When we read our Bible aloud, faith comes from hearing the word of God.
When we accept God’s word as truth and read it with the expectancy of meeting Jesus in it, we are ready to hear the word near us, in our mouths and our hearts. “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart’ ” (Romans 10:8).
We begin this week again in Romans, as we finish today in Revelation. We will finish Matthew and begin in Mark. Today, we begin Deuteronomy (the book of remembrance). Moses gives farewell addresses recounting the journey of Israel and the law given to Israel. This is the last book of the five books of Moses, called the Torah in Hebrew. We continue in Psalms and will finish Jeremiah and begin his book of Lamentations.
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GOSPELS
Matthew 17 – 23
We begin with the Mountain of Transfiguration into “Who is the greatest?”, and unforgiveness in Chapters 17 and 18. Marriage and divorce and riches and the kingdom lead to the 11th-hour workers and the evil eye, which leads to the greatest in serving. Chapter 21 is the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Psalm Sunday. Then in Chapters 22 and 23, the gloves are off and the Pharisees, Sadducees, Lawyers, and Jesus have it out. Jesus calls the woes to the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy.
EPISTLES
Romans 1 – 7
In these seven chapters, the glorious gospel of God is stated over, and over, and over again, as Paul points out the impossibility of the law ever bringing salvation. I read these and let the truths that come forward gain my attention and meditation. I am not reading to figure it all out; I simply receive what the Spirit is saying in the scriptures, believing it as Truth, and trusting the Lord to work it into me by faith. Understanding is a bonus, and I believe it will come in time by revelation of the Holy Spirit (and it usually does), but not getting it doesn’t limit my enjoyment of Jesus on every page!
REVELATION
Revelation 22
The glorious throne, the saints before Him, the Lord is coming quickly, and His reward is with Him. “The Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come!’” (verse 17).
TORAH
Deuteronomy 1 – 8
Deuteronomy is so rich! Moses does not enter into the Promised Land, and gives a remembrance of all that Israel has experienced, failed in, and what the Lord has done. Chapter 4 is a call to obedience and to be careful not to fall into idolatry (the work of our hands). The Ten Commandments are reviewed, as well as the greatest commandment. Israel is a chosen people, and the call to listen to the voice of the Lord their God continues. Chapter 8 is a review of God’s purpose for their being led in the wilderness for 40 years. It was to humble them, to see what’s in their hearts (and for us to also see what is in our hearts), and to make them know that they live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
POETRY
Psalms 76 – 81
Psalms of Asaph (David’s chief worshipper) are songs of honesty, prayer, and promise. They bring us close to the heart of God and Asaph, who would spend hours ministering to the Lord in the Tabernacle of David.
PROPHETS
Jeremiah 48 – 52
Chapters 48 through 51 are the Lord’s judgments to all the nations involved with Israel. Jeremiah had been given the “wine cup of the Lord’s fury” in Chapter 25 and prophetically was to make the nations drink it. Now we have a record of what they drank and how and why it would be this way. Babylon is the last nation to be judged. Chapter 52 is a recount of the fall of Jerusalem, the temple plundered and then destroyed, and the record of the exiles taken to Babylon.
Lamentations 1
This is Jeremiah’s lament of the destruction of Jerusalem. The Lord is righteous, and Jeremiah is in great sorrow. It was a sad day; it didn’t have to be this way. Jerusalem can be heard in remorse for her fate.
