Bible 365: Week 38

Just a little over 10 weeks left before we are done with the Bible 365 Challenge!  I can hardly believe it y'all.  I'm beyond excited.  I was toying with the idea of speeding things up and finishing the it faster. The New Testament isn't nearly as long as the Old Testament.  But I've decided to just stick with the reading plan.

In Week 38, we read about the build up to the crucifixion of Jesus, how he was betrayed and the crucifixion and rising of Christ.  It's crazy to see how fast people turned on Jesus even after all he did for them.  Despite having seen him give sight to the blind, bring people back from the dead and cast out demon spirits. these people still betrayed him, mocked him and demanded his death.  And they took pleasure in watching him die.

I don't how Mary, his mother, did it.  She stood in the crowd and watched (probably weeping uncontrollably) as her son bled, was spat on (Matthew 26:67-68) and teased until his spirit finally ascended into Heaven.  I don't think I would have been strong enough to do that.  She knew that this was God's will and I certainly think that God gave her the strength needed to not do anything to interfere with what was suppose to happen.  

Could you imagine how torturing it would be first be given this miracle baby only to find out he's going to have to die for a bunch of ungrateful people so that their sins can be forgiven?  Could you wake up day in and day out wondering if that was going to be the day your son would be executed?  If ever there was a mom deserving of the Mom of the Year Award, is Mary!  And let's not forget about poor Joseph.  He might not have been Jesus' real father but he was his earth father and I imagine he wasn't exactly handling this revelation well either.

What dad would be able to stomach knowing his first son was going to eventually die?  Reading about the crucifixion always makes a bit frustrated.  Why?  I just don't like it that Jesus had to die.  He was such a great man.  It frustrates me that these people couldn't get their lives together and stay in God's will.  

Why did the Israelites constantly lose their faith and betray God?  I mean they saw miracles performed first hand.  They didn't have to read about them like we do now with the Bible.  They had front row seats to the parting of the Red Sea and water flowing out of rocks in the middle of the wilderness.

Aside from the whole crucifixion, I also learned that while a lot of people use the excuse now days that Moses was given the right to grant Christians the right to get a divorce without consequence that doesn't hold true anymore.  In Matthew 19:8-10 the people ask Jesus about this very issue and he replies "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, bur from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." 

This right here is why we need to start teaching our children about the sacredness that is marriage.  No matter how much the government tries to make marriage a governmental thing, for us Christians we need to remember that we take a vow before God when we marry.  And that vow cannot be broken no matter what a piece paper from the judge says.  We will be held accountable for that.

I'm so glad that the Mr and I went through so much before we tied the knot because it really made us step back think if we could be with each other until we die.  I don't believe in divorce and neither does my husband with the exception of sexual immorality/cheating.  And I think that if you can't go through all the worst possible scenarios in your mind that could happen and still come to the conclusion that you would stay with your spouse then you should take the advice that his disciples had to offer in Matthew 19:10 saying "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."

Marriage isn't for everyone and that's ok.  Also, another verse that I'm going to continue to mediate on is Matthew 21:22: "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  I know that it gets hard to keep the faith, but we often have not even after we've asked because we don't believe. We ask in doubt and God doesn't work in doubt.  He needs us to know that He is able to deliver!

Lastly, once you betray people, you can't take the betrayal back.  Judas realized as he watched the treatment Jesus was getting that he had a huge mistake and tried to give back the 30 pieces of silver aka Blood Money but the high priest wouldn't take it back.  What was done was done.  They had already arrested Jesus, spat in his face, and assaulted him.  So, they were going to move forward and kill him too.  

That guilt and remorse was too much for Judas to live with so he took his own life.  I would like to think that if Judas could see that in hindsight by betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, he actually put his own life at risk.  This is why the Bible says that money is the root of all evil.  People will do anything to get it without thinking.  Then afterwards is when the remorse and reality of their actions set in but it's too late.

Have you ever been betrayed by a friend or loved one?

Week 39 Readings

9/23:  Mark 10

9/24:  Mark 11-12

9/25:  Mark 13

9/26:  Mark 14-16

9/27:  Luke 1-4

9/28:  Luke 4-6

9/29:  Luke 7-9 

Bible 365: Week 37

Happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a good weekend.  I spent my weekend in bed after I sprain a muscle in the left side of my neck on Saturday morning.  How did that happen?  Well, I was wrestling with JJ and he decided to swan drive on head, forcing it jerk a little bit too far to the right.  As if that wasn't bad enough, Moo hopped right on top of the pile added even more pressure and discomfort.

I knew immediately it was sprained when I tried to turned my head to left and felt this really sharp pain shoot down the side of my neck.  Having a neck sprain sucks big time, especially since I was already sick.  Thankfully, I started to feel better and my nausea went away on Sunday.  I have definitely learned my lesson about wrestling with the kids.  And I finally, saw my ghost neighbors! I'll post more on that later on this week.

Anyways, in Week 37, a lot covered in the short readings we had.  We read about the disciplines, Jesus predicted his own death three times, he cured two blind men and brought a girl back to life.  Can't forget about how he fed over 4, 000 people with 5 fish and two loaves of bread!  So, what else did I learn in Week 37?

Well, you know how people say strip clubs are harmless?  God has a much different opinion.  "But I say to you that whoever LOOKS at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell" (Matthew 5:28-29).  Adultery isn't just the act of having sex outside of your marriage, but also includes lusting for someone other than your spouse.

