AND THE WORD
WAS MADE FLESH
AND DWELT AMONG US
CHRISTMAS 2014 IS PAST
BUT THE WORD STILL
TABERNACLES,
STILL MAKES HIS HOME, AMONG US
THROUGH THE MYSTERY OF HIS SPIRIT
AND HIS LIVING WORD.
We are completing our Advent challenge this week by memorizing the final verse. Print this out.
(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(2) He was in the beginning with God.
(3) All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(4) In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
(5)The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
(6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
(7) He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light,
that all might believe through him.
(8) He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
12. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13. who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
THE NEW YEAR CHALLENGE
Some of you may remember George Mueller, the man who by faith established so many orphanages and was known for his inextinguishable joy. He said the first duty of a Christian was to get his soul happy in the Lord each day. He always began with the Word, and then prayed through it. He read through the Bible yearly all of his life.
So my challenge is to start reading through the Bible chronologically — not as it was written, but as it happened. It is an exciting and helpful way to read — to read, for example, the historical incident and then the psalms that were written because of that incident. I have a schedule so you can do it in a year, but I’m not so concerned if you accomplish it in one, two, or even three years, but that you keep reading through, and each day, “get your soul happy in the Lord,” by allowing Him to quicken you, speak to you, and “live” in you. I know you are involved in other Bible studies, including this one on the blog, so you know what you can handle — but everybody can find ten minutes to look at the whole puzzle in addition to the pieces. The challenge is not so much to accomplish a certain number of chapters, but to let Him tabernacle in You, to get your soul happy in the Lord. I’ll give you the chronological link on New Year’s Day. I’ll also tell you at the close of the week what is next for 2015.
Sunday: Icebreaker
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
Monday: Review John 1:1-13.
3. Can you write it out?
4. Do you have any fresh meditations?
Tuesday: Add John 1:14 to complete the prologue!
To open this week, please watch this video from my favorite contemporary poet, Luci Shaw. Then we will meditate on her poem: Made Flesh.
Watch:
Meditate on Made Flesh and find the surprises: http://dreaminginthedeepsouth.tumblr.com/post/2180155610/made-flesh-by-luci-shaw
Wednesday: New Year’s Eve
6. Review John 1:1-14 and share your contemplations on verse 14.
Thursday: New Year’s Day
Here is the link of you want to start reading through the Bible chronologically at your own pace:
http://www.esv.org/assets/pdfs/rp.chronological.pdf
Friday: Myth Became Fact
7. This is a wonderful video from a movie about Lewis and Tolkein. You may have already seen it. Watch and comment:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzBT39gx-TE
8. Here is an optional sermon (one of my top 5 favorites — so you may already have it) from Keller.
http://www.gospelinlife.com/myth-became-fact-5179.html
9. What notes or comments do you have on the Keller sermon?
Saturday:
10. What is your take-a-way and why?
WHAT’S NEXT?
While I am still working on The Song of Songs, I am also seeing the need for a studyguide that will help women grasp how the gospel can transform their lives. My tentative title is:
A Woman Transformed by The Gospel
How the gospel, rather than religion,can rescue us from the penalty and power of sin.
I want to try some lessons here, before Lent and possibly on into Lent, with this amazing group, and get your input. The best guide I’ve seen on this is Gospel Transformation, but its length overwhelms most groups. I’m going to try to do something more concise — I don’t know if I can do something that I’ll like better than what I’ve seen, but I have been itching to try! That desire and now a peace the time is right, has me taking the New Year Plunge! You are such a wonderful group — honestly — that I would be so thankful for your input. I want it to work for both seekers and believers. Some material and illustrations I have used before, but I will try to make it fresh. I so covet your prayers and participation, if God leads you to stay with us during this next journey. If not, blessings for whatever path He is taking you on!
I also want to alert you to a sale and new security on Gospel in Life. Go to the site and click on specials (75% on Galatians — and I will be taking sermons from that) and new security. I know Diane was hacked on their old account, and so was I, so I understand hesitancy. I think those who have been hacked are actually now safer than those who have not been — but I leave that up to you. I haven’t tried it, but I imagine you could call them and get a gift card by sending a check.
174 comments
What an exciting post, Dee! I am absolutely thrilled about the New Year Challenge! I have wanted to read chronologically through the Bible for awhile, but thought I would have to do a lot of research to know what to read and when – never occurred to me to look for a guide! Awesome. =) I have also wanted to push myself to be more familiar with the Bible (The Word) and have been convicted lately to start reading it in a year so… this is an answer to prayer. =)
I have never forgotten the “get your soul happy in the Lord, first thing in the morning” lesson that we did during Song of Songs. George Meuller said even before dressing or eating we need to hear from Him, let Him be the first voice to speak into our day/life. It is my aim each day now – to allow Him to call me from bed and to BE with Him, not just read to check it off my “good girl list” but to DWELL and hear from Him. It is sweet. He is good. He is gracious to draw me forth to His presence each morning and remind me of His goodness and mercy and the hope He gives my heart to operate in each day.
And I am looking forward to your lessons on how the gospel transforms a woman’s heart. I know that it will be good.
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you. I have really enjoyed the memorization. I was not sure I could even do it any more so I’m thrilled just to see that (with His help) I can. And, as I think you said Twila had mentioned (as why she began memorization) it does make me feel a little more like I’m knowing Him by knowing His Word, since He was and is the Word.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge. I literally am just finishing reading through the Bible in the order in which is was written! Should be finished by Jan 1. I have done that many times (though I have never completed it in 12 months) but have never done it chronologically. I think that would make more sense, really and maybe shed more light on some of the stories. I’m excited about it!
Mary, this impresses me, that you’ve read it through many times, sometimes in chronological order. I’m such a slow and pondering reader. I took over a year and a half just to read and try to understand Jeremiah once. (of course, read other pieces at the same time). So, I never get very far reading it as a whole in a ‘short’ amount of time. I’ve read it all a few times, but in very hodge podge ways. I think Jill is right that it would help to get the whole of it more ingrained to do this.
Well, Wanda, I have never yet made it through in one year. =) BUT, I kind of admire you because you are studying it in incredible depth and that is of great value. I have not ever read it in chronologic order yet, this will be a first for me.
……and when I think about it more, I wish I could remember even a fraction of a fraction of my ‘ponderings’! ha! sometimes, I think I am just plain ‘slow’ ! 🙂
Oops, I guess in my answer to #2 I should have said I have read through the Bible many times in the order in which it was compiled (by humans). 🙂 Not in the order it was written chronologically. I have always heard Job is likely the oldest or one of the oldest books but then I see things in Job that make me wonder about that…like it talks about rain and snow and about clean and unclean foods. I think there is just a lot that no one knows but I’m not a Biblical scholar, that is for sure.
I wondered the same when I saw that Job is book number 2. Will have to do some digging to understand how the dating has been correlated. Your questions are good ones, Mary!
Jill and Mary E — how nice to see your enthusiastic responses. I am loving doing this — how interesting, for example, to stop and read Job in the middle of Genesis because that is when it was written. Helps me understand Job better and all the more amazing the revelations God gave him so long ago!
Dee ~ Since I stumbled on to this blog last June, I have come to anticipate early Sunday mornings, to see what you have for us. Thank you, Dee.
And I am so looking forward to the lessons on gospel transformation, for I continue to be much in need of transformation. Yesterday, I had a day of solitude and decided to spend it reading Idol Lies for the first time. If I didn’t believe that He loves me right now, it would be impossible to look at, recognize and acknowledge the sin/idols in my life today. Feeling fragile here this morning and utterly grateful for the safe place that He Is.
SO glad you stumbled into it, Nila! Your sweet spirit and trust has been a blessing to me over and over. I miss you when you’re not here.
