Stimulus Package

Hello All,

Discovered a whole teaching series on the Bible at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. If you are familiar with Max Lucado - its his home church. Perhaps as we are reading along this may be another great resource. Kind of a stimulus package :D Click on Stimulus Package above and it'll take you to the website..once there, go to archives and choose "the story".

Wishing all a wonderous and blessed week ahead!

Margie

How are you doing?

Happy April!

How is everyone coming along in your journey? Please take a moment to click on the poll answers to the right that fit you, you can even choose a few. Lets keep one another is heart and prayer as we move forward on the road of the Word. This is just a little tool to help us know if we are on the right track.

Love and Blessings to All,
M

HAPPY EASTER!

Click on the words above to view a powerful YouTube Easter video.

Wishing each a powerfully blessed Easter!

Margie

April 2

Hey You All,

How is it going? Are we back on track?

As for me, think I'm on the right track. In fact, here is something amazing...
Reading a book, "Sitting at the feet of the Rabbi..." I recently discovered that Jesus quoted most frequently from Deuteronomy? Did you notice where God has us reading right now? Deuteronomy! At a time when Easter celebrates the miracle of Jesus, we are right in the midst of the Book that Jesus quoted the most. Somehow I don't think that is just a coincidence!

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter celebration.

Margie

Festivals

Thought I'd share this information from a commentary that certainly helps me understand all that I'm reading...

Regulations concerning Festivals: Leviticus 23–24

God established a religious year for Israel, broken into patterned celebrations which permitted Israel to relive its heritage annually.

Three of the annual feasts were “pilgrim festivals,” during which families were to journey to a central place of worship, later established in Jerusalem. These were times of special joy and celebration, linked with the agricultural seasons, but intended to help Israel relive salvation history and reaffirm commitment to God.

The three pilgrim festivals were Passover, including the week-long Feasts of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 13:3–10; Lev. 23:4–8; Deut. 16:1–8), Firstfruits (also called the Feast of Weeks and Pentecost) (Lev. 23:9–21; Deut. 16:9–11), and Tabernacles (also called the Feast of Booths) (Ex. 23:16; Lev. 23:33–43; Deut. 16:13). During this last festival the people lived outside in rough shelters, commemorating the years of travel from Sinai to the Promised Land.

A vital principle underlying this religious system helps us understand how we can better communicate our own faith.

The principle is expressed in a Hebrew term, zikkaron, which is often translated as “memorial” and means “a reminder” or “a remembrance.” It is used of objects or actions that help Israel identify with some particular religious truth. For instance, the pile of stones beside the River Jordan that commemorated Israel passing through on dry ground is one such memorial (Josh. 4:7).

What was the zikkaron intended to do? It was intended to help individuals who saw or participated in it sense his or her identity with what God had done in the past. In essence the festivals of Israel were designed to help each new generation relive God’s great and wonderful acts for His people. In the festivals that annually reminded Israel of what God had done for them, the people were intended to sense their own identity with their forefathers, and to realize that God had worked His wonders for each one of them!

Festival System

APRIL (NISAN)	14–21—PASSOVER: remembrance of deliverance from Egypt; beginning of religious year
MAY (IYAR) JUNE (SIVAN)	6—PENTECOST: feast of harvest and firstfruits
JULY (TAMMUZ) AUG. (AB) SEPT. (ELUL) OCT. (TISHRI)	1–2—FEAST OF TRUMPETS ROSH HASHANAH: beginning of civil year 10—DAY OF ATONEMENT 15–21—FEAST OF TABERNACLES: remembrance of the years in tents on the way to Palestine
NOV. (MARCHESVAN) DEC. (KISLEV)	25—HANUKKAH: feast of lights added in days of Maccabees
JAN. (TEBETH) FEB. (SHEBAT) MARCH (ADAR)	14—PURIM: added later to remember deliverance under Queen Esther

Richards, Larry ; Richards, Lawrence O.: The Teacher's Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1987, S. 120

SONday Weekly

This is a interesting and busy website that you all might enjoy
SONday Weekly

Something to Share

Dear Friends,


Just got the following in an email... its so good, just have to share!

Answered ISSUE #41
By:Chris Govekar

Meditation

Isaiah 65:24-Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear."



Paul Harvey tells a story of a man named Jack Wurm, who found himself walking on a beach in San Francisco, California one chilly day in March, 1949. Jack was 55, broke and down on his luck. His restaurant business had just gone bankrupt and he was jobless, penniless and totally without hope. He was walking that beach in San Francisco, praying for a miracle, asking God to help him out of his horrible situation when he came across a bottle with a note inside.

