Bible Reading Template

Here is something you can copy and paste into Word, or whatever, that you can use to keep up with your Bible reading during the year. I set a goal for myself years ago to read the Bible through every year. I don't always accomplish my goal, but if I don't, I can finish it the next year and start over. In 2006, I read it through in six months, but that was unusually quick for me.Revelation 1:3 pronounces a double blessing on anyone who reads and takes to heart the things written in God's Word. The Psalmist in 119:11 said that he hid God's Word in his heart so that he would not sin against God. Paul admonished Timothy in II Timothy 3:16,17 saying that God's Word has everything in it that his servants need to be complete and prepared to do every good work. I invite, and urge you, to read God's Word regularly. If it takes five years to read His Word, that will be a great accomplishment! Set your own pace with God's guidance.

BIBLE READINGS
(Keep record by erasing chapters read)

Old Testament

Genesis 50.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,
37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50.
Exodus 40.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,
37,38,39,40.
Leviticus 27.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27.
Deuteronomy 34.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34.
Joshua 24.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34.
Judges 21.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21.
Ruth 4.
1,2,3,4.


I Samuel 31.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31.
II Samuel 24.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,113,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24.
I Kings 22.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22.
II Kings 25.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25.
I Chronicles 29.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29.
II Chronicles 36.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,,31,32,33,34,35,36.
Ezra 10.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.
Nehemiah 13.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13.
Esther 10.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.
Job 42.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,
38,39,40,41,42.

Psalms 150.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,
38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,
55,56,57,58,59,60,X,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,
72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,
89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,
104,105,106,107,108,109,110.111,112,113,114,115,
116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,
128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,
140,141,142,143,144,145,146,147,148,149,150.
Proverbs 31.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31.
Ecclesiastes 12.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.
Song of Songs 8.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
Isaiah 66.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,
55,56,57,58,59,60.61,62,63,64,65,66.
Jeremiah 52.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,
38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52.
Lamentations 5.
1,2,3,4,5.
Ezekiel 48.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,
38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48.
Daniel 12.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.
Hosea 14.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14.
Joel 3.
1,2,3.
Amos 9.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.
Obadiah 1.
1.
Jonah 4.
1,2,3,4.
Micah 7.
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.
Nahum 3.
1,2,,3.
Habakkuk 3.
1,2,3.
Zephaniah 3.
1,2,3.
Haggai 2.
1,2.
Zechariah 14.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14.


Malachi 4.
1,2,3,4.
New Testament
Matthew 28.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28.
Mark 16.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16.
Luke 24.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24.
John 21.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21.
Acts 28
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28.
Romans 16.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16.
I Corinthians 16.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16.
II Corinthians 13.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13.
Galatians 6.
1,2,3,4,5,6.
Ephesians 6.
1,2,3,4,5,6.


Philippians 4.
1,2,3,4.
Colossians 4.
1,2,3,4.
I Thessalonians 5.
1,2,3,4,5.
II Thessalonians 3.
1,2,3.
I Timothy 6.
1,2,3,4,5,6.
II Timothy 4.
1,2,3,4.
Titus 3.
1,2,3.
Philemon1.
1.
Hebrews.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13.
James 5.
1,2,3,4,5.
I Peter 5.
1,2,3,4,5.
II Peter 3.
1,2,3.
I John 5.
1,2,3,4,5.
II John 1.
1.
III John 1.
1.
Jude 1.
1.
Revelation 22.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16.17,18,19,20,
21,22.

The Beatitudes of Revelation by John

The Beatitudes of Revelation
Rv. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7,14.

1. Most people are familiar with the beatitudes in Matthew 5, but not many people are aware of the Beatitudes in Revelation.
2. Mt. Has 9 and Rv has 7. (Read Text)
3. Many people think Rv is a negative book.
(1) It's hard to understand because we haven't been prepared for the code in which it is written.
(2) Because it is hard to understand, most people don't expect to find anything simple and positive in it.
4. There are both strong negatives and strong positives in Rv, and you will notice some of these are implied in the Beatitudes themselves.

I. The First Beatitude is General in Nature 1:3.

1. Blessing is promised because time is rapidly running out.
(1) Saying that is enough to make some people shake their heads and say, Time hasn't run out yet!
(2) But time was running out for those people who were alive then, and it is for us now.
a. They were being persecuted to death!
b. None of them expected to live 2000 years!
(3) Listen! Time is running out for you now!
2. Blessing comes as a result of our activity.
(1) We are to read Rv for sure, and I think that includes the whole Bible.
(2) We are to hear it read, too.
(3) And we are to follow its directions.
3. Copies of Rv were not as easily accessible as now.
(1) It meant "read aloud" and hear it as it is read in church.
(2) Of course, it meant you'd be blessed if you read it privately, too. The sixth beatitude in 22:7 repeats the last part of this first one.
(3) I believe it was a closing reminder.
4. We'll be blessed if we pay attention to, and do, all this Book tells us to do.

