Tag: OneYearBible

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SOAP Yourself In the Bible

“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.” Amos 8:11

When the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, grocery shelves became bare and even staples like milk, bread, and toilet tissue were sometimes hard to find. Most of us in the United States understood for the first time the experiential fear of the word famine.

But can you imagine a famine of the Word of God? 

It’s hard to envision not being able to access God’s Word when I look around at the hard copies of several translations at my fingertips. And that doesn’t include the access I have to online versions and Bible apps. 

God has blessed our church with faithful preaching of His Word Sunday after Sunday, not to mention Sunday school classes and Bible studies. Plus, in the United States, we have a plethora of Bible resources available online. But as the economy has taken its toll this year, forcing many churches and ministries to shut their doors, it’s not as hard to imagine that we could experience in our own land the famine of the Word that is experienced around the world. 

Additionally, as a speaker reminded me years ago commenting on this verse, sometimes people don’t starve because of lack of food, but lack of appetite. Loss of appetite is a symptom that a person is not well. When I’m not hungry for God’s Word, I need His help. His grace enables us echo Jeremiah’s words:

When I discovered Your Words, I devoured them. They became to me my joy and my heart’s delight for I bear Your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Jeremiah 15:16 NLT

2020 has been a year not just of a global pandemic, but of national unrest as we have seen our country more and more divided. If you’ve seen either of the American Gospel documentaries, you know that our country is filled with people who call themselves Christians while denying the Gospel of salvation through Christ alone and Christ crucified.

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3 ESV

So often we are faced with questions, wishing we knew what to do. If only we had God’s wisdom for a given situation. If we could just hear His voice and know for sure it was Him.

As pastor Alistair Begg said, “The Bible is so helpful if we just read it.”

When we read God’s Word, God Himself is speaking to us.

Listen to what God says about His Word and wisdom.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man (or woman!) of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

“For no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Spirit spoke from God.” 2 Peter 1:20-21

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach. But he must ask in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sewn in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:17-18 

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sewer and bread for the eater, so is My Word that proceeds from my mouth. It will not return to me empty bit will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

“Does not My Word burn like fire?” says the Lord. “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29

“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11

“The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God lasts forever.” Isaiah 40:8

And that is just a sampling of what God says about His Word and wisdom. 

God tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 “Man’s heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” 

Hal Farnsworth often asks, “If you were deceived, would you know it?” Isn’t it the very nature of deception that we don’t realize it? We are so convinced we know what’s true.

In a day where so many truth claims conflict, how desperately we need a plumb line—a reference point to test things we hear.

How we need to take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5.

What better time than now to read His Word and meditate on it daily?

SOAP Yourself in the One Year Bible for Women

“The Bible is so helpful if we just read it, you know.” Alistair Begg

SOAP is an acronym that stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer.

Scripture.

If you’ve always wanted to read through the Bible, maybe this is the year to do that. If that feels like too much, you can choose to just read the Psalms and Proverbs, or just the New Testament, just the Old Testament. What you choose to read is entirely up to you! 

Each day as you read, begin by asking God to speak to you. The Bible is filled with prayers you can use like, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your Word,” from Psalm 119:18.

As you read, ask Him to lead you to the Scripture He wants you to meditate on more deeply, then write it down. Writing the verse or passage down will engage your mind and help you to process it at a deeper level.

Observation

Write down some of your observations. What does this Scripture teach you about God or yourself? How does it point you to Christ? Where is the grace in the passage? Think about the author, the audience, the kind of literature, the context. Look for repeated words and themes. Can you think of other places in the Bible where the same ideas are repeated? A good rule of thumb is to use Scripture to interpret Scripture.

Application

How can you personally apply what you’ve learned? How does the Gospel help you apply it and not be defeated?

Prayer

Turn these thoughts into prayer. Ask the Lord to show you how you can apply what you’re seeing.

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OYB Reflections, 5-5-20, Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22

NOTE: I began journaling as a little girl, so when I became a Christian, it was a natural step to journal my prayers and reflections from reading God’s Word. I don’t know if anyone else spends time in God’s Word like this? But it’s been so helpful to me. Years ago a friend suggested I could blog, and I’ve never stuck with it for long, but as I spent this time this morning, I wondered if what God was showing me might be helpful for others?

Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22

In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him.

Ruth 1:1, NLT

Thank You, Lord, as I am reading the OT this AM, that I have such greater understanding than ever before. We are NOT in a famine. But this is the closest I’ve ever experienced.

A famine of toilet paper. Not knowing if we’ll be able to get more. And many times I have not been able to purchase foods that before this pandemic hit, I would have taken for granted as always being there. Lord, forgive my lack of gratitude. And thank You, for ALL Your provision.

So, now, when I read that this was a time the judges ruled, as I just read in Judges 21:25 “when everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” that there was this famine. And what lengths would I go to provide for my family if I were afraid they would starve?

There had been another time in Your Word when Your people left the Promised Land because of famine. When Jacob brought ALL his family to Egypt–when You providentially called his son Joseph to be prime minister. But this was not like that. This was NOT Your telling them to go. This was not them asking You if they should go. This was them being desperate and doing what was right in their own eyes.

But, this man was from Bethlehem in Judah!

Had there been prophecies about Judah and the Messiah coming from Judah? Seems like maybe Jacob, when he blessed his sons, may have said something that hinted at that?

