Posts with the tag “monarchy”

Today's Reading: Revelation 7:1-17Here we are given a glimpse into the throne room of God. And Jesus, the Lamb of God, is enthroned along with God the Father. A great multitude of those who have put their faith in Jesus are before the throne, praising both God the Father and the Lamb for the salvation that belongs to them that they have given to that multitude. This is a great reminder that our sa...  Read More

Today's Reading: Hebrews 12:1-29The author of Hebrews reveals that right now Jesus is seated on a throne at the right hand of God. Later in the chapter, we are reminded that His kingdom, even though we can't see it right now, is unshakable. That is certainly a huge contrast to what we see around us in this world, where things are constantly being shaken.The unshakable nature of Jesus' kingdom shou...  Read More

Today's Reading: Philippians 2:1-30Paul reminds us that our lives are to be characterized by the same kind of humility that Jesus demonstrated by leaving the glory of heaven to come to earth to die on a cross for our sins. Because He was willing to humble Himself like that, God exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name.As we have discussed frequently, Jesus does currently rule ove...  Read More

Today's Reading: Romans 1:1-32This is undoubtedly one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible. It helps us to understand why we see so much evil in this world. But for this section of our reading plan, we're going to focus on the opening verses.Here Paul clearly proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God who is from the line of David (v. 3). Paul also reveals that it is the resurrection of ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 20:1-47This is an interesting chapter in which Jesus consistently outwits those who are trying to trick Him. But for this part of our reading plan, we're going to focus on the short section in verses 41-44. Here Jesus quotes from the Psalm that we read last week - Psalm 110. The point He is making is that He is the fulfillment of that Psalm. In His humanity, he is from the li...  Read More

Today's reading: Luke 2:1-52In this chapter, we find three witnesses to whom God revealed that Jesus was the "Christ", the promised Messiah:The shepherds. Interestingly the uneducated shepherds to whom the angels announced the birth of Jesus became the very first witnesses to share Him with their neighbors. Simeon. He had been waiting in the Temple for many years to see the Messiah, when the Holy ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 1-80Today and tomorrow we'll be reading the first two chapters of Luke's gospel account. Luke is the only gospel writer who covers Jesus' life from His birth to His resurrection. Luke writes primarily to Gentiles and he focuses on the humanity of Jesus.Here in chapter 1, Luke is careful to report that both Joseph and Mary are from the line of David. And the angel Gabriel reve...  Read More

Today's Reading: Matthew 12:1-50Here Jesus takes several actions to prove that He is greater than Solomon or the Temple that Solomon built or the traditions of the religious leaders. God had commanded His people to observe the Sabbath for their own benefit, but the Jewish religious leaders had created numerous man-made laws related to the Sabbath that were used to enslave the people and protect th...  Read More

Today's Reading: Psalm 110:1-7Jesus quotes verse 1 of this Psalm to prove that He is the Messiah. Obviously God would never address David as "my Lord", so this must be a prophecy of Jesus. Peter also quotes that verse in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:34-35) as proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah from the line of David.This Psalm also reveals that the Messiah will be a priest in t...  Read More

Today's Reading: Psalm 89:1-52Per the Enduring Word Bible Commentary:"The title of this psalm is A Contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite. There are several men named Ethan in the Hebrew Scriptures, but this man is mentioned specifically in 1 Kings 4:31 as someone who was famous for his wisdom – yet surpassed by Solomon’s greater wisdom. This means he was likely a contemporary of Solomon and was also...  Read More

Today's Reading: Psalm 18:1-50This Psalm was written by David when God delivered him from the hand of Saul, who was trying to kill him at the time. But it is also clearly a Messianic Psalm that points ahead to Jesus, who will be rescued from the grave to show His mastery over sin and death.As you read through this passage, consider how it describes Jesus....  Read More

Today's Reading: Psalm 2:1-12The kings of the earth are reminded that God is sovereign and that no matter what they think, they can't thwart His purposes and plans. But there is a king who will reign with absolute power and authority one day. That will be the ultimate fulfilment of the Davidic Covenant we read about earlier this week.This is is good warning for us not to put our trust in any earth...  Read More

