Proverbs 10:19

I think I need to memorize this verse. Yep, I've said the wrong thing again. I could blame it on exhaustion, but that would just be an excuse for my thoughtlessness. I wish I had the gift of being able to always manage to say the right thing instead of just blurting out something inappropriate. It's just too easy to be sinful and to hurt others without meaning to.

So, for my own benefit, here it is:

^A)When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
    ^(B)but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Chronological Bible reading continued

I'm almost at the end of Job now. What a fantastic finish. I love how the young turk Elihu speaks up, seemingly out of nowhere, and tells them all off for not acknowledging that God is gracious and just and that he can do whatever he likes.

I'm about to read Chapters 38 and 39 where God speaks. I actually read ahead a little bit into those chapters because they look so good. I might put up a few of my favourite quotes from them tomorrow.

Chronological Bible reading plan update

Ben's calling it the C.B.R.P. over at his blog. Catchy.

So I'm eight days in and still on track. But things are getting busy as end of term activities start hotting up here so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I start missing a day here and there.

After the familiar stories at the beginning of Genesis, I'm finding that Job is not an easy book to sit down and read and take in. It's hard going reading all the conversation between Job and his mates. There's a part of me wishing that the friends had just said nothing the way they did for the first seven days after they arrived while Job was still in the depths of despair. But I guess if they hadn't started talking, Job wouldn't have had reason to say all the good stuff he had to say.

I'm trying to read while keeping focused on the big picture of the book. If I do that, I don't seem to find that I get quite so bogged down. I know it's important that I hang in there even with the bits in the Bible that seem hard to focus on. I'm figuring that this is all good preparation for dealing with Leviticus, Numbers etc later on.  And it's all in there because it's important.

Praying here for the discipline to keep going.

When you feel in a rut with reading the Bible...

I've had this feeling many times, so I hope it's normal. I saw someone commenting on a blog post I was reading yesterday, saying they felt in a bit of a rut with their Bible reading, so it was comforting to see I wasn't alone.

I think, like most ruts, the solution to getting out of it involves trying something a bit different to what you've been doing. Sounds obvious, but I think it's easy to forget. We're busy people, old habits are hard to break and all that.

I posted here yesterday about starting a Bible reading plan to read through the Bible in chronological order. I haven't ever read the Bible right through (I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that) so at the moment I'm all enthusiastic about it. Previous experience tells me I may find it harder going as time progresses so I am trying to find someone who'll help me to be accountable with it, maybe by doing it with me. My brother commented when I shared yesterday's post on Facebook so I'm hoping I might be able to convince him to do it. For the moment, I'm parking the three year old on the bed next to me in the mornings after breakfast with her Jesus Storybook Bible and getting her to read her Bible while I'm reading mine. This is an on again, off again strategy I've tried so she sees me reading the Bible and then I can talk with her about the children's version. It's not always successful because she'll want me to read the story in her Bible to her after she finishes having a very quick chat to herself about the pictures ("he's wearing a pink shirt" "trees all cut down" "that's a purple boat" are among the profound insights I hear as she's doing her quiet time). Usually I can get her to wait till I'm finished reading so I read the real story to her after that.

My husband and I also read the Bible together each night before we go to bed. It's not the ideal time of the day to do it. The bigger kids don't see us reading the Bible so the danger is that they think we're not doing it at all. I've been known to fall asleep during the prayer time after we read, so I have to keep my eyes open during praying (not helpful for concentrating on what we're praying about). But it's the best we can do at the moment until we sort out a better routine.

For a while now, we've been reading through short studies in the large backlog of Briefing magazines we have kept over many years. Generally these follow the format of reading through a book (or section of a book) from the Bible, following the chapters in sequential order. This is very worthwhile to do, but we were starting to feel a bit stale with it all.

So I was happy to find a series of topical readings on mercy in one of the back issues from a couple of years ago. Moving through different parts of the Bible to see what it says on a specific topic is different from what we've been doing for the last year or so, so it's reignited the spark of interest to hang in there and keep reading.

Something else I signed up for recently was the Live Light in 25 Words campaign that the Bible Society have going at the moment. They send you a Bible verse each day (as close as possible to 25 words long), the contextual passage that the verse comes from so you can go away and look it up yourself, and a question to reflect on. It's another something different to keep me thinking about God's word to us in the Bible.

