Category: faith

Day 198 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Romans 5:12-21. Death came through one man, Adam, but “if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” Let that sink in.

Esther 1. A fantastic book that made it to the Holy Bible, even though the name of God is not mentioned, not even once! Yet, the hand of God is everywhere in it. Read all of it! It starts with a big, decadent feast, and queen Vashti refused to make a spectacle of herself so she was deposed. Now what do you do without a queen?

Psalm 59, of David. A prayer for deliverance from Saul and his men seeking to kill David. It ends up with David singing God’s praises.

Psalm 60, of David. A Psalm intended for teaching. Even though they were defeated, David gave God the glory for future victories and deliverance.

Day 197 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Romans 5:1-11. This is a great chapter and tells how faith triumphs in trouble, one quote: “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Proverbs 10 contains some of the wise sayings of Solomon, with New Testament thoughts sprinkled in.

Psalm 56 , of David. The Psalm is from the time when the Philistines captured him in Gath  It deals with the period between the visit to the tabernacle at Nob and David’s arrival at Adullam. David was alone, desperate, afraid – and had no one left to to trust but  the LORD.

Psalm 57 , of David. Charles Spurgeon noted, “There are four of these ‘Destroy not’ psalms, namely, the 57th, 58th, 59th, and 75th. In all of them there is a distinct declaration of the destruction of the wicked and the preservation of the righteous.” It ends with “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.“

Psalm 58, of David. A short, but intense prayer that God would punish the wicked and judge righteously.

Day 196 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Romans 4. Abraham was justified by faith, not works and definitely not by circumcision. Where there is no law, there is no transgression. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and it was credited to him as righteousness. And “for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

Nehemiah 12 lists the priests and Levites, the time had come for Nehemiah to dedicate the wall, and the temple responsibilities were specified.

Nehemiah 13. The final reforms of Nehemiah are recorded, the temple service is given its due, and a final admonition from Nehemiah: Observe the Sabbath and don’t marry strange women.

The Finnish people are known to not say more than they absolutely have to.

There was this Finnish guy that loved his wife so much that he almost told her.

Many years ago I was part of a very international team that did an engineering project in a number of countries. One of our fellow engineers was from Finland. We thought it was funny so we sent him the joke. Within five minutes he sent back the message “He was drunk!“

Day 195 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Romans 3 is full of memorable quotations: “let God be true, but every man a liar.” It speaks of God’s faithfulness and God’s Judgment, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” , “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,“and “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” just to name a few. Read them all, and marvel.

Nehemiah 11 lists the people of Jerusalem and the people outside Jerusalem.

Psalm 55, of David. When treacherous friends and a multitude of enemies attacked, David still trusted God.

Day 194 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Romans 2. Paul pointed out that you have no excuse, God’s judgement is righteous, Jews and Gentiles are equally guilty, and circumcision is of no avail.

Nehemiah 9. The people did confess their sins and recited Israel’s miraculous history.

Nehemiah 10 lists the people who sealed the covenant and its content.

Day 193 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Romans 1:18-32 Paul explained how the wrath of God was to come on mankind because they “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”

Nehemiah 6. There arose a conspiracy against Nehemiah, but he was on to them and managed to get the wall completed.

Nehemiah 7. Finally the wall was finished, and the chapter gives a list of the captives who returned to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 8. Ezra read the Law and the returnees celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles.

Day 192 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Romans 1:1-17 starts with an eloquent greeting to all in Rome, and it is just as valid for us today as it was then. Paul longed to visit Rome and impart scriptural spiritual wisdom, such as “the Just shall live by Faith.”

Nehemiah 4. Through strong opposition the building of the wall was defended.

Nehemiah 5. Nehemiah encountered oppression but showed great generosity.

Psalm 54 , of David. A short prayer with conviction that God is David’s helper.

Day 191 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Acts 28 records Paul’s ministry on Malta and his final sailing to Rome. After Paul arrived in Rome it tells of Paul’s ministry there, and he stayed in Rome freely proclaiming the gospel for two full years.

Nehemiah 1 records Nehemiah’s prayer.

Nehemiah 2. After some days of praying Nehemiah went to King Artaxerxes, told the King why he was sad and was sent to Judah where he viewed the wall of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 3 retells the start of rebuilding the wall.

Day 190 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Acts 27:13-44. Against better advice from God via Paul the captain and Centurion ignored Paul’s warning, and sure enough a great storm grew up and they were shipwrecked on Malta, but all got safely ashore.

Proverbs 9 contrasts the way of wisdom with the way of folly.

Psalm 51, of David, written after Nathan confronted David after his adultery with Bathsheba. This Psalm explains fully, how God would say, after David was pointed out to be both an adulterer and a murderer: “He was a man after God’s own heart”.

Psalm 52, of David. The Psalm is a contemplation of David, contrasting the final end of evil men with the rewards of the righteous.

Psalm 53. This is a short Psalm telling about fools that say “No God”