided to jot notes in a separate journal as I go along, so I don’t stop. Kindof like taking sermon notes during a sermon, as I can’t very well raise my hand and ask my pastor to hang on while I go and research this or that.

Here’s my structure for today.

Words: Words that popped off the page for me

Wonders: Things I sortof wonder about, that I’d have to go and read some commentaries or study up a bit farther – if there’s even any complete explanations out there. God does love a good mystery, after all.

Principles: Maybe a little theological one-liner that one could infer from the text.

Hugs: Warm fuzzies for the romantic in me. When God’s tenderness and faithful love is especially evident to me.

Mirror: When I see myself in the characters. God’s word is like a mirror (James 1:23-25)

(Also, I’m going to be using the HCSB. I love the HCSB Notetakers Interactive Edition Bible for its huge margins, lots of study info and cross references.)

Words 

Gen 2:18 helper – 5828 One who helps; from 5826 to help, support.

Note: This is the first job description for a wife, before woman is even created.

Gen 2:24 bonds with – 1692 To cling to, to stay with

Note: Marriage rules determined as soon as marriage is established.

Gen 2:25 no shame – 954 (Not) put to shame, disconcerted, or disappointed. (Not) acting shamefully.

Note: Shame and Audacity cannot coexist.

Gen 8:21 pleasing aroma

God was well pleased with the performance, v. 21. He smelt a sweet savour, or, as it is in the Hebrew, a savour of rest, from it. As, when he had made the world at first on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed, so, now that he had new-made it, in the sacrifice of the seventh he rested. He was well pleased with Noah's pious zeal, and these hopeful beginnings of the new world, as men are with fragrant and agreeable smells; though his offering was small it was according to his ability, and God accepted it. Having caused his anger to rest upon the world of sinners, he here caused his love to rest upon this little remnant of believers. –Matthew Henry

source

Wonders/Meditations

Genesis 12:1 This seems a little out of nowhere. Why Abram? Perhaps because God knew he would obey? Perhaps God saw Abram’s faith even before He called him, before we get the chance to see his faith recorded? God looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

Principles

Gen 4:12-22, 6:5-8, 8:18, 10:1-32 Righteousness is more important than knowledge or skill. All (or perhaps many) of the makers, music makers, thinkers, etc were washed away in the flood.

Gen 12:7-8 Abram worships. Even though he doesn’t know where he’s going, and there is no hope of fulfillment, he worships.

Hugs

Gen 13:17 “Get up and walk from one end of the land to the other, for I will give it to you.” (This reminded me of a daddy excitedly giving his child a new car, or house, or something amazing, and saying “Push all the buttons, give it a try, test drive it, look in all the doors and cabinets! It’s yours!”)

Mirror 

Gen 15:2, 16:2 Abram and Sarai are trying to figure out how God could keep His promise, and they’re trying to come up with a solution for Him, praying with this finite solution in mind. A solution born of finite understanding, when God has something better and more amazing in mind. It’s hard to believe in the supernatural when our minds are so human. See also Romans 8:26 – when we don’t know how to pray, and Eph 3:20 He is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or even imagine.

The Painful Lesson 8 - Pain Before Restoration

Are you enjoying our little Bride of Christ detour through Jeremiah? I had no idea God would turn this into so much study material. But He is wise, faithful and good, amen?

Today we look at Jeremiah 26-30. You can read it all now, or space it out as we go along.

This is the darkness before dawn. The pain before restoration.

In chapter 27 we see the way there is no escape from the consequences. The Lord will make your consequences follow you. You can be sure of it. See Numbers 32:23 & Jeremiah 25:35.

There is not place to escape Him, and He is the only way out. Funny how it works that way. He is all around us, and He is the Door, but we’d sooner try to dig away at the walls until our fingers bleed than just accept His way and simply walk through it.

So daughters, know that He knows. You’re not going to slide one by and get by with it.

