Feasting on God's Word (One Year Bible)

In his discussion, "Election and the Hiddenness of God" in Divine Election (Chapter Four, pp.102-131), G. C. Berkouwer emphasizes that God's hiddenness is not to be set over against His salvation. He rejects a concept of God's hiddenness which "separates the God of revelation from our lives and mitigates the absolute trustworthiness of that revelation" (p. 125). Even in confessing God's salvation, faith acknowledges that it does not know everything about God (pp. 120-121, especially  the reference to Isaiah 45:15 - " Truly You are a God who has been hiding Himself,  the God and Saviour of Israel."). Although our knowledge of God in Christ is confessed to be true and reliable, we must not presume upon complete knowledge (p. 124 - especially the reference to John 14:9 - "He who has seen Me has seen the Father."). The attempt to attain to complete knowledge is admonished for its spiritual pride, when Christ speaks of these things which...

HAGGAI 1:1-15 We read, Lord, the questions that You put to Your people: ‘Why is everyone saying it is not the right time for rebuilding My Temple?'; ‘Is it then the right time for you to live in luxurious homes, when the Temple lies in ruins?’ (Haggai 1:2-4). Your people had forgotten about You. They were pleasing themselves – but they were not pleasing You! Lord, You’re challenging us to think about our way of living – ‘Consider your way of life’ (Haggai 1:5,7). Teach us, Lord, to ‘obey Your voice.’ Help us to change our way of thinking – ‘the people feared the Lord’ – and living – ‘They came and began work on the House of the Lord Almighty, their God.’ Help us to obey Your voice and trust in Your promise – ‘I am with you’(Haggai 1:12-14). 2:1-23 Lord, You’re speaking Your Word to us: ‘“Be strong, all you people of the land”, declares the Lord, “and work. For I am with you”, declares the Lord Almighty’ (Haggai 2:4). You’re calling us to work for You. When, L...

Leviticus 1:1-2:16 We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). In His death for us, we see Your love for us. Help us to come to the Cross of Christ. Help us to worship You in the beauty of holiness. Help us to celebrate Your love in the spirit of thanksgiving. Leviticus 3:1-4:35 We thank You, Lord, that "we have peace with You through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). We thank You that "Jesus is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14). This peace is not something that comes from within ourselves. It comes to us from outside of ourselves. It comes from above. It comes to us from You. It's given to us. It's Your gift. We cannot give this gift to ourselves. We can only receive it by faith - faith in Jesus, our Saviour. Leviticus 5:1-6:30 We thank You, Lord, that Your salvation is greater than our sin. We look at Christ's sacrifice - He gave Himself in death for us. We are g...

Micah 1:1-2:13 We thank You, Lord, that Micah was a fearless preacher of Your Word. His message was not popular: ‘Let the Lord God be a witness against you.’ He was a forthright preacher of Your Word. He knew that the people wouldn’t want to hear what he had to say to them. He demanded that they listen to him. This wasn’t only Micah’s word. It was Your word, Lord. That’s why Micah said, ‘Hear, O peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth and all who are in it’ (Micah 2:2). Teach us, Lord, that we cannot afford to ignore Your Word. Help us to listen to Your Word. You speak Your Word against us. You say to us, ‘You cannot save yourselves’ (Micah 2:3). You speak Your Word against us so that we might learn to rejoice in Your Word of salvation: ‘I will bring you together like sheep returning to the fold’ (Micah 2:12). Micah 3:1-5:1 We thank You, Lord, for the words that Micah speaks to those ‘who hate good and love evil’ (Micah 3:2). He calls upon them to change their way of ...