Nila — it has been a delight to have you here — and your honest heart.
Nila I am grateful for the safe place He is as well:)
I’m sorry you don’t see my face here much …but I am here…reading and learning along with you and praying for all of you. ..as your all a part of my heart.
I am so excited about reading through the bible this year Dee. ..in a way that I can understand better…in CHRONICLE ORDER!! You are amazing!
Iv’e memorized some of our verse. ..yet it’s taken me weeks to just get the first part of it
I am wondering if there is some truth of the lack of Estrogen when we are older… that effects out memory skills! But I’m trying!
May all of you have a very Blessed New Year!
Joyce, I think it is much, much harder to memorize as we get older. The only reason I could learn this passage easily, is because I learned most of it as a child, and I used the same version now. It’s only my long term memory that works well anymore! I remember so much from childhood and youth and very little from my day to day! Good for you to keep trying. God will bless your diligence.
You are so loved here. Joyce.
A Blessed New Year to you too Joyce!
Miss you Joyce! Happy New Year!
I’m so glad to ‘be back’! I peeked in and joined a couple of fleeting times the past two weeks but couldn’t keep the continuity of daily fellowship here. And the chronological reading chart is such a great thought. Looking forward to that! When I recited John 1:1-14 during our carol sing with all of my kids and their families, I told them that verse 14 was my favorite. Really. I don’t know if I have ever read it, without feeling a stir. The words themselves, the memories of Christmas teaching and truth, the times when I cry out in sadness or fear and know without question that the Word is with me. Just as He was when He became flesh, He still dwells with me. One thing is ‘hanging’ from Christmas that I need to approach. Later in the evening, after I’d recited the verses, my son made a comment about ‘the Word became flesh’ verse and I am actually ruminating on it because it was very unclear to me. I needed to ask a clarifying question and our moment was interrupted with all the commotion in the house, so it never happened. When I saw him a couple days later, I forgot to ask. He did, however, ask me if I was still involved in the Bible study (this one) that I had spoken of so highly when we were together at Thanksgiving. What I do know is that all four of my kids have seen how important the study of God’s Word is to me. One one level, they’ve always known that but this is a different, more intimate expression than the years when I was in ministry and they were teens. I need to find an opening (need to pray) to have that follow up discussion with my son. I’m a little afraid, because I think his answer could be troubling to me.
We also got Vanishing Grace for Christmas. Since I gave it to my husband, I better let him read it first 🙂
Sounds like a great beginning discussion and may it be obvious when the discussion should continue!
Praying for your follow up opportunity Wanda.
Your last sentence made me smile big! 😀 I am guess the son you are referring to here is the one that has walked away from the Lord. Wanda, maybe this Advent memorization of the Word is the very seed God will use to grow in him a longing for THE WORD. :)!!!
i loved memorizing John 1:1-14 with all of you. Last night at church the speaker mentioned Jn 1:5 several times, it blessed me even more because I know it now.
my husband and I are just finishing up the one year chronological bible aloud with each other each morning. Priceless. Half way in we stopped correcting each other when a word was missed 😉
That made me smile!
A Belated Merry Christmas to you all:) I tried to put my human expectations aside for Christmas and to see what the Lord would have in store. I was blessed and have such great joy and peace! The following song wraps it up for me http://youtu.be/oxpPIa-BskY
The following scripture gives me such encouragement to keep my eyes on Him.
“Do not remember the former things,Nor consider the things of old.Behold, I will do a new thing,Now it shall spring forth;Shall you not know it?I will even make a road in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert Isaiah 43:18-19
Our church as a whole was challenged to read the Bible through chronologically this year and we started into the year so I am entering my 4th quarter and will complete that and get on track when you start your second quarter. It has been WONDERFUL:) I have read my Bible thru many times but not chronologically and it is like reading it afresh:)
I have more practice on my memorization:) I love the challenge and I need it and want it!
I have come to so enjoy this blog and the people that are here. You are all a blessing and bless me with what you share. The Lord puts many of you on my heart to pray I am looking forward to the New Year!
Thank you Dee again for hosting and for all of the teaching you do here as you guide us together on a journey we all desire to be closer to the Lord!
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.
I have just thoroughly enjoyed memorizing the John 1 prologue. Even when I couldn’t find time to post during Advent, I was still memorizing. When I was younger, I used to memorize a fair amount of scripture, but in my middle-age-to-senior days, I have not memorized much. I was like Mary E. in that I wondered if I was even capable of memorizing, but was pleasantly surprised to find I can do it. Having memorized scripture right on the tip of my tongue, so to speak, has made it more readily accessible to me in times of stress. As I said at some point in the last two weeks, I have found that reciting these words brings me great comfort at such times.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
I think the plan to read the Bible chronologically in a year sounds truly ambitious! However, I think it would be very valuable, and I am willing to give it “the old college try”! 🙂
I too am excited about this plan to read the Bible chronologically. I have friends who bought the new chron. Bible and have been intrigued by it. I am also inspired by mary e.’s discipline and Joyce’s enthusiasm!
I do love the power of John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Oh there is just SO MUCH THERE! Truly, as familiar as this truth is–when I stop and ponder it–that very God walked and ate and lived among us–it is incredible! The intense love that motivated this “move”–it just overwhelms my emotions. Full of both grace and truth–because one cannot truly exist without the other–they are the ingredients of perfectly balanced love. This love that so desired relationship with us, God could not hold back–He sends the Word, Christ–out of His pure pursuing love for us, to redeem us, to bring us back home to Him. God–with all His power, had to become man–so that, He could die. But through His death, with all the power of God, He is victorious and saves us all. The most perfect and holy and beautiful of all love stories.
And then I think–while we no longer have Christ in flesh walking among us, He tells us we have it better than that! Oh that I could grasp a fraction of that truth. John 16:7 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” We have His Spirit–not beside, but within. Amazing. This phrase “full of” verse 14, reminded me of Ephesians 3:19 “and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”–He has given us His Spirit that we may be filled as He was full.~sorry, rabbit trailed a bit! I won’t be here much this week at least 😉
Oh thank you for reminding us of John 16:7, Elizabeth. That was an eye opening verse to me when it came up in one of our studies this year. To imagine and try to grasp the depth of His love to send His Spirit to be always with us. Always. That does overwhelm.
One year I gave Crossway’s Chronologial Bible to all my children but was disappointed in the set up — didn’t seem too different. I am only a third of the way through the schedule I gave here, but liking it better. I realize that there is disagreement about when parts were written, but I have liked this.
I find reading through on a regular basis, whatever you pace, helps keep perspective.
Loved the rabbit trail Elizabeth:)
“Full of both grace and truth–because one cannot truly exist without the other–they are the ingredients of perfectly balanced love.” Elizabeth, before I got out of bed (for the final time!) this morning, that very thought was in my mind. I was going over those last three verses and I said to God, “That is exactly what I need, Father…grace AND truth. I need to know the truth about You, the truth about me, and the truth about my sin….and I desperately need grace.”
mary–something about your words here–oh, brought tears, i needed this “I need to know the truth about You, the truth about me, and the truth about my sin….and I desperately need grace.”
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.I was not able to keep up with the memorization schedule but it merged well with another devotional study that I took part in.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge. I have read and prayed Scripture for a long while now and have also read the Bible through both silently and aloud. I have never read it chronologically and have always wanted to…so I love the idea:-)
I’m here and following along but this is week 2 of having a house full of family. The days are full. Tonight, I am feeling tired and overwhelmed tonight. I have fallen behind in both my memorization and in my Bible reading. I hope I can get back on track this week. My grandchildren leave after the New Year. I read through the Bible chronologically a couple of years ago and found it very helpful.