In the past, I haven't found it easy to hang in there with prayer and Bible reading times. I do it regularly for a while, then things get busy and I fall off the wagon. But I'm finding over time that it's getting easier to get back on and keep going. And each time this happens, I think it gets a little bit easier to do. The stretches where I am reading my Bible are getting much longer than they used to be. At the moment it's more unusual for me not to do it.

Perseverance is important, but in the end I can only do it with God's help. I'm thankful that He gives us the strength to keep going and the understanding that comes from immersing ourselves in the Bible each day.

Images from here and here.

Reading through the Bible in a year

Jean and Meredith have inspired me to give it a go. I'm following the chronological reading plan that Jean's suggested and is currently doing.

I've started today. I'm sure that I will miss days here and there over the course of the year so I figured if I got a head start before the January 1 kick-off date on the plan, that could only be a good thing.

I'm liking the idea of reading the Bible chronologically to improve my knowledge of how the whole Bible story hangs together. So after I've read the first bit of Genesis I'll be heading into Job for a while. I'm also excited about seeing how the Psalms relate to 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Chronicles and the Kings. I've been reading through the Psalms one to one with my friend (very slowly since we're not able to meet up every week) and have been wondering as we've been going along how they link up to what David was up to at the time.

No doubt I'll need plenty of good kicks to keep the motivation up as time goes on. But I am going to make it my goal to see it through even if it takes longer than a year.

Thanks for the reading plan recommendations, Jean, and for all your helpful hints on how to read all of the Bible, Meredith. Much appreciated.

If anyone else wants to join me in my quest, I'd love to hear from you, online or in real life!

And if you are looking for some worthwhile blog posts to read at the moment (since there's nothing to see here, people...)

Could I recommend Meredith's posts on reading all of the Bible. The first one is here.

One to one Bible reading

I caught up with my wonderful friend this morning to read our Bibles together. We decided we'd choose something simple to kick off with, so we've started with Psalms. We read Psalm 2 today.

We followed a question framework from the above book (you can get a copy of it here). And had a great time reading and praying together. Well, we prayed at the beginning and forgot to pray at the end. Something to remember for next time we meet up.

It's so good to make time to read the Bible properly. Lately I've been trying to be more disciplined with having personal Bible reading time. I'm trying to do this in the mornings when I'm not tired and before the day has a chance to run off the rails as it so often does by the time evening rush hour rolls around. I'm also encouraging Rosie to sit up next to me on the bed and read her Beginner's Bible while I'm reading mine. It's pretty cute. Often when she sees me sitting there reading (even if I'm not reading my Bible), she'll say "Quiet time now?" and toddle off to get her Bible as well. It doesn't always work and I often get interruptions while she's there, but hopefully she's getting the idea that putting aside time to read the Bible is an important thing to do.

But reading the Bible with someone else is amazing. I was privileged to share another person's point of view and ideas about a passage. And to pray with someone (other than my husband) one to one. And I was reminded again of God's goodness to us.

"Blessed are all who take refuge in him" (Psalm 2:12).

Zechariah

Chris and I are reading this in our Bible reading time at the moment. We're three chapters into it now.

I have to confess I haven't read much of the minor prophets. Other than Jonah at Sunday School, they weren't big in the church I grew up in.

I'm loving it. It's great how all those visions point towards Jesus.

One of Rosie's current favourite pastimes

She loves looking through her Beginner's Bible and finding pictures with Jesus in them. She now knows that he only appears in the second half of her Bible (and on the cover, of course).

It's pretty funny listening to her turning the pages and hearing "Jesus"..."Jesus"..."Jesus" over and over again.

Comfort in times of suffering

The news for our friends has not been good. Further scans have shown their little baby has severe abnormalities and may or may not survive birth.

Today I found this post on Cathy's blog on Psalm 77.

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to yJeduthun. A Psalm of zAsaph.

77 I acry aloud to God,

aloud to God, and he will hear me.

2 bIn the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

in cthe night my dhand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul erefuses to be comforted.

3 When I remember God, I fmoan;

when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;

I am so gtroubled that I cannot speak.

5 I consider hthe days of old,

the years long ago.

6 I said,1 “Let me remember my isong in the night;

let me jmeditate in my heart.”

Then my spirit made a diligent search:

7 “Will the Lord kspurn forever,

and never again lbe favorable?

8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?

Are his mpromises at an end for all time?

