May 21 Bible Reading

Matthew 5

I am so grateful that Christ has fulfilled the law.  We no longer have to live in virtual personal isolation from God.  Christ has broken down the barriers between a Holy God and sinful man by dying and bringing us new life and reconciliation with God.

Psalm 12&13

Many times I can understand David’s frustration.  It can appear that anyone righteous has disappeared and that we wish God would judge sin in a way that we could see.  We can tend to feel as if living a Godly life is not worth it.  But, David sees also that God promises to uphold the righteous.  God will keep us even as we are surrounded by wickedness.  It can often feel as if God is not even hearing us.  God can seem distant, and we can even question if He is real at all.  David knows that he must trust that God has a steadfast love.  David trusts that God has promised to love him forever.  He also trust that God is a god of salvation.  We too can hold fast to the fact that God has given us victory over sin.  God has blessed us.  These are the things we must hold to when we feel alone.

Genesis 9&10

God has given us many blessings, and His promise to never destroy the earth with a flood and giving us meat to eat are only a few of them.  It is amazing to think that Noah became like another Adam in that all of the people living on the earth after him were his descendants.  What a responsibility that must have been to start over from scratch and be the grandfather of the nations!

Isaiah 13-15

God is a patient and forgiving God.  Even when we see God’s judgement on His chosen people for their sin, He shows His plan to be forgiving and merciful.  We saw that when God punished Adam and Eve in that after they are punished, He promises to send a Savior.  Here we see that although God planned to use Babylon to punish Israel, they too would fall to destruction and Israel would be restored to the land.  God disciplines us and shows us undeserved favor.  He is truly awesome.

Romans 6

We are dead to our sin and alive to Christ.  We mustn’t remain in sin and try to serve God.  We are redeemed in order that we could serve and accomplish the will of our Redeemer.  Man is never without a master, it is simply that in Salvation we’ve traded up for another one.  Sin is the master of man before salvation, and God is man’s master after salvation.  It only makes sense that, after such an undeserved thing has been given to us, we should fall on our faces and devote ourselves wholly to what God asks of us.  It is all that we created beings could give.

Joshua 13-15

God provides for His elect.  God helped Israel to drive out their enemies and then delivered to them a blessing.  After forty years of wandering, God gave His chosen people what He had promised.  God is always faithful to keep His promises.  He also blesses those who have faith in Him.  Caleb was blessed with promised land because He had faith that God would bring about the things that He had promised Israel.  We too should be confident when God tells us that He wishes us to do something.  God always has a plan for what He asks us to do.