"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-7

Hello friends!!!
I trust you are enjoying the first couple weeks of bible reading! I have had a wonderful time thus far and even my children have joined in. I love how even though the Bible was written so long ago over a large span of years and by a wide variety of authors, it remains relevant and powerful. The life of God is in it, and no matter what stage of life you are in, God can use His living word to meet you. He will cause things to pop out of the page and hit you right in the heart, whether you are 5 years old or 80! Walking with God is progressive...we will never plateau in our understanding of Him, and one of the greatest vehicles is through the written scripture. From now on, we will post every friday on the relevant reading for that week...so next friday will be week 3...we are just playing catch up here which is why i'm covering two weeks. Having said that, I find it impossible to give you a comprehensive summary of the past two weeks. I'm simply going to bring out points and hope that you feel free below to post any and all of your thoughts/revelations on the reading...so here we go:

Firstly I would like to touch on our approach to God. Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." You notice it says THE BEGINNING...thus our starting place of reverence and awe. I think sometimes we picture God as weak and needy. We imagine Him as the old Grandfather figure who is lonely and weak, begging us to notice Him. And we may feel like we are doing Him some great kindness by noticing Him or reading the word, etc. These are thoughts about God that are so far removed from who He is. These are thoughts that are not worthy of Him. You will find as you read through the Bible that the Holy Spirit will address your incorrect thoughts about His character. Let yourself feel the distance and come in line with who God actually is... It is a privilege to be disciplined by Him, to be loved by Him - to even be on his radar at all. Our reading in Genesis describes a God who is full of power, all-knowing, omniscient, all wise, able to create from nothing with just a word. It reveals a God who is holy and hates evil. It reveals a God of love and covenant promise, a God of sovereign choosing...let us when we come to the word pray that God reveals himself to us for who He is, and rips away our wrong conceptions that are unworthy of His character...Then there's the fantastic truth that this powerful, awesome God desires us - to know us and fill us with His life. That we were created to walk with Him under His rule and government and that when we walk in His ways with Him we will find the greatest fulfillment...

"For every Christian will become at last what his desires have made him. we are all the sum total of our hungers." Tozer

I found it fitting to include a quote from the author of our last book - The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. It is important to recognize that we all have priorities - whether we realize that or not - and those priorities and desires determine our life choices. Matthew 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I want to commend all of you for making the word of God a priority this year. May God meet us and continue to change our perspectives more and more so that the things that really matter are at the forefront of our thoughts and decisions. Throughout this year as we read and seek God, he will uncover our heart motives. He will challenge the ones that don't line up with our faith. He will point out issues of lordship, and ask for our obedience and trust. He will show us where we don't measure up to his word and he will let us feel the distance. May we, like the psalmists be real with where we stand but find our final resting place in the goodness and faithfulness of God. If we really believe that He IS OUR TREASURE, we will continue to seek after Him, regardless of our life circumstances...and within the process we will find an unwavering faith...

Proverbs 2:1-5 says, "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." These are all active words...apply, turn, store up, call out, cry aloud...i think you get the idea...There is an active pursuit here, with the promise of receiving what we ask for...Proverbs all throughout has encouraged us to ask for with wisdom, and promises that God WILL grant it to those who ask...so if you want wisdom, simply ask and ask and ask and ask...until you have received.

Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled." Can you find enough faith to believe that this is true? Again feel the distance and ask God to help you believe His word...and never give up until you find it's fulfillment. One of my favorite stories in Matthew is the woman who has the issue of blood in Matthew 9:20-22. She was desperate. She had been sick for 12 years. She was anemic and weak. She also, because of her bleeding was ceremonially unclean which would have kept her isolated and excluded. She was breaking the law by walking through the crowds and touching people...she was in pain..but her desire for Jesus, her desire to be whole and her faith took precident over circumstances. It's this desperation for God...an "undignified" passion that brings a response from God. He knows we desperately need Him - we just are slow to understand that..and we forget that over and over...