When he picked up the bottle and opened it up, the note he found inside read, "To avoid all confusion, I leave my entire estate to the lucky person who finds this bottle and to my attorney, Barry Cohen, share and share alike." The note was signed by Daisy Alexander and dated June 20, 1937. When Jack looked into the writer of the note, he found that she'd died in London in 1939, the eccentric heiress to most of the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. Even more amazingly, this "last will and testament" which Daisy had sealed in a bottle and tossed into the Thames River in 1937 held up in court and Jack suddenly found himself the recipient of almost $6 million in inheritance. (Paul Harvey, Destiny)

I'm sure that when he decided to walk on the beach that cold March morning, Jack had faith, however small, that God would answer his prayer, but not only did God have a plan, He had a plan He'd put in motion twelve years earlier to take care of a need Jack could never have known he'd have at just that time. We pray, often thinking that God CAN answer our prayers. Sometimes we pray believing that God WILL answer our prayers. How often, though do we pray believing the answer is already on its way, even before we think to ask?
Next time you feel tempted to give up on God and skip asking him to meet your needs, think of Jack and God's promise to Isaiah to answer our prayer even before we demonstrate the faith to ask. We serve a mighty God - before we ask, He's already answering!


©2010 Christopher Govekar ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause. If you would like to receive these devotionals send your name and email address to: danl@firstcause.org and ask to be placed on the distribution list. You can also sign up at our website at Reveration Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.

Audio Bible

Just in case you would like to listen for some "readings", click on the link under Online Bible Helps at the top of the page above which takes you to Christianity.com's Bible page. If you choose the New Living translation, you can hear the audio when you click on the speaker icon. This is a great way get "fed" on the Word :D Enjoy!

Catching Up and Checking In

Garsh... its almost April! Can you believe it? Seems that this year is zooming along.

Just thought I'd check in and see how you all are doing? Are we catching up? If you are like me you may need to really focus after recovering from Spring Break and preparing for Easter.

Praying for everyone and looking forward to sharing words and the Word with you here soon!

Blessings :-)
Margie

We are no fools!

Its nearly spring. A time of rebirth and renewal! Personally, its my favorite time of year. How I love the smell of the blossoms, the warmth of the sun, and watching the little lambs bounding through the fields nearby. And, its nearly Easter!!!

Springtime energizes, it offers a chance to recognize the opportunities we have in life. Easter is proof that we'll have eternal opportunity!

And then there is April 1 - April Fools Day ;-) This year instead of thinking of it as a day to play a joke or avoiding one, lets circle it on our calendars as a special day of opportunity! Lets make it the day we are committed to renewal of our promise to ourselves to read through the Bible chronologically this year. So what if we are 'behind' right now? Maybe we haven't even started!! But by reading 2 days at a time from the study guide suggestions, by April 1 we can be to week 10. We can read a couple days at a time for a short time thereafter, and before we know it, we'll all be back on track!

Ready....set.... goal!

Welcome Marylyn

We have a new sister joining in the journey. Marylyn saw an invite I'd posted on LifeWay's Beth Moore Believing God Forum and courageously asked if it was to late to come into our group.

God surely blessed us by nudging her this way... now we can all be nudged as another sister is joining with us in our goal to journey through God's word this year.

WELCOME MARYLYN!

(If anyone of you have a friend who has expressed a desire to read the Bible from start to finish, ask them if they would like to join us here. Its not too late! They would have to buckle down for the 1st couple weeks but could be on track and right with us in no time. Marylyn has taken on the challenge, perhaps she can be an inspiration to someone you know!)

Coming Back

Dearest Friends,

I hope we haven't given up in our efforts to read the Bible this year. If you are like me (and some of you have told me you are) you're behind. Its tough when we get into the books like the end of Exodus, Leviticus and etc...

But lets let the Spirit bring us back and get going again. Whose in?!

Blessings to All,
Margie

Good encouragement

Ladies,
This is a very good devotional that says..."Don't read your Bible."  Check it out!  

Week 6

Please click on week 6 above to get to the study guide. Hopefully this will take you to the pdf file...then you can save a copy for yourself for the entire year of readings. (Use the save option on the open file..2nd icon on the left that looks like an old floppy disk.) If the link does not take you there, post under comments and will try again! Happy Reading to all :-)

Puzzling

Sometimes what I read in the Bible just puzzles me!  Like my post about Lot's daughters, I wonder WHY is that an important thing for me to know?  

