Ok, I knew I was a bit behind on my reading the Bible straight thru. I hadn't entirely neglected reading the Bible, I had taken a tangent on reading the first 3 lessons in the Life Principles Bible (courtesy of Charles Stanely) The first lesson was Our intimacy with God-His highest priority for our lives-determines the impact of our lives. Genesis 1:26. Each lesson is followed by excerpts from Charles Stanely about What the Bible Says About... Answers to Life's Questions... and Life Examples. Life Principle 2 was Obey God and leave all consequences to him. Exodus 19:5. And the third was God's word is an immovable anchor in times of storm. Numbers 23:19. I have really enjoyed them all so far. The excerpts are all good.
As far as reading thru the Bible in a year I am about 50 pages behind currently camping out in Nehemiah. I should be at Job 42. Yikes. I feel confident I can make up for lost time. I am aslo very excited that I am only 500 or so pages away from the New Testament. Yea Me!
Ezra: I am so enamored with the whole concept of the Kingdom of David, to Solomon, to the Babylonians invading and now the rebuilding of the temple. It is a story filled with drama and intrigue. I can't help but notice the total absence of the Ark of the Covenant from the things the Babylonians took, to what Cyrus King of Persia gave back. The other thing that interests me is the lack of talk of Love. What I mean is that at the end of Ezra, the men who were guilty of intermarriage with pagan women rescinded the marriage and left their wives and children. It seems so impersonal, a lack of commitment and relationships. I have a hard time with the fact that these men were giving up responsibilities that they entered into when they had children. I understand the reason, but wouldn't you want to stay and try and change certain behaviors? I may be interpreting this all wrong. What are your thoughts?
Man, I'm way behind at this point. I petered out in the middle of 2 Kings.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way at first but somewhere along the way, God showed me we live our lives by what WE think and feel. That is pride and putting us first, not considering God's truth. He called Israel to remain pure so they didn't begin living their lives by what they think and feel. If we marry like-minded believers we "should" help each other remain accountable to God and His truths. My little mind thinks God can be harsh, too, but His ways are higher than my ways; I can't possibly fathom His thoughts. Keep up the good work. Don't give up on this journey! It eventually took me a year and a half. I believe it was A.W. Tozier that said, "I didn't read thru the Bible, it read thru me"! LOVE that quote. Let God's truth get under your skin. You'll never regret it!
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