I was little bit familiar with this verse because a few years back T. D. Jakes preached about how couples get caught up because they let their eyes get them into a hole they can't get out of (i.e.-cheating).  Also, last week there was a conversation on Twitter about whether or not if spouses who didn't believe in going to strip clubs were comfortable with their wife or husband going.  A few people actually sited this verse as to why they nor their spouse went to strip clubs and true form, they got called out as using religion to hide their insecurities. 

That kind of rubbed me the wrong way because it shouldn't be hard to believe that there are couples who take their faith seriously.  Just because a person is trying their best to live right and follow God's commands shouldn't equate them to being insecure!  If anything, the people calling those who aren't afraid to stand firm on their beliefs are probably the ones who are insecure, especially in the faith department.  At the end of the day, we all have to live the life that WE think is most pleasing to God and we shouldn't insult each other for that.

Now days divorce rates are through the roof.  Matthew 5:32 says there is only 1 reason why we can divorce our spouses: "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever married a woman who is divorced commits adultery."  If this command/law was enforced today, I think some of us would think long and hard before jumping the broom if we knew that only way we could get out of our marriages was through adultery.  Too many people marry for the wrong reasons and end up missing out on the one that was meant for them in the first place.

Don't forget to love and pray for your enemies!  Matthew 5:44 tells us to "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,..."  Trust me your kindness will throw them for a loop.  And eventually, when they see that their evilness isn't phasing you, they'll move on to the next.

"Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25).  This verse puts it all into perspective for me.  There is more to life than what we do and don't have.  Life is about enjoying and making memories with my family, finding joy, serving God, living out dreams. God will provide for us if we just trust in Him and not worry.  We saw this proved true with the Israelites.  When they believed God came through.  When they doubted, God let them fend for themselves for little bit.

And lastly, remember that "...for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20).  Don't give up!  It's by faith that I've been been keeping up with my Bible 365 Challenge week after week.  There were times that it felt like it was going to be impossible for me to get in my Bible study, but I trusted God to give some quiet time and here I am 37 weeks later almost to the finish line!

How do you keep the faith?  Have you ever been labeled insecure because your religious beliefs and/or practices?

Week 38 Readings

9/16: Matthew 19-20

9/17: Matthew 21-23

9/18: Matthew 24-25

9/19: Matthew 26-28

9/20: Mark 1-3

9/21: Mark 4-7

9/22: Mark 8-9

Bible 365: Week 36

Happy Monday y'all!!  What did y'all get into this weekend?  This weekend was all about cleaning and doing hair.  Speaking of hair, I gave JJ his first trim.  He's not a big fan of the brush or the comb, but his hair was long and needed to be combed at least once a day.  So, I took some of the length off it and it makes combing and detangling go faster.

Anyways, here we are just wrapping up Week 36.  It seems like now that the end of the year is almost here, the weeks are going by faster.  But what better way to pass them than growing stronger in my faith and completing a challenge?  

So, we started off with the book of Habakkuk.  He was prophet who kind of had a Job situation.  He was faithful to God and living his life right but unfortunate things always seemed to still happen to him.  In his mind, Habakkuk felt like bad things shouldn't happen to those of us who live right and acknowledge God as our one and only true God.

His frustration is very evident in the very first verse where he cries out to God saying, "O Lord, how long shall I cry; and You will not hear?  Even cry out to You, 'Violence!' And You will not save" (Habakkuk 1:1).  I know that many of us can relate to how Habakkuk is feeling right here.  We go about our lives doing right, but still seem to experience hard times.  But like Habakkuk, we have to learn that we aren't exempt from that evils of this world just because we're Christians and we live right.

At the end of the day, God points out to Habakkuk that as long as there are evil people in this world then bad things can happen to anybody.  It's just a part of the territory of being humans and having free will.  Our reward for living right comes in the After Life.  And of course, let's not forget that we're not down and out 100% of the time.  God rewards us with miracles and blessings here on Earth all the time too, but we often take those for granted like waking up, having good health, jobs, etc.

God tells Habakkuk that we just need to focus on walking by faith.  Don't live your life thinking of all the negative that could happen, but just have faith in God's plan and trust that everything will work out the way it is suppose to.  Now, this was something the Israelites had trouble doing and I'm sure that's why they couldn't stay focused on the Promise Land.  So, in the book Zephaniah (I almost named Moo that), we learn about how God has planned to punished His chosen people for their disobedience and disrespect.

He sends Zephaniah to get them to see that they have caused this wrath on themselves.  But of course, they don't want to take personal responsibility.  And why should they when it's so easy to blame God or the other nations leading them astray?  Placing the blame on others is always easier for us to swallow than the acknowledging the truth.  But alas, God gives them another chance and in the books of Haggai and Zephaniah God orders them to rebuild the temples and to repent so that they can get back to the practices of making sacrifices and offerings.

But y'all already should know that by the end of the book of Malachi, they are back to complaining again (Malachi 3:13-15).  I just don't get why they can't be happy?  The Israelites have to have been the most depressed and demanding people in the history of the Bible!  Seriously, they had it all given to them on a silver platter and despite messing up every chance God gave them to come back into His grace, they pretty much spit in His face or stabbed Him in the back. Crazy!!!

In the first couple of chapters of Matthew we read about the birth of Christ, His visit from the wise men and Satan and we read about his cousin, John the Baptist and how he started preparing the way for people to receive Jesus.  I'm telling you it was action packed in Week 36!

Week 37 Readings

9/09: Matthew 5

9/10:  Matthew 6

9/11:  Matthew 7

9/12:  Matthew 8-10

9/13:  Matthew 11-13

9/14:  Matthew 14-15

9/15:  Matthew 16-18

Why do you think it was so hard for the Chosen Ones to be obedient?