In the section we are reading now, Exodus 4:24-26 has me stymied.  Why would God, who has just called Moses to action, want to kill him???  How did his wife know it was related to circumcision?  Why would it be ok for her to solve the problem, not Moses himself?

Anyone have thoughts/insights?

Sermons too!

So as we start this next section of reading, going into Exodus, I discovered another tool in my Bible software.  A link to access sermons on the topics that relate to what we are reading.  For instance, this link takes you to a sermon about the beginning of the story ... click here.  But you can search for any topic by going directly to SermonCentral.com. and using the search bar you will find there!

Loving Joseph!

Joseph, the kind of man you'd love to see your daughter marry. Handsome, honest, sensitive, smart! No doubt that if he lived today he would be on the cover of People and/or Time. I've really enjoyed reading about him over the last week. How about you?

I have a Bible on my computer; well, actually software that includes the Bible and all kinds of references from maps to study guides and devotionals. In digging more deeply at this point in our reading I found the following exercise that seemed like a cool thing to share. Maybe if you have time, we can made a chart together by answering how we would fill in the blanks. Just write your answers in the comment section below this post, then I'll take the information, put it all together and post it for all!
Here are the instructions from the The Teacher's Commentary
"Many Bible students have seen in Joseph’s life and mission many parallels to Christ. Rejected by his brothers, sold for silver, suffering in a foreign land for the good of those who betrayed him, Joseph does bear a striking resemblance to the Saviour. And Joseph’s forgiving spirit also foreshadows the attitude of Jesus, who one day would cry from a cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

Use a chart to record similarities between the two. Several similarities have been noted. Begin with these, and then add others as you discover them in Genesis 37–50."

Study Schedule Week 5

Day 1 
Genesis 47:27;
Exodus 1:1-14;
Numbers 26:59;
Exodus 6:20; 1:15-22;
Hebrews 11:23-26;
Acts 7:17-29
As the family of Jacob settles in Egypt, we are in the 1600's BC. At the
opening of Exodus, the family is growing into a nation, slavery begins, and
Moses is born (in about 1571 BC).
Exodus 2:1-10; 6:23;
Numbers 26:60;
Exodus 2:11-25; 6:25
These passages show how the families of Aaron and Moses grew while they
were separated for 40 years.

Day 2
Exodus 3:1-4:31;
Acts 7:30-36
Here we have the call of Moses and his excuses—all of which were answered
by God. So, Moses met Aaron and they went to do the will of the Lord.
Exodus 5:1-7:13 This section tells of the final events before the ten plagues

Day 3
Exodus 7:14-9:35 Now the series of ten plagues begins. The date is about 1491 BC.

Day 4
Exodus 10:1-12:36 The ten plagues end with the death of the firstborn and the beginning of the
yearly Passover for the Israelites
Day 5
Exodus 12:40-42;
Numbers 33:1-4;
Exodus 12:37;
Numbers 33:5;
Exodus 12:38,39,43-
51;
13:1-20;
Numbers 33:6;
Exodus 13:21,22;
14:1,2;
Numbers 33:7
These scriptures tell us of the departure from Egypt and their early travel.
Exodus 14:3-31;
Hebrews 11:27-29
This chapter is the record of the defeat of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea,
also referred to as the “baptism” of the Israelites by Paul in I Corinthians 10.
Exodus 15:1-22;
Numbers 33:8;
Exodus 15:23-27;
Numbers 33:9
Here is the song of victory and more early travels of the new nation.

Day 6
Numbers 33:10,11;
Exodus 16:1-36
Now we “get” to read about the early murmurings of Israel and God's
gracious responses.
Exodus 17:1;
Numbers 33:12-14;
Exodus 17:2-16;
18:1-27
They continue to travel and murmur. Moses' father-in-law provides some
valuable advice that would definitely make things better for everybody.
Day 7 
Exodus 19:1,2;
Numbers 33:15;
Exodus 19:3-25;
20:1-26

Moses now meets Jehovah in order to receive His commandments. Notice in
Exodus 20:8-11 that the scriptures say God created “all” in six days—days
that were just like the Sabbath they were to observe (which was a 24-hour
day). This “all” includes the heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1).

The Red Tent

This section of the Bible makes me remember back to reading the book "The Red Tent". Have you read it? Its a book based on the family of Jacob told from the Women's point of view. A very good read. (or in my case, because audio books are something I invest in and enjoy... a good listen!) If any one would like the to listen to the audio version please let me know and I'll share my copy. And for you real readers out there, I am sure you can get it at the library or buy at your favorite bookstore if you are interested :-)
Blessings to All!
Margie

Study Schedule Week 4

Welcome to Week 4!

