A look at His voice in His Word
I want to use yesterday’s (Monday, September 15th) reading schedule to illustrate and share the power of God’s word to become the voice of God speaking. Most of you are familiar with our Bible Reading plan “That I May Know Him”, which brings us into five sections of the bible every day:
- The New Testament: Gospels/Acts, Epistles/Revelation, read three times in a year.
- The Old Testament: History, Poetry, and Prophets, read once in a year.
If not, here is a link to all our resources. (click here)
I am always in awe of how our daily reading speaks to me from every section of the reading, and God’s voice comes forth. I think it is because the Holy Spirit is always speaking “Jesus”, and Jesus can be seen in all the bible. Holy Spirit rests on His Word, and when I read from five sections, He can emphasize what God is saying in every chapter. Please let me illustrate:
Monday, September 15th, Our reading was: Gospels – Matthew 25, Epistles – Romans 8, History – 1 Kings 14, Poetry – Proverbs 27, and Prophets – Jonah 2
God is speaking, “His kingdom is in our hearts and not our things.”
Matthew 24 is the Olivet Discourse, and begins right after Chapter 23, where Jesus dresses down the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The disciples weren’t paying attention. The first thing they do is to show Jesus “the buildings of the temple”. Jesus replies, “Do you see all these things…I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another”.
Romans 8 In this chapter, Paul emphasizes the Spirit and not flesh. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6
Now we go to the Old Testament, where truth is illustrated in life.
1 Kings 14 Two kings: Jeroboam, who was the first king established by God over the northern tribes known as Israel, after He tore the kingdom away from Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, and left Rehoboam with two tribes, known as Judah. Each king is judged because of their disobedience. Jeroboam sought to keep Israel for himself and made idols, feasts, and priests to keep Israel from going to Jerusalem.
Rehoboam added all manner of idolatry and was disciplined by the Lord by Shishak, king of Egypt, who took away all the treasure of the house of the Lord, including the gold shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam replaced them with shining bronze shields, not of the worth of his father’s shield, but a nice substitute. But all that glitters is not gold.
Proverbs 27 “Like a bird that wanders from its nest is a man who wanders from his place.” Proverbs 27:8
Jonah 2 The prayer of Jonah from a “fish’s belly.” “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your temple.” “Those who regard worthless idols (KJV – They that observe lying vanities) forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to You the voice of thanksgiving, I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” Jonah 2:7-9
“So, the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Jonah 2:10
We have the Temple mentioned in three sections, Spirit and flesh shown in four sections, and the wandering man from his place in God and returning through rejecting what is seen and fleshly efforts. God is speaking.
I will let the Lord speak His connections to your heart. The awesome thing is that in all of us reading His Bible together, the Lord is speaking to each of us by His Spirit. This is how sanctification works.
“God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” 2 Thessalonians 13b
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The prayer of Jesus – John 17:14-17