Karl Barth is not the Name.  Jesus, for salvation, came. Barth points us to the One,  Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. If Barth were here today,  I think he would still say, Look from Barth, look away.  Look to Jesus, he would say. Karl Barth spoke of Christ’s grace.  Yes! Karl Barth knew his place. He did not seek the glory.  He wrote to tell Christ’s story. Look! Here comes Doctor Barth!  It doesn’t sound quite right! If God’s Word claims our heart,  “Jesus only” is in our sight. “Barth is small. Christ is great.”  This is what “KB” said. We’re in an awful state, When we say “Barth is great ...”. Karl Barth wrote many books.  What were they all about? To Jesus Christ he looks.  Let’s get His message out. Words of Christ's text are few.*  They are addressed to you. “The Bible tells us so”, And Jesus helps us grow. Karl Barth said, “Less of me.” More of Christ may we see. ...

John 1:1-34 We thank You, Lord, for Your Son, Jesus - "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). What a wonderful thing this - it's the great exchange: Jesus has taken our sin, and we receive His salvation. John 1:35-2:25 Help us, Lord, to look beyond what we are right now. Help us to catch a glimpse of what You want us to become. How are we to become what You want us to be? Your divine power is far more important than our human effort. We don't change ourselves. We are changed by You - changed by Your love, changed by Your power. John 3:1-36 Where does our salvation come from? Does it come from ourselves? Does it begin with "I"? No! It comes from You. It begins with You - "God so loved the world ... " (John 3:16). John 4:1-42 We thank You, Lord, for Your great love. You bring us out of our bondage to sin. You bring us into the joy of Your salvation. Your love reaches down to us. Your love brings us to Je...

  * The Faithful Ministry of God's Prophets God’s work does not always move forward smoothly. We face determined opposition. Where there is opportunity, there will be opposition (1 Corinthians 16:9). The servants of Satan rise up to oppose the servants of the Lord. The Lord’s enemies had some success: ‘the work on the House of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill’ (Ezra 4:24). This was only a temporary setback. God gave new strength to His servants. He sent His ‘prophets, Haggai and Zechariah’ (Ezra 5:1). They brought His Word to the people. Strengthened by their ministry of God’s Word, ‘Zerubbabel... arose and began to rebuild the House of God in Jerusalem’ (Ezra 5:2). God’s work was back on track. His people were moving forward - again. When your head goes down, let the Lord come to you. He will lift you up! God’s work makes good progress when God’s people receive strength from God’s Word. Haggai and Zechariah were faithful in preaching God’s Word to ...

Praying Through God’s Word: Matthew’s Gospel Praying Through God’s Word: Mark’s Gospel Praying Through God’s Word: Luke’s Gospel Praying Through God’s Word: John’s Gospel Praying Through God’s Word: Acts Praying Through God’s Word: Romans Praying Through God’s Word: 1 Corinthians Praying Through God’s Word: 2 Corinthians Praying Through God’s Word: Galatians Praying Through God’s Word: Ephesians Praying Through God’s Word: Philippians Praying Through God’s Word: Colossians Praying Through God’s Word: 1 Thessalonians Praying Through God’s Word: 2 Thessalonians Praying Through God’s Word: 1 Timothy Praying Through God’s Word: 2 Timothy Praying Through God’s Word: Titus Praying Through God’s Word: Philemon Praying Through God’s Word: Hebrews Praying Through God’s Word: James Praying Through God’s Word: 1 Peter Praying Through God’s Word...

There are some things that are worth repeating! The story of God’s amazing grace is worth repeating over and over again – ‘Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress’(Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28). The call to praise the Lord is also something we need to hear again and again – ‘Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men’(Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31). Let us ‘consider the great love of the Lord.’ Let us ‘give thanks to the Lord’ (Psalm 107:43, 1). ‘The great love of God is revealed in the Son, who came to this earth to redeem every one. That love, like a stream flowing clear to the sea, makes clean every heart that from sin would be free… It’s yours, it is ours, O how lavishly given! The pearl of great price, and the treasure of heaven!’ (Daniel Thambyrajah Niles).

