HE IS RISEN!
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Are you inside God’s circle of blessings or have you put yourself on the outside? When we put ourselves outside of God’s circle of blessings, we risk shortening our lives and opening ourselves to God's discipline. And what about your children? Are you teaching them how to stay inside that circle of blessings? Today's post has a simple illustration to help them (and you) understand why it's so important. And from our Old Testament reading: God gave Saul the privilege of being Israel's first king. He blessed him in many ways including giving him victory in battle, loyal men like the future king David, and a wise son in Jonathan. But Saul is a great example of one man's failure to stay inside God's circle of blessings.
Most of us will have opportunities in life to offer comfort to those suffering and grieving. Perhaps, you know someone right now who has lost a loved one or suffered some other setback. When we do, we don't want to be "miserable comforters" like Job's friends. But the truth is most of us feel inadequate and unsure about what to say. We fear saying the wrong thing and, all too often, fail to say anything out of fear or awkwardness. See today's post for a helpful list of things to say and do and, just as important, things to avoid.
Why a fresh start through the Bible? Why "through" the Bible? Why not just read here and there, perhaps finding a subject that interests you? Or how about a short devotional? As long as you read something every day, isn't that good enough? Today's reading from the book of Psalms gives us a very good illustration of why it's so important to read God's Word in context. The psalmist in Psalm 1 talks about a man who is like a tree planted on a riverbank where it gets plenty of water and is always fruitful. The psalmist goes on to say that God prospers whatever this man does. I don't know about you, but I want my life to be like that. But despite some who teach that God wants to make every believer prosperous, there are requirements for this prosperity. There are things we must do and other things we are to avoid. We also need to understand what the psalmist meant when he wrote about prosperity. If we don't, we may find ourselves disillusioned, even angry, with God. But this is just one example of the importance of understanding God's Word in context, in its entirety. One of the biggest problems I find among believers is a failure to know God, to know His character, to know how He works through our tests and trials. As a result, far too many lead faithless, defeated lives. But when we read through all of Scripture, we begin to see the big picture. As we go through the book of Genesis, we’ll look at the creation account and what it tells us about our incredible God. It will launch us on a journey through the history of God's people and some of the most fascinating stories even recorded. As we go through the Prophets, we'll see the many examples where their prophecies have already come to pass and our faith will grow. We will, also, come to better understand what was really happening in the book of Job, how much the psalmists were like us, and see the wisdom we can gain from Proverbs. In the New Testament, we'll walk with Jesus and the Apostles, read Paul's letters with fresh understanding, and marvel at the glories of eternity future. So, why read "through" the Bible and not just here and there? So we understand the whole counsel of God and so we know the God of the Bible and not God as we think He should be. Perhaps the question should be, "Why not read through the Bible in 2022?"
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