Praying peace for you in the midst of the full house Diane:)
Diane, Praying with Liz for you. Love to you.
Diane – when I read “this is week 2 of having a house full of family. The days are full.”. I felt my heart start beating a little harder…..I’m hoping you are not the introvert that I am! 🙂 While I LOVE my family, LOVE my friends and time spent with them, I find myself extremely frazzled when I don’t get REGULAR moments (days??) of blessed solitude to recharge my batteries and energies! Will you have some “down time” after the New Year begins? I do pray that you do. I will also be praying this week that precious moments will be yours in abundance – even when it seems you are pressed beyond your ability to bear! You are such a wonderful example to me of following Christ even when life gets harder and harder and the disappointments begin to stack up. I’m so drawn to your truth telling when life is just sometimes confusing to us. I love the word perplexed (I have often been so!) and I’m gratified that Paul chooses to use the word perplexed in his list of afflictions in 2 Cor. 4:8…..”perplexed, but not driven to despair;”. When I’m extra tired physically, I can tend to being perplexed – but I’m comforted that this need not lead to despair! Praying too that you will be able to end the year with a thankful heart, even though a tired body! 🙂 I’m right there with you!!
Diane, I felt as Jackie did, when I read your words. I was exhausted and felt I had lost my balance after just 5 days of having constant activity and family members coming and going. And yet, I only get to see my grandson and foster grandsons a few times a year, so I feel remiss if I try to withdraw. It’s a hard balance to strike for sure. Praying that you have some quiet moments to feel centered again….oh, how we need that.
Oh, thank you so much, dear friends, for your kind words and concern about me. I did manage to have a quiet time this morning, but I am near exhaustion/burnout(?) and I covet your prayers. I am losing perspective and find myself close to tears at the drop of a hat. Most will leave on New Years Day.
Praying for your peace Diane.
Very glad to be back after being away for the past week. My participation in the memory passage was truly blessed. As Deanna noted, it is so wonderful to recite the verses to quiet my soul and concentrate on Jesus’ love and truth. It has been a unique and special way to do a few verses a week and by breaking it down this way I have been able to do it!
I am also looking forward to reading the Bible chronologically- never did that before. I love how our study together prepares me for other times of worship or listening to scripture read and see how it all ties together for me.
I am also impressed by each person’s unique contribution to the discussion. It truly is a caring family here that you are guiding, Dee.
Verse 14 is our best gift “We have seen his glory…” Blessings to each of you.
1&2. I am amazed at the whole of Advent this year. God came to me in so many ways. Today i went to church alone and was feeling a little sad about that because my whole family is here. But I was just blown away by how the Lord met me there.
Memorizing the Prologue was crucial to my Advent experience. First of all it was a sacrifice given in obedience and faith, because I knew I could not do it and I didn’t want to do something that was that hard. Asking God to help me and persevering through difficulty made all the difference. He not only helped me but He came to me in it, like the picture of the hug coming off of the page. I read Luci Shaw’s poem and I think that it will mean so much more since we have the prologue committed to memory.
i have read the Bible chronologically before and it is a good thing to do. I would like to join in with that and I would like to also like to continue memorizing, even memorizing some hymns. Even as I say this, I feel overwhelmed as to how I will do it, but I know that God will help me.
I think memorizing hymns is powerful too. Some scripture hymns lack melody, but there are also some wonderful ones that make it easier. T. M. Moore has put psalms to familiar hymn tunes and I have done some of those.
Dee, I also like it when you give us poems to look at like Luci Shaw and John Donne. They have made a huge impact in my life. I haven’t memorized John Donne’s Batter My Heart yet, but it is sweet when God brings it to mind.
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.
Memorizing the prologue has been wonderful and has enriched my advent greatly. I so enjoyed the many moments of pondering the words/text I was memorizing or reviewing. As I moved through the season and especially so at Christmas eve worship, it seemed that “light” in His many forms became strikingly apparent giving me comfort and confidence. At worship, I found myself often not singing, but simply taking in the words of the hymns and letting them melt into my heart. I loved this discipline and intend to continue it. I have only memorized verses 1-11, but will add 12-14 this week.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
I look forward to reading the bible through chronologically. I am grateful, Dee, for your suggestion and providing a guide for doing so. As Jill, I too remember the ““get your soul happy in the Lord, first thing in the morning” lesson that we did during Song of Songs”…it was quite impacting for me; I bookmarked the URL and refer back to it.
I too received Vanishing Grace as a Christmas gift (YEAH!)
Nanci can you share what lesson you are talking about? Get your soul. Happy first thing in the morning? Was that a lesson here? You said you bookmarked it.
Liz, Dee mentioned this as from George Mueller.
Good morning, Liz. http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/Topics/Devotions/Devotions020.html is the URL to the reference Dee provided for George Mueller that I keep bookmarked for reference. I looked and https://deebrestin.com/2013/10/how-to-enjoy-god-the-song-of-songs-lesson-11/ is the lesson. Enjoy…
Nanci and Jacki YES this is what I was looking for thank you for sharing!!!!! Very excited to have this. And it is my understanding all George Mueller read was the BIBLE. I believe the same for Andrew Murray and Charles Finny. I have thought to try that:) I read George Mueller read his Bible thru over 200 times and half of that time on his knees.
So gratifying to hear how memorizing the prologue ministered to you.
All those who received Vanishing Grace — you’ll have a chance to pipe in about that next week!
Dee….I think I “piped” enough about that a few weeks ago! I’ll probably still stay behind the scenes and mostly silent on that! 🙂 As I mentioned, I’ve read the book and found some valuable insights therein. I’ve been a pretty voracious reader since I was a little girl (and I can plainly see many here are in that catagory too! ) and have a lot of “favorite” authors! I guess that over the years I’ve begun to lean toward being SO careful about becoming so overly enamored of authors or teachers or others that we forget to be Bereans (Acts 17:11) who “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” With that in mind, I LOVE that you have given us the tools and the encouragement to read through the Bible this year chronologically! What an incredible safeguard to our hearts this will prove to be – just as the memorization of the Scriptures is as well. I have to confess that there are many times when I can get lost in books…..and read the Scriptures without that same sense of “where has the time gone?” . I desire to see that passion for the Word back in my life again. I would love for Acts 17:11 to be a picture of my life! I want to be eager to receive the Word!
I was thinking the other day about how life ebbs and flows …..and you have remained so FAITHFUL in shepherding us week upon week. I don’t know how we could ever adequately thank you for the hours of preparation you put in on our behalf – irregardless of what is going on in your very own flesh and blood life there in Wisconsin! In so doing, you are such a tremendous example to us of what grace and truth looks like! 🙂
“I have to confess that there are many times when I can get lost in books…..and read the Scriptures without that same sense of “where has the time gone?” . I desire to see that passion for the Word back in my life again.” -me too, Jackie. while i am in the Word daily (with few exceptions) sometimes it is out of a sense of obligation, rather than passion. Father, please put a passion in our hearts for You and for Your Word which we are not able to conjure up in ourselves.
AMEN to your expression of gratitude for Dee’s faithfulness here! I am blown away by her dedication to keeping ‘us’ fed with such good lessons and insights. My heartfelt thanks also, Dee.
Thank you, Jackie. I’m posting the video you recommended next week in our new series.
I do think it is important to remember every human author and speaker has his weaknesses, and that we need to sift, as did the Bereans, everything before God. I have a son who only reads the Bible — but I think he’s missing a lot.
Dee – I’m so excited to be revisiting this video! I’ve rarely seen an interview so jam packed with points to ponder. There’s a simplicity about Rosaria’s testimony that thrills my heart. And Pastor Ken Smith? He’s almost like a template for my life! As I would desire to be, not necessarily as I am! Lovely.