Since this makes a full month of reading, pat yourself on the back and know that you are doing a great job of making time in the Word a healthy habit :-)

(If anyone is doing the OYB readings, please let me know so those readings can be added to this page. As far as I'm aware no one is using them so decided to cut the confusion by just posting one option as this time. But, I am surely happy to put them back up if even one other person is using that schedule!)

A CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE READING SCHEDULE
Week Four - January 22-28

Day 1Genesis 23:1-25:34 Genesis 23 records the death and burial of Sarah. At about this time, we
would also have the death of Job (Job 42:16,17). Genesis 24 is the story of
how Rebekah became Isaac's wife when he was 40, three years after Sarah
died (Genesis 25:20). In the next chapter, Abraham married again and had
six more sons. It was at this time that Shem died (Genesis 11:11).
Abraham's death, although recorded in Genesis 25:8, actually took place
when Jacob and Esau were 15 years old (see verses 24-28).

Genesis 26:1-27:46 Genesis 26:22 is the approximate time of the marriages of Esau (26:34,35),
and after Genesis 26:25 we have the time of Ishmael's death (25:17,18).
Day 2 Genesis 28:1-30:24;
36:1-43;
I Chronicles 1:35-54
Since Jacob and Esau were twins, their lives are parallel. These passages
show the beginnings of their families after they left home. The date is
sometime after 1836 BC.
Day 3 I Chronicles 2:1-3
Genesis 30:25-33:20
These events are in the life of Jacob as he grew more wealthy by God's will.
He then decided to begin the journey southward toward his former home.
Day 4 Genesis 34:1-35:15;
38:1-5
This section runs in order, but the following section is not chronological,
since Joseph's story begins to take over.
Genesis 35:16-19;
48:7;
35:20-27; 37:1-35
Read these verses in the order we have listed to get a more chronological
order.
Day 5 Genesis 37:36; 39:1-6;38:6-30;I Chronicles 2:4;Genesis 39:7-23;
40:1-23; 35:28,29
This reading shows that while Joseph was in Egypt, Judah committed
adultery, Isaac died, etc.
Day 6 Genesis 41:1-45:28 I
Chronicles 2:5-8
This reading is an orderly account of more of the events in Joseph's life.
Day 7 Genesis 46:1-47:26;
47:28-50:26
The book of Genesis concludes with the reunion of Joseph and his father and
the prophetic blessings for the 12 sons of Israel, including one for each of

What??? Please share your thoughts!

What was in that wine? What is up with this whole story? Who would've thought that incest would be part of the Bible? Are you reading this??? Why do you think its an important account and what is God trying to teach us that makes it so important that He wanted it to be known? This is something that we would try to keep secret....
Lot and His Daughters
30Lot and his two daughters left Zoara and settled in the mountains,b for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family linec through our father.”d
33That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.e
34The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”f 35So they got their father to drink wineg that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.h
36So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.i 37The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab1;j he is the father of the Moabitesk of today. 38The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi2; he is the father of the Ammonites3l of today.
The Holy Bible : Today's New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan, 2005, S. Ge 19:30-38

Reading and Praying with you all!

Hello and Happy New Year to each of you!

How is everyone doing with reading through the Bible? I am a bit behind due to company last weekend. Some of them slept in the living room, and my worship basket with Bible and notes are there and I forgot to get them before going to bed! But I am almost caught up.

Thank you, Margie, for inviting us on this journey again! This will be at a slower pace and I do feel like I am getting more from the readings.

I marked my Bible in green last time and marked cool things like different women's names (that I'd never noticed before!), rocks, tree names, animals, plus verses that jumped out at me, etc.
What color should I mark with this time? I have been just using a pen, but think I should definitely use another color.

I am praying for each of you now! God is good! And despite all the very sad happenings of this earth, He wants us to surrender to Him and look for His soon return!

