Sunday
VOTD
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Remember, when you’re going through some sort of trouble or difficult time, the Father is there for you and He will comfort you. Secondly, always keep in mind that maybe you’re going through this trouble so that maybe someday you will be able to help out someone else who is going through a similar trouble. And in this way you can show the love of Jesus to someone else.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 18, Matthew 25, Job 40-42)
Psalms – When we show our faithfulness to God, He will make Himself known to us. It’s by faith that we’re saved. Abraham had faith that God would save Isaac, but he carried on the sacrifice right up to the point that God had to do it. He had faith in God’s salvation. Noah had faith that God’s word was sure, so he built that huge boat, even though he had never seen rain before. It is by our faith that we are accounted righteous. But, remember, in these instances, faith is a tangible thing. They acted on their faith. This leads right into…
Matthew – This is one of the parables (the parable of the talents) that I always feel so bad for the dude who is viewed as evil. I associate so much with him. But he is still the bad guy. I try to justify why he shouldn’t be the bad guy. But the truth is, we say that we have faith in Yah, but if we did wouldn’t we act more like it? Wouldn’t we take risks, and not count them as risks because we know that we’re doing Yahweh’s work and they will succeed because He cannot fail?
It’s a hard thing to truly live up to the words of Jesus/Yeshua. You have to keep yourself in check at all times. I fail so often to live up to the standards He sets forth in Matt 25:31-46. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a bad mood, or if I’m tired, or anything… we are to treat everyone we encounter as if they were Yeshua. We need to show everyone the grace that we have been shown by the Father.
Job – Yahweh is Shaddai (Almighty) and if He puts a plan in motion, who are we to question it? I fail at this so often but who am I to question God’s plans? Who am I to doubt His faithfulness?
Monday
VOTD
(Hebrews 4:12)
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
We often read this verse and think of the word of God as the Bible, and this is certainly true, but Jesus is also the Word of God. And it’s a mighty and powerful statement that Jesus is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. One of the tenants of our faith is that Jesus died and was raised from the grave, but we have to always remember that He is risen, because he conquered death.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 19, Matthew 26, Exodus 1-3)
Psalms – Because of society, and how they have twisted the night sky into the pagan practice of astrology, we as Christians shun any hint of messages in the stars. But, back in Genesis we are told by the Almighty that the lights in the heavens are for signs and for seasons. This passage speaks eloquently to this. The whole idea of the Mazzoroth (the witness in the stars) is that God laid out his plan of salvation in the heavens so that those looking up could see the plan for history, even before it happened. Think of Adam sitting out under the open night sky, his son Seth looking up at the sky with him. Adam tells Seth about his time in the Garden of Eden, and then he takes him through each word picture in the sky and shows him that Yahweh was going to send a Messiah to atone for his sin. This is what the stars are supposed to be.
Matthew – It’s amazing how, even in His betrayal and subsequent death, Jesus is control of the timing of all of it. He knew all along what was going to happen, but he forces Judas’s hand by calling him out on his betrayal.
Exodus – In verse 1:5 we read that there were 70 who had come to Egypt as part of Israel. It’s something to remember and look in to that the table of nations included 70 people, and they are the ones who Israel will be taking over from.
Tuesday
VOTD
(Deuteronomy 30:16)
How do we show our God our love? By going in His ways and keeping His commandments. This is also shown in the New Testament by Jesus/Yeshua when, in John 14:15, He says, “if you love me, keep My commandments.” You’d have to do some pretty fast footwork to convince me that He wasn’t referencing this verse from Deuteronomy (especially since Jesus/Yeshua referenced Deuteronomy more than anything else.)
1 Year Bible Plan
(Proverbs 4:10-19, Matthew 26, Exodus 4-6)
Proverbs – Pay attention to the teachings of God. Surround yourself with the righteous so that you don’t stumble. Don’t hang out with the evil so that you don’t become evil yourself.
Matthew – In verse 40 is Jesus saying that if Peter had been able to stay awake, and be in Prayer with Him, that maybe he wouldn’t have denied him later that night?
Exodus – In verse 4:16 when Yahweh says that Moses will be to Aaron as God, How far was this going. The word for God used is Elohim. Is Yahweh saying that Moses would be a supernatural presence? How literally should this be taken?
