Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along in my Bible in a year schedule, divided into morning and evening readings. Follow along any way you want: you can just do the evening reading, flip the morning and evening, or read it all. Whatever works for you and your schedule! It doesn’t have to be Bible in a Year for everyone.
The morning readings for the rest of the year will alternate between the minor prophets and the last books of the New Testament. In the evening, Isaiah will take a while at one chapter a day, and then we’ll finish the year with Daniel.
Monday, December 2 Morning: Zephaniah 1-2 Evening: Isaiah 49
Tuesday, December 3 Morning: Zephaniah 3, 1 Peter 1 Evening: Isaiah 50
Wednesday, December 4 Morning: 1 Peter 2-3 Evening: Isaiah 51
Thursday, December 5 Morning: 1 Peter 4-5 Evening: Isaiah 52
Friday, December 6 Morning: Haggai 1-2 Evening: Isaiah 53
Saturday, December 7 Morning: 2 Peter 1-3 Evening: Isaiah 54
Sunday, December 8 Morning: Zechariah 1-2 Evening: Isaiah 55
Years ago, I saw a drawing of a child suspended in the air, clutching the string of a single balloon, with the caption: “Faith isn’t faith until it’s all you’re holding on to.” It was a very simple picture, but it made me think: Where does this kind of faith come from? A faith that turns intellectual trust into action, especially potentially dangerous action?
One way is that we can learn it from others. I’ve read a lot of Christian apologetics – or writings in defense of Christian faith. Writers such as Josh McDowell and Ravi Zacharias were held in reverent awe by many in my college years, the logic being that “if someone that smart can be a Christian, it must be reasonable to believe!” While there is definitely value in learning from others, there is also the hazard of learning to trust our teachers (instead of our Teacher). Then when they fall, it hurts us personally and can damage our witness. We know what ended up happening to Ravi Zacharias[1].
There is also the testimony of the Bible. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11 chronicles the faith of many in the Bible, and Hebrews 12:1 calls these our “cloud of witnesses.” We can learn a lot from these people, but they don’t just teach us facts about God. The writer of Hebrews adds that because of these witnesses, we should “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”[2] He is our Lord, and these witnesses tell us to follow Him, not just be able to describe Him.
One of the best lessons on this comes from G.K. Chesterton, who is well-known for his arguments in defense of the reasonableness of Christianity. However, near the end of his book Orthodoxy, he says that he has a better idea: “And that is this: ‘that the Christian Church in its practical relation to my soul is a living teacher, not a dead one. It not only certainly taught me yesterday, but will almost certainly teach me tomorrow.’” Apologetics is not about winning arguments, but about growing our ability to trust Him and learning to explain that to others.
While we can learn from others and from the Bible to build up our faith, what God has done for us personally is the best testimony because it is the most real to us. Everything else is hearsay, as they say in court. We are all learning to let Him tell us where to go and what to do. To discern not only His truth, but His will, in the testimony of modern apologists and in the Bible. To make our own Ebenezers, or memorials to His faithfulness to us when we’ve acted in faith in Him, even if it meant holding on to nothing else. Therefore:
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” – Psalm 34:8
The best way to know that He is good is to try for ourselves, even when it’s hard or doesn’t make sense.
[1] If you don’t know, after Ravi died it was revealed that he had inappropriate relationships with massage therapists and others. A once-influential ministry ended up in tatters, and some of Ravi’s followers ended up embarrassed and wondering what to believe. [2] Hebrews 12:1b-2
In Hebrews chapter 11 there is a list of Biblical figures who “by faith” were obedient to God, but it also says that, in this life, their faith was not fully rewarded. Everyone mentioned in the chapter “died in faith, cnot having received the things promised”[1] But these faithful examples knew that God wouldn’t fail them. In this world, they would be unfulfilled, “but as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”[2]
Their obedience was motivated not by current, earthly reward, but by future rewards in a new heaven and new earth. Although Peter tells us “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you,”[3] Paul wrote “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”[4] In this world, we will have trials and experience persecution, which means that much of what a Christian has to be thankful for is in the future.
