Day: June 2, 2018

Christ Has Set Us Free to Live a Free Life!

/ Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

I deliberately waited until evening to write my post. Why? To keep from falling back into the trap of “rule-keeping.”

I woke up at 4:45 a.m. and thought, “Bible before breakfast.” Religious rules become ingrained in us. They keep pulling us back into legalism.

Galatians 5:1, “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” The Message

When I follow a rigorous, legalistic, religious schedule, I leave Christ out. He wants to lead me through my day. When I wrote my post early, I would put stop talking to God.

Galatians 5:4, “I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace.” The Message

My assignment for today was to test everything on my blog. I found errors and several run-on sentences! I rewrote three of my pages! I realized I was too busy working on my blog to compare it to others.

Galatians 5:26, “That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.” The Message

Rewriting the “Relevant” Guide Story was a walk down memory lane. I remembered the years when I tried to put the guide together. I wasn’t sure how to make it all fit! (Thank God for Joe Goudy.) Each year, God showed me another step to improve it.

Galatians 6:5, “Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” The Message

Cindy F. blessed me when she left this comment at LinkedIn after reading yesterday’s post…

“I cannot put into words how much this writing spoke to me. Thank you.”

I replied, “…It is better to talk to God all day and let Him guide me. I am always learning.”

©2009-2018 thisyearsbiblereadingguide.com. All Rights Reserved.

“Relevant” Guide Story

/ Frugal Fish / 1 Comment

Start the summer right! Read your Bible!

Check out the “Relevant” Bible Reading Guide! (I published the June chapters on May 25th. Or you can print the rest of the year’s chapters. It’s found under the “Relevant” Guide Story menu.)

Overview of the “Relevant” Bible Reading Guide Year

Life of Christ

Lives of Kings Saul, David, and Solomon

Break at Easter Week

Lives of Kings of Judah and Israel

Pentecost Through Final Judgment

Judgment Comes to the Kings

Creation Through the Book of Ruth

Christmas Story

Calling of Disciples

* * * * * * *

  • Relevant: Read about Christmas at Christmas.
  • Timely: Takes 10-15 minutes.
  • Exciting: Start the year reading of the miracles of Christ.
  • Comparable: Read the same story out of each book together.
  • Unexpected: Switch our reading at Easter and Pentecost.
  • Chronological: Read prophecy books after the chapters when written.
  • Perpetual: Start on any day of the year.
  • Unique: Each year is different but covers all the chapters.

* * * * * * *

How I Wrote the “Relevant” Bible Reading Guide

I have read the Bible daily since I was 13 and used several guides. I wanted a guide that was relevant. I desired to read about Christ’s birth on Christmas and The Passion at Easter.

I wanted to start the New Year reading something exciting. I didn’t want to get bogged down in the book of Numbers in winter.

I also wanted to read a similar amount of verses every day. I counted the words in each chapter. Then set the daily readings by the average number of words.

I started with the Christmas story, assigning Luke 1 to Christmas Eve. It tells of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. The story was in 3 books, I went back and forth assigning the reading chronologically. We end the year reading of Christ calling the twelve disciples.

Luckily, I have the New International Version Study Bible. It has a chart of the Parables of Christ. I used it to put the chapters of the books of the gospels together.

I moved the chapters about the Crucifixion and Resurrection to Easter week. We will read about the “Triumphal Entry” on “Palm Sunday.” We read about “The Last Supper” on “Maundy Thursday.” “The Crucifixion” covers Friday and Saturday, and “The Resurrection” on “Easter Sunday.” The day after Easter we read of “The Ascension.”

On “Pentecost Sunday,” we switch to reading Acts. It was only natural to follow the events of the early church. You stop in different places in Acts and read the letters to the various churches.

That finished the chapters in the New Testament. I had no idea how to plan the Old Testament. The answer came during a Sunday school class taught by Joe Goudy…

“The first day of the Jewish New Year was the day God created the earth.”

I was so excited! The day varies each year, (at the end of September or beginning of October). I set October 1 as the date to start reading in Genesis. It makes sense to study history in the Bible when our kids are in school.

1 Samuel tells the story of the first King of Israel. When we finish reading the gospels, Jesus has just ascended to heaven. He promised to return as King of Kings. It seemed natural to read the stories of the earthly kings.

When assigning chapters in 1 Samuel, I noted the same stories recorded in 1 Chronicles. I matched the chapters up so that we would read the accounts together.

While reading of King David, I remembered he wrote most of the Psalms. I thought…

“Wouldn’t it be nice to read the Psalms right after reading the events?”

I slowly went through the Psalms looking for clues about their subject and date. Sometimes the clues were in the title. Other times I had to scour the notes at the bottom of the page.

I assigned David’s, Solomon’s and Moses’ Psalms next to the chapters of events. (I never realized Moses wrote a Psalms!) There were Psalms written before the exile and after the exile. I assigned them to the corresponding books and chapters.

When I reached the time of the prophets I hit another snag. I wanted to read the prophecies chronologically. Once again I scoured the footnotes and the notes at the front of each book. I recorded the dates and assigned the books chronologically. The chapters referring to a certain date, king, or event, are with them.

Easter is on a different day every year. It is during the time we are reading the history of the kings. It is simple to pause and read the Easter chapters. Then start on the next king after Easter week.

We pause again to start Acts on “Pentecost Sunday.” We read through Revelation which is about earth’s judgment. Then we continue with the various kings’ judgment.

At the end of the Old Testament, the temple and the Jerusalem wall are rebuilt. We read the first chapters of 1 Chronicles. They list the names from Adam to those who moved back after the exile. We study those chapters in September when children return to school. The list of names is right before we read Genesis.

The beauty of the “Relevant” Bible Reading Guide is there is no beginning or end. It is perpetual, with yearly adjustments for Easter and Pentecost Sunday. You can start any time. It takes 10-15 minutes for each assigned reading.

I read the chapters each day and write a devotional. My post is about a verse(s) that stood out to me or gave me direction. Every year I buy a different version of the Bible to read.

©2009-2018 thisyearsbiblereadingguide.com. All Rights Reserved.