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Showing posts from December, 2022

"Come, Lord Jesus" December 31 Readings: Revelation 21-22

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Revelation 21-22    Background:     We spend a lot of time trying to find life, to find fun and contentment and pleasure and peace in this world. But in Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, we see a truth that helps us in the search for real life. Observe verses 1 and 2. T hen the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the

"When the Books Open" December 30 Readings: Revelation 20

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:   Revelation 20     Background:     It will be the most glorious moment in human history when the great battle of evil is going on here on earth and suddenly Jesus breaks out in glory with heaven's armies trailing him and he strikes down the rebellious hordes with the sword coming out of his mouth. Then, he judges the world, binds Satan, and sets up his millennial kingdom. After that comes the final judgment and

"Fallen Is Babylon" December 29 Reading: Revelation 18-19

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Revelation 18-19    Background:     Babylon is a powerful word throughout the Bible, representing not just the powerful nation that arose to seek to dominate the world, but symbolically standing for everything in this world that unites in opposition to God. There is, in Revelation 17-18, a religious aspect to Babylon, a united religion without loyalty to God or to his Son. There is political Babylon, the uniting

"God's Awful Wrath" December 28 Reading: Revelation 16-17

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Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Revelation 16-17   Background:    This is the end, the very end. Seals have been opened and trumpets have been blown, but now the final bowls of God's judgment will be poured out on the earth in chapter 16 and God'sfinal judgment on the sinful world economic and religious system will commence in chapter 17. God has judged the world before - the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Destruction of Jerusalem. But th

"Embracing Evil" December 27 Readings: Revelation 13-15

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:       R evelation 13-15 Background:     Chapter 13 turns to the rise of two men who will spearhead the work of evil in the last days, men we know of as the Antichrist and the false prophet - here they are identified as the first and second beasts. Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the Garden, the curse of sin has rested on the earth and on the sinners who dwell here. God has repeatedly warned that while he is patie

"Mysteries" December 26 Readings: Revelation 10-12

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Revelation 10-12    Background:     Today's reading puts us in another gap between the sixth and seventh in a judgment series. The sixth trumpet has blown and judgments have destroyed half of the earth. At the end of chapter 9, the sinners of earth refuse to repent but in chapters 10 and 11, God shows his grace by sending another angel with a little scroll and the two witnesses, believed by many to be Moses a

The Birth of Christ December 25 Readings: – Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2, John 1

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2, John 1 Background:     Merry Christmas. Read the story of Christ today and enjoy your day with your family. Remember to celebrate Jesus as you celebrate! You can read the story as it appears or you can read it below in chronological order. Daily Devotional:    The Angel Appears to Mary   (Luke 1)             26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 2

"The Church's Biggest Failure" December 24 Readings: Revelation 6-9

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Revelation 6-9    Background:     n chapter 6, Jesus begins to open the seals on the judgment scroll and wrath of God is poured out on the world. There are significant issues at stake here, far more than we can discuss in this brief statement - issues that will be argued until Jesus actually returns and settles all the discussions. But there are several significant items that appear here. The first four seals bri

"Worthy Is the Lamb" December 23 Readings: Revelation 4-5

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Revelation 4-5    Background:     This is the beginning of the grand story of Revelation. Heaven opens and John is taken up, where a scroll appears on which is written all the judgments of God on the sinful world. No one is worthy to open the scroll and judge the world until the Lamb steps forward. Jesus by his death and resurrection earned the right to judge the world. The rest of the book is the unfolding of th

"Sin's Progress" December 22 Readings: Revelation 2-3

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:    Revelation 2-3 Background:     This is a tough one for me! I preached a series of sermons on these two chapters - 12 messages! Now I have to write 1 devotional that encapsulates what I taught in 12 sermons of 30 (okay 40 to 45) minutes each.  These 7 churches form an arch starting from Ephesus and appear in the order one might deliver the letters. John wrote them while exiled on Patmos, just southwest of Ephesus.

"The REAL Jesus" December 21 Readings: Revelation 1

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  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.  Bible Readings:     Revelation 1 Background:     My NT professor in seminary said that he hoped that he would get far enough behind in class that there would be no time for the study of Revelation. It seems that people either become morbidly interested with Revelation and the details of the end times or they disdain it. As we read the book, we will seek to look at the broad brushstrokes of the book, the flow of its grand story, with