Read the Bible in a Year (03JUL19)

PSALMS MOMENT – (03JUL19) The psalmist gave a recap in Psalm 105 of the things that the Lord did throughout Israel’s history, and the covenant He made with Abraham and their forefathers. The psalmist wrote, “He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac” (Psalm 105:8-9). Many people are waiting for God to fulfill promises that He has made in their lives. Some have waited for years and others not so long, but the temptation to lose faith in receiving the promise can sometimes be strong. Yet, the Word of God shows that regardless of how many years, decades, and centuries go by, the Lord never forgets His promises. He is a God of covenant, and whatever He has promised, He will fulfill. Whereas man has a timeclock for all things to take place, the Lord’s timetable is much different. He does not base His fulfillment of those promises on when man thinks that they should come to pass. God knows the end from the beginning, and everything He does is set in place for a reason. We see this in many of the characters’ lives in the Bible.

The psalmist retold the story of Joseph and how he had been sold into slavery. He later became the governor of Egypt, but if we go back just a little further, we will see that his mother, Rachael, was barren for a long time and could not have children. But God eventually blessed her to conceive and her firstborn was Joseph. God was not being cruel to Rachael by not allowing her to conceive, but it was all about His timing. Joseph’s birth had to be timed just right to fulfill the purpose that God had on his life. It is the same way with the promises that God has for many of His children today. We may not understand the wait. We may not fully grasp the process, but in due season, all that He has said, He will do. In the meantime, wait patiently on Him, and He will answer. Something to ponder…. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (03JUL19) “He does not treat us as our sin deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). How many of you are glad that God’s mercy has been established over us where we have not gotten the penalty for sin that we deserve? I, for one, am glad that Jesus took the penalty of death in my place and gave me grace to have eternal life. God’s grace gives us what we don’t deserve, and His mercy grants us a clemency of the penalty that we do deserve. The psalmist wrote that God forgives our sins and heal our diseases. He takes us out of the pit and crowns us with love and compassion. Where we may not be forgiven by others, and may always be remembered for our past indiscretions, God removes our transgressions. The Bibles says that as far as the east is from the west, that is how far He throws our sins (Psalm 103:12). And, for those who honor Him, the Lord’s love reaches as far as the heavens are above the earth. It does not take a mathematician to know that that’s a pretty far distance. God actually does LOVE us. For so many of us, we have not experienced that type of love, nor could we, from an earthly individual. Most people do not know how to love unconditionally, but God is not that way. For those of us who may have struggled with loving ourselves, once we began to understand God’s love, we can appreciate who we are in Him. At that point, we can love ourselves because of the love that the Father has for us. Therefore, we are no longer bound by our past sins, once we repent, Jesus gets rid of them and remembers them no more. Something to ponder….

PSALMS MOMENT – (03JUL19) “He gave them lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for – that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws” (Psalm 105:44-45a). God had been good to Israel. He freed them from their enslavement, and later, when they entered the Promised Land, He gave them territory that they had not worked to get. This was His divine favor on their lives. When God gives “favor,” you will often see and experience blessings that would not normally have come your way. God opens up doors that you could not have walked through on your own. This is His way of letting you know that it was Him who blessed you, and not anything that you did on your own. We can probably all account for something that God did where it had nothing at all to do with us. We knew that it was Him without any doubt as to how it took place. Why did God give Israel favor? So that they could worship Him. Likewise, why does God grant us favor? So that we may praise, worship, and testify of His love and goodness towards us. How would the world know of His goodness unless they saw it through those who honor Him. God’s favor is not for our ego, but it is for His glory and edification. Therefore, let us be humble stewards when He releases His favor over our lives, so that the world may know of the love He has for us. Something to ponder….