However, our faithful actions can be motivated by a future hope, just as those listed in Hebrews 11 were. Because of the unchanging character of God, and His faithfulness, we can be so sure of our heavenly future that we can be thankful for it now. God promises “a better country” and He is trustworthy.
Do we desire this “better country”? While we wander in this world, do we believe that “a better country” is possible? Do we believe God when He says He has promised us our place in it? Jesus said “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”[5]
If we trust God for our future in eternity, we have much more to live for and to be thankful for than we have right now! When you count your blessings, don’t forget the ones in the future that you can count on.
“Desire a better country.”
[1] Hebrews 11:13a [2] Hebrews 11:16a [3] 1 Peter 4:12 [4] Romans 8:18 [5] John 14:2
Rummaging in the basement for a book recently, I found a book I wasn’t looking for: Encouragement: The Key to Caring by Dr. Larry Crabb and Dr. Dan Allender. It was a good find. The authors define encouragement as “the kind of expression that helps someone want to be a better Christian, even when life is rough.”[1] This is the kind of expression recommended in Hebrews 10:23-25 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (emphasis mine)
However, if we don’t believe our words matter – that they have real power – we might think such encouragement is pointless. Making a case for the power of our words, the authors cite these Proverbs:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” – Prov. 18:21 “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” – Prov. 12:25 “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” – Prov. 15:4 “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” – Prov. 16:24 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” – Prov. 25:11[2]
In these Proverbs, words have the power of life and death. Power to lift or break a spirit. They have real power to influence others for good, or for bad. They can influence our health, bodily and spiritually. Our words are one of the hardest things for us to control – especially online – and unless we realize their power, we’re too likely to take them lightly. James wrote that taming our tongues may be our biggest challenge, and if we can tame it, we can tame our whole body. (James 3:2-3)
Therefore, pray for more encouraging, more powerful words today, and that God would cleanse our hearts, the spring from which our words come[3], so we may praise Him and provide “sweetness to the soul and health to the body” of those around us.
It won’t happen all at once, and all will stumble, but as the saying goes:
Yard by yard, life is hard! Inch by inch, life’s a cinch!
[1] Crabb, Larry and Dan Allender. Encouragement: The Key to Caring (1984). P. 10. [2] Ibid. P. 19. See also Proverbs 25:20 and James 3:5-6. [3] James 3:11
Life as a Christian in the 1st century must have been extraordinarily difficult. Like Jesus these early disciples faced resistance both from religious leaders as well as the Roman government. Most of these early Christians had not met Jesus personally and also did not have the Bible we have today. What did they base their faith on? Largely on the witness of others and on the teachings and examples of the apostles. Paul, who brought many to Christ and founded many churches during his missionary journeys, knew that all of his actions would be scrutinized as to whether they reflected what he was teaching.
Paul told new Christians to keep a close watch on his life, because if Christ had not made a difference in Paul’s life, why should others believe it would make a difference in theirs? If Paul didn’t personally have love, joy and peace[1] in his life, why should those hearing him preach expect Christ to provide them with love, joy and peace. He knew actions speak louder than words.
To the church in Corinth Paul wrote: “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men butin the power of God.”[2] Paul saw his life as a “demonstration” of God’s power and knew that this demonstration would be more powerful than the competence of his “speech” and the complexity of his “message.” It’s as if Paul had given a presentation describing God and His power, and then told his audience, “Allow me to demonstrate…”. Paul often gave thanks that the churches he wrote to were living examples of Christian faith lived out.
So, the question comes to us: what do our lives demonstrate? Do we show love to others? Do we have joy in all circumstances? Are we at peace with God and can we offer peace to others? What do people notice about us? The fruit of the Spirit, or the patterns of this world?
Pray for all of God’s people, including you and I, that we would walk with Christ, abiding in Him, so that we may bear the fruit of love, joy and peace that the world will notice. When we proclaim Christ, with Paul we should be able to say “allow me to demonstrate…”
“People may not agree with our theology but they shouldn’t be able to argue with our lives.” – John McGowan
“Out of a hundred people, one will read the Bible, and the other ninety-nine will read the Christian.” – Dwight L. Moody
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 