But what about the people who do get away with it? That Christian who says biting words behind your back. Those believers who neglect their family, or put money and career above all else. What about those believers who have walked out on their family? Those unfaithful to their spouse. Those awful times when children are abused and women taken advantage of, with no punishment when punishment is due. What then? Where’s the sentence, or sure consequences then?

Yeah, there’s those too. Even here in our passage. Jeremiah 29:16-17 Those who did not physically reap the consequences of separation still got consequences. They were ruined like “bad figs (ch 24)”.

So, sisters, I ask- no pointing fingers here. No complaining. Let’s just look at ourselves, and our own deceitful heart for right now. Everyone’s gonna get theirs.

Now before you get the wrong idea, God does not thrive on punishment. See 27:17 and look for God’s heart in it. He really doesn’t just sit there waiting to catch you screwing up. But He does know when you do.

Don’t listen to anyone around you who is telling you that you are okay in your sin, or anyone justifying it for you (or with you). Yes, it may be what you’d rather hear, but ultimately it leads you to fall harder.

God’s voice is the only One you can trust.

Chapter 28 is a specific example of what happened to one man who spoke trying to comfort the Israelites in their sin; he contradicted God’s words in God’s name.

Now I’d like you to take a look at chapter 29. Here we fast forward the story into the captivity of Israel (Daniel 1) into Babylon. They were ripped from their homes, and taught to throw out all knowledge of God. Brainwashed. This is where we pick up. Read Jeremiah 29, and probably you’ll stop where I stopped, stunned. Read and I’ll wait.

Was it verse 11? I thought so. Have you ever read that in context before? I must not have. I was stunned.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen.” NLT

This verse means so much more to me now. Does it you?

Continue on to verses 13-14

Jeremiah 29:13-14 “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” NLT (emphasis mine)

He is not saying “Goodbye forever; you screwed up,” but rather He is saying, “Here is my number. When you are really truly ready to come back to Me, I will be here. I will gather you when your sentence is up.”

He is ever faithful.

Take heart in this, Dear one. He is coming for you. He will be back when the time is right. And His promise is one we can lean on when we’ve really messed up – when it feels like you’ve had about as much consequence as you can take. When you’re crying to Him, when He is Who you turn to, finally exhausted of trying to do it all on your own. He will be there.

Read chapter 30

Jeremiah 30:11b “…I will not completely destroy you.I will discipline you, but with justice;    I cannot let you go unpunished.” NLT

He is too holy to let us go unpunished, but He will not completely destroy us in that punishment. And He will restore. Jeremiah 27:22

 God brings the restoration. And God alone brings restoration.

Jeremiah 30:17a “I will… heal your wounds,” says the Lord…” NLT

The next session is the last in our detour through our Bride of Christ series, and it is a good one. Much happier, I promise.  The Groom calls back and gathers His Bride!

In the meantime, I ask you to determine what in your heart is holding back. Is there something?

It says in Jeremiah 29:13 we must seek Him with our whole heart.

Do.

Offer every broken hurt, torn, stained, ugly piece of your heart, and be ready to find healing.

Matthew 11:28 “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” NLT

The Painful Lesson 3 - For the Sake of the Covenant

Today is just a bit lighter. We are going to have a look at why in the world He cares so much. God does care for you, sister.

Begin at Jeremiah 11. God instructs Jeremiah to remind Israel about their covenant.

Sisters, we have a marriage covenant with Him as the Bride of Christ.

At my church, the weddings our pastor performs often include in the charge to the couple this reminder; that marriage is not a contract which can be broken. It is a covenant an unbreakable agreement where both sides exhibit a responsibility. A covenant is stronger than a pact, a handshake, or a promise.