Mt. 7"8 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." If we truly believed God would meet us when we asked, we would never stop seeking, asking and knocking..and our measure of desire and resolve reflects how little or how great our faith is...if God is true to His word, I will keep seeking until I've discovered. If i give up, I show that I don't really believe God will be faithful to His promise, or that His promises are for others that are "better" than me...which leads me to Abraham..the father of our faith...a man who "believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness." Was he perfect? Certainly not!! But from the start we see that God is not about moral perfection. He is after a people who will simply believe, trust and obey Him...in every area, not just the areas that are easy. Abraham could've grown discouraged and weary. He could have focuses on how he didn't measure up. He could've focused on his failures. Afterall, God had promised him descendants and he had none. He was old and he had wandered in tents most of his life. He tried to fulfill the promise of God in his own strength with Ishmael. By now his perspective could have been negative and faithless. He could have grumbled and complained. Instead in Romans 4:18-21 it says, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "so shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God hd power to do what he had promised..." Once he had received the promise and had enjoyed his miraculous son, God asked for that as well. Even in this Abraham didn't waver...he offered his son isaac...the fulfillment of his life promise. Hebrews 11:17 says, "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death."

God is so good. He chooses such ordinary people, like you and me. And He offers us such an extraordinary life with Him. We simply have to believe what He says. We can't make ourselves good enough for his approval. The beattitudes in Matthew 5 should make it clear to us that we need to be a new creation to please Him. Try to live that way in your own strength and I promise you an epic fail. We just need a new nature, the righteousness of Christ, and it all comes by faith. There is no failure that can disqualify you from the promises of God...just believe, pursue, obey...ask, seek, knock...

I'm gonna end with a Psalm because I haven't touched upon it much and it is one of my favorite books. Psalms keeps it real - it's like the outworking of your faith in this life of trial and struggle. The psalmists will often say, and i paraphrase - "things stink right now, everything's hard and I almost cant take it"...but then he normally refocuses...like, "but my God is strong and good and loving"..He faces what is going on, but instead of ending in a funk, he declares the character and promises of God. It's similar to what Abraham must've been like. He didn't ignore the fact that his body was as good as dead, but instead of stopping there he considered the power and promise of God. Instead of wavering, HE GREW STRONGER IN HIS FAITH. He grew stronger as the situation grew more and more impossible....Let us strive for this depth in God as we read His word.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his DELIGHT is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.." Psalm 1:1-3

peace,
korey

Thank you Korey, beautiful written..
I really enjoyed the past 2 weeks with biblereading and I'm you guys very thankful for sharing the site, finally a way to read the bible!
But these weeks also gave me a lot of questions.
I've read a lot about God's wrath in different verses.
That the people who don't believe in hem will be destroyed by him, (if they die and they don't believe)
But that's so strange, in my opinion?
Why does God loves us if we live on earth, no matter what we do or if we believe or not, but if we die and we don't believe than he will destroy us?!
(Okay, hope you understand my question)

So, I'm glad I'm doing this, cause I get a day behind but make myself catch up. If I wasn't doing this plan, that wouldn't happen. So thanks to whoever first thought of this

"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge:" Genesis 15:12-14

Is this a prophecy about being slaves in Egypt? I've read Genesis before but don't remember this passage, which confirms that you learn something new about the Bible no matter how many times you read it


"That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." Genesis 6:2

I've been confused about this for awhile, does "sons of God" mean his chosen people or fallen angels? Cause Ive heard both versions.


"When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again." Matthew 6:7

But when Jesus teaches the words for us to pray in the verse after that, isn't that what we are doing?? We pray the Lords Prayer every week like it's just the norm for us, something we have to do.

Thanks for having a summary at the end of the week Korey, it really will help me remember what I read. Especially now when I am catching up due to starting late. I've started the Bible several times, I am sure with this club I will do it this time!

Woow!! That's really beautiful Kor, but I think I am the only one that feel sad, I don't know why? But I hope that it helps me to grow up in Christ and well no matter how sad I can feel I will keep reading!! And asking and asking over and over again for faith and wise!!!!


GOD BLESS YOU KOREY AND KEEPS USING YOU!!!

I will like to share a little secret: thanks to your song awake and alive I delivered my life to JesusChrist on november 11 2011, thanks!!!

This is in reply to PanheadForGod, specifically the question on prayer. I do apologize, but I don't have my Bible right in front of me, so there's some paraphrasing of verses, and the references may not be exactly right, but I'm pretty sure they're close.

The short answer to your question is no, it's not what we are doing. The long answer is below:

The first thing we have to understand is that Jesus never intended for us to recite these words as a daily prayer. Take note of Matthew 6:9: "This then is how you should pray. What follows is an instructional model of how our prayers should be constructed. I'm pasting the text below, bit by bit:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

The beginning of a prayer should be much like a letter-we have to know who it's supposed to go to. At the same time, however, it is only to God that we ought to pray to. After all, it is he who is all-powerful, him who made the heavens and the earth, without whom we would have no hope for eternal life. So really, why bother beseeching someone else? In addition, it constantly reaffirms our relationship with him! You are an adopted child of the King! I can't even express my excitement and enthusiasm I feel at getting to call God "dad"!!

