Monday, September 24: Psalms 132-134, 2 Corinthians 10 ~ by Pamela

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 132-134, 2 Corinthians 10

Here are a few things that stood out for me:

11 The Lord swore an oath to David
    with a promise he will never take back:

We were just talking in Sunday school yesterday about how we need to have faith in God by reflecting on His promises. God will always keep his promises. It may not be in our timing but we need to have faith that God will let it happen in His timing.


How wonderful and pleasant it is
    when brothers live together in harmony!

Our principal just read this verse over our morning announcements this week. How true it is. When you think about your family, your classmates, your coworkers....how much more enjoyable it is when everyone gets along. I think about how this verse applies when disagreeing with people and how to speak the truth in love and still maintain a relationship with a person with whom you disagree.

3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 [a]We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

Again, a reminder to have faith that God will do His good works in His time. Also that it is not our job to alienate or judge those and perhaps turn them from God because of our words and actions.

18 When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.

What a great reminder. We should not believe that our accomplishments are ours and ours alone. It is God who gives us our talents and when we use them to honour Him, we will be worthy of the highest praise from our creator "Well done, good and faithful servant"

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Psalms 135-137, 2 Corinthians 11

Saturday, September 22nd: Psalms 129-131; 2 Corinthians 9 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 129-131; 2 Corinthians 9

I love the progression of Psalm 130.....

V1-2

From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help.  Hear my cry, O Lord.  Pay attention to my prayer.

The first step is to recognize our need for help, and that God alone is the source of that help.

3 Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?
No one is perfect - far from it!  If God kept a record of our sins and judged us accordingly, things would not go well for us.

4 But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.
But thankfully, He has provided a way for us to be forgiven!

5 I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.
Thankfully, we can find His truths in the Word, and we can always count on Him. 

6 I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows.
8 He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.
Our hope is in God alone. In Him we have unfailing love and redemption from every sin!

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Psalms 132-134, 2 Corinthians 10

Friday, September 21st: Psalms 126-128; 2 Corinthians 8 ~ Emma

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 126-128; 2 Corinthians 8

“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭126:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A little reminder in today’s reading that there is always hope. Just keep trusting in God, and pushing through. Your reward is coming. 

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Psalms 129-131; 2 Corinthians 9

Thursday, September 20th: Psalms 123-125, 2 Corinthians 7 ~ Nathan

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 123-125, 2 Corinthians 7

Psalm 124: 6-8
Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
[7] We have escaped like a bird from the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
[8] Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

A reminder to me that we have very little control in this world over anything. At the other end of the spectrum is God, who is in control of everything. I'm thankful that God loves us and wants to help us.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Psalms 126-128, 2 Corinthians 8

Wednesday, September 19th: Psalms 120-122, 2 Corinthians 6 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 120-122, 2 Corinthians 6

Psalm 120:1 I took my troubles to the Lord;
I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.
Taking our troubles to God should always be our first instinct, never our Plan B.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil[d]? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
This is a huge reminder of how important it is for believers to marry other believers.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Psalms 123-125, 2 Corinthians 7

Tuesday, Sept 18: Psalms 119, 2 Corinthians 5 - Danae

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 119, 2 Corinthians 5

“We live by faith, not by sight”

We have faith that heaven is real
We have faith that heaven is better than we can ever imagine
We have faith that we can have eternal life through Christ
We have faith that our resurrected bodies with be perfected in heaven

If we have faith & hope for eternity, then what we see on this earth begins to dim in comparison. Our worries here can begin to fade because we know what will come to pass & what we know will last.

In order to let go of our worries here on earth, we need to shift our perspective towards heaven & God in a way that we are no longer “at home in the body” but desire to be “at home with the Lord.”

We need to nurture our faith, that each day we recognize God’s glory around us & know that he’s giving us just a glimpse of what he has for us when we wait for him.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Psalms 120-122, 2 Corinthians 6

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 117-118, 2 Corinthians 4

2 Corinthians 18 says, "18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." I find that as humans we all try to find happiness in worldly things and things that can be seen, however here we are told that we should not care about our earthly possessions but should think and care about our unseen possessions and that is what the Lord requires of us. 








Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Psalms 119, 2 Corinthians 5

Saturday, September 15th: Psalms 115-116, 2 Corinthians 3 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 115-116, 2 Corinthians 3

Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.
The first part of that verse strikes me the most.  Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory.

It is human nature to feel good when someone compliments us - and there's nothing wrong with that.  But it's wrong to fully take the credit, to accept all the glory for our accomplishments, and not give that glory to God, where it is rightfully due.

When God gives us talents, He expects us to steward them well, to work hard to improve our skill - not for our own glory, but for His.

This theme is actually also in our NT passage as well.....
2 Corinthians 3:1 Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not!
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Psalms 117-118, 2 Corinthians 4

Friday, September 14th: Psalm 112-114, 2 Corinthians 2 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalm 112-114, 2 Corinthians 2

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.
We are not responsible for how others react to the fragrance of Christ that we spread - but we are responsible to spread it!

Thursday, September 13th: Psalm 109-1110, 2 Corinthians 1 ~ Nathan

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Psalms 109-111, 2 Corinthians 1

Psalm 109 caught my attention from today's reading. The writer talks about how the wicked will slander the righteous in this psalm.

Psalm 109: 11-13
[11]May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
[12] May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children.
[13] May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation.

It reminds me of how we may get put down or treated unfairly or even suffer abuse because of our faith in Christ. Suffering is difficult now, but these passages reminded me that us Christians have something glorious to look forward to.

Better times are most definitely ahead for those that trust in the Lord!

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Psalms 112-114, 2 Corinthians 2