Let's go deeper! Let's look for things that we haven't seen before! There are plenty of times you read the Word of God, that you are reminded of a past lesson or the reading is familiar. There is nothing wrong with that at all. What I would like to urge all of us to do this year is look at things differently. Put yourself in the narrative or letter, approach it with no preconceived notions, find the heart of God in the passage, listen for the Spirit to speak to your life in what you are reading. The number one thing is don't be religious! Don't think of this as a check off your to do list. This is life! God has something for you! If you get nothing, think about what you read all day and ask God for insight. Don't settle for a novel, or even a guide or playbook. There is life remarkable in those Words!
Matt 1-3
Today it was Jesus, bursting on the scene. Being saved from a broken family before He was born. Mary tried to explain it to Joseph, but Joseph would have none of it. A quiet divorce was in their future..., until a dream. Jesus' lineage was full of messed up people who God chose to use. Yea God! It ended with humility as the Son of God being ministered to by some bearded weirdo' he called cuz'.
Matthew 3:14 (NIV84) — But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus would have none of it. There was a plan that had to be carried out. The plan didn't look right by anyone's perspective but God's. That is the only perspective Jesus cared about. Incredible really. Born into humility via God's will. He never escaped.
Matt 1-3
Today it was Jesus, bursting on the scene. Being saved from a broken family before He was born. Mary tried to explain it to Joseph, but Joseph would have none of it. A quiet divorce was in their future..., until a dream. Jesus' lineage was full of messed up people who God chose to use. Yea God! It ended with humility as the Son of God being ministered to by some bearded weirdo' he called cuz'.
Matthew 3:14 (NIV84) — But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus would have none of it. There was a plan that had to be carried out. The plan didn't look right by anyone's perspective but God's. That is the only perspective Jesus cared about. Incredible really. Born into humility via God's will. He never escaped.