God is Truth, and He made a covenant with us. This is a big reason why He works so hard at getting us, wandering hearts that we are, back. He longs to fulfill His side of the covenant, but it is two sided. See verses 4-5

I notice in 11:4 how well He remembers His promise. How many times have we tried to recall something but some of the details are a little fuzzy. I’m not talking about when you were trying to recall a dream, necessarily, but promises you have made, events or words from your childhood, or even stuff you learned in school. We really don’t have that great of memories when you get right down to it. But God does. He remembers every word. Every detail. Throughout our study you will see Him referencing His words again and again, and you can be sure He gets it right.

Jeremiah 11:4 “For I said …if you obey me …then you will be my people, and I will be your God.” NLT

He is crying here for His Bride to remember just one very important thing.

Remember the covenant we made.

Remember your wedding vows.

(Verses 2, 6, 7)

Some of us, Sisters, have willfully rejected Him. Maybe something harsh has happened in your life that you wish God hadn’t allowed. If God is good, why would He allow suffering?

Or maybe you have just casually rejected Him – your new life with Him is too mundane and you have looked elsewhere for excitement.

Or maybe you don’t even realize it but your busy schedule has crowded out any time to spend with him or worshipping Him, or serving Him.

If you feel your heart agreeing with any of the above, you are not alone. And I’m glad you’re here. And I’m glad you’re listening. It is very hard to recognize sometimes, when our heart isn’t right with God.

Verse 15 What right have we?

We have seen how faithful our Groom is. We have seen how good, and patient, and wise and forgiving.

WHAT RIGHT have we to take advantage? We are breaking His heart – because, Sisters, even if we don’t see it (or don’t care), God sees it, and most definitely cares. He is aware of our decline (vs 16). He knows the pruning we require, and he has the power to perform it, and He is right to do it.

Jeremiah 20:12 “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, You test those who are righteous, and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets.” NLT

Yes sometimes He allows suffering and sometimes He orders it. And always for our good, and always for the good of the covenant.

“If they obey”: If we aren’t obeying, He needs to give us that “Divine Spanking” so we will.

“They will be My people”: His people. We have taken His name, and therefore for His name’s sake we must be Holy. His character allows nothing less.

“And I will be their God.”: He alone is God.

Psalm 113:5 “Who can be compared with the Lord our God,    who is enthroned on high?” NLT

Psalm 35:10a “With every bone in my body I will praise him:    “Lord, who can compare with you?” NLT

Exodus 15:11“Who is like you among the gods, O Lord—    glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders?” NLT

Psalm 89:6a “For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?” NLT

Who can compare?

And why would we want to?

In your prayer time, spend some time praising Him for His most excellent covenant, and unmatched faithfulness to it, no matter what that brings us through in the meantime.

Gift to the Bride

The gift to the Bride

Read Isaiah 61

The big day has come. The Bride accepts her Bridegroom in eternal covenant.

^8b “I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering    and make an everlasting covenant with them.” NLT

Her heart rejoices, she feels a freedom, joyous blessing, and festive praise, overwhelmed by His love. (61:10)

Today, she is honored. (61:9) She is honored by receiving beauty for ashes. (61:3) She is honored with gifts as well; all she could ever need for her new role as a wife. But there is one gift that matters most of all. This is the one that she is going to cherish and hold close to her heart.

The gift from her groom.

¹⁰ “I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God!    For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation    and draped me in a robe of righteousness.I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit    or a bride with her jewels.” NLT

Is that not the greatest gift of all? We, the Bride of Christ, get that great gift. That righteousness. He laid down His life in order that we might experience that overwhelming joy, rapt with the blessing and wonder of it all.

For when the Lord has blessed someone they are blessed indeed.

⁹ “Their descendants will be recognized    and honored among the nations.Everyone will realize that they are a people    the Lord has blessed.” NLT

One last thing, dear one. Would we be a gracious bride if we just sat there, soaking it all in?

A friend of mine, whose entire life in Christ displayed God’s love through service, was truly a gracious bride. At her wedding, she and her groom stood at the food table and they served the guests.

Service. Driven by love received. So, dear Bride, how are you being a gracious bride today?

