Tag: religion

August 14, read through the Bible in a year.

Today we read the second chapter of Philippians and two chapters of Isaiah.

August 14: Philippians 2, Isaiah 14, Isaiah 15 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Philippians 2. Paul urges the believers to imitate the humility of Christ. Verses 7-11 are in the form of a hymn and shows how Jesus, even though he always is God, emptied himself and became obedient to the cross, even unto death. Look at that! They should work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Yes, salvation is past tense (for by grace have you been saved), present tense (work out your own salvation) and future tense (you will be saved). God is independent of time (He exised before time and space and created both). Then Paul ends with talking about Timothy and Epaphroditus.

Isaiah 14 speaks of the return of Israel to their own land, the fall of Babylon and the haughtiness of Lucifer. It ends with prophecies about Assyria and the Philistines.

Isaiah 15 is a prophecy against Moab.

August 13, read through the Bible in a year.

Today we read the first chapter of Philippians and three chapters of Isaiah.

August 13: Philippians 1, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 12, Isaiah 13 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Philippians 1. After the customary greeting Paul gives a heartfelt prayer for the believers. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (This was the verse given to me and my wife when we joined the church after our salvation). Paul is in prison and this works in favor of the Gospel. He also encourage them to behave worthy of the Gospel and follow Christ and be partakers with him in suffering.

Isaiah 11 speaks of the Branch from Jesse, containing this gem “and a little child shall lead them”.  Even the animals will make peace.

Isaiah 12 is a hymn of praise to finish up the first part of Isaiah, the future of Israel.

Isaiah 13 is a prophecy against Babylon.

August 12, read through the Bible in a year.

In between Ephesians and Philippians we read two Psalms and two chapters of Isaiah.

August 12:  Psalm 75, Psalm 76, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 10 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Psalm 75, of Asaph. A song of praise to the LORD. The theme is He executes proper judgement. It ends with: “All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”

Psalm 76, of Asaph. A song that praises the LORD, how He confounds the “stouthearted” but saves the meek.

Isaiah 9. A must read chapter of Isaiah. It speaks of “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” Then it states: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” It speaks of Christ, the coming Messiah, both his humanity (a child) and his deity (son of God).

Isaiah 10 speaks of the punishment of Syria (and Assyria), then the temnant of Israel shall return.

August 11, read through the Bible in a year.

In between Ephesians and Philippians we read three Psalms and one chapter of Isaiah.

August 11: Psalm 72, Psalm 73, Psalm 74, Isaiah 8 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Psalm 72, of Solomon. Most likely Solomon compiled Book Two of Psalms (Psalms 42-72) and composed or edited this psalm as a fitting end to the collection of mostly David’s psalms. It is a fitting conclusion, because it does not focus upon David himself, but on the coming Messiah – the King of Kings and Son of David.

Psalm 73 begins Book Three of Psalms, (Psalms 43-89) . It is of Asaph, a great singer and musician from the time of David and Solomon. He complains about the good fortune of the wicked and the misfortune of the righteous until he “went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.“

Psalm 74, of Asaph. This Psalm describes the destruction of the Temple. This Asaph may have been penned bya descendant of the earlier  musician, or may be prophetic. In any case he asks God to defend His case against the evildoers.

Isaiah 8. Prophetically Assyria will invade Israel, an instrument of God to execute judgement on the unfaithful. The remedy is to fear God and Him alone.

August 10, read through the Bible in a year.

In between Ephesians and Philippians we read one chapter of Proverbs and three chapters of Isaiah.

August 10: Proverbs 11, Isaiah 5, Isaiah 6, Isaiah 7 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Proverbs 11. Proverbs of Solomon continued.

Isaiah 5. The Song of the Vineyard. it starts out beautiful, but tells of judgement. In chapter three was proclaimed two woes. Here comes six more woes.

In Isaiah 6 is told the famous call of Isaiah “Here am I, send me“. God answers by telling of all the hardships that will come with answering such a call. They will harden their hearts as Pharaoh hardened his.

Isaiah 7: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” After that promise it speaks of a coming disaster.

August 9, read through the Bible in a year.

In between Ephesians and Philippians we read two Psalms and three chapters of Isaiah.

August 9: Psalm 70, Psalm 71, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 3, Isaiah 4 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Psalm 70, of David, a short,  urgent petition for deliverance, full of praise.

Psalm 71. This Psalm has the same theme as Psalm 70, but is much more detailed. It is of an older man, strong in faith, most probably David.

Isaiah 2. The famous chapter containing “beating swords into plowshares” “study war no more” and the Day of the LORD is introduced.

In Isaiah 3 the prophet proclaims judgment on Jerusalem and Judah.

Isaiah 4. “In that day”. This refers to the Messianic reign after the Day of the LORD. “The Branch” is introduced.

August 8, read through the Bible in a year.

Today we read the last chapter of Ephesians and first chapter of Isaiah.

August 8: Ephesians 6, Isaiah 1 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Ephesians 6. Children, obey your parents, bondservants do everything as unto God, put on the whole armor of God and pray in the spirit always for all the saints. Paul then adds a final greeting, and so ends the inspirational letter to the Ephesians.

Isaiah 1. No other book of the Bible has so many fulfilled prophecies. Read it and marvel! Use the lists as reference.

August 7, read through the Bible in a year.

Today we read the fifth chapter of Ephesians and the last two chapters of Song of Solomon.

August 7: Ephesians 5, Song of Solomon 7, Song of Solomon 8 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Ephesians 5, Paul gives good advice:Walk in love, walk in light, and walk in wisdom, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Then Paul gives Godly advice on marriage  and likens it to the relationship between Christ and the church.

Song of Solomon 7 is full of expressions of praise.

Song of Solomon 8. And so is love renewed in Lebanon. This shows that God’s love is complete, and does indeed include the sensual. This too is the gift of God.

 

August 6, read through the Bible in a year.

Today we read the fourth chapter of Ephesians and three chapters of Song of Solomon.

August 6: Ephesians 4, Song of Solomon 4, Song of Solomon 5, Song of Solomon 6 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Ephesians 4. Paul urges the believers to walk in unity, because there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God, even though there are different spiritual gifts. He reminds them they are children of light, do not grieve the spirit, and “do not let the sun go down on your wrath“.

Song of Solomon 4. The bridegroom praises the bride.

Song of Solomon 5. The Shulamite’s troubled evening.

Song of Solomon 6. The bridegroom and friens praise the Shulamite’s beauty.

 

August 4, read through the Bible in a year.

Today we read the second chapter of Ephesians and the last four chapters of Ecclesiastes.

August 4: Ephesians 2, Ecclesiastes 9, Ecclesiastes 10, Ecclesiastes 11, Ecclesiastes 12 (click on the chapter to begin reading).

Ephesians 2. This is the famous chapter explaining that we are saved by grace through faith and brought near by His blood. Furthermore, Christ is our peace and our cornerstone. There is much more in this chapter.

Ecclesiastes 9. Death comes to all,  and wisdom  is better than folly.

Ecclesiastes 10. Yes indeed, wisdom is better than folly.

Ecclesiastes 11 explains the value of diligence. One advice: Seek God early in life.

Ecclesiastes 12. “Remember now thy creator in the days of your youth“. “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”