Wednesday
VOTD
For some reason the Verse of the Day on the Bible app was different than the verse used for the VOTD devotional. So I did both…
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
This is a convicting passage. If we truly believe that Yeshua died for us, why are we (I) not living every hour of every day for Him? I know that we are saved by His grace, but I think too often we put aside living for Him because we expect His grace to be all there is. We say that we can’t do anything to earn the grace which has already been freely given (which is true), but we shouldn’t forget that God still wants us to follow Him (Deut 30:16 & John 14:15). The beginning of verse 14 is translated a few different ways. “For the love of Christ (controls/compels/constrains) us”. The word in question is G4912 (συνέχω) and it has the meaning of "to hold together". So we are held together by the love of Christ, in that He died for us, and because of this it is as if we have all died to this world. So now, in Him, we have been born again. But, since we are in Him, we are doing Him a disservice if we are not living as He would have us live. We are a cancer to His body when we fight against the Body itself. I guess the point is, He died for us, and we have accepted His gracious gift of salvation through His death, so we have to do our absolute best to act as He would be acting. That "hokey" WWJD is precisely what we should be asking ourselves every second of every day. And if we don't know the answer, we need to be doing more research.
(Psalm 27:14)
It is important to remember that sometimes we have to wait for Yahweh to act. We are not the aggressor here. He is God, and He knows better than us when He should be doing whatever it is that needs to be done. Wait on Yahweh. Wait on the LORD. In doing this, we show our strength.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalm 19, Matthew 26, Exodus 6-8)
Psalms - One thing I wish I was better at is having the world of Yahweh always on my heart, mind, and tongue. So often I have the best of intentions at the beginning of the day to filter everything that happens through God colored glasses. And then the first time any not-quite-good thing happens my first reaction is to lash out in immature aggression. How do I force myself back on track throughout the day? I guess the answer is practice. It just takes so much longer than I want it to.
Matthew – A few things: I don’t know if it’s just the way I’ve seen it portrayed in movie, or if I had read errantly in the past, but I had always envisioned those who came to take Jesus away to be Roman soldiers, but they were Jews, and it was a slave of the high priest who had his ear cut off; every time I have read this since I first realized that this is the place where Jesus is claiming divinity (Son of Man riding on the clouds is a direct reference to Daniel 7:13) I am amazed at how anyone can say that Jesus never claimed to be God, not only did He claim to be God but He showed specifically how He was God in this statement; it should be realized that at the end of this chapter, when the high priest tears his robe, this is a violation of the law and this renders the upcoming Judaic Passover sacrifices unlawful, and the sacrifice of Jesus is thus the only rightful sacrifice offered up.
Exodus – One of the main takeaways that I get from Moses and his interaction with Pharaoh is that I need to try to be less stubborn. Pharaoh has so many opportunities to do the right thing, but he lets his stubbornness get in the way, and this leads to unimaginable folly.
Thursday
VOTD
(Ephesians 1:9-10)
God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth. (Eph 1:9-10 NLT)
All of history had been, and is still, working as a crescendo leading up to the time of Messiah. History is still working toward this end goal and one of the greatest beauties in life is to step back and look at it unfold. Don’t stay back there too long, though. There’s still so much to get out there and do!
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 20, Matthew, 26-27, Exodus 9-10)
Psalms – Though we may come away from a victory looking mighty, the only thing to boast in is Yahweh Almighty. If we let our focus fall on our material things, we lose sight of what truly got us to where we are.
Matthew – Never let pride get the better of you. Peter denied Yeshua 3 times before he even caught on to what he was doing. I would like to think that I would figure it out before the 3rd time and then just get myself out of the situation. But then, I guess it was the Son of God who made the prediction, so there’s little doubt that it was going to come to pass.
Exodus – It should be remembered the plagues dispensed by God upon Egypt were each meant to be a direct attack on one of Egypt’s primary gods.
Friday
For some reason, Friday is my rough day. I didn’t do any devotions. I’ve missed two days so far during this year, and both of those times have been a Friday. So I’m going to make up for it on Saturday.
Saturday
VOTD
(John 10:28-30, Galatians 6:9)
John – So much for anyone who had said that Jesus never claimed to be God. “I and the Father are one.” Also, go out each day knowing that you are safe in the Father’s hand. Act accordingly.
Galatians – Don’t ever grow sick of doing good things. Don’t mind the negativity that comes your way. Don’t mind the hatred that comes your way for doing good for Yeshua. Do the good anyway, and your good deeds will be noticed eventually.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalm 21, Proverbs 4:20-27, Matthew 27-28, Exodus 11-14)
Psalms – It is important to thank God when we have our prayers answered. There are a lot of Psalms which ask Yahweh for help, but we need to remember that there are Psalms like this one which thanks Him for all that He’s given us in answer to our prayers.
Proverbs – We should always be sure that we keep our eyes on Jesus. As we’re walking through life, like it’s the Sea of Galilea, never take your eyes off of Jesus.
Matthew – It’s always astonishing that Pilate still goes through with it, even though he knows that Jesus has done nothing wrong. But, if he didn’t, I would not have my salvation today.
Exodus – In this passage we get a description of the Feast of Passover (and those around it). It’s amazing to me that we (as Christians) don’t really pay that much attention the Feasts of Yahweh. If it doesn’t matter that God said that we should, shouldn’t it at least matter that they are all symbolic of Jesus, and what He was going to do for us?
