If you committed to reading the Bible this year, you probably haven't gotten to far behind in your reading plan only 5 days in BUT you probably will get behind whether it's a Bible reading plan and/or daily devotions.
I am writing this blog to remind myself and others of one specific way God used Bible plans to help and encourage me.
Here at the beginning of the year I want to encourage you to be in the Word.
By being in the Word I mean...
devotions
scripture memory
reading biblical articles and books.
January 4th, God brought all of these things together to encourage and challenge me to remember how great He is!
I wrote a post on our church blog about my Bible reading and memory yesterday. Here is the post...
Isaiah 40 begins with these words “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”
God wants to comfort us HIS WAY not our ways!This week’s Fighter Verse Isaiah 40:8 reminds us “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.”In your prayer this week take time to meditate upon this truth “The Word of our God will stand forever.”
God and His truth will be around long after the struggles you are going through right now.Meditate on the truths in Isaiah 40.
- Read the chapter.
- If you have a copy of New Morning Mercies the devotional begins with this statement: "The best theology will not remove mystery from your life, so rest is found in trusting the One who rules, is all, and knows no mystery." You will also notice the additional reading is from Isaiah 40.
- Check out this week’s Fighter Verse devotional at http://fighterverses.com/set-2-core-esv/week-1/. It is Isaiah 40:8 which is also the memory verse for the 1st through 3rd grade class I am teaching. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."
So there you have God bringing my devotional time and scripture memory together.
Now what about the "reading biblical articles and books?"
As I was reading Isaiah 40 and these resources I was reminded of an article I read online awhile ago entitled "Why Christians miss the point of one of their favorite verses." The article was about Isaiah 40:31
 |
| Click on the picture to read the article |
From the article
When read in isolation, Isaiah 40:31 loses this incredible potency, the Bible verse equivalent of a hang-in-there cat. But this verse is no wish fulfillment or message of personal empowerment. The entirety of Isaiah 40 proves God’s ability to keep the promise he makes in verse 31. This is a promise banked on the immense credit of God’s strength, will, and faithfulness. When you read this familiar verse in context, there can be no doubt: the God who made this promise is able to keep it.