Blessings!
Dede aka Janice :-)

Helping Haiti

HAITI's stories of devastation and heartbreak continue; please consider donating (donate again), and praying (praying more) to and for those working so hard to help. Text HAITI to 90999 & give $10 to the Red Cross. Or here a few of the many ministries who are actively responding to the crisis:World Relief Samaritan'sPurse Global Aid Network The JESUS Film Mercy Ships Sovereign Grace Ministries Medical Teams Int'l

CLICK HERE ~ Something fun to start the new week

Thought you all might enjoy this little song :D

Study Schedule Week 3

A CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE READING SCHEDULE (For the whole year click here)
Week Three - January 15-21
Day Scriptures Notes
1 Job 32:1-34:37 Now Elihu comes into the story with a series of speeches that cover six
chapters. In the three for today, he expresses his anger toward the other four
men (32:1-22), appeals to Job to listen to him (33:1-33), exalts God (34:1-
30), and rebukes Job (34:31-37).
2 Job 35:1-37:24 Elihu's speeches end by accusing Job of speaking in vain (35:1-16), and
exalting God for His compassion and might (36:1-37:24).
3 Job 38:1-39:30 Jehovah finally speaks, demanding that Job stop and think about the things
that establish the difference between Almighty God and mortal man.
4 Job 40:1-42:17 In these closing chapters, God challenges Job again; and Job admits that he
needs to be silent (40:1-5). Then God illustrates His power by describing
two of the great creatures (dinosaurs) of His creation (40:6-41:34). In the
last chapter, Job repents (42:1-6), and the Lord shows His approval of Job,
and thus wins the battle against Satan (42:7-17).
5 Acts 7:1-16
Joshua 24:1-4
Genesis 12:1-14:24
According to the last chapter of Job, he lived 140 years after his trial of
patience. So during the chapters we are now reading in Genesis, Job was
alive. Abraham and his family were not the only godly people during that
age.
6 Genesis 15:1-19:38 This reading is longer than most of the others, but it clearly shows how there
were many very important events in the life of Abraham. These events are
still important, as we can see by remembering that the life of Abraham is
used throughout the Bible as a tool to teach all generations (see Romans
15:4).
7 Genesis 20:1-22:24
Romans 4:1-25
Hebrews 11:17-19
James 2:20-24
This reading begins with another lie on the part of Abraham, and ends with
the great story of his faith and works in the offering of Isaac.

Quick thought

Hey all,

Just had a quick thought while reflecting back on Job and moving forward into the story of Abram.  Chronologically reading to the story of Abram ---> Abraham, has such a great impact.  First you read of  Job's restoration after so much suffering and loss. And then we move right into even more miraculous intervention by our God, to bring forth a great nation under seemingly impossible circumstances! This is a great book, no wonder its a best seller :D

If this was Facebook, I'd click NO LIKE

I hate the book of Job!  Its so hard for me to read through all the hardship and "listen" to the way the friends and even his wife treat Job.  Hard to see what God allows Job to suffer!  Job is not a book I'd sit down and read if given a choice, that is for sure.  But even so, each time I struggle through it, I realize that there is much to learn from Job.

In the Women of Faith Bible, the intro to the book of Job gives these encouraging words, "Bad things can happen to good people.  God does allow his people to undergo testing. But the book of Job reminds us that God is still in control.  Even in the middle of the most horrific circumstances life throws our way, we can tie a mental knot in our faith and hang on to our trust in God.  If we focus on his sovereignty and faithfulness, we can face any storm life has to offer and come through - scared and hurting perhaps - but victorious nonetheless. "

I'm hoping to remember Job and praying we'll be able to visualize that  knot holding everything together whenever struggles try to tear us apart.

Ark timeline

Length of the Flood. The following chart traces the events of the Flood.

Events of the Flood

Month	Day	Events	Number of Days
2	10	Noah enters ark; God shuts door.	7
2	17	Rains fall; waters rush from seas. Ark floats.	40
3	27	Rain stops. Flood rushing in and water still rising.	110
7	17	Ark touches bottom on high mountains. Water stops rising; stationary.	40
8	27	Waters settle 15 cubits.	34
10	1	Ark on dry ground. Noah waits.	40
11	11	Noah sends raven; waits.	7
11	18	Noah sends dove; it returns with olive leaf.	7
11	25	Noah sends dove; it does not return. Noah waits.	22
12	17	Water recedes.	14
1	1	Noah sees dry land; waits.	56
2	27	Noah commands all to abandon the ark. Total time on ark.	377

Richards, Larry ; Richards, Lawrence O.: The Teacher's Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1987, S. 42

Choices

Beginning to read the Bible, how impressive its been to see the pattern of choice. God made the 1st choice to create our world, to create the birds and fish, the animals, and in His own imagine - us! Then we (Eve, Adam, Cain, the "sons of God" and "daughters of men" ) made the choices that could have destroyed all that He had given.
Yet in His love, He continues to choose us. While each bad choice brought with it a consequence, our Lord still provided and protected ... even unto the days of Noah. God made a way for His creation to continue. He could have destroyed everything and everyone then started again, but He didn't (doesn't)... God's choice from the beginning is for us!