The second part of this line, is expressing reverence for God's Holy Name. This isn't anything new- God included it in the original 10 commandments when he said "Thall shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (I'm paraphrasing, hope I'm pretty close!). This action is an expression of humility, acknowledging God as much much greater than yourself. This attitude of humility ought to be the approach to prayer, which is why we are instructed to do it in secret. The people Jesus was talking about were "praying" on street corners for the attention, not for the communication with God.


Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven,

Again, we are humbling ourselves before God, recognizing that we have no control over what he does. That he is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present. We pray for God's plans to come to pass, whatever they may be. But we can take comfort in Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." With those, we don't have to worry! Why would we want to pray for anything but God's will to be done! Now that isn't to say that we can't seek help from him, or ask for a specific outcome to a situation-which I'll get to in just a second, but we realize that whatever happens God has our best in mind. He's in control, and knows what he's doing.


Give us this day our daily bread,

This part is where we ask God for whatever happens to be on our hearts. The best part, is that God already knows though. Look again at Matthew 6:8: Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Remember the guys who were babbling on and on? They were continually asking for the same things. It's like everybody's favorite question on a car ride: are we there yet?

Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?...I think you get the point lol.

God Already knows! That doesn't mean you shouldnt continue to pray to him about it-just do it with the right attitude, and not like the street performers were. Just babbling on without purpose. The other thing we can take from this line, is the acknowledgement that God is not just our provider, but he provides for us on a daily basis. All that we need is provided by him! It may not be what we want, but it will be what we need. And it's not a one time thing, we ought to turn to God on a regular, daily basis-even if we have nothing to ask for. A prayer of nothing but praise for God and his awesomeness is just as valid as asking him for help getting through your day! But regardless, we should be in communication with him on a daily basis!

and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

We all sin. I know I do. But thankfully the God of the Universe, who cannot tolerate sin, cannot abide it, sent his only son to take my sins upon himself. Yours too. And because of that, we are forgiven. A blanket pardon for every last little sin. That doesn't give us a license to sin, however. But rather, we ought to become more Christ like. There are times, however, when we won't be. After all, we're not perfect. God understands that. That's why we can go to him for forgiveness, for any sin. And if we are truly repentant of our sin, then God forgives us. There is a condition, however. We have to be willing to forgive those who sin against us. There are several parables that Jesus offers that demonstrate this- My favorite one is where the King forgives his servant of a massive, immense debt. The servant then goes out to another who owes him money, then beats him up and throws him in jail until he can pay it. The king learns of this, then throws the first servant in prison because he did not show the same mercy. All we have to do, is follow our God's example. We have to Forgive, in order to be Forgiven.


And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

This is, by nature, a plea for protection. Specifically from evil, I.E. the forces of the Devil. He stalks like a preying lion, waiting to strike. We need God's protection so that we might not be harmed or devoured by him. We can't do it on our own.

I hope this answers your question, lol. I should make the distinction, as it is often confused. This prayer is not the Lord's prayer, it's known as the Model prayer. The Lord's prayer comes when Jesus is praying in the Garden. The prayer in question here, was for instruction.

Recap/Ingredients- Identifying/Praising God, Acknowledge the Supremacy of God and his will, request/thanks, continued support/protection on daily basis.

What matters most, however, is your attitude and your intent. God knows your heart, and exactly what you need. Take comfort and joy in that!

I want to try and answer your questions:
Genesis 15:12-14 is indeed a prophecy about Israel being slaves in Egypt:
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, -> this is Egypt
and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years -> the Israelians were slaves in Egypt for 400 years
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. -> the people from Egypt were judged by God and when the people from Israel left Egypt, the Egyptians gave them their jewelry (great substance)

About Genesis 6:2: this part confuses me too. I searched for information on the internet, and I think this link explains it pretty good (although we can never know the real answer): http://www.tribulationhoax.com/sons-of-god.html
the site says that 'sons of God' doesn't mean fallen angels, because angels don't marry people or have sex with them, because they are not in a human form. So I think the best answer is that they were giants or something, so that the people started calling them 'sons of God', while they weren't literally sons of God, they were just really big. But I'm not too sure about this solution...