II. The second is a Blessing for Martyrs. 14:13.

1. The word "martyr" is the same word translated witness. (Our use refers to a witness who died for Jesus, and that comes from the Scripture.)
2. So many witnesses died because of their profession of faith, dying for your belief came to be called martyrdom.
3. At any rate, it is spelled out here, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!"
(1) Some try to fix this as a special place in history, and it may be possible, but…
(2) Rv 6:9 tells about all the souls under the altar who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they maintained.
(3) I believe this refers to all who die for Jesus.
a. We are not to seek to die for Him.
b. But when it comes, we are not to flinch from it either.

4. I think the "from now on" tells us persecutions will continue! And the rest of the NT agrees with that.

III. The Third warns us Jesus Will Come again as unexpectedly as a Thief. 16:15.

1. Lk 12:39,40 says if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would not have let him break in.
2. Jesus is going to come just as unexpectedly.
(1) We need to be living watchful lives.
(2) The second part adds to the thought for our clear understanding. "Those who stay awake and keep their garments? Means two things.
a. We are to be in communication with the Lord!
b. And we are to keep ourselves pure!
3. Shame is possible, I believe, for those who are Christians but don't pray confessing their sins and who don't keep their lives clean!

IV. The Fourth and Fifth Beatitudes talk about Salvation. 19:9; 20:6.

1. Do you remember the parable about the big dinner in Lk 14:16-24?
(1) The Lord invited all he wanted to attend the dinner, but they refused to come. V 24 tells how he refused them. Not one would taste of his supper!
(2) The Lord then invited others sending out his servants until his house was filled!!!
2. There's going to be a great festival, the marriage supper of the Lamb, and the Church is the bride! I want to be in that wedding, don't you?
3. You'll surely be already blessed if you are there!
(1) The fifth beatitude involves the same thing.
(2) The first resurrection. All in the first
resurrection are saved eternally!
(3) Rv 20:11 involves those caught in the second death! Oh yes! I called this the second resurrection, but it is not a second resurrection! It's a second death!
4. Jn 5:24 promises those in Jesus never come into condemnation. That means they will never die twice! They may not even die once! Even though it is appointed to men!

V. The Last Beatitude is about Salvation in Preparation for Heaven. Rv 22:7,14

1. When we wash our robes of unrighteousness in
the blood of the Lamb, they become robes of righteousness!
2. We then are given the right to the tree of life, and we may enter by the gates into the city! It seems to me, Jesus is giving us a reminder that Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden, and God placed the cherubim with flaming swords at the gate to protect the tree of life from sinful human beings! Jesus, in this last chapter says, we now can return to the Eden of God! Mankind in Jesus is at last completely redeemed!

Conclusion:

1. Victory belongs to all who trust Jesus!
2. Rv promises us seven great blessings from the bountiful hand of God, and remember, "seven" refers to completeness.
3. The message is: God gives us every blessing we need and more!
4. There is still time! But remember, Rv 1:3, 16:15, and 22:7 all warn that Jesus is coming soon (unexpectedly), and no one without Him now, will expect Him when He comes!
5. You have now to get ready, or you may miss being on His welcoming committee!
6. Are You ready?

;

ECC 1/21/2006

Mark 4:21ff, The Kingdom of God by John.

The Kingdom of God
Mark 4:21-34

1. Jesus described the kingdom of God in many ways for at least two reasons.
(1) The Hebrews had great expectations for the kingdom, but they were a long way off the mark.
a. They believed it would be a physical kingdom.
b. Many of them believed it would follow a resurrection of the good people, but that things would be very similar to what they were before that time.
(2) The other reason that I see is, the whole world needs to recognize God and to understand what God is doing.
a. The Jews had a knowledge of God, but they did not share it with the rest of the world.
b. Aren't we in danger of doing that same thing ourselves?
c. How often do we share what we know about Jesus with people who don't know Him?
2. Jesus spoke to the people in parables because only those truly seeking God would understand Him; yet, all of them heard and were responsible for what they heard.
3. The kingdom of God is not something separate from Jesus. He is the very center of God's Kingdom.
4. Our text deals with two short parables about God's kingdom. Let's take them in the order they come.

