Day 7/365 Bible in a Year

So today I read Matthew 1-2.

Chapter one goes through all of the decendants of Abraham...14 generations until David....14 generations from David to the Babyloni exile...and 14 generations from the exile to the Messiah (Jesus). Altogether thats 42 generation from Abraham to Jesus Christ. LOOOONNNNGGG family tree, right?

Well it came all the way down to Joseph, Mary's husband... and Mary became pregnant as a virgin. Everyone knows that now-a-days if you end up pregnant, you did something you either weren't supposed to, or you were married and wanting a family. But Mary was a VIRGIN, did you catch that? God gave Mary a child that was His. Mary and Joseph weren't even technically married, they were engaged to be married. Well Josph discovered this little detail about Mary and decde that she cheated on him, and he was going to seperate from her quietly.

I did say quietly. He wasn't going to tell ANYONE what happened. He was a pretty genuine guy, right? He didn't want to embarass her... While he was thinking baout that one night while he was falling asleep the Lord appeared to him in his sleep. He told Joseph to stay with Mary, that that baby was God's son, and Joseph was to name that baby Jesus. Your son will save the world, save all the people from their sins.

Could you imagine? A baby that could change the world... Save people from their sin.. how? What? Huh? Joseph was probabl speechless...wouldn't you be? It kind of reminds me of that movie "Four Christmases" I don't recommend the movie if you are trying to stay away from the secular world..but it is a funny movie, a romantic comedy if you will. There is a scene in there somewhere when the two main characters volunteer to be part of the "Christmas Pageant". The guy says these words, about, "Would it be okay? My wife comes to me to tell me she's pregnant and it's not my baby? It's God's baby... does that make it okay?" That might have been what was going through Joseph's mind.

Joseph went back to Mary, stayed away from sexual relations with her until Jesus was born, and was happy.

Chapter 2 some wise men were on the way to visit Jesus, they stopped by Herod's palace to ask where He was, the "New born King of the Jews". Herod wanted to know immediately where this baby was... He even told the wise men to find Him and come back to tell him here He was at so he could go worship Him too. But the wise men were told by God in a dream not to go back to King Herod.

They walked into the barn thing... ?... they saw Mary and her son, Jesus as a child.. a baby. so vulnerable, so cute and cuddly.... Can you imagine seeing a baby that would be the King..? Wow. They worshipped Him and gave Him gifts. Then the wise men went a different route home to avoid Herod.
oseph goes to bed and God appear to him again in his sleep. He tells him to wake up and leave with his son and Mary, Herod's coming to kill the baby! So Joseph get's up and take his family where God tells him to...which is....Egypt!

Herod get so angry because the wise men had tricked him that he makes orders to kill every male child in and aroung Bethlehem who was 2 years old or younger based on how the wise men told him the star appeared. All those innocent children dead in at least 2 weeks.. can you imagine the mourning around the country..?

Well, Herod eventually died and God told Jospeh in another dream to take his family and go back because he was dead, so they left but Joseph was afraid because Herod's son was ruling so God told them to go to the region of Galilee. Ending up in Nazareth and fulfilling the prophecy that He would be called a Nazarene.

All things work for the glory of God, am I right? The Bible says that in Romans 8:28 that "we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Prayer requests? Comment them below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie

Day 6/365 Bible in a Year

I read Isaiah 1-6. I love this entire passage, but I only want to focus on one part.  Isaiah 5, but not even all of Isaiah 5, I want to draw speacial attention to verses 1 through 7.

This section is called the Song of the Lord's Vineyard
"Now I will sing for the one I love
a song about His vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard on a rch and fertile hill.
He plowed the land, cleared its stones,
and planted it with the best vines.

In the middle He built a watchtower
and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks.
Then He waited for a harvest of sweet grapes,
but the grapes that grew were bitter.

Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah,
you judge between me and my vineyard.
What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I have not already done?
When I expected sweet grapes,
why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?

Now let me tell you
what I will do with my vineyard:
I will tear down its hedges
and let it be destroyed.
I will break down its walls
and let the animals trample it.
I will make it a wild place
where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed,
a place overgrown with briers and thorns.
I will command the clouds
to drop no rain on it.

The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven's Armies.
The people of Judah are His pleasant garden.
He expected a crop of justice,
but instead he found oppression.
He expected to find righteousness,
but instead he heard cries of violence."

That was Isaiah 5:1-7.

The first part sets up the story (verses 1-2). Then the second part of verse 2 gets to the main point. He waited for sweet grapes, but he got bitter ones. Grapes make wine!! Remember this for later.

He did EVERYTHING in his power for these grapes to grow sweet, he planted the best vines, placed this vineyard in the best area, and set up a watchtower so noone could harm it...but the grapes still ended up bitter. What else could he do? Apparently something wasn't right. The grapes weren't "learning" how to stay sweet, they were becoming influenced by SOMETHING! So he thinkgs, well, let me chop all these vines down, break down the walls and the watchtower, let it be a wild place, and abandon it, allowing no water to get there, which could be the equivalent of cutting the water supply of irrigation.

After he tells this story, He related it to real life. Isreal, the nation, is the vineyard...Judah His pleasant garden... He gave them everything, protected them, and expected them to be righteous and full of justice...sweet. But instead they betrayed everything God gave them and became  changed...violent and full of oppression....bitter..

Now remember I told you to remember that grapes made wine?

Israel was a bitter wine...of bitter grapes...

Flash forward! About 700 YEARS later!