Genesis 49:8-12

I confess that I don’t understand fully what this blessing means. But certainly, v. 10, when it says, “the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,” it sounds like a RULER will come for Israel from Judah, and then it says “until the coming of the One to whom it belongs.” What belongs? The ruler’s staff.

So, yes, this definitely sounds like this blessing is a prophecy that THE RULER of Israel will come from Judah. And then it says, “The ONE whom ALL nations will honor.” And the next verses drip with symbolism: “He washes his clothes in wine, His robes in the blood of grapes.” So, huge clues to pay attention to as we read Ruth 1:1.

How fascinating and beautiful and mysterious are Your ways, O Lord! If we were writing the story, would we have ever imagined writing it like this? And the really amazing this is that You had told Your people NOT to intermarry with the surrounding nations. And yet, as Elimelech makes his free choice, we see how You use our choices to bring about Your plans.

The Moabites weren’t exactly foreigners. But they weren’t part of the nation of Israel either. They descended from Abraham’s nephew, Lot and his incestuous relationship with his oldest daughter. Makes me want to vomit to even think about it. You had forbidden this.

And yet.

You show how You are able to take something immoral, something sexually reprehensible and use it for good and bring something beautiful out of it. Even the Messiah. WOW. Among these people, Elimelech finds a wife for his sons. Ruth. The grandmother of King David.

Apart from this action, there would be no Jesus!

And the precious LIGHT in v. 6!!! First, that Naomi heard this news in Moab. How did she hear the news? The text doesn’t say, but I would imagine a traveler. And then, the way You put it–not just “things are better or have turned around,” but rather “the Lord has blessed His people in Judah by giving them good crops again.”

The irony is so thick in v. 13 as Naomi says “Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord has raised His fist against me.”

How often, Lord, have we felt just that–that You have raised Your fist against us?

How many people today feel that You have raised Your fist against them? Yet all the while, You are doing a deeper magic. You are working in a way that she would not have believed if You had told her. And You are doing that now. Oh would You give grace to Your people to see Your hand in their lives –that they would turn to You? And see Your hand in their provision.

Oh Lord, thank You, that in Your Providence, for the way the OYB is laid out, that I’m reading John 4 the same day at the same time as I start reading Ruth. Because here, Jesus, You–God in human flesh–do the EXACT SAME THING we see in Ruth.

In Ruth, You use means to work it out so that this “foreign” woman–not of the people of Israel–would be brought in.

And here, Lord Jesus, You, God incarnate, DO the SAME thing with the Samaritan woman.

I remember a preacher commenting that the Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans in those days AND that the reason she would have been there at noon, in the heat of the day–was to avoid people–because of her tarnished reputation–having had five husbands and now living with a man who was not her husband.

Again, more sexual immorality.

And what is happening between them is thick with symbolism as You, the Water of Life, ask her for a drink of water.

And the sweetness of Your words to her…”If you only knew the gift God has for you, you would ask Me and I would give you living water.”

If she only knew the gift God had for her…she would ask.

Oh Lord, that is my prayer for friends and family who thirst–that You would show them that You are the Gift–that they can come to You and thirst no more.

I love how You tell her that the water You offer “becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them.” And it is at this point, the scales fall from her eyes. At this point, realization sweeps over her–now she sees and knows the GIFT–that You are the GIFT.

And she says, “Please give me this water.”

But unlike so many evangelists today in a rush for numbers, you make sure she understands what it means to come to You have her thirst quenched.

Does she really WANT this water? Does she really want to satisfy her thirst in You, Lord Jesus? Or does she want to just taste it and keep also trying to drink from the water that is likely gravel in her mouth? From the fleeting-momentary sweetness of sin?

You tell her to go get her husband–exposing her immorality. But more than that, exposing how she has sought to satisfy her thirst for You with water that leaves her thirsting for more–with one man after another.

But they are never enough.

And how often is that same story repeated today, Lord? For so many? Not just women. And not just relationships. All around people dying of thirst, trying to quench it with ANYTHING but Living Water. Oh Lord, would You use even this pandemic to open their eyes to see? To come to You and thirst no more?

Lord, like this woman, we live in a day where there are worshipers all around. Very few people would say they don’t believe in some sort of deity. And like this woman, they have questions about worship. Some follow this religion, others that, and increasingly what was said in the time of the Judges could be said of people today: “Everyone does what is right in his own eyes.” “There is no king.” They are governed by self.

But as You said to this woman, so You still say, “The time is coming and now is when true true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth.”

Thank You, Father, that You are looking for those who will worship You that way. That You are Spirit. And we must worship You in spirit and truth. Please give us grace to do just that.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You always worshiped in Spirit and Truth and that Your righteousness not only covers us, but that You indwell us through Your Holy Spirit, enabling us to worship You in Spirit and Truth too. What joy! What sweetness!

You plainly told this woman, “I am the Messiah.”

Oh Lord, would You just as clearly reveal Yourself to people today? That they would turn to You like this woman? And move us, as Your people to respond as this woman, to tell others.

Thank You so much for v. 39–that many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because of this woman’s testimony. And how they told her in v. 42, “we now believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves.”

O Lord, would You help us as Your people to be like this woman so that more and more people would want to hear You for themselves?