Good Morning!!
First I want to say how excited I am to be involved with this bookclub!! I know God has been pressing on my heart to get deeper into his Word and this is an opportunity for me to do just that.
I'm not always one that has any easy time of expressing or sharing what is in my heart about what I am learning (plus having a bit of a shy streak) but I have made up my mind that I am not going to let that deter me from getting involved with our sharing of thoughts about what we are learning.
Korey - your post was totally awesome and you have highlighted God's Word in such a way that we can all understand and relate to.
When I think of Abraham and Sarah - and just like you said - their bodies were as good as dead - this is such a reminder to me that
1. no problem, circumstance or situation is EVER to big for God.
2. God is faithful
3. God's timing is perfect and is not necessarily the same timing as we may want or expect.
I love Proverbs 3: 5 & 6
5. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6. Seek his will in all that you do and he will show you which path to take". This is reminder for me to daily....hand the reigns of my life over to God (and stop taking them back !! lol) and trust Him to get me through those obstacles that have been placed in my path. I need to remember to "Let go and Let God".

Val
Ok...i'm off to finish my daily reading for today.
May God Bless you all!! I pray our eyes and hearts will be open to what we are reading and to become stronger in Christ every day!

I agree Val. Korey summarized a lot of good points from the first couple weeks of the readings. I am, however, starting late and will have to catch up. But, I am reading starting from the 14th, just so I can 'stay on track." I felt God pressing on my heart for the last couple weeks of starting over with my reading. I been drudging the same plan the last few years and never finished, haha. After a few other signs + what the Skillet crew is now doing, I felt a calling, so I feel this will be good and this is the calling.

Anyway, the summary also reminded that God is going to be there, and using Abraham and Sarah as examples, he was faithful to them, even though things,physically and emotionally, looked grim. Yet, God pulled through, and had the last laugh, even though Abraham and Sarah laughed before God, thinking they had the last one lol. Their son Isaac is a reminder that God had the last one and that he pulled through, because Isaac in Hebrew means "God's laughter." If we just give God the reigns and trust him, he'll pull through, even if it takes some time. I mean, it took Abraham and Sarah their whole lives to have a child, and they did. However, they were patient, even though at times it seemed like they wanted to give up, but because of Abraham's faith, God pulled through.

I know for myself, I learn a lot each time I read this. Because I forget that God is there all the time. I struggle a lot of the times with keeping my faith strong. For instance, whether or not a friendship is going to work out. A couple this past year were heavily dented, but with one, it was restored in a couple weeks, and another, a month and a half later. Just from these experiences, and they were very hurtful and emotionally draining, I stuck it out and trusted God to do his thing, and the relationships were restored . I can't say the same for some others in the past, because I did give up even though I knew God was there in the scenes somewhere. Somewhere along the lines, I just gave up, because things seemed dead in the situations. So this summary serves as a good example that God will be there! We just need develop trust and patience in Him.

I agree Val. Korey summarized a lot of good points from the first couple weeks of the readings. I am, however, starting late and will have to catch up. But, I am reading starting from the 14th, just so I can 'stay on track." I felt God pressing on my heart for the last couple weeks of starting over with my reading. I been drudging the same plan the last few years and never finished, haha. After a few other signs + what the Skillet crew is now doing, I felt a calling, so I feel this will be good and this is the calling.

Anyway, the summary also reminded that God is going to be there, and using Abraham and Sarah as examples, he was faithful to them, even though things,physically and emotionally, looked grim. Yet, God pulled through, and had the last laugh, even though Abraham and Sarah laughed before God, thinking they had the last one lol. Their son Isaac is a reminder that God had the last one and that he pulled through, because Isaac in Hebrew means "God's laughter." If we just give God the reigns and trust him, he'll pull through, even if it takes some time. I mean, it took Abraham and Sarah their whole lives to have a child, and they did. However, they were patient, even though at times it seemed like they wanted to give up, but because of Abraham's faith, God pulled through.

I know for myself, I learn a lot each time I read this. Because I forget that God is there all the time. I struggle a lot of the times with keeping my faith strong. For instance, whether or not a friendship is going to work out. A couple this past year were heavily dented, but with one, it was restored in a couple weeks, and another, a month and a half later. Just from these experiences, and they were very hurtful and emotionally draining, I stuck it out and trusted God to do his thing, and the relationships were restored . I can't say the same for some others in the past, because I did give up even though I knew God was there in the scenes somewhere. Somewhere along the lines, I just gave up, because things seemed dead in the situations. So this summary serves as a good example that God will be there! We just need develop trust and patience in Him.