I was more than intrigued by your son who reads only the Bible. Like you, I first of all am thinking about what he may be missing…..but on balance, I wonder. I have a hunch what he’s gaining may far outweigh all of the good books the world has ever known! The thought of doing the same has crossed my mind more than once……but never taken root, I guess. This New Year’s morning that idea came back to me again…..as I went to reach for my Bible and had to remove three books from the top of it! I began to wonder – is this a picture of my life? More books than Bible? Hmm. But for now, I’m going to begin the chronological reading for today in the Scripture! Amen.
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.
This has been a wonderful exercise for me; difficult, but very special. I have “mulled” over certain verses at different times for the past 3 weeks and found myself thinking of the light more often than not. I “see” the light in nearly everything I encounter these days! I have also been more cognizant of the darkness; darkness came last night in the form of Sarah’s landlady, and I am trying to process and understand. I’ll make a long story as short as possible…..
I drove Sarah back to NY yesterday and helped her into her apartment. Sarah struggles with keeping things neat; it isn’t her strong suit at all. I planned to stay and help her clean, but she really didn’t want me to….she said she would do it herself. I didn’t want to argue, so I picked up a few things and then left. I ran into her land lady who has been known to enter Sarah’s apartment anytime she feels the need, without Sarah’s permission. It has been awkward. She told me Sarah needs to leave in February; that she doesn’t keep the apartment clean and has questionable friends over often. I agreed and told her we had planned to move her home. She then said something that broke my heart….”She’s (Sarah) twenty years old and has nothing in her head! Is this the youth of the future?” Well, I couldn’t let ALL of America’s youth take the hit for Sarah (!) so I told her that Sarah isn’t “normal,” that she has a very low IQ, and we were trying an experiment to see if she could make it on her own. She failed and we were starting again. She asked why we hadn’t told her about Sarah to begin with, and I said that Sarah would encounter all kinds of people in her life who wouldn’t treat her “special” and she needed to learn how to handle that. HERE’S THE CLINCHER……she said, “If I had known, I would have been more patient with her, more compassionate, more kind.”
I was then sad….it dawned on me that regardless of who someone is, shouldn’t we be patient, compassionate, and kind anyway? I can’t seem to get her words out of my head. I keep wondering why God made Sarah. Hard. Darkness. The woman probably feels bad and I am sorry for that. We weren’t intending to withhold information from her; just trying to see if Sarah could handle things without any special treatment. Obviously she can’t. I can’t find the light in this situation. Tough stuff. I do think God protected Sarah for the last year. That is light. I am praying He keeps his hedge of protection over her for the next 2 months as well.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
So excited about the challenge! I have never read the ENTIRE Bible! It always seemed too daunting a task. This is exciting! I actually opened the file last night and read like the first 5-10 days worth already!!!!
Laura,
Thank you for sharing about Sarah here this morning. And your words: It dawned on me that regardless of who someone is, shouldn’t we be patient, compassionate, and kind anyway?
Oh Laura, thanks for sharing your heartache over this landlady’s statement. How harsh her words were. To see that she softened when you explained Sarah’s struggle, shows that she has a kinder side, but that it is conditional. And lest I judge her too harshly, I can see that many of us do this also, without even seeing it. It makes me sad to think of how these words stung your mother’s heart. I wonder if maybe, now that she sees Sarah in another light, that a breakthrough in their relationship could happen, even though Sarah will not be there much longer. Seeing light…..it IS hard in some situations. I will pray that the light is still forthcoming.
Laura – thank you so much for sharing so freely with us here about Sarah. I don’t know if you realize it, but you say some pretty profound things…..and Sarah has clearly opened your eyes to so MUCH. The limitations that others have in dealing with Sarah? Jesus has NONE of those limitations! He sees her as LOVELY, FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE!! Jesus speaks her language – perfectly. I will keep praying that Sarah see the light of the gospel and that, one day, she will say with all of us “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:6…). v.7 that follows is precious as well…..”But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
Laura Not sure what the NY tenant rights are but sounds like that landlord was not following them; generally you are required to give notice and cannot just enter an apartment anytime you want:( I know that is not the main subject here. What you shared here and I am sorry this happened is a good reminder to us that we never know the whole story behind other people and they do deserve kindness caring and compassion even if we do not know the whole story without needing a paradigm shift. Praying for her last 2 months and as you have already shared the lights the Lord has shown you that have already been there. Praying she sees those lights too.
“regardless of who someone is, shouldn’t we be patient, compassionate, and kind anyway?”
yes… a good reminder for all of us; thank you for sharing, Laura.
Oh, Jackie…well said…ditto for me…
“I don’t know if you realize it, but you say some pretty profound things…..and Sarah has clearly opened your eyes to so MUCH. The limitations that others have in dealing with Sarah? Jesus has NONE of those limitations! He sees her as LOVELY, FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE!! Jesus speaks her language – perfectly. I will keep praying that Sarah see the light of the gospel and that, one day, she will say with all of us “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:6…). v.7 that follows is precious as well…..”But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.””
Interesting discussion with the landlady. You handled it well and I agree with your thoughts. We are so weak!
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.
Memorizing this passage has been SO different from when I used to memorize and honestly it is from being mentored by Gospel centered teachers such as Dee and Keller these past four or five years, and then Twila’s comment on why she memorizes- My spirit jumped inside when I read that. It IS truly like coming home. So my adventure with Jesus in memorizing now has been transformed.
“Our” adventure has been wonderful too for we are memorizing together. :)) I am Thrilled to see the excitement here and how His Word is quickening us.
I really do love how Dee is teaching us to memorize-as a deep communion with Him. My first experience with memorization was basically like this: The first verse I memorized as a new believer in 1988 was 1 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old has passed away behold the new has come.” -As I meditated on this verse and others I focused on fruit probably more so than on seeing Jesus.. and there is so much more in 1 Corinthians 5:17! I can say that in these last few years I am experiencing, “How could I have missed this?!?”-over and over and it is beautiful.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
I am thrilled! This is such a great opportunity to go deeper with Him.
““Our” adventure has been wonderful too for we are memorizing together. :)) I am Thrilled to see the excitement here and how His Word is quickening us.”
So agree, Rebecca…it is fun knowing that we are all attempting the memorizing and reading the varying experiences and impressions has been supportive and enriching. By the way, so glad that your health has been restored…:)
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.
I’ve not memorized the entire passage yet. But, I’ve noticed that I’ve been more atune and perceptive to anything about “light”. And it seems that the Lord uses small things to reveal pertinent truth about the light. Little analogies along the way. For example, when we were sitting around the table on Christmas morning, each with a small lit candle, I could see each person’s face in a softer way (one adult son’s eyes brimming with tears)….. reminded me that the “light of Christ” does soften my heart to see someone in a kinder, loving way.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
I’ve never read through the entire Bible and I’m running out of time! (61 years old this month). I love what Dee said, that it will give us a “better perspective” on scripture. Thank you Dee, for providing this link (and this encouragement to read through all of scripture.) It does seem “daunting” (as Laura said)…… and it will likely take me more than a year. But it is good. Thank you.
What a beautiful observation of light on the faces of your family, Nila. Tears in an adult son’s eyes…oh that melts my heart. I know your family has had a difficult journey this year. You are on my mind and in my prayers.
Nila, this just touched my heart…yes, melt would be a good word…
“sitting around the table on Christmas morning, each with a small lit candle, I could see each person’s face in a softer way (one adult son’s eyes brimming with tears)….. reminded me that the “light of Christ” does soften my heart to see someone in a kinder, loving way”
Someone here asked about recommended daily devotionals. (I think it was Liz.) Streams in the Desert, by Mrs. Charles Cowman, is one I have used off and on over the past 40 + years.