9 nHas God forgotten to be gracious?

oHas he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,

to the years of the pright hand of the Most High.”

2

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will qremember your wonders of old.

12 I will ponder all your rwork,

and meditate on your smighty deeds.

13 Your way, O God, is tholy.

uWhat god is great like our God?

14 You are the God who vworks wonders;

you have wmade known your might among the peoples.

15 You xwith your arm redeemed your people,

the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 When ythe waters saw you, O God,

when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

indeed, the deep trembled.

17 The clouds poured out water;

the skies zgave forth thunder;

your aarrows flashed on every side.

18 bThe crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

cyour lightnings lighted up the world;

the earth dtrembled and shook.

19 Your eway was through the sea,

your path through the great waters;

yet your footprints fwere unseen.3

20 You gled your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

This is what grieving in a Godly way should look like. The time to cry and to mourn, while remembering that God is holy and strong and in control of all things. We need to keep reminding ourselves of this. Until we meet Jesus face to face in heaven, we will not know why these things happen. All we can do is cling to him and trust that he is there for us always.

Praying for our friends as they face this time of uncertainty ahead and that we will be able to support them well.

Family Bible readings for Easter

Meredith has posted a list of family Bible readings to do in the lead up to Easter. You can find them here. They are excellent and she is happy to share them with whoever is interested.

We have started them but haven't been as regular with them as I'd like to be. Some of them are actually for reading after Easter is over, which is good for letting the kids know what happened beyond the Resurrection.

I like the way they combine the different Gospel accounts as well.

Thanks so much Meredith for the effort in putting this together!

This month's Bible readings that Chris and I are following...

...are from Ezra.

I have no memory of ever reading this book. The Uniting Church I grew up in wasn't big on expository preaching so it was never covered. I don't think I've heard it preached on since I have been going to churches that go through books of the Bible in greater detail.

So it is really interesting to look at it for the first time. Last night we did a sidetrack to 1 Peter, but it is back into Ezra tonight.

God Is Enough...

To calm my anxieties about going back to work, we have been reading Psalms in our nightly Bible readings. We have been following Psalms 21-40 in our readings from The Briefing. And I am also reading God Is Enough which covers some other Psalms as well. This is the book I am hoping to encourage some women from church to read and discuss with me, so that I will actually finish reading it rather than leaving the bookmark at the start of Chapter 3 for the next six months while I read other stuff that isn't really more important, but seems so at the time.

It is very good so far (I am at the start of Chapter 3!). I love reading Psalms. Comforting words when times are hard.

Guidance...and work....

Chris and I have almost finished our 20 readings from the Briefing about guidance. They were based on the book Guidance and the Voice of God by Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne. We found the first half of them hard going but we battled on and by the end we found ourselves enjoying them more. Possibly part of the hard going related to the fact that the majority of them were done after 11 pm at night. We probably need to find a better time to schedule Bible reading but we figured this was better than doing no reading at all.

The best bit was the last few readings, when we were discussing what were matters of righteousness, matters of good judgement and matters of triviality and relating these to church, work and marriage/family. I think that this is a helpful framework for decision making.

I also think that some of our decisions regarding work and marriage/family might be categorised differently by others. Our decision that I will return to paid work, for example. I think that this is a matter of good judgement. In the past we have made some poor judgements in this area in relation to how much paid work I can realistically cope with, but I think that me returning to work two days a week is now something our family can manage.

I may be wrong here, but I think that there are people who consider that women working outside the home (or perhaps not working outside the home) is a matter of righteousness. Yes, I know that in Titus 2:5 it says that women should be busy at home. And I certainly agree that at this stage of my life, bringing up godly children is my number one priority. I just don't think that these priorities completely exclude the possibility of some participation in the paid workforce.

But time will tell, I guess. I know that when I am working, I tend to become stressed more easily at home. I find it hard to be available for the kids as much when something has happened at work that is bothering me. So I will need to pray for wisdom in how I manage my working life. At least after years of managing different amounts of part time work, I am getting a better understanding of what to expect when I return. And an ever-increasing understanding that work is not the most important and fulfilling thing in life.

Challenge for today....

This morning I am doing one of the readings at church.

Matthew 1:1-17. The genealogy of Jesus.

I am really looking forward to pronouncing all those names. So much fun.

Chris told me I should get away with most mispronunciations since most other people won't know the correct ones either. Except for Salmon. I won't be pronouncing that one like the seafood variety....