May 22 Bible Reading

Matthew 6
In this portion of Jesus’ message, we are constantly being shown a comparison between the world and the heavenly kingdom.  Christ continues to emphasize the importance that our heart belong to heaven and not to the earth.  This mindset changes the way we view the poor, what things we value, our anxiety, and even how we worship God in prayer and fasting.  Christ instructs us to keep God first.  When we pray it is His kingdom and name that we are concerned with foremost, and our needs and battles are afterthoughts.  We must keep God’s purposes at the center of our lives.  This will lead to success and fulfillment, because God has made plans for us to accomplish for His kingdom and He equips us to do them.

Psalm 14-16
Isn’t God amazing in His forbearance?  Even as David looks around and sees fools who do not believe in God, he can be confident that God is working to bring Salvation.  In the midst of feeling as if we are the only ones who fear God, we can know that God is patient and will bring lost souls to Himself.  In Psalm 15 we are reminded that God is holy and it is not an easy task to be righteous enough to stand before Him.  It is an incredible grace then that God reconciled us to Himself and made a way that we, as unrighteous people, could approach such a Holy God.  God does not abandon His chosen people.  David realizes this throughout Psalm 16.  He knows that God is what sustains him, and he needs to trust that God will uphold him.  This incredible confidence in God comes from a deep faith rooted in what we know of God.  David cries out for refuge, and finds solace in the facts of who God is and what He has accomplished in his life.  These facts lead David to have faith and confidence that God will keep David from Hell.

Genesis 11&12
God’s plan is always better than the one try to conjure up.  When Noah’s descendants disobeyed and did not fill the earth, God had to use supernatural means to accomplish His plan.  God’s will will always be accomplished, but I would rather be a yielded vessel than one that has to be broken or tossed aside in order to fit God’s will.  Even Abram did not trust that God had led in to Canaan and would provide for him.  Instead he travel to Egypt to fend for himself.  We must have an unrelenting faith, completely confident in God’s sovereignty.

Isaiah 16-18
The Lord will not stand for idolatry.  God does not want to be replaced my our insignificant mounds of clay.  He judges sin greatly.  This understanding of how severe God’s judgment of sin can be, makes the believer all the more grateful and awe-struck at the wonder of the cross.  How can it be that the Lord of Heaven, the judger of sin, would die for someone who turned his back to Him?  The gospel is incredible.

Romans 7&8
Again, Paul reminds believers that we are debtors, no longer to sin, but to the Redeemer.  We were steeped in sin and inescapably so.  But, God redeemed us from our bondage to our flesh, and He has indwelled us with the Holy Spirt.  And, as if that was not enough already, He has promised us an inheritance with Christ.  How can we remain in our sin, when God has empowered us with His presence and blessed us with immeasurable gifts?  God’s gift of Salvation should never cease to amaze His followers.  It is unlike any earthly thing.

Joshua 16-18
God is always faithful to provide what He promises.  He is also able to overcome any foe that we face.  As I think of the people that the Israelites were unable to drive out from the land, I think of things in my life that distract me from God that I ought to be driving out.  These peoples ended up distracting the Israelites from the one true God, and they fell into idolatry.  I pray that God would eliminate the distractions in my life that cause me to loose focus on God.