Nila Streams in the Desert is my favorite:)
Monday: Review John 1:1-13.
3. Can you write it out?
Yes, amazingly I actually can – in fact, I can recite it at a fairly normal pace of speech. I’m just a little shaky on verse 13, getting “of” in there where “from” should be. I still think that is not too shabby for a 72-year-old woman. Gee, I’m about to break my arm patting myself on the back! 🙂
4. Do you have any fresh meditations?
On Christmas eve, because a family gathering was causing us to miss attending our own church service at 7 PM, we decided to go earlier to a Lutheran church at 3 PM instead. Lutheran services have a lot of litanies and responsive readings by the congregation. When the Proclamation of Faith occurred, the worship leader read a paragraph beginning “Unto us is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord….” That paragraph ended with the question “Who is this Savior?” Then the congregation began to respond with “In the beginning was the Word….” They used exactly verses 1-14.!! The only difference was at the end of verse 14, the reading finished with the words “This is most certainly true!” The whole time we were reading this passage, inside myself I was going “YES!!! YES!!!”
How nice to have these verses be so prominent in the service you attended, Deanna! And great work on the memorization 🙂
Love this story Deanna!
Oh my goodness, how cool that you “happened” to attend a service that you wouldn’t normally have attended and John 1:1-14 just “happened” to be the text recited… I’d say you were kissed!
🙂
Love it Deanna.
Deanna,
What a beautiful story of Christmas Eve. Thank you for telling us here. So encouraging.
3. Can you write it out? Yes. Was glad to see I remembered it this week.
4. Do you have any fresh meditations? The more I’ve thought about this prologue this month, the more I see the progression. Jesus, the Word, is eternal, yet had a beginning here on earth, in the flesh. The passage takes us back to ‘before the beginning’ when the world was made by Him and then brings us back to the time of His appearance in the form of a baby, on earth. What intrigues (and sobers me) is how his coming was heralded; John was purposefully, the one who was born to bring the news of his arrival and how the news of his coming was scorned. Though He made the world, the world rejected Him. Though He loved His own; His own did not receive Him. (Is this a statement about the Jewish people? Those who are ethnically His own and the chosen people of God? those who followed Judaism and did not/do not accept Him as the Messiah?) But out of the rejection that commonly happened, the greatest promise; that anyone….ANYONE who does receive Him is given the power; the right; the inheritance to become a child of the LIVING GOD; the Word who has become flesh has become our Redeemer and brought us to the Father. Writing these thoughts here, helps me to see just how intrinsically perfect and beautifully given is God’s unconditional love for me. He did not withdraw it when He was rejected by the world or by His own. He pursued. He kept wooing. He extended redemption and eternal life to me and to all.
Wanda, I particularly loved this part of your post: “Writing these thoughts here, helps me to see just how intrinsically perfect and beautifully given is God’s unconditional love for me. He did not withdraw it when He was rejected by the world or by His own. He pursued. He kept wooing. He extended redemption and eternal life to me and to all.” Yes, you have put your finger right on the crucial idea — and this is why the passage brings me so much comfort. Also it is a reminder to me that He is still in charge, despite whether people recognize, welcome, or believe in Him. I’m sure all of that rejection hurts God very much, but he still doesn’t quit on us!
This post is so beautiful, Wanda. It summarizes John 1:1-14 so well, helping us see the beauty of John’s word and God’s plan. God’s plan is so wonderful and amazing. I need to remember this today and every day.
Hi Im Sharon from Ohio. Just finished reading’ Idol Lies’ It has really impacted me> I want more !! More of this insight -More of God!!
Hi Sharon, so glad you are here! Idol Lies was a great turning point for me too. I pray that you will receive more and more of God and that we will be satisfied only in Him. Welcome!
Sharon welcome. Idol Lies brought me to this blog too. It has been a huge blessing being here for me:) Believing the Lord will answer that prayer of More of Him in your life!
Welcome, Sharon!
Sharon,
Welcome. Hoping you are as encouraged as I have been over these past seven months, since discovering this bible study.
Sharon, I want to get my welcome in here as well! It is good to have you here. As you may note, I am from Ohio also. It is good to have another Buckeye on the blog!
Welcome, Sharon! Feel free to join us anytime!
Sharon, please let me add my “welcome”…so glad that you are here!
Sharon – a warm welcome to you! God surely is delighting and dancing over your hungry heart for HIM. You will find Him in the fellowship of sisters here as we study His Word together!
Hi Sharon,
We are so glad you are with us! How beautiful to hear how Idol Lies has impacted you- how God is moving through it. I was the same way when Dee first presented it here on the blog, and He moved mightily in others here on the blog as well! :)) Again, how sweet that you are here with us.
I purchased Keller’s Galatians series this morning…$16.87 for 30 mp3 sermons…INCREDIBLE!
Liz, I purchased Openings, A Daybook of Saints, Psalms, and Prayer for my 2015 devotional…I came across a sample and thought it good. I will continue Jesus Calling as well…Jesus Calling is for sure one of my all time favorites; it speaks to me in a manner few devotionals do…:)
oops…I see that it was actually Barbara that inquired about devotional recommendations.
I got the Once A Day chronological bible for Kindle sometime ago and am 70% through it. I like reading the bible in this order.
I’ve enjoyed memorizing John 1 it has given me concrete verses to focus my mind on. I need the discipline of keeping my thoughts captive as my mind tend to fall back to dwelling on negative things.
I think this was supposed to have been #5.
I have never even heard of Luci Shaw before, but I love her poem! Watching the video made me feel like I had known her all my life. She reminds me very much of another woman I know in my husband’s GM retirement club. Her facial features are similar as well as her speech pattern and gestures. It was just uncanny. However, I could tell that Luci Shaw was more intelligent.
Reading the poem did bring surprises, just as she had indicated a poem should do. The biggest one was that I had never ever considered that Jesus was “walled in the womb” and had to be quiet for 9 months. That was a very interesting thought. We know that Jesus’ endured pain at the end of his worldly life, but I had never given thought to the idea that he began his earthly life “after submission to a woman’s pains.”
I could see her poetess’ skill in techniques she had described in the video — how syllables collide and consonants rubbing together. “Walled in a womb” and “the crush and cry of birth” are two examples.
The best part of the poem was “Because eternity was closeted in time, he is my open door to forever. From his imprisonment my freedoms grow, find wings.” So Jesus sacrificed at both ends of his earthly life because of His all encompassing love for us. Being “Made Flesh” had lots more implications than I had ever thought.
Great insights, Deanna. I was writing so fast, I almost missed the rest of that line… ‘he is my open door to forever’. What a wonderful paradox she set up in that whole statement!.
And you made me think deeper about the pain at both beginning and end of his life on earth. As well as Shaw’s skillful use of alliteration in her choice of words!
Luci Shaw’s poem made me teary. For two reasons. 1. It helped me realize that it’s been a long time since I’ve read ‘new to me’ Christian writers. Honestly, until I started participating on this blog 9 months ago, I had gone so many years feeling ‘wary’ of the message that several Christian writers brought that I really stuck to the ones I knew and trusted (Lewis, Yancey, Keller etc. and a few others that a trusted friend recommended.) I had felt disappointment so many times, when we would do a trendy new ‘series’ at church based on some popular Christian writer’s work that I tended to shy away from it all. This blog has re-ignited my desire to launch into some ‘new to me’ writers and for that I feel grateful too. (I’d also just barely heard of Anne VosKamp before I began here and don’t know if I would have given her work a look, if not for the exposure here). I enjoy poetic expression a lot.