VOTD
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Remember, when you’re going through some sort of trouble or difficult time, the Father is there for you and He will comfort you. Secondly, always keep in mind that maybe you’re going through this trouble so that maybe someday you will be able to help out someone else who is going through a similar trouble. And in this way you can show the love of Jesus to someone else.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 18, Matthew 25, Job 40-42)
Psalms – When we show our faithfulness to God, He will make Himself known to us. It’s by faith that we’re saved. Abraham had faith that God would save Isaac, but he carried on the sacrifice right up to the point that God had to do it. He had faith in God’s salvation. Noah had faith that God’s word was sure, so he built that huge boat, even though he had never seen rain before. It is by our faith that we are accounted righteous. But, remember, in these instances, faith is a tangible thing. They acted on their faith. This leads right into…
Matthew – This is one of the parables (the parable of the talents) that I always feel so bad for the dude who is viewed as evil. I associate so much with him. But he is still the bad guy. I try to justify why he shouldn’t be the bad guy. But the truth is, we say that we have faith in Yah, but if we did wouldn’t we act more like it? Wouldn’t we take risks, and not count them as risks because we know that we’re doing Yahweh’s work and they will succeed because He cannot fail?
It’s a hard thing to truly live up to the words of Jesus/Yeshua. You have to keep yourself in check at all times. I fail so often to live up to the standards He sets forth in Matt 25:31-46. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a bad mood, or if I’m tired, or anything… we are to treat everyone we encounter as if they were Yeshua. We need to show everyone the grace that we have been shown by the Father.
Job – Yahweh is Shaddai (Almighty) and if He puts a plan in motion, who are we to question it? I fail at this so often but who am I to question God’s plans? Who am I to doubt His faithfulness?
Monday
VOTD
(Hebrews 4:12)
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
We often read this verse and think of the word of God as the Bible, and this is certainly true, but Jesus is also the Word of God. And it’s a mighty and powerful statement that Jesus is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. One of the tenants of our faith is that Jesus died and was raised from the grave, but we have to always remember that He is risen, because he conquered death.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 19, Matthew 26, Exodus 1-3)
Psalms – Because of society, and how they have twisted the night sky into the pagan practice of astrology, we as Christians shun any hint of messages in the stars. But, back in Genesis we are told by the Almighty that the lights in the heavens are for signs and for seasons. This passage speaks eloquently to this. The whole idea of the Mazzoroth (the witness in the stars) is that God laid out his plan of salvation in the heavens so that those looking up could see the plan for history, even before it happened. Think of Adam sitting out under the open night sky, his son Seth looking up at the sky with him. Adam tells Seth about his time in the Garden of Eden, and then he takes him through each word picture in the sky and shows him that Yahweh was going to send a Messiah to atone for his sin. This is what the stars are supposed to be.
Matthew – It’s amazing how, even in His betrayal and subsequent death, Jesus is control of the timing of all of it. He knew all along what was going to happen, but he forces Judas’s hand by calling him out on his betrayal.
Exodus – In verse 1:5 we read that there were 70 who had come to Egypt as part of Israel. It’s something to remember and look in to that the table of nations included 70 people, and they are the ones who Israel will be taking over from.
Tuesday
VOTD
(Deuteronomy 30:16)
How do we show our God our love? By going in His ways and keeping His commandments. This is also shown in the New Testament by Jesus/Yeshua when, in John 14:15, He says, “if you love me, keep My commandments.” You’d have to do some pretty fast footwork to convince me that He wasn’t referencing this verse from Deuteronomy (especially since Jesus/Yeshua referenced Deuteronomy more than anything else.)
1 Year Bible Plan
(Proverbs 4:10-19, Matthew 26, Exodus 4-6)
Proverbs – Pay attention to the teachings of God. Surround yourself with the righteous so that you don’t stumble. Don’t hang out with the evil so that you don’t become evil yourself.
Matthew – In verse 40 is Jesus saying that if Peter had been able to stay awake, and be in Prayer with Him, that maybe he wouldn’t have denied him later that night?
Exodus – In verse 4:16 when Yahweh says that Moses will be to Aaron as God, How far was this going. The word for God used is Elohim. Is Yahweh saying that Moses would be a supernatural presence? How literally should this be taken?
