Greetings all and a very Happy New Year.
Pastor Rick and I have challenged the congregation to read the Bible in a year.
There are two programs available that have us reading the Bible chronologically. One is to read the New Testament only and Pastor Rick will be blogging on that. I on the other hand have challenged myself to read the entire Bible and to make comments on what I’ve read. Now I will not be commenting on all that I read, but rather something that I find might be useful and with the help of the Holy Spirit to guide me, I hope to be able to write a little bit everyday. Since I’m not writing a lot on each passage, I hope that you will fill free to comment as well.
There are two programs available that have us reading the Bible chronologically. One is to read the New Testament only and Pastor Rick will be blogging on that. I on the other hand have challenged myself to read the entire Bible and to make comments on what I’ve read. Now I will not be commenting on all that I read, but rather something that I find might be useful and with the help of the Holy Spirit to guide me, I hope to be able to write a little bit everyday. Since I’m not writing a lot on each passage, I hope that you will fill free to comment as well.
Reading for January 1
Genesis 1-3
What I noticed about today’s reading was that God “spoke” the universe into existence. (1:3, Then God said…) Makes me think that the spoken word is very powerful. So how are you speaking? What are you saying to others, to yourself. I’ve talked with many people over the course of my life that have been abused – physically and mentally, and almost all of them will tell you the emotional and mental abuse is so much worse that the physical. Injuries will heal over the course of time, but words that wound the mind, heart, and spirit, remain much, much longer (if ever they can be healed). So if words are so important, what then are you saying in your everyday conversations? Are you using words that lift up? Or are you using words that bring people down? James says (James 3:4) the tongue is like the rudder of a ship, very small – yet powerful enough to turn a great ship. My prayer for us is that we will be careful of the way we use our words and that we will only speak words of truth and love to each other.
What I noticed about today’s reading was that God “spoke” the universe into existence. (1:3, Then God said…) Makes me think that the spoken word is very powerful. So how are you speaking? What are you saying to others, to yourself. I’ve talked with many people over the course of my life that have been abused – physically and mentally, and almost all of them will tell you the emotional and mental abuse is so much worse that the physical. Injuries will heal over the course of time, but words that wound the mind, heart, and spirit, remain much, much longer (if ever they can be healed). So if words are so important, what then are you saying in your everyday conversations? Are you using words that lift up? Or are you using words that bring people down? James says (James 3:4) the tongue is like the rudder of a ship, very small – yet powerful enough to turn a great ship. My prayer for us is that we will be careful of the way we use our words and that we will only speak words of truth and love to each other.