2. The second reason it evoked emotion is because it is SO well written and the imagery has such depth. From the very beginning of the poem. The annunciation ‘fusing heaven with dark earth’. That is profound. Yes, earth was dark. It reminds me of a favorite prophetic verse from Isaiah 11:3….’the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. They who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined’. And the many descriptions of how that light was eclipsed in darkness, but for just awhile, while the world waited. It brings my mind back to Zechariah and Elizabeth waiting for their son, John and then the waiting for the announcement of his name and Zechariah’s return to speech. They had experienced their own personal darkness in all of that, but then they were delivered. And their son John came to preach of the deliverer who was to come. Yet, here he was … ‘infinity walled in a womb’….’eternity closeted in time’. And ‘from his imprisonment my freedoms grow’.
Wow. All of these images bring John’s prologue into focus again. The incessant love of God that never gave up, never quit, and knew exactly how He could reach us, by becoming one of us. Philippians 2 and John 17 come into focus too. Jesus left the glory that he had with His father before the world began and he humbled himself and became a servant. Even when that meant taking on our flesh and being subject to our pain and experiencing vulnerability as a newborn, helpless baby to becoming a hunted down and crucified, wrongly accused but sinless man. And being our Redeemer, he gave us eternal life so our lives ‘as his, slip through death’s mesh and time’s bars’. Having known this truth (in varying degrees of understanding) my whole life, I can become stagnant in my gratitude, but to think of what it would have meant, had Jesus not become man, stirs that gratitude and adoration again.
Love this — you would love her poetry books, Wanda. I also have loved some of her prose: Breath for Bones, God in the Dark
Thanks, Dee! Will add those names to my list of books to pursue 🙂
Lucy Shaw”s poem. Wow. “Helpless on a barns bare floor. First tasting bitter earth” “He is my open door to forever. From His imprisonment my freedom grows”
What beauty here in this poem.
Renee??? Are you feeling better?
Yes, thanks for asking Laura. Will get on more again soon 🙂
Good to hear, Renee…:)
(thanks for asking, Laura, I too was wondering about our sister)
Glad to hear you are well. I made it through the semester at the community college without too many scars! Thanks for your encouragement 🙂 I am teaching the same class next semester and it has been a blessing financially for my family. Grateful for God passing this to me! Thank You Lord!
Monday: Review John 1:1-13.
3. Can you write it out?
I wrote it out but got one preposition wrong. I’m using NASB and this is probably true in most translations but one thing I find difficult is that the verb tense changes in same sentence and some prepositions seem awkward (like believe ON verses believe IN and of and from being used where it feels like it should be the other.) I have struggled a bit with those issues in memorization.
Mary, I feel the same about some of those prepositions! And I probably never get it verbatim, but I’m okay with that unless it changes the meaning. When pieces of it go through your mind from different translations you’ve used at different times, it’s very difficult to get every word exact, I find.
Okay, that makes me feel better! sometimes I can wax a bit legalistic about things like this and that takes the joy out of it.
🙂 So true, Mary e — you did so splendidly.
English is sometimes a strange language, and preposition usage has varied around the world, and across time. Often preposition choice doesn’t even make logical sense – it’s just what we get used to sounds right to us. In Australia, we say we get on a plane, when we actually mean that we get in a plane. We leave actually getting on planes to stunt men. So I agree with not getting too hung up about prepositions! Bible translators have simply used the word that is best understood in that time and place. That’s why we keep needing new translations. It’s not that the message has changed, but our language has.
Love this comment, Karen! Interesting because I just had a ‘preposition discussion’ with 3 college kids yesterday; my daughter and two friends. The one girl, who is from Germany but in the U.S. for the second academic year, used the phrase ‘by accident’ and I commended her, saying that is the correct usage (as I grew up saying that), yet almost everyone her age (all of my kids) say ‘on accident’. (That happened ‘on accident’ rather than that happened ‘by accident’ ) Then, I began to think about the fact that in contrast, we say, ‘It happened ‘on purpose’ rather than ‘by purpose’. So, my rationale went out the window. English is SO filled with contradictions and exceptions. Enjoyed the humor of ‘leaving it to the stunt men to get ‘on’ the plane’ 🙂
6. Review John 1:1-14 and share your contemplations on verse 14.
Oh my..so much but where I was quickened was in who He is..that He wanted us and loved us so passionately that He became flesh. He took on our nature to dwell among us-our Holy creator became man to dwell among us-A Holy God who loves us so much He is willing to be in the presence of sin and even take it on himself. That blows me away-and of course in this verse it screams that Jesus is also God. He is 100% full of Grace and Truth. To ponder that-His Grace and mercy will be shed on me because He is crazy about me..there should be no doubt in my heart-and He is helping to grow in confidence in this! Like a marriage-we are covenanted as One and He keeps his promises. When I am unfaithful, he is faithful which makes me want to repent and be faithful! Just meditating on this melts me.
Dee-if you get this, I am going to do an online chronological reading plan unless I can find a good Chronological Bible today when I go out to run errands. I do like to make notes in my Bible which makes me want to get a Bible instead of doing it online. What version do you recommend? I usually use NASB but am open to other versions.
Rebecca — I may be too late. What I gave you is just the list of Scriptures, so you don’t need a special Bible — can use any and make notes. i have the Crossway ESV chronological Bible but don’t like it as it doesn’t seem very different at all.
I use ESV, but I think NASB is great.
Dee-not too late at all! I read the section above about it again and saw ESV so I went with ESV. I am doing it online and also have it downloaded on my phone via YouVersion.
Am excited about both the chronological reading plan and your study guide for women on Transformation. I have not yet done a chronological reading of the Bible. Great idea. Hope to be fully back next week. I have missed the discussions and comments this past week or so.
Sherryl, me too!! I am excited to know she is doing another study guide and about Gospel Transformation!!
Luci Shaw’s poem Made Flesh so eloquently gave words to the thoughts in my heart. The verses that jumped off the page at me were “I in him surrenderto the crush and cry of birth. Because eternity was closeted in time, he is my open door to forever. From his imprisonment my freedoms grow, find wings.” This year has been crushing in so many ways and yet in these verses I find the hope that this crushing is not unto death but the crush and cry of birth! And may I be reminded that out of His imprisonments my freedoms grow and he/she whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
The word that kept coming to me this Advent season is “dislodged”…I feel as if I have been dislodged from all that has given me a feeling of security and sense of identity. Then thinking how Mary and Joseph must have each felt that same sense of being dislodged from the course they had set. This poem also speaks to Jesus, the King of Glory, being dislodged to a small, enclosed space of the womb…all so that He might give birth to a fulness of grace and truth, and that we could behold His Glory!
Now that I have been dislodged may He move me closer and closer to His heart…Amen
Another option for reading the Bible chronologically for those who like to use technology… YouVersion at http://www.bible.com has reading plans. There are a couple of chronological plans. The one I am using is Reading God’s Story by George Guthrie. YouVersion is a Bible app, so you can use it on mobile phone, computer, tablet, etc, and tick off each reading as you complete it.
Wishing everyone here a Blessed New Year! Praying we all grow closer to Him.
Jackie I could not reply to the post you made her this morning, It so struck me..
“I was more than intrigued by your son who reads only the Bible. Like you, I first of all am thinking about what he may be missing…..but on balance, I wonder. I have a hunch what he’s gaining may far outweigh all of the good books the world has ever known! The thought of doing the same has crossed my mind more than once……but never taken root, I guess. This New Year’s morning that idea came back to me again…..as I went to reach for my Bible and had to remove three books from the top of it! I began to wonder – is this a picture of my life? More books than Bible? Hmm. But for now, I’m going to begin the chronological reading for today in the Scripture! Amen.”
