An End of Year Challenge

The end of 2014 is almost upon us. Many people are thinking about the holidays: buying gifts, planning meals, attending parties, and looking forward to time with family and friends. All of this can make it difficult to maintain spiritual routines. Daily Bible reading, regular times of prayer, and memorization habits can easily be neglected in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. So I want to encourage you to make a special commitment for December.

Decide to make spiritual discipline a priority in the last 31 days of the year. Take advantage of the last month of 2014 to get spiritual momentum for 2015. You may decide to devote yourself to reading a specific portion of Scripture, perhaps one book repeatedly. Or you might decide to memorize a favorite chapter of the Bible or several psalms. You might devote a special time of prayer each day to thanksgiving, or to praying for the salvation of friends and loved ones outside of Christ. Whatever you decide to do: make it manageable but challenging. Be careful of commitments that are so time consuming they must be discarded after three days. Whatever you do, make it sustainable. Here are some simple ideas.

1.      Read the entire New Testament – You can read the entire NT in 31 days by reading just 8-9 chapters per day. You can also listen to the entire NT in one month. Most audio copies of the NT are ~16 hours long, so by listening for just 30 minutes per day, you will cover the entire NT in one month.

2.      Read the book of Psalms – You can read the entire Psalter in 30 days by reading just 5 psalms per day. Devote one day to Psalm 119, and the entire plan will cover 31 days. You might also pick one psalm each day from your reading and pray through it.

3.      Read First John 31 times – There is no better epistle for reassuring believers of their security in Christ. Read the letter every day for the entire month and watch your trust in Christ grow.

2015 Bible Reading Plan

          Daily Bible Reading in 2015 is a plan suitable for disciples, families, small groups, and churches designed to help believers grow in their knowledge and understanding of God. On the following pages, you will find a 2015 calendar with assigned Bible readings. The readings are divided into three tracks: one for the Old Testament and two for the New Testament. You decide how much you want to read. The plans offer flexibility to read one Testament or both concurrently.

          The Old Testament reading track covers the entire OT scriptures (Genesis – Malachi) once during the year. You will read approximately three chapters a day, six days a week. If you fall behind, don’t worry about it. Simply pick back up and stay on the schedule. Sundays are a day for worship, meditation, catch-up, and/or review.

There are two different New Testament reading tracks to choose from. The NT x 1 Plan covers the entire NT scriptures (Matthew – Revelation) once during the year. You will read one chapter a day, five days a week. The NT x 4 Plan covers the entire NT four times during the year. You will read approximately three chapters a day, six days a week. If you fall behind, don’t worry about it. Simply pick back up and stay on the schedule. The first day of each week is a day for worship, meditation, catch-up, and/or review.

          Encourage your family to get involved in reading the Bible. Portions of the weekly reading could even be read aloud as part of family worship each day. By encouraging the entire family to get involved, we help our children understand the importance of the Bible and its prominence in our daily lives and in the life of the church.

          Consider purchasing a notebook or dedicated copy of the Bible to keep notes of your daily readings. This journal does not have to be extensive or take up much of your time. Simply write down the date and the chapters you read. Write down the citation for verses that stand out to you, questions you may have, and meaningful passages you want to remember and/or share with others. Then jot down three things about that day’s reading: Your Favorite Part, Something New that you don’t remember seeing before, and A Practical Application. You do not have to write an essay. Just make a note of the verse or verses and keep reading.

          While reading through the OT, be sure to look for Pictures of Christ. Pay special attention to the promises, prophecies, and portraits of the coming Messiah. This will help you connect the Old Testament with the New and will increase your awareness of the unity and Christocentric nature of the Bible story.

          These Bible reading schedules provide great opportunities for Bible class discussion, small group study, family devotionals, and discipleship counseling. Consider finding a reading partner, someone to help you stay accountable and with whom you can meet once a week to discuss what you both are learning in your daily Bible reading. A similar approach can be used in Sunday School classes and small group meetings as members take turns sharing their New, Favorite, and Practical insights from the previous week’s reading. May God bless us this year as we read and study His word! -JME

2015 Daily Bible Reading Schedules

A.C.T.S. - A Simple Pattern for Prayer

I have written before about the acronym A.C.T.S. and its use in the discipline of prayer. A.C.T.S. stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Many of us struggle to keep our prayers God-focused rather than me-focused. The tendency is for personal needs, concerns, and desires to dominate prayer times. A.C.T.S. is a helpful device for giving structure to our prayers which can help them be more balanced and biblical.

Adoration means to praise and speak well of God. This portion of our prayer time should be focused solely on the Lord, how great and good and holy and perfect He is in every way. This is not the time for talking about how God has blessed you. It is time to solely focus on saying good things about Him. Confession is admitting our sins, faults, and continuing need for God’s grace. We are to confess our sins, not just that we have sinned (1Jn. 1:9). Be specific with God, express your grief for your wrongs, and ask the Lord to be merciful to you. Thanksgiving is expressing gratitude for God’s blessings. This where we pray about what God has done for us, the many ways in which we benefit from His providence and grace. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and tell God how grateful you are for each of them. Supplication is asking the Lord for the help and blessings we need. This includes spiritual and physical requests both for yourself and others. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread, and Paul’s letters provide helpful insights in praying for our spiritual growth as well.

Some people struggle to spend extended time in focused prayer. Here again A.C.T.S. can be very helpful. Discipline yourself to spend 2 minutes praising God’s greatness, then 2 minutes confessing your faults, then 4 minutes thanking God for your blessings, and finally 2 minutes asking God to work in your life. Repeat those 10 minutes of prayer 3 times a day, morning, noon, and night, and you will spend half an hour in prayer every day, which is considerably more than you may have been doing before. A.C.T.S. is a simple way to organize and balance your prayer time, and I pray it will be a blessing to you. -JME

"In" But Not "Of"...the Church?

The Bible clearly, repeatedly, and emphatically affirms the security of all who believe in Christ (John 3:16; 5:24; 10:27-29; Php. 1:6; 1Pet. 1:3-5; 1John 3:9). But Scripture is equally clear in repeatedly and emphatically affirming that not all who profess to believe in Jesus do so in a saving way (Luke 6:46; John 8:31-32). For instance, John says some “went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1John 2:19). Likewise on the Day of Judgment, there will be many who called Jesus “Lord” and who did many mighty, religious deeds to whom the Savior will say, “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:21-23).

There were many in Jesus’ day who professed belief in Him but were either insincere (John 6:26) or did not endure (John 6:64-66). Some were unwilling to accept the cost of being His disciple (John 12:48). Others confused confession and commitment (Luke 9:57-62). Still others believed for a time but later turned away (John 13:21-30). None of these received the promise of eternal life. As the Hebrews writer says, “For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (3:14).

Those who believe simply a profession of faith will save without the corresponding grace of sanctification and perseverance cannot account for the real examples of visible apostasy noted in the paragraph above. The grace of salvation involves a change of heart (Ezek. 36:26; John 3:5) that leads inevitably to sanctification and good works (Gal. 5:19-24; Eph. 2:10). Such faith will endure because it is sustained by the grace that originally gave it (John 6:37; Heb. 10:39). Since this is so, we can see how some who profess to believe may later turn and fall away (Gal. 5:4; Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-31; 2Pet. 2:20-22). Such is not the apostasy of true believers, but of those visibly connected to Christ and His Church (John 15:1-7; Acts 8:13-23) who are not truly regenerate and elect. It is not visible connection to the Church that will save us, but union with Christ alone. -JME