^{Isaiah 61:11b} “His righteousness {your gift from the Groom, remember?} will be like a garden in early spring,    with plants springing up everywhere.” NLT  

^{Hosea 10:12 “}I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,    and you will harvest a crop of love.Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,    for now is the time to seek the Lord,that he may come    and shower righteousness upon you.’” NLT 

^{Proverbs 11:18 b} “The one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.” NIV 

^{James 3:18} “And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” NLT

Share it! Serve. Scatter seeds everywhere you step, that plants of His Righteousness will spring up everywhere.

Bride of Christ

You are bursting with the news.

You are going to be a bride! And your groom is simply wonderful! You were made for each other!

But. Why does there always have to be a but?

You have no idea when the wedding will be. And it’s out of your hands.

Rather discouraging, don’t you think? And it makes it that much harder to prepare yourself for the big day, when you have no idea when it is going to happen.

If it’s going to happen.

You feel forgotten.

This is the emotion we find in Isaiah 49.

Read Isaiah 49:1-14

I find such sweetness every time I read a verse like verse 7, especially the last phrase.

⁷ The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,  to the one who is the servant of rulers:“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.    Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful one,    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” NLT

Ladies, He has chosen you. This verse was spoken to His people Israel, but is applicable because God has chosen us as His bride, too.

Continue reading, and you will see the promise of love, honor and protection. Even provision of a Beautiful Land. What more could a girl ask for? (Or, nation, rather.)

But then after all these sweet vows, what does the bride do? She sticks out her lips in a pout, and says,

¹⁴ Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us;    the Lord has forgotten us.” NLT

Really?

But then, haven’t we all done that? How many times (per day?) do we see some hardship, or something that doesn’t go our way, and we automatically jump to the conclusion that God must not care about us, or He wouldn’t have let that happen.
Perhaps He’s trying to mold His bride into who she needs to be.

Look at verse 8 before we move on.

⁸ “At just the right time, I will respond to you.” NLT

Other versions say ‘I will hear and answer you.’ God knows what just the right time is; to answer our prayers and to act on our behalf. Trust Him, sweet thing. He will not leave you hanging.

Read verses 15-21, looking especially at 15-16 for now.

¹⁵ “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?    Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?But even if that were possible,    I would not forget you!¹⁶ See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.    Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.” NLT

I love these. I will not forget you! See I have written your name on the palms of My hands. One version compares this to a tattoo. I also really like verse 16 in the King James Version,

¹⁶ "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands" KJV emphasis mine.

This isn't even just your name, but a whole picture of you! I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty foolish at this point for ever even thinking that God may have forgotten me. Because isn't this what His love looks like when we are graven on His hands?

For the last part of verse 16, read this from a commentary by David Guzik source

Your walls are continually before Me: The walls refer to the walls of the city of Jerusalem, which figuratively speak of the health, the strength, the prosperity, and the security of God’s people. God is always mindful of the condition of His people, despite the objections of a doubting Zion.

God is always always mindful of your condition. He knows that your heart is breaking. He knows what you’re going through. He even knows that you might still be miffed about spilling your coffee. He cares about you so much, dear one.

See verses 17-21 God is telling His people of how extensively He vows to fulfill His promise. He is promising to bring His people back from exile, and says, in effect, ‘There will be so many of you you’re not going to have room for everyone!’

It reminds me of Malachi 3:10

“…I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in…” NLT

In verse 21 it tells us Israel will say to herself, ‘but God had abandoned me… so where did all these people come from?’

Sister, we know the answer. God did not abandon Israel like they thought. God has not abandoned you. He was there all along.

Verses 23 and 26 tell us why.

^23b “…Then you will know that I am the Lord.    Those who trust in me will never be put to shame.”^26b “…All the world will know that I, the Lord,    am your Savior and your Redeemer,    the Mighty One of Israel.”

That all the world may know that He is LORD.

Amen!