I have often felt a tug on my heart to just read the Bible. when reading that George Mueller, Andrew Murray and Charles Finney only read the Word that inspires me but more so the tug on my heart. I love to read and have libraries of great books. Bible based all non fiction reading. I made a statement in a Bible Study this year that sometimes I wonder if all the “other reading” I do muddles things up for me sometimes. I have had a year with more of the Bible and less of anything else as far as reading. I try to reach for my Bible first before any other book and that has probably been why I have had less time reading other books. I am praying for balance in all areas of my life. I have far to go.
The issues I was having feeling overwhelmed with the blog was I was paying more attention on the blog than on my reading and I was miserable!!!! I am back in balance now and the joy and the peace has returned. The same can be if I am out of balance in any area of my life.
I am excited for Dee’s challenge as I believe that s what she wants for us as well:)
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well Matthew 6:33
Dee, I am beginning to read chronologically and have a question. Chronologically means it was written in this order, right? So we read up to verse 11 in Genesis, but then shift to Job. According to Genesis, man isn’t formed until later, but we are talking about a man in Job. How could it be chronological if man hasn’t been created yet?
Thank you for helping me “get it!”
Laura….jumping in here but would love to hear Dee’s answers too. We read to chapter 11 in Genesis. So much has already happened with man in those 11 chapters. However, Mary also had some earlier questions about Job so I’d love to hear more too. Chronological is how it took place rather than in what order it was written I think, though it is a bit hard for me to ‘get’ too because obviously some things were written much later than they happened. It surprises me too, that Job’s story was that long ago. I found that reading the intro to Genesis in my study Bible was very helpful. I will try to read each intro as I get to other books.
Oh my gosh, I feel SO STUPID right now! I misread the program and was thinking I was reading verses, not chapters! I’m already behind now! Better get reading :/
No worries, Laura. It’s just us friends here! You’re always so honest, that I felt I could correct your mis-reading. Happens to us all! Shake it off 🙂 With all you’ve been balancing, I’m always impressed at your diligence here and as someone else said, at how early you post in the mornings. That inspires me more than you know!
Thanks Wanda — didn’t get to the blog yesterday and so appreciate when sisters stand in the gap.
Laura — right — except it is the first eleven chapters in Genesis and then switch to Job rather than the first 11 verses. That should clear up your mystery!
Thank you both! Did my 7 chapters and can’t wait for the next! Love this Dee 🙂
About the the chronological order….the events took place in the order we will read, but someone wrote about the events later (as a reflection)? The Word is God “breathed,” so I am to understand that whoever wrote the words, regardless of when they lived, knew what to say. (I remember asking my mom one time how the words didn’t get changed over time (like the game gossip). She told me that God would have made sure they were passed along correctly.) I wonder why the Bible wasn’t put together chronologically? Probably some historical thing I’m guessing?
I wonder the same about the order of things. Was it because it was arranged more by genre? Like Job is next to the other poetry books? I am enthused to read it chronologically, because I’ve never thought enough about the order before!
Wanda, I took your idea and read the intro to Genesis in my study Bible. It was very informative. I learned that Moses probably wrote the first five chapters of Genesis and it’s called the Pentateuch. There was a lot there, but I am challenging myself to read each intro as we come to each new book.
1. Share your thoughts about our Advent Adventure of memorizing the prologue and how it is impacting you.
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
Hello, everyone! I finally made it home safely from visiting my daughter, Ruth Ann in France. Thank you for your prayers. While I was in France, our passage in John 1 was brought to mind. As I saw people milling and rushing through their day, hear different languages spoken, my heart was moved to ask the question, “do these men and women know the Lord-the true light that has come?” I felt heavy hearted as I saw the affluence contrasted with the poverty (beggars on the metro train and in the subways). Regardless of the status, people need the Lord. As material things bombard the mind and heart there, mine included, I can see how creation has taken the shape of idols in people’s hearts. So many “great” things to cater to man’s appetites. The experience in France was a sobering and a challenging one. People need Jesus, the one and only true Light.
Meditating on Luci Shaw’s Made Flesh:
I love Luci Shaw’s poem. As a nurse, I appreciate technical words like “amniotic gloom, nine months dumb, walled in womb, woman’s pain and crush and cry of birth”. But none more powerful than the words, “ …because eternity was closeted in time, he is my open door to forever. From his imprisonment, my freedom grows…”
Share about Memorizing John 1:1-14 and the New Year’s Challenge
Also had trouble with prepositions but determined to keep memorizing and reviewing our passage in John and reading the bible chronologically. Many years past, I have started with good intentions but never had finished reading the bible through. This blog will help me be accountable and the pacing is very doable.
Contemplation on John 1:14
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
I am privileged to be beholding the glory of the one and only Son through the written Word. Thank you, Jesus!
Bing, it is wonderful to have you back safe and sound, and again on the blog as well! I’m glad you had a nice visit with your daughter. I’m curious if you observed more poverty in France than we have here in the U.S. I see beggars on street corners and along expressways, holding up their signs, every day. I have never been to France, so I would be interested in your comparison. Welcome home!
Thanks for the welcome back, Deanna. I am not sure I have a way of knowing if France have more poverty than we do here in the U.S. Ruth Ann and I were out everyday and there wasn’t a day that I have not seen beggars or homeless. When we went to see Notre Dame, I was taken by surprise to see something moving inside a closed-in public phone service cubicle. Then I realized, it must have been a homeless person who needed to stay out of the cold. I never saw her/his face or any body parts since he/she was covered by like a dirty thick tarp. How sad. Some in the subways have signs, too but I couldn’t understand what it said because the words were in French. I saw more men beggars than I did women.
I did notice there is more graffiti (a lot actually), streets are dirty and trashy and my daughter said that dogs are treasured companions there and dog poop is a normal item on the streets. Yikes! There is a contrasting sight inside the big malls-Gucci, Loubotin, Lancôme and lots of fancy stores. Ruth Ann took me to an IKEA store and the showrooms were mind boggling in terms of quality and prices but it seems there were hundreds of shoppers there buying expensive stuff. Restaurants were expensive especially in Paris. The Christmas markets in Strasbourg was a place to behold.
Thanks for asking and also praying. I didn’t mean to write a long journal here; over-all, the experience gave me mixed feelings- of sadness for the materialism I saw there and of joy knowing I am rich in Christ and no material thing can replace His joy in my heart.
Welcome back, Bing. So glad to have you back and your perspective of the poem as a nurse.
Thanks, Dee. I so love you and the special ministry that you continue to have in my life. I am committing myself to staying with this blog and praying I will have the time to write something periodically. Have I told you that I have gone to a couple of your conference/retreat in Kansas City at one of the Presbyterian churches? I am friends with Jean Bouas and she was part of the team responsible for preparing for one of those conferences. Glad to have found you again and perhaps one of these days, I will see you again!
6. Review John 1:1-14 and share your contemplations on verse 14.
I hope it’s not ‘out of turn’ to post a poetic rendering about verse 14 here and see what others think. The highlight of the Advent season for my husband and I (and various friends/family) has been to attend a choir concert by a very skilled Lutheran choir that is held at the Basilica in Minneapolis. The Basilica has the most amazing acoustics and it is a wonderful, peace filled setting. Though the programs vary every year, they always use a lot of poetry interspersed with the music and a narrator reads them so the whole concert is as one continuous piece. My heart leaped this year, because there were several references to Song of Songs and other passages we have studied. There is only one piece that is used every year. And it ends with the last three words from vs. 14. God. made. flesh. I just love it. I wish I could find it’s author, but although every other piece used in the program is identified in the program, this one is not. Here it is. Thoughts anyone?
