Genesis 1-17

Genesis 1-17 covers the stories of the creation, the fall, the flood, and the promises and life of Abraham.  In those stories over and over again characters are responding in faith to the promise of God.  Adam believes in the promise that through an offspring of the woman God will send One who will destroy the curse--he demonstrates that faith by naming the woman "Eve" because she was to be the mother of all living.  Abel offered the firstborn from his flock in faith (Hebrews 11:4).  Noah believed God's promise about the coming flood and built an ark.  Abram believed God's promise and moved his entire life to a land that God would show him (Gen 11).  Hagar believed God's promise about her son and returned to Abram's household.  I think there is a pattern of faith in the promise of God throughout Genesis 1-17.

I think the boldest example of faith in the promise of God comes in Genesis 17.  God re-confirms his oft-repeated promise that he would bless Abraham and his descendants.  However, there is still one glaring oversight . . . Abraham is now 99 years old and has no son.  So what does God tell him to do?  God tells him to be circumcised and to circumcise all the men in his family from now on.  Abraham says, "I am 99 years old.  My wife is 90.  We have been waiting for years on your promise of a son, and now you want me to snip off the tip of my baby-maker?!" (my paraphrase).  Genesis 17:24, (no paraphrase here) "Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin." I can think of few greater displays of faith.

Abraham's faith is bold, illogical, painful, and counter-cultural.  It is easy for me to say that I want the same type of faith in my life, but . . . wow, 99 years old . . . wow. . .

Psalms 1-6

I found reading through 6 Psalms to be challenging.  Each of them is loaded with so much truth, imagery, complexity, etc. that it makes it difficult to find one thing to write about.  But I found one . . .

Psalm 53:3 says, 

"In the morning, Oh Lord, You hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you 

and wait in expectation."

I share at least one thing in common with David, the author of the Psalm; we both go to the Lord in the morning.  I feel like I must be doing something right if I am even slightly in line with David, "the man after God's own heart".  I like the feeling of participating in the ancient tradition of meeting God in the morning and then living the rest of my day in expectation . . .

Expectation . . . I need to emphasize expectation.  How will God answer my prayer today?  How will God use me today?  What will God show me today?  Who will God put in my path to serve today?  What good is it to start my day with God if I don't carry with me a sense of waiting in expectation for His response?  I expect Him to answer my prayers today, and I expect Him to use me to share the light of His love today.

Acts 1-4

Acts 1-4 covers Jesus's final words to his followers, his ascension, the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost, the birth of the church, and the bold witness of Peter and James.

What stood out to me the most from these chapters was chapter 4, verses 7-12.  Peter and John have just been arrested by the religious "police".  The religious leaders are quickly losing control of Jerusalem.  The city is packed with people from all around who have come for Pentecost.  Thousands of people are converting to the teachings of Jesus (soon to be labeled Christianity).  The religious rulers ask Peter and John how they had healed a crippled man the preceding day.  Peter answered (my paraphrase), "Know this: He was healed by Jesus' name.  The same Jesus that you crucified and God resurrected . . . salvation is found in no one else."  The religious rulers are astonished at these "un-schooled, ordinary men" and the only sense they can make of the situation is that these men had been with Jesus.

Peter's words to the religious leaders seem to almost jump off the page at me.  He speaks plainly and boldly at great risk to his life, and when he finishes his audiences first thought is--this guy must have been with Jesus because there is no way an un-educated, ordinary guy could speak that way.

I want the boldness and power that Peter exemplified.  I wouldn't mind if my audience thought of me as un-educated and ordinary, if their next thought was, this guy must be one of Jesus' followers.   Acts 4:29 records part of a prayer that the church was praying after Peter and John were released, "enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness."  That is my prayer today.

Matthew 1-3

Matthew 1-3 opens with the genealogy of Jesus through his earthly father Joseph, covers Jesus' birth, early years, and concludes with John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River.

There are 6 fulfilled prophecies in these chapters--virgin birth, birth in Bethlehem, time in Egypt, Herod's decree to murder the all the babies in the region of Bethlehem, Jesus' home in Nazareth, and the ministry of John the Baptist.  The first book of the New Testament opens with example after example of how all that was written before was pointing to Jesus.  Perhaps these prophecies seemed contradictory or irrelevant to the original hearers, but as I read them now they fill me with confidence in the God of the Scriptures.

God has a plan.  I have the privilege of seeing how that plan has worked out through the stories of the Bible, but His plan is still being worked out in my life.  Often times I fail to trust God as I should.  It is in those times that I need to be reminded of God's trustworthiness as demonstrated through the fulfilled prophecies of Matthew 1-3.

Starting late

Lest you think that I have already blown my new year's resolution of reading through the Bible . . . I have decided to start on January 8th and journey through the process with others from my church.  You can't fail what you haven't started :)