Today's Reading: 2 Chronicles 5:1-14David's son, Solomon, finally completed the building of the temple. The ark of the covenant was placed inside the Most Holy Place and the people worshiped God. Notice the extravagance of their worship. There were so many animals sacrificed that they couldn't be counted. And then the Levites led the people in singing praises to God.Would you describe you worship ...  Read More

Today's Reading: 1 Chronicles 17:1-27There is an interesting word play in the first part of this chapter. David offers to build God a "house" - a physical place where God would manifest His presence to the people of Israel. But God reveals that David is no the one who will build that house. He also reveals that He is going to build a "house" for David. The underlying Hebrew word translated "house"...  Read More

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 12:1-31We learn an important lesson about our sin in this chapter. When Nathan confronts David about his sin, he immediately acknowledges it before God. And God graciously forgives him. But God does not remove the consequences of his sin and the son that had been born as a result of David's adultery dies.For those who have put their faith in Jesus, God promises to forgive...  Read More

If you've been with us so far in the reading plan this year, I'm sure that you are aware that Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for catching up if you've gotten behind and/or for reflecting on what you've been reading. So I'm no longer going to be posting on the weekends. That will give me more time to devote to the posts for the rest of the week....  Read More

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 11:1-27This is certainly the low point of David's reign as king. He used his authority in order to commit adultery and murder in order to satisfy his own fleshly desires.The one thing that has always stood out to me in this account is that this all happened because David was not where he was supposed to be. According to verse 1, he should have been on the battlefield with...  Read More

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-25The events in this chapter take place about 15 years after David was first chosen to be king of Israel. During that time, Saul had pursued David in order to try and kill him and keep him from becoming king. But David was patient, even when he had the opportunity to take things into his own hands and kill Saul and become king.I am reminded here of the times in my own...  Read More

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-23Once again the Holy Spirit is right at the center of this chapter. Because He has failed to obey God, the Holy Spirit "departed" from Saul. And once that happens Saul's life becomes miserable. But at nearly the same time the Spirit rushes on David (v. 13). But you'll notice a significant contrast to the way the Spirit came upon Saul. This time the Spirit rushed upo...  Read More

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 10:1-27Once again, we how the Holy Spirit operated differently in Old Testament times than He does today. In verse 10, we read that the Spirit of God "rushed upon him". But, as we'll see later, when Saul fails to bee the kind of king that God desires, God will remove His Spirit.Today, whenever anyone puts his or her faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell permanent...  Read More

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 9:1-27The next three days we will read about how God calls Saul to be the first king of Israel.What strikes me in this chapter is how God is sovereign over this entire process. He uses something as seemingly innocuous as some lost donkeys to cause Saul to end up in the presence of Samuel, who will anoint him to be Israel's first king. Saul seems to recognize how unlikely ...  Read More

Take some time today to think about how your desires may be influenced by the culture around us. Ask God to give you the desires that are important to Him....  Read More

Go ahead and catch up on your reading if you're behind. If you're all caught up, then take some time to reflect on what you've been reading this week....  Read More

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 8:1-22Although it was not God's plan, the people of Israel asked Samuel to appoint a king so that they would be just like all the nations around them. God told Samuel to go ahead and do what the people wanted, but not until the people were first warned of the consequences of their request.I am reminded here of Romans 1 where Paul writes that God's wrath is being poured ou...  Read More

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 2:1-36In spite of his surroundings, Samuel chooses not to follow in the path of Eli's wicked sons. In verse 21 and again in verse 26 we see that Samuel was growing in favor with the Lord and with man. Those same words are used to describe Jesus in Luke 2:52:And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.Samuel shows us that we can grow in our r...  Read More

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1-28We begin a new section in our reading plan today. God installs a king over Israel as his vice-regent to bring security to the nation and build a temple where his manifest presence would be made known.The Bible contains frequent accounts of women who could not have children who are enabled by God to conceive in a miraculous way. In addition to Hannah, Sarah and Eliza...  Read More