Psalm 36:1-12 We thank You, Lord, for “Your steadfast love” (Psalm 36:5,7,10). Your love is the best love. It’s the greatest love of all. Your love is very wonderful. We rejoice in Your love. We are amazed at Your love. We look at Jesus, Your Son, crucified for us, and we say, “Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?” Jesus died for us. Now, He lives in us. In love, You are leading us on into Your future – on to “fullness of joy in Your presence” (Psalm 16:11).

Psalm 34:1-22 Lord, we rejoice in Your salvation (Psalm 34:4-6). We say, “I will bless the Lord at all times” (Psalm 34:1). Help us to bring others with us, calling on them to worship You, with joy (Psalm 34:3,8). Help us to share Your Word with them (Psalm 34:11), and to lead them on to spiritual maturity (Psalm 34:14; Hebrews 5:14).

Psalm 8:1-9 Lord, we thank You that You don’t keep Your distance from us. You come near to us. You show us Your love. You give us Your peace. You fill our hearts with Your joy. You lead us forward with hope. Thank You, Lord.

Psalm 6:1-10 Lord, help us not to get bogged down in what’s happening to us right now. Help us to lift up our eyes and see Jesus. Help us not only to see Him as a figure from the past – a man who lived a long time ago. Help us to see Him as the Lord who is coming to us from the future, coming to us from the glory coming to us from heaven. coming with His salvation, coming to establish Your eternal Kingdom.

Job 40:15-41:34 "Who can stand before Me?" (Job 41:10). Lord, You put this question to every one of us. There are two answers to this question. The first speaks to us of our sin. The second speaks to us of our Saviour. When, Lord, You speak to us of our sin, it's bad news: "There is no-one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). When You speak to us of our Saviour, it's Good News. Jesus is "without sin." He is "Your beloved Son with whom You are well pleased." He has "died for our sins" (Hebrews 4:14-16; Matthew 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:3). Thank You, Lord, for Jesus - Your beloved Son, our wonderful Saviour.

Job 38:39-40:14 "I am unworthy - how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth ... I have no answer ... I will say no more" (Job 40:3-5). When, Lord, You speak to us about sin - "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God", we have nothing to say in our own defence: "every mouth is silenced" (Romans 3:23,19). We thank You, Lord, that, when You speak to us about our sin, You also speak to us of Your love, the death of Christ for our sins, the forgiveness of our sins and the cleansing of our hearts and lives (Romans 5:8; 1 John 1:7-10).

Job 37:1-24 “The Almighty is great in power and … He does not oppress” (Job 37:23). Lord, Your power is loving power. Your love is powerful love. We see Your power in Jesus – “He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him” (Hebrews 7:25). We see Your love in Jesus – “I will never turn away any one who comes to Me” (John 6:37). In the world, we see the love of power. It’s a very destructive thing. In Jesus, we see the power of love. Hew uses His power to show us His love. He shows us His love when, through His mighty power, He saves us. Thank You, Lord, for Jesus. What a great Saviour He is!

Job 36:1-33  “God is mighty, and does not despise any” (Job 36:5). Lord, You are great in power. You are great in love. How sad it would be if You had great love for us, but did not have the power to save us. How terrifying it would be if You had great power, but had no love, in Your hear, for us. What a joy it is to know that You are both the God of great power and the God of great love. You are “abundant in power.” You “heal the broken-hearted and … lift up the downtrodden.” We think, Lord, about Your great power and Your great love, and we say, “Praise the Lord!” We “sing to You with thanksgiving.” We “make melody to You.” We “sing praises to You” (Psalm 147:1-7).

Job 32:1-33:18 “Understanding” comes from “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 32:8). “God does speak – now, one way, now another – though man may not perceive it” (Job 33:14). We thank You, Lord, that You have spoken to us through Your Word. You still speak to us through Your Word. It’s Your Spirit who brings Your Word to us. We do not always understand what You are saying to us. There is always more than we can take in. When, Lord, we feel that we’re out of our depth, help us to keep on listening, to keep on believing – and to pray for “understanding” that will lead to new life; a life that is grounded in the Scriptures, a life that is centred on the Saviour, a life that is filled with the Spirit, a life that brings glory to You.