Many ages after the world was created, when God in the beginning, formed the heavens and the earth; long after the great flood;
some two thousand years after the birth of Abraham; fifteen centuries after Moses and the passing over of Israel;
a thousand years after the anointing of David as king; in the sixty-fifth week as Daniel’s prophecy takes note;
in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad, the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the founding of the city of Rome; the forty-second year of Octavian Augustus’ rule;
in the sixth age of the world, all the earth being at peace, Jesus Christ, Eternal God, Son of the Father, willing to hallow the world by His coming in mercy, was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea,
God made flesh.
Yes, Wanda, I like it very much! This piece of poetry shows God’s’s ever-present hand in all that has gone on in creation and in history up through the time when God was made flesh and came to earth as a baby born to the Virgin Mary. Such a good perspective!
Wanda, thanks for sharing about your experience. The Word made flesh. Praises to Him, indeed!
Well, I have got my memorization of verse 14 completed, I think. I will have to recite all 14 verses every day or I will lose them, I fear. I printed the plan for chronological reading of the entire Bible. Today I began reading in Genesis. However, I see that I have a problem already. If I read from my new Common English Study Bible, which I want to do, it will be difficult for me to ignore the commentary as I go. However, finding time to read both the scripture and the commentary and posting on this blog is going to be very challenging for me time-wise. I obviously have some decisions to make — I need to find a way to simplify without feeling guilty!
What a relief it was to see your comment posts, Deanna and Wanda…I have been using the ESV Gospel Transformation bible for my reading (which I so enjoy) but the time involved to read and absorb the intro, bible text, and study notes is daunting…it is only January 3 and I am already behind in my reading 🙁 I also take solace in Dee saying that she is not concerned with the amount of time it takes to accomplish reading the bible through, but that we are reading each day. Those “daily disciplines” are powerful, but I hate feeling behind…guess that is mine (i.e., the feeling of being behind) to release.
Agree that it’s almost easiest to read a non Study Bible when ‘reading through’ in a year. One wants to go deeper but I’m trying to ignore a lot of the study comments too, because I do want to just read it for the text and try to get the whole big picture. We’ll see. I may end up switching to a different edition too!
3. I feel like I know all but verse 14 pretty well. At this point writing it out really helps me because I can correct my mistakes. I am also having some trouble with pronouns.
4. There is something new that came to me tonight as I contemplated. I may have known it before but if so i forgot it. The whole time we have been memorizing I noticed that twice it was said that the world was created through Him rather than by Him. I wondered but never really stopped and prayed for clarity. Tonight I did and then realized this is because God created by His spoken word and Jesus is the Word. This gives much greater meaning to that picture of the text of a page hugging the woman. So Jesus came because He is the voice of God to us. I just have the sense that this is so much more than I can see right now.
I love your insights on number 4, Anne.
Hello All, Happy New Year. May this be the year you realize God’s love like no other and see yourself through God’s loving eyes. Something Im learning and discovering for myself. Im excited about reading the bible every day to completion. I have struggled with this and so many times have started and stopped. I am also reading another book along with my husband and discovering how words impact us. So “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God and the Word was God…”. I know for myself reading the bible will help me ‘hear’ as Im reading what God says about me and to hush out what is not from God or of God. The Word has so much truth/life and that’s the ‘words’ I need to be listening to for my heart/soul and mind. Grateful to be back here with you all.
3. Can you write it out? no, I can not write it out, still memorizing.
4. Do you have any fresh meditations?
Something God has always impressed upon me is how important ‘words’ are…the bible states life and death are in the power of the tongue and to realize His Word is the most powerful,truthful and can and will set us free of so many wrong words spoken to us, over us, about us, towards us…. This year I choose to believe what God’s Word says about me and I pray the Word penetrates my heart like no other.
Good prayer, Staci — so glad to see you.
Hi Staci! So glad you are posting!! wonderful to see you. :)))
I think it is true we can substitute books for the Word, and we must guard our hearts against that. But may I say my life would be impoverished without good books. So often others can see in the Scripture what I have missed — and I see that as the beauty of the body of Christ. Godly men and women who have experienced God have enriched me beyond measure.
I know that people are not really saying not to read books, but to put Scripture first, and I so agree — but may we stay in the Word and also avail ourselves of the rich thoughts of the saints. May we read in 2015!
AMEN!
Yes, I agree. There is no substitute for the Word of God but I do appreciate the insights I gleaned from writers of good books. Right now, I am about to finish Paul Tripp’s Lost in the Middle and it has helped me see some of the issues I am facing in midlife from the perspective of Scripture as Paul T. elaborates on it. I feel like whenever the author always points to Jesus as the final Word that I am safe reading the book.
Dee I cannot agree more I too have been so blessed by many books I felt were highly anointed, yours included! I pray the Lord keeps showing me any idols in my life. Yes even my books. If I felt He was ever asking me to put other books aside( I would hope only for a season 🙂 I would want to be willing to do that. We all have our individual walks. Speaking of walking. As I was out yesterday I was reminded in my prayer time we can be reading the Word but I want to be understanding His Word and most importantly obeying and living it. How far I have to go. I want His Grace and Truth. Seeking Him first!
2. Share your thoughts on the New Year challenge.
Dee warned us a few weeks ago that she would be asking us to read through the Bible chronologically this year. That is a noble goal and will be beneficial, I am sure, to all who do it. But I feel the constraint in my spirit not to join you on that journey. At first I wondered if my constraint was because I had a full house and just did not have the energy or see how I could find the time to do it. However, now my house is mostly quiet once more and I remember that over the last few months I have been feeling drawn to read more slowly and prayerfully through the gospels. Now, since I have spent much time memorizing John 1, pondering the meanings, being drawn to search deeper for others’ thoughts on what God (through John) is saying, I feel I need to take my Bible reading and study time in the mornings to follow John’s gospel for now. I also find I need to read and reread passages in order to really get the sense of a passage.
I find that, while following a Bible reading plan through has its merits for me, I tend to get distracted by checking off the completion of the chapters, rather than seeing what God has to say to me IN those chapters. I am competitive in this way, in a bad sense. For now I need to slow down, savour – ponder, pray, search deeper.
I am not sure how this will affect my participation in this weekly blog, if not doing the chronological reading will mean I cannot do the weekly lessons, but I hope I will still be able to follow along.
I so respect your thoughts here, Diane. I think it’s wonderful that you feel God’s hand leading you to keep delving into the gospels and enriching what He has been teaching you. My understanding, (may or may not be accurate) is that the chronological reading is in addition to and separate from the blog studies here, so my thoughts are that you will still be able to follow along with the lessons.
Diane — won’t affect it at all. Though I am recommending that for those who feel led — that isn’t what we are going to be doing on this blog.
Just wanted to pipe in and share this in case it’s helpful, the esv online bible has the same plan Dee gave us for the chron. reading and it’s set up by the day, so you open it and it gives you today’s reading– we’re out of town so it was helpful for me to discover it on the iPad,, blessings on this new year all!
http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/chronological/
Many thanks, Kerryn and Elizabeth for posting online possibilities. I think the esvbible.org one you posted, Elizabeth, is going to work wonderful…if I want to delve deeper, I can reference my Gospel Transformation bible or other references. Thanks again…this should be quite helpful to my effort…:)
Elizabeth and Nanci, I too am doing the esv one! I have it on my phone which is really helpful for me. Elizabeth-thanks for this link! I am sure it will help!
Elizabeth, I think this one might actually work for me:) I have (or had?) a chronological Bible around here someplace. Just couldn’t get into it. If the cell phone opens me to the right chapters, I might be able to handle it!!!