Jesus has already been crucified, but He has not died. He is up there between the two criminals, and He is in so much pain. He watched then lay His hand out, watched the nails go deeper and deeper.. felt the pain and the warm blood burning.. felt the stretch of the other arm, and through blood filled eyes, watched as the nails punctured His other hand...felt but did not see the nail go through His feet....was lifted up... and now He is between two criminals... an innocent man between criminals.

Jesus asks His Father, our Father, "Please forgive them, they don't know what they are doing..." As He is saying this, the soldiers are showing how much they don't care by gambling for Jesus's clothes...He is naked and in pain...They scoff at Him, "Save yourself, you have saved others!" The mocked Him...by...

...get this...

offering Him something to drink in a sponge... this something?

BITTER WINE!

Is this a symbol that once AGAIN the nation of Israel has betrayed the One and Only again? They have everything, Jesus gave them health, teachings, and promises....EVERYTHING! And they give Him nothing but bitter wine.

Guys, don't take everything for granted. Thank God for it. Thank God for EVERYTHING! DDon't forget Him, please don't forget Him!

Prayer requests? Comment them below or email them to me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com.

Lanie

Psychology

You know? I figured out why people go crazy i this world... PSYCHOLOGY, simply studying it makes me insane. It's so much to read in so little time... AND take notes! But hey, I did sign up for this. I have 4 more hours of studying left today. :D Then it's free time for Lanie!

I read Isaiah 1-6 this morning at about 12:40 before I fell asleep. I will re-read and post it this evenning at about 6. :D Love you guys!

See ya!

Day 2/365 Bible in a Year

Today I had to read Genesis 1-3. This is what I re-learned from today's passage. I know it's wordy, but I'll try for it not to be.

Chapter 1: 

Day 1 for God. He created the heavens and the earth. The earth had not certain shape and there was nothing in it, on it, or around, but God. He also made light. Then he called the light day and the darkness night.

Day 2 for God. He created a seperation between the waters of heave and the waters of earth and called it the sky.

Day 3 for God. He created land by pushing the waters of the earth all to one place. He called the waters seas. Then He created vegetatoin on the earth.

Day 4 for God. Hecreated lights in the sky to govern the day from night, the seasons, and to give us light. The sun for day, the moon and stars for night. The stars as most of you know help us with determining the seasons.

Day 5 for God. He created life for the sky and the sea. (Fish and birds). 

Day 6 for God. He created all the beasts of the earth, livestock, wild animals, and critters alike. He also created mankind. Male and female. "Let US make man in OUR image, in OUR likeness". Notice the plural? He was already God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit before He even sent His Son to die for us. He was just chillin' up there with His Son until we messed it all up for Him.

Day 7 for God. He saw what He made, and He saw that it was good, so He took a load off and rested on this seventh day.

I know that y'all probably already knew all this, but it is AMAZING to think that ONE GOD created everything!!!! Just astounding!

Chapter 2:

Adam and Eve

So, you think you know the story of the rise/beginning of mankind? Did you have it in mind anything like this?

God made Adam out of dust. Who else can do something that awesome? NOONE!!! Not even Houdini! But God did, and He put Adam in a garden in the east called Eden. There were many trees in Eden and among those trees was the tree of life and of the knowledge of good and of evil. 

In Eden, the river that watered the trees split into four branches. The Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. Anyone who doubts that the Bible is real, re-read the names of the last 2 rivers mentioned. The what? And the what now? The Tigris and the Euphrates! Yeah baby! Read it again!

God put Adam there to work the garden, and told him not to eat from the tree of life and of the knowledge of good and of evil.

God brought all the beasts of the earth and the sky and the sea to Adam so he could name them all. God knew he needed a helper, but of the beasts, no suitable helper was found so, you guessed it! God created Eve, a woman from Adam's rib bone. OUCH!

They became one flesh and apparently they werre married :D

Chapter 3:

The Fall of Man...

So you though things were going pretty well huh? Well they were. Adam and Eve walked with God daily, they talked to God, discussed things with God, maybe even SAW God. Can you imagine physically SEEING God???!!! I don't know about you, but I would be physically peeing my pants!!! You?!
 The serpent...oh the serpent...the evil little serpent...!!
Eve was chillin out, maxin, relaxin, all cool, eat some peaches out by the pool when a sly serpent comes crawling by...and says, well, "Did God really tell you not to eat the fruit from that tree?" and Eve, of course tells the snake the truth. She tells him that God said if they ate it they would surely die. 
Now, the serpent is a tricky character.
He tells Eve she will not "surely die" so of course she believes, because noone has really lied to her before. God doesn't lie. But the serpent did. 
She takes the fruit to Adam after she eats from it and feeds it to him. Then BAM, they realize they are naked. So the make clothes for themselves.

Well God comes around and they hide because they are naked. They literally heard God coming and hid. God asks who told them they were naked..Really? The God of the universe is going to ask a question like that? He already knew the answer!! So he punished the serpent and the humans against eachother and said that the humans would always want to smash the serpents head and the serpent would always want to bite the humans' heals. 
To the woman He increases birthing pain, and gave her the desire for her husband, and the hisband he gave rule over his wife.


God banished them from Eden and made them always work to make their food, they would surely die, and not live eternally.


Well? Ain't that something?? I hate to say I'm glad Jesus died, but He did. For us. I am so greatful for that, so now I can live eternally with Christ. Amen.


Prayer requests? Comment below anytime or email me at:


livin4christ0129@yahoo.com


Thanks!
God bless you!
Lanie