1. At the end of May, I finished up a one year reading plan I was using on YouVersion Bible app. Last June I had selected their Project 345 plan. It is designed to take you through the New Testament in a year's time by reading one chapter of the NT each weekday (weekends are used for catch up). It's name is derived from the time it takes for the average reader to read one chapter of the NT. I found the plan to be very manageable and found much profit. Many days I took more than 3:45 just to reflect and pray about what I had just read. If you are looking for a Bible reading plan (and a way to keep on the plan) I highly recommend using the YouVersion app (available on both IOS and Android) and the 3:45 plan!
As the first of June was fast approaching, it hit me that I needed another plan. Hmm. I hadn't read Proverbs in a while, so I decided to do so in June, one chapter a day (with two chapters on the 30th). As I read thru the text ... I circle a few verses that strike me and then go back and pray over them. Here are some of the verses I circled (and why I did):
Proverbs 3:9 - Honor the Lord with your wealth . . . Now I am not a "wealthy" man in that my bank account is 7 figures. But compared to the VAST majority of earth's population, I am VERY wealthy! I never need to wonder where my next meal is coming from. Nor do it have to wonder what I will wear when I launder my one set of clothes. And if I get sick or injured, healthcare is only a phone call away. So as I read this verse I was reminded that I need to be honoring the Lord with all the material (and other) resources that he has blessed me with! Am I truly giving enough to advance his kingdom? Alleviate the suffering of the poor (Proverbs 19:17)? Am I spending too much money on selfish pursuits? These are good questions that all of us need to be asking ourselves on a regular basis.
Proverbs 10:19 - When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is wise. This is one of my favorite realisms in the entire book! Let me ask you this - can you think of the last time you got yourself in trouble by keeping your mouth shut? Or is it easier to think of the times you got yourself in trouble for saying something that should have been left unsaid? This proverb from the pen of King Solomon is a great reminder for all of us to make sure our brains our in gear before our tongues start wagging!
Proverbs 18:12 - Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. Since pride is at the essence of our sin and rebellion against God (what is the middle letter of the word sin?), pride is very often taking up residence in our hearts. And as for humility .... when you think you have it you probably don't! So we must pray and ask God to give us humble hearts. One of the great steps toward humility is to remember who you are before God. He is our infinite, almighty creator ... we are merely the creatures of his hand. He is holy. We are sinful. And any and every good thing we enjoy in this life is a gift from him (James 1:17). The only thing we are entitled to from God is judgment. Yet in his grace he offers us himself in all of his beauty! And as we remind ourselves of just how far down in the mire of human depravity he had to reach for us ... that will have a humbling effect on us!
So these are just a few of the numerous verses that jumped out at me. I trust you ALL have some sort of plan for reading the Bible. For if you don't have a plan, you will probably read a lot less of the Bible than you should (and need to) be reading! For "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable ... so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
2. Some have been asking about my wife and how she is doing. She is scheduled for her 6 month post-op appointment with the surgeon in mid July. If you were to ask her how she is doing, she would say "Compared to last year I am doing so much better!" And there is a lot of truth in that. Her leg is straight (and it was not before her revision in January) AND she has a much better bend (for a year she could not get beyond 70 degrees ... now she is over a 100 degrees). That said, she still suffers from quite a bit of pain (some days more than others). When we are planning to do a lot of walking, she takes her cane. And she is still not sleeping through the night in a bed (in fact some nights, she sleeps entirely in the lazy boy). So that's the latest. Would very much appreciate your ongoing prayers!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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