SentChurch | Daily Bible Reading

Read: Luke 6:27-41
Love your enemies
Don’t condemn others

Apply: Still on the slower reading plan with my friend at work: we read the same chapter of Luke for a week. So we read it over and over and ask God to reveal stuff to us. Then we meet once a week for lunch and trade insights into the Word. Insights and convictions I might add.

I read the entire chapter of Luke 6 but the above verses are what nailed me in the heart this week.

Slow down…read the verse, Wendy: vs 27″Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you…. vs 35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned that they might not repay. …”

Wow. If that’s what He’s asking us to do in regards to our ENEMIES how much more towards our brothers and sisters in Christ?

Vs 37: “Stop judging others and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others or it will all come back on you…”

I’ve read over this so quickly in the past…yeah yeah yeah, be nice to people. I get it.

But this time: Wendy: there is no room for criticizing others…at all. Like, never, Lord?

Examine: Why is it that I see the areas where I fall short against scripture’s standards when I’m reading a particular passage? I mean…examples pop up right and left: opportunities to apply the scripture I am studying. And this week, I saw how I was not applying it so well.

I really feel like I’m finding fault in others a lot these days. Judging their efforts or their motives or their commitment. Why? What is amiss in me…what is uncomfortable in me…what is out of sorts in me that prompts me to point the finger elsewhere so the spotlight is not examining me?

And the sad thing is: I am judging my brothers and sisters in Christ. These are not even non-believers I am judging…they are my own Christian family.

Wow. This chapter in Luke really yanked me up and made me take notice. Wendy: you need to get rid of the log in your own eye first (vs. 42). That will keep you busy for a while.

Besides, the resentment that churns in my diaphragm when I’m judging others is uncomfortable and gets me off focus.

If I focus on: What needs to change in me, Lord, today? then the resentful churning lifts and I have clearer focus to go about my day and do what I hear God saying is the priority for today. The fog in my brain lifts and I feel like the thoughts that are coming in are probably God’s direction instead of my own festerings and frustrations.

Pray: Lord Jesus…please help me to stay focused on You. Please help me to let go of judgments and let You handle others. Please help me to allow You to do heart surgery in me…to get me back on track…to clear the fog in my mind. I love you Lord. Please help me to love others the way You do.

This post was submitted by Wendy Leech.

Read: Psalm 15:1-3

Genesis 16:2-6

1 Chronicles 16:8-13

Luke 9:53-62
Luke 10:2-3
Luke 10:17-20

Apply: Only those who, with everything in them, try to do what is right before the Lord, and do not falter can dwell close to Him.

Sarai felt sorry for herself, and tried to fix what SHE could not do…and gave Abram HER solution to the problem.

Abram also wasn’t blameless because he was drawn into Sarai’s (or Satan’s) trap for the solution to not having the Promise child. Abram too, did not stand firm on the promise that God assured him of.

David made it a necessity to have people worshiping, praying and thanking before the Lord day & night. David knew that and wanted to ensure that he, his family and the people that the Lord gave him were safe and secure, so he gave the Lord the ONLY thing that he and his people were truly able to give Him…Worship, Thanks & Praise.

The disciple’s let power and authority go to there heads, but Jesus loved them enough to even rebuke the ones closest to Him. Jesus showed His friends that He was for everyone.

Jesus told his friends that the people are ready to accept the Truth and there are many…He sent them out knowing that it won’t be easy but the Harvest is bountiful…The Lord gives us tremendous power and authority in the spirit realm, but we must not let this go to our heads and use it to do wrong in the Father’s eye.

Examine: I must speak the Truth even when the truth may not be in my favor.

I may feel sorry for myself at times, like Sarai did when she could give Abram a child, but I MUST hold on to the Promises of God to what He has promised me and to what He has promised to His people that follow Him.

I must try not to doubt, no matter how long it takes for a promise of God to take place.

It is important to examine myself daily and offer thanks and praise for where He is taking me and my family. It is also important not to let the world’s view taint my outlook and let it affect the way I treat others.

Pray: Father, in Jesus’ name…I asked that you would protect me from myself. Lead me in the path that takes me directly to your “Holy Hill.” Find me righteous, because of Jesus, in your eyes. Help me with my doubt and give me strength to stand firm on your promises. Lead me and my family, in Humility, to those who are ready to know Your son Jesus, that You may take ALL the Honor & Glory for EVERYTHING.

I ask this is the name of Jesus the Christ…Amen

This post was submitted by Mark Duphiney.

Read: I’m reading through a little more slowly than our Bible reading plan. I am going through the gospels with a friend at work, reading one chapter, over and over, once a week.
This week is Luke 3. We meet today for lunch to discuss. After 31 years of being saved, I would have thought I knew this stuff better than I do, but, wow. I have seen A LOT of things I never saw before.

Apply: Luke 3:1-14
What jumped out at me this week was this: people were flocking to John the Baptist in droves to ask him: “What should I do” to get saved?
He didn’t have them pray the sinners prayer, or any pre-Jesus version of that (since Jesus had not yet died and risen.)
He said things like, “If you have two coats, give one to the poor” and to corrupt tax collectors he replied “Show your honesty,…Make sure you collect no more taxes than the Roman government requires you to.”

Examine: My take on the above was: Is THAT really the Gospel?
Honestly, when a Pastor (yes, you, Dan or Shane) asks from the front, What is the Gospel? I must admit I stumble a bit to put it into an encapsulated “portable truth,” as Tim Elmore describes it, that could be quick enough for an elevator message. I really haven’t known how to answer that question.
I realized several months back that I have avoided the Gospels in my Bible reading. Why? I’m not sure but I think it’s because I felt like I could never measure up. Jesus is so PERFECT.
Now, as I go through them slowly with my friend at work, I still see that I can never measure up to Him, but that reveals His grace to me all the more…and my need for Him all the more. Daily. I need Him daily.
And His Gospel is very practical.
I like practical.
While Florida freezes He wants me to share our home for a couple of nights with friends who live in a trailer with a space heater.
He wants me to read the book Christmas Jars, get moved by it, and save up change and dollars in a jar and surprise some random person God places on my heart.
He wants me to make extra pasta y fagiole and share it with a friend at work whose wife is having some physical challenges as she carries their second child.
Wow. That is so simple. Not mystical at all.

Pray: Lord Jesus ~ please get me out of myself. I realize more and more how self focused I am. Help me to keep it simple and just ask you: Who do you want me to give to today, and what do you want me to give them? I am really glad you love me so much Jesus and you are so patient. I love you Lord!

This post was submitted by Wendy~.

Read: Psalm 1:2-3 “but His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all he does, he prospers.”

Apply: The righteous man delights in God’s Word and this passage gives the notion that he is constantly reading it and living it out. He is compared to a lush, thriving, fruitful tree that always produces (prospers) no matter the situation.

Examine: I will be faithful to my commitment to reading through God’s Word this year together with my church family; using the R.E.A.P. method to translate my studying the word into practically living it out. I desire heart transformation not just more information.

Pray: Lord, grant me an increasing desire for you and your Word. I want to my life to be compared to that of a lush, fruitful and thriving tree because your Word has transformed me. Amen.

This post was submitted by Dan.