Job 31:1-40 “Job … was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). Again and again, Lord, we fall far short of this ideal (Romans 3:23). How can our sins be forgiven? How can our guilt be removed? We thank You that “the blood of Jesus, Your Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This is more than having our sins forgiven. You, Lord, are leading us n the paths of righteousness. Create in us a deeper longing to become more like Jesus, our Saviour – and help us to give all the glory to You (Psalm 23:3; Psalm 51:10).

Job 1:1-2:13 Lord, Your power is greater than the power of Satan. Help us never to forget this. Satan is “roaming through the earth”, “prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking for someone to devour” (Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8) – but he can only do what You allow him to do (Job 1:12; Job 2:6). When Satan seems to be getting the upper hand, remind us that You’re the One who’s in control – not him!

Esther 9:1-10:3 Lord, You turn our sorrow into joy and our mourning into celebration (Esther 9:22). Our joy comes from Jesus. Our celebration is centred on Him. What joy we have in Jesus! It's a joy while the world can neither give to us nor take away from us. What a celebration there is when we gather together at the Lord's Table! We celebrate the greatest love of all the love of Christ, our Saviour. We have been "redeemed with the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Esther 7:1-8:17 We read about "a foe and enemy! The wicked Haman!" (Esther 7:6). There's a more powerful enemy than Haman - Satan! "Haman was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai" (Esther 7:10). Satan tried to get rid of Jesus - but Jesus turned the tables on him. We thank You, Lord, for the defeat of Satan - and the victory of Jesus, our Saviour and Lord.

Esther 5:1-6:14  We read about Mordecai. He nearly lost his life (Esther 5:14). Then, he was honoured by the king (Esther 6:10-11). We look beyond Mordecai to Jesus. We see Jesus, crucified for us. We see Him, risen from the dead (Acts 2:23-24). We thank You, our Father, for Jesus, Your Son. He is our Saviour. He is "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).

Esther 2:19-4:17 "If I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16). Esther was ready to put her life on the line. We thank You, Lord, that Jesus did lay down His life. He died for us. Now, because He died in our place, we will live forevermore. Thank You, Lord, for sacrificial love and everlasting life.

John 9 is a chapter that's full of questions and answers. (1) Question: " ... who sinned, this man or his parents ... ?" ( John 9:2 ). Answer: "Neither ,,, this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" ( John 9:3 ). (2) Question: "Isn't this the same man who used to ... beg?" ( John 9:8 ). Answer: "I am the man" ( John 9:9 ). Whatever we may have been, the grace of God is able to lift us up. Praise the Lord! (3) Question: The "How" question - "how were your eyes opened?" ( John 9:10 ). Answer: The "Jesus" answer - "The man called Jesus ... " ( John 9:11 ). May God help us to look away from ourselves and say, "This is what the Lord has done for me. (4) Question: "Where is this man?" ( John 9:12 ). Answer: "I don't know" ( John 9:12 ). When, at first, you don't find Jesus, keep looking for Him. he has given us His prom...

Job 25:1-27:6 Lord, we hear biting sarcasm in Job’s response to his ‘comforters’: “How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!” (Job 26:2). We hear Job’s searching question: “With whose help have you uttered words, and whose spirit  spoke from your mouth? ” (Job 26:4), and we pray, “Lord, help us to listen for the voice of Your love – and not to be deceived, discouraged, and distressed by words that come to us from Satan.”

Job 19:8-29 “I know that my Redeemer lives … In the end He will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25-26). Lord, we read these great words of faith, spoken by Job, and our thoughts turn to Jesus. We think of His resurrection – He “has risen” from the dead” (Matthew 28:6). We think of His return – He will return “with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). We think of “our redemption” – “When  He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”; “We shall always be with the Lord” (Luke 21:27-28); 1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). We think of all of these things – Christ’s resurrection, His return, our redemption, and we give to You, Lord, our thanks, our praise, our hearts and our lives. To You, Lord, be all the glory!

