90Days: Deuteronomy 23:12 - 1 Samuel 28:19

A week later, finally the update on the third week of readings.

Wow, what a breadth of events is covered. We are well into the history books by the end of this week's readings, moving from the conquest of Canaan by Joshua and his forces and the resulting division of the land among the tribes to the appearance of Samuel to Saul, predicting his death.

The book of Joshua is one of my personal favorites. Joshua has been Moses' second in command for over forty years. Now Moses is dead, leaving Joshua to lead the people into the promised land at long last. Can you imagine how hard it was to follow Moses as a leader?

But in Joshua 1:1-9 God Himself gives Joshua a pep talk. He tells Joshua to be strong and courageous (three times, in fact!), exhorts him to obey all the commands that He has given to the people and promises that He will not leave or forsake His people.

After a bloody romp through various battles,the people are at last at rest and Joshua gives his farewell speech:

And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you' not one of them has failed.

Joshua 23:14

Not one word has failed. God kept all His promises. He still does that today.

Unfortunately, though the people pledge to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, it doesn't take long before the nation is wandering off after other gods, and ultimately, asking Samuel to choose a king to be over them, so they can be more like the nations around them. God tells Samuel to do as they request:

And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

1 Samuel 8:7

The remainder of the readings for the week followed the kingship of Saul, his inconsistency and partial obedience. It is because of his refusal to completely follow the Lord that Saul is eventually rejected as king by God, and Samuel is commanded to anoint a shepherd as the next king.

If you want a more in-depth exposition of the years David spent on the run and how he clung to the Lord during that time, I highly recommend the "Shepherd, Soldier, King" sermon series at Mercy Hill. Pastor Tommy preached an outstanding series on the life of David as shown through the psalms David wrote (frankly, it was a sneaky way of preaching through 1 and 2 Samuel as well).

So - what are my take aways for this week of readings? The overwhelming conviction that comes out of these books is the necessity of complete obedience, of whole-hearted and mindful following of God. While I can shake my head at the Israelites' wandering after other gods, the truth is, I'm no different. The gods today may not be of wood and stone, but they still have the ability to take my attention away from totally following the Lord.

This past week we've continued in the history books - David and Solomon's reigns, the division of the kingdom, the parade of (mostly bad) kings that followed. That post should (hopefully) go up tomorrow night. I'm up to date on the readings, but out of time for this evening.

B90Days: Leviticus 1 to Deuteronomy 23:11

The passages this week take us from the completion of the Tabernacle through much of the law-giving, almost, but not quite, to the death of Moses.

In Numbers 13:1-14:38 we see the Israelites on the border of the promised land. Moses sends out a dozen spies to scope things out. While they return united in their opinion of the lush fertility of the land, ten of the twelve insist that the current inhabitants of the land are too numerous and much to strong to be overtaken. Only Caleb and Joshua take issue with that thought, arguing that the inhabitants can be conquered. I've always loved Caleb's plea to the people to obey the Lord and go forward:

"...The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do no fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."

Numbers 14:7b - 9

Caleb's eyes weren't on the circumstances: his gaze was fixed solely on God, and his trust placed in the promises God had made to the people. It's still easy to get caught up in worrying about the circumstances we find ourselves in, forgetting that God has promised to be with us always - even when He asks us to walk through difficult times. There may be giants in the land, but God is greater.

A second favorite passage of mine pops up near the end of the account of Baalam. Most kids who go to Sunday School eventually learn the story of Baalam's donkey, who develops the ability to talk (and tell his master a thing or two). But my favorite verse comes later in the account.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Numbers 23:19

God's promises are sure. His character is unchanging. His Word is truth. His sense of time is much different than ours, but we can be absolutely certain He will fulfill His promises.

B90Days: Genesis 1 to Exodus 40

The first week of reading through the Bible in ninety days is past; only about twelve more weeks to go. It's been an interesting adjustment, reading massive passages each day rather than studying a limited section. This week, the reading covered areas of the history books that move forward more or less chronologically, making things easy to follow. Once we hit the first and seconds - Samuel, Kings and Chronicles - things starts jumping around and accounts of events are duplicated in different places.

The great blessing of this week as far as the process of reading is that I had no time constraints. I've been on vacation all week, so could linger as long as I wished over the day's reading. This coming week is a different story. Bare bones reading for a day takes roughly forty-five minutes; I get much more out of it when I can take twice that long, to read and think.

The object is to read, not journal, but I've managed to drop a few notes and highlights into the Kindle. Below are a few bare bones thoughts on some passages/verses. Hover your mouse over the reference to see the Biblical text in a pop up window.

Genesis 3:12 - 13:  The first ever buck-passing: Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent. Some things never change.

Genesis 4:7: Sin is opportunistic and will take advantage when presented with an opening. We cannot become complacent; we must be on guard always.

Genesis 5:22: Enoch walked with God for over three hundred years. Why can't I manage to consistently do so for three days?

Genesis 6:5 - 6: Don't ever think that God takes sin lightly. It grieves Him to His heart. Would that I would feel the same way about it.

Genesis 16:2: It's never a good idea to run ahead of God's timetable. Sarai knew that God had promised to make a great nation from Abram's children, but He wasn't doing it fast enough to suit her purposes. Giving Hagar to Abram created a family rift and animosity that has lasted to the present day

Genesis 45:5: Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers, forgiving them for selling him into slavery in Egypt, as God had a purpose for him being there. It's not always easy to see God's purpose in hardship and trouble (and we may never understand it this side of heaven), but we need to trust that there is a purpose, for God does nothing without one.

Exodus 6:9: Sometimes we don't hear God when we are in the midst of trials, even though He is promising deliverance.

Exodus 9:16: Part of the reason for the plagues was to show God's power and bring Him glory. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Exodus 29:46: In a way, the theme of the later chapters of Exodus. In spite of their sin at Sinai, God was keeping the covenant He made with them to be their God, and to dwell among them.

90 Days: Beginnings

Ninety days. Three months. A season. In the grand scheme of life, it's barely a sub-point.

Yet during the next ninety days, God is going to work wonders.

Today is the day over two hundred and fifty people begin a journey through the Bible. Cover to cover between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

It's not an endeavor for the faint of heart. Each daily reading averages twelve pages and will take anywhere from half an hour to an hour to read. The goal is simply that: to read, letting Scripture speak for itself.

The Facebook page for the group is already full of ideas for keeping on track, suggestions on how to make up missed days and reminders of the incredible benefits of the project. Already it's an excellent accountability tool.

It's been several years since I did my last annual read through of the Bible. Reading this much at a time, however, is a much different proposition. I've sent the daily reading schedule to the Kindle, and have begun bookmarking the start of each day's section on one of the electronic Bibles. Our check in day for the group is Monday; my goal is to have a post up on Monday sharing some of the high points of the week past.

More than anything, though, I want to be open to the Spirit's instruction and leading. While this isn't meant to be any sort of in-depth study, simply being in the Word consistently this way opens the door for the Spirit to use it in my life. The Word describes itself as

"...living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

May it accomplish those purposes in our hearts.