I. God's Kingdom Slips Up on Us.

1. It was hidden from any who did not really want it to come.
(1) That included all the nations around Israel.
(2) That also included all the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians and anyone else who did not want the Kingdom of God to come!
(3) It is still hidden to anyone who does not desire God's rule in his/her life.
2. It slipped up on all of those people because God did not consider them worthy.
3. Even with that in mind, we have to be aware that God was, and is, willing to overlook any person's sin IF he will turn to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation!
4. Jesus paid the full price for the sins of the whole of mankind, but few meet God's simple condition for receiving His Free gift!
5. I've known some men who wanted a wife but didn't want to be married, and there are many, many people who want heaven, but are not willing to allow God to change them!
6. If you are unwilling to let God change you, the Kingdom of God will never be a reality to you until after you die. Then it is too late for you to change!

II. God's Kingdom Is Big Enough to Take Care of Every One of God's Creatures.

1. I used to worry about heaven being too crowded, and I didn't, and don't, like crowds!
2. Dr. DeHaan who had a radio program for years, figured out the size of the New Jerusalem, and by his figures, there would be room for every Christian to have an apartment in it!
3. I appreciated him, but I think he was way off base on that.
4. Just a cursory scan of the heavens around us should convince us that God's spiritual heaven is far greater than anything we can see.
(1) I also believe when we have telescopes that are powerful enough to see far beyond what we can now see, that we will see more stars and planets!
(2) I believe heaven will be so vast, that people will never have to rub elbows if they don't want to!
5. I'm also one of those who believe there will be animals and plants of all kinds in heaven.
(1) I don't have Biblical proof for that belief.
(2) I base my belief on what we find beautiful and useful and things to be loved.
(3) God gave us all these things to enjoy, to take away boredom, to give us thrills and challenges.
(4) I think we will need those same things in heaven, and they will be there, because God will supply our every need!
6. Now, the Kingdom of God is and will be made up of all who belong to Jesus, and those who are already with God.
(1) Who do we know is with God right now?
a. What about Moses?
b. What about Enoch?
c. What about Elijah?
d. Enoch was not because God took him.
e. Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus at the mount of transfiguration!
(2) We know these are alive and well, and they are with God already.
7. As for the rest of us, there are many Scriptures that tell us who will be with God, but one of the best is I Thessalonians 4:13-18. (Read aloud).
8. We will always be with the Lord, and there will be plenty of room in heaven because John 14:1-4 tells us that Jesus has prepared our places, and He Himself is coming to take us to them!

III. God's Kingdom Is Loaded with Power.

1. We believe gunpowder was invented in 9th. century China.
(1) We don't know how it happened.
(2) It was neither called "gunpowder," nor was it used destructively.
(3) It was used in firecrackers and other fireworks displays on special occasions.
2. In the 14th c., Marco Polo may have brought it to Europe where it revolutionized war.
3. Alfred Bernhard Nobel a Swiss chemist patented dynamite in 1866, and it's power was far greater than gunpowder.
4. The atomic age started in WW II, and atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshema and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.
5. Now, our armed forces have "smart" bombs of all sorts.
(1) Some work best in open air.
(2) Others work best in buildings or caves, and that type was used extensively in Afganistan.
6. Who knows what the future hold for destructive power?
7. One volcanic eruption puts to shame all of the destructive power man has developed!
8. I've mentioned these things simply to point out that only God has unlimited power!
(1) Jesus healed with a touch, a word, and spit.
(2) God caused the sea to swallow up Pharaoh and the Egyptian army.
(3) God caused the ground to open and swallow up Korah and his family in Numbers 16.
(4) God also caused fire and brimstone to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah without it bothering the other towns nearby.
9. We human beings have used TNT and Dynamite in building, too, but only God has the power to create!
10. Humans are learning how to clone life, but only God is able to create life.
11. God shared one of the greatest creative powers with His children.
(1) We can share the Gospel with lost people, and God will honor His Gospel.
(2) He promises that when His Word goes out, it will bear fruit to life eternal!

Conclusion:

1. John 3:36 gives us an insight into the Kingdom of God. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
(1) It's important to note "believes" and "has" are present tense verbs.
(2) "Rejects" is also in the present tense, and it is followed by "will not see" in future tense.
(3) The final verb is again present tense, "remains."
(4) The importance of the tenses should be clear.
a. What happened in the past is not important.
b. Where you are right now is vital!
c. Without a change in you, you will remain lost!
2. There is no reason for the Kingdom of God to slip away from anyone!
3. There is no reason for anyone to worry about heaven being too crowded, or about being unhappy there. There's room for you and anyone and everyone else who will trust Jesus.
4. There is no reason to be concerned about evil beings, Satan, or demons! God has all of the real power, and He is willing to use it to bring you into His presence, and there will be no crying there!
5. He does everything through His Son Jesus, and all you have to do is put your trust in Him.
6. You can do that right now as we pray.

Emmanuel Community Church 1/7/2007