Today we come to the new birth chapter; you must be born again (literally: from above), the new birth is necessary to enter into the Kingdom of God; and the new beginning signified by Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, eight in all.
January 4: John 3, Genesis 6, Genesis 7, Genesis 8, (click on the chapter to begin reading).
Ponder the new beginning in the New Testament, leading to eternal life; and the new beginning in the Old Testament, restoring life on earth.
After 2 days reading about the Creation and the fall, it is time to focus our attention on what happened after the fall.
January 3: John 2, Genesis 4, Genesis 5, Psalm 1. (click on the chapter to begin reading)
In John 2 Jesus turns water into wine, cleanses the Temple, and gives the Jews just one sign. Genesis 4 shows the results of original sin with the story of Cain and Abel and the beginning of animal sacrifice; Genesis 5 shows the Genealogy from Adam to Noah, and Psalm 1 is a beautiful poem about righteous living, and only one person can fulfill all the conditions mentioned, the exception to ” There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3: 10)
The take home for today is the first of Jesus’ miracles, the first murder, the first man (Enoch) to be carried directly to God rather than die first, and Jesus giving the sign of Jonah about his (and our) resurrection. Psalm 1 extols righteous living according to the Old Testament and the law, with the New Testament counterpoint as given by the Apostle Paul.
Today’s reading of the Bible is short in chapters, but has enormous spiritual value if one is to understand it. It tells of a second, spiritual creation, the creation of Eve in Genesis 2, (click on the chapter to begin reading), and the fall from grace in Genesis 3.
Chapter 2 tells of how God created woman out of man, showing that creation was not complete without man and woman as a unit. God’s design is one man, one woman, one lifetime. This would still be the case if we let God chose our mate. If we had followed God’s intent, a lot of sickness would not exist, especially sexually transmitted diseases.
But, God created us with free will, and the fall is then described in chapter 3. The problem is in eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, (not an apple tree) and in doing so we think we can do better than fellowship with God.
The question to ponder is: Why did God create us with a free will? He knew the result from the beginning, and knew He would have to send His Son to redeem us back to Himself. In fact He knew it from before the beginning: “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8, NIV)
Answer: We are created in God’s image, male and female, not so much physical, but spiritual, and free will is part of the package. Without free will there is no fellowship with God, only puppetry.
The Holy Bible is the most important book ever written. It is the word of God.
The two chapters chosen for today are John 1 and Genesis 1 (click on the chapter to begin reading)
Both chapters start with the words “In the beginning”. The gospel of John deals with creation spiritually, and Genesis 1 deals with the physical creation, but with a spiritual emphasis, laying the groundwork for spiritual understanding of how and why we exist.
We are existing in time and space. The question is: What was there before time and space existed, before the beginning?
Answer: God, existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son (the Word) and God’s Spirit, (the Holy Ghost).
They alone are eternal, everything else, including time and space, is created.
Today we read the final chapter of the Holy Bible and the final chapter of Proverbs.
December 31: Revelation 22, Proverbs 31 (click on the chapter to begin reading).
Revelation 22 begins with showing the Apostle John the River of Life, the time is near, Jesus is coming soon and He testifies to the Churches, don’t add to or take away from God’s word. Jesus is coming Quickly, Amen!
Proverbs 31. The sayings of King Lemuel. The book of Proverbs ends up with “The Wife of Noble Character”, and every day I thank the Lord for my wife of 51 years. Lives would have been quite different (or not existed at all) if God had not brought us together.
Today we read one chapter of Revelation and the final chapter of Malachi.
December 30: Revelation 21, Malachi 4 click on the chapter to begin reading).
Revelation 21. The apostle John saw in a vision how all things are made new, the New Jerusalem was before his eyes and the glory of the New Jerusalem was on full display. there was no temple in it, all glory goes to the Lamb, the Alpha and Omega!
Malachi 4 is all about the great and dreadful day of the Lord, but before that God will send His messenger Elijah.
Today we read one chapter of Revelation and the third chapter of Malachi.
December 29: Revelation 20, Malachi 3 (click on the chapter to begin reading).
Revelation 20 is full of action: Satan will be bound for 1,000 Years and the saints will reign with Christ for the same length of time. Then there will be a satanic rebellion which will be crushed, and after that comes the Great White Throne Judgment.
Malachi 3. The LORD will send His messenger, before His coming “But who can endure the day of his coming“,”For He is like a refiners fire.” So return to God instead of robbing God, but the people complain. God assures them there is everything to gain to serve Him.
Today we read one chapter of Revelation and the second chapter of Malachi.
December 28: Revelation 19, Malachi 2 (click on the chapter to begin reading).
Revelation 19. Hallelujah, while the world was quite upset at the demise of Babylon – Global Governance-, heaven is full of songs, jubilation and worship. Then John saw Christ on a White Horse, and the beast and his armies were defeated. On Christ’s robe is written “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords“.
Malachi 2 tells of corrupt priests and the treachery of infidelity.
Today we read only one chapter of Revelation.
December 27: Revelation 18 (click on the chapter to begin reading).
Revelation 18. This chapter is so full of Old Testament prophecy that it has been given today’s attention all by itself. It tells of the fall of Babylon the great, the one world political system, and the world mourns the fall of Babylon. The important thing to remember is that the Holy Bible is one consistent book, God is in control and gives the victory through Jesus Christ. We will not grasp it all, for if we did, we would try to save the world all by ourselves.
Today we read one chapter of Revelation and the first chapter of Malachi.
December 26: Revelation 17, Malachi 1 (click on the chapter to begin reading).
Revelation 17. So begins the fall of Babylon. It is not Rome, nor is it Roman Catholicism. It is the coalition of communism, socialism, Islam and social justice Christianity in the form of Globalism implementing Global Governance. This isrepresented by the scarlet woman and the scarlet basket. The meaning of the woman and the basket is then explained in prophecy.
Malachi 1. God loves Israel, but Israel responds with insincere and polluted offerings.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 