Job 8:1-9:19 We read the words of Bildad. He speaks as a ‘know-it-all’. He sees what has happened to Job, and he thinks, ‘Job must have forgotten God’. He fails to see that Job has not forgotten God. Help us, Lord, to see that bad things can and do happen to people who love You as well as people who don’t love You. When things are going badly, help us, Lord, to remember Your long-term purpose. You’re preparing us for ‘eternal life’ (Matthew 19:29). Help us to look beyond our sufferings. They are ‘slight and short-lived’. Help us to look ahead to the ‘eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine’ (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Job 6:8-7:21 We read about Job, going through hard times. We remember Jesus, suffering for us - ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? At the Cross, there is no Voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Mark 15:34; Matthew 3:17). Job is suffering. Jesus is suffering.  What are we to make of this? Where are You, Lord, while all this is happening? What are You doing about it? We remember the words, spoken by Jesus to His enemies, shortly before His crucifixion: ‘This is your hour, and the power of darkness’ (Luke 22:53). You allow Satan to have his ‘hour’. ‘The power of darkness’ appears to have the upper hand. This is not the end of the story. There is ‘a happy ending’. Job is raised from his depression (42:10,12). Jesus is ‘raised’ from the dead (Acts 2:23-24). Help us, Lord, to look beyond what’s happening to us right now. Help us to catch a glimpse of the glorious future for which You are preparing u...

Job 4:12-6:7 Lord, we read about Eliphaz. We see so much pride. We don’t see much love. Satan is speaking through Eliphaz. Help us not to listen  to Satan. He’s trying to put us down. He’s trying to keep us down. Help us to listen to the voice of Your love. Your Word lifts us up. Help us to look to You, to be lifted by You, and to give all the glory to You.

Job 3:1-4:11 What are we to do when, like Job, we find ourselves sinking into a state of deep depression? Help us, Lord, to remember Jesus. Help us to remember His suffering. He suffered for us. He suffers with us. We thank You that Jesus knows how we feel. He’s been there. He went to the Cross – for us. Behind His suffering, we see His love. In our suffering, we need Jesus. We need His love. Without His love, things will only get worse. Thank You for Jesus – for His love and His help.

1 Chronicles 15:16-16:6  Lord, You're calling us to worship You - to "raise sounds of joy," to praise You with "loud music," to worship You "continually (1 Chronicles 15:16; 1 Chronicles 16:6). May we bring to You true "spiritual worship" - the dedication of our lives to You (Romans 12:1).

In Scripture, we catch glimpses of what heaven will be like. When we attempt to say too much about exactly what heaven will be like, we can very quickly get the feeling that we are out of our depth and that we are attempting to describe things that are are far beyond our present understanding. As well as the question, “What will heaven be like?”, the Bible also addresses another question – “How do I get to heaven?” What are we to say about these two questions? Both questions are very important. We don’t, however, need to give a precise description of heaven, anticipating every question which could possibly be asked about it. We do need to know the way to heaven. I suspect that, sometimes, people, who ask all sorts of imaginative questions about what heaven will be like, are not always so interested in making a personal commitment of their lives to Jesus Christ. In Deuteronomy 29:29, we read, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and t...

The Holy Spirit is the Breath of God. All Scripture is God-breathed. We experience the Breath of God upon our life when we listen attentively to the God-breathed Scriptures. Paul speaks, in 2 Timothy 3:15-17, of the   relationship between the Breath of God (the Holy Spirit) and the God-breathed Word (the Holy Scriptures) - 'the Holy Scriptures ... are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work'. 1) The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to make us wise.     The wisdom which comes from the Spirit and the Word is a special kind of wisdom. It is not the wisdom of this world. It is the wisdom which is bound up with Christ, salvation and faith. Worldly wisdom places great value on intellectual attainment. It emphasizes the importance of getting on in the world. Tru...