Wednesday
VOTD
For some reason the Verse of the Day on the Bible app was different than the verse used for the VOTD devotional. So I did both…
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
This is a convicting passage. If we truly believe that Yeshua died for us, why are we (I) not living every hour of every day for Him? I know that we are saved by His grace, but I think too often we put aside living for Him because we expect His grace to be all there is. We say that we can’t do anything to earn the grace which has already been freely given (which is true), but we shouldn’t forget that God still wants us to follow Him (Deut 30:16 & John 14:15). The beginning of verse 14 is translated a few different ways. “For the love of Christ (controls/compels/constrains) us”. The word in question is G4912 (συνέχω) and it has the meaning of "to hold together". So we are held together by the love of Christ, in that He died for us, and because of this it is as if we have all died to this world. So now, in Him, we have been born again. But, since we are in Him, we are doing Him a disservice if we are not living as He would have us live. We are a cancer to His body when we fight against the Body itself. I guess the point is, He died for us, and we have accepted His gracious gift of salvation through His death, so we have to do our absolute best to act as He would be acting. That "hokey" WWJD is precisely what we should be asking ourselves every second of every day. And if we don't know the answer, we need to be doing more research.
(Psalm 27:14)
It is important to remember that sometimes we have to wait for Yahweh to act. We are not the aggressor here. He is God, and He knows better than us when He should be doing whatever it is that needs to be done. Wait on Yahweh. Wait on the LORD. In doing this, we show our strength.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalm 19, Matthew 26, Exodus 6-8)
Psalms - One thing I wish I was better at is having the world of Yahweh always on my heart, mind, and tongue. So often I have the best of intentions at the beginning of the day to filter everything that happens through God colored glasses. And then the first time any not-quite-good thing happens my first reaction is to lash out in immature aggression. How do I force myself back on track throughout the day? I guess the answer is practice. It just takes so much longer than I want it to.
Matthew – A few things: I don’t know if it’s just the way I’ve seen it portrayed in movie, or if I had read errantly in the past, but I had always envisioned those who came to take Jesus away to be Roman soldiers, but they were Jews, and it was a slave of the high priest who had his ear cut off; every time I have read this since I first realized that this is the place where Jesus is claiming divinity (Son of Man riding on the clouds is a direct reference to Daniel 7:13) I am amazed at how anyone can say that Jesus never claimed to be God, not only did He claim to be God but He showed specifically how He was God in this statement; it should be realized that at the end of this chapter, when the high priest tears his robe, this is a violation of the law and this renders the upcoming Judaic Passover sacrifices unlawful, and the sacrifice of Jesus is thus the only rightful sacrifice offered up.
Exodus – One of the main takeaways that I get from Moses and his interaction with Pharaoh is that I need to try to be less stubborn. Pharaoh has so many opportunities to do the right thing, but he lets his stubbornness get in the way, and this leads to unimaginable folly.
Thursday
VOTD
(Ephesians 1:9-10)
God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth. (Eph 1:9-10 NLT)
All of history had been, and is still, working as a crescendo leading up to the time of Messiah. History is still working toward this end goal and one of the greatest beauties in life is to step back and look at it unfold. Don’t stay back there too long, though. There’s still so much to get out there and do!
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 20, Matthew, 26-27, Exodus 9-10)
Psalms – Though we may come away from a victory looking mighty, the only thing to boast in is Yahweh Almighty. If we let our focus fall on our material things, we lose sight of what truly got us to where we are.
Matthew – Never let pride get the better of you. Peter denied Yeshua 3 times before he even caught on to what he was doing. I would like to think that I would figure it out before the 3rd time and then just get myself out of the situation. But then, I guess it was the Son of God who made the prediction, so there’s little doubt that it was going to come to pass.
Exodus – It should be remembered the plagues dispensed by God upon Egypt were each meant to be a direct attack on one of Egypt’s primary gods.
Friday
For some reason, Friday is my rough day. I didn’t do any devotions. I’ve missed two days so far during this year, and both of those times have been a Friday. So I’m going to make up for it on Saturday.
Saturday
VOTD
(John 10:28-30, Galatians 6:9)
John – So much for anyone who had said that Jesus never claimed to be God. “I and the Father are one.” Also, go out each day knowing that you are safe in the Father’s hand. Act accordingly.
Galatians – Don’t ever grow sick of doing good things. Don’t mind the negativity that comes your way. Don’t mind the hatred that comes your way for doing good for Yeshua. Do the good anyway, and your good deeds will be noticed eventually.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalm 21, Proverbs 4:20-27, Matthew 27-28, Exodus 11-14)
Psalms – It is important to thank God when we have our prayers answered. There are a lot of Psalms which ask Yahweh for help, but we need to remember that there are Psalms like this one which thanks Him for all that He’s given us in answer to our prayers.
Proverbs – We should always be sure that we keep our eyes on Jesus. As we’re walking through life, like it’s the Sea of Galilea, never take your eyes off of Jesus.
Matthew – It’s always astonishing that Pilate still goes through with it, even though he knows that Jesus has done nothing wrong. But, if he didn’t, I would not have my salvation today.
Exodus – In this passage we get a description of the Feast of Passover (and those around it). It’s amazing to me that we (as Christians) don’t really pay that much attention the Feasts of Yahweh. If it doesn’t matter that God said that we should, shouldn’t it at least matter that they are all symbolic of Jesus, and what He was going to do for us?
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