Long time no update! It has been quite a while since I last posted on this blog. My apologies to all. These last few months have been very, very busy for me. Most of you who know me already know that in addition to my responsibilities as a husband, father, and pastor I have been operating as a college student for some time now. This last semester was a heavy one as I carried 15 credit hours, three of which were literature classes! I had to be very diligent about prioritizing and sadly, this blog did not make the cut.
But hey, I'm back! Still a student and all those other things, but not quite as heavy a work load at the moment. That having been said, I'm not certain how often I will manage to post on this site so rather than giving out weekly, or even monthly assignments, I am going to be using this blog to encourage you to continue your Bible reading (and heeding) according to whatever reading plan you have chosen for yourself, as well as sharing some thoughts along the way about the things that I have been reading myself. Questions and comments about the things that you are reading, facing, and or praying about are still welcomed and if you just have to have a reading assignment, just ask, or go back and read the assignments from posts gone by! There really is no shelf life on those posts, the reading plans that have been suggested on this page are as helpful now as ever. So get reading! And may the Lord bless you as you heed His word!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Reading Assignment for March
This month we will be focusing on the Old Testament book of Ezra. The Lord had determined a set time for Israel's exile from the land and that time was coming to an end. As we read Ezra we will learn about what it was like for those who went back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Let's read with an eye to learn about the work that the Lord wants to do in each of our lives today!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
I John
Greetings all,
Here's hoping your year is off to a wonderful start! This month our focus is going to be on the book of I John. As you read this wonderful epistle, feel free to post your thoughts, comments and questions. This wonderful book speaks volumes to us about God's love and forgiveness and about our call to love one another!
As we begin our reading this month let me ask a question to get us started. Why does John tell us that he wrote this epistle? What was his motivation in writing? He states more than one reason, let's see if you can find them all!
Blessings, and happy reading!
Read and Heed The Word
Here's hoping your year is off to a wonderful start! This month our focus is going to be on the book of I John. As you read this wonderful epistle, feel free to post your thoughts, comments and questions. This wonderful book speaks volumes to us about God's love and forgiveness and about our call to love one another!
As we begin our reading this month let me ask a question to get us started. Why does John tell us that he wrote this epistle? What was his motivation in writing? He states more than one reason, let's see if you can find them all!
Blessings, and happy reading!
Read and Heed The Word
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Proverbs 31
"Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all." Proverbs 31:29
These are the words that resonate in my mind as I read this chapter of Proverbs. Certainly the chapter is filled with the description of an amazing woman, but these words include some significant instruction for we men as well.
This wonderfully blessed man, (blessed to have a wife like this to be sure), in turn blesses his wife! He blesses her by heaping upon her words of praise and affirmation. We as men need to remember to build our wives up with our words. We need to remember to express to them how much we appreciate all that they are and all that they do! It is the responsibility, no rather the privilege, of the husband to affirm his wife day by day.
We as husbands need to let our wives know that to us, they are Proverbs 31 woman. They need to know that in our eyes, though many daughters have done well, they have excelled them all! Make sure that your wife knows that you feel that way about her today!
Blessings all,
Read and Heed The Word!
These are the words that resonate in my mind as I read this chapter of Proverbs. Certainly the chapter is filled with the description of an amazing woman, but these words include some significant instruction for we men as well.
This wonderfully blessed man, (blessed to have a wife like this to be sure), in turn blesses his wife! He blesses her by heaping upon her words of praise and affirmation. We as men need to remember to build our wives up with our words. We need to remember to express to them how much we appreciate all that they are and all that they do! It is the responsibility, no rather the privilege, of the husband to affirm his wife day by day.
We as husbands need to let our wives know that to us, they are Proverbs 31 woman. They need to know that in our eyes, though many daughters have done well, they have excelled them all! Make sure that your wife knows that you feel that way about her today!
Blessings all,
Read and Heed The Word!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
How to respond to correction....
The following is taken from Our Daily Homily by F. B. Meyer (page 253).
"He is in the way of life that heedeth correction." Proverbs 10:17
It is a wise prayer, "Correct me, O Lord, but with judgment." Happy is the man whom God correcteth; for whom the Lord loveth He correcteth. Sometimes God corrects us with rebukes, making our beauty to consume away as a moth before the stroke of illness or physical weakness. At other times we are corrected by the faithful rebuke of a friend, or the question of a little child. And yet again, correction comes to us through the sore discipline of having to reap the results of our sins. Some heed correction; others resist and refuse it. Many get weary of it, and for their sakes it is written, "We have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live?"
Do not be weary of God's correction, my chastened friend. He does not expose you to the searching trial for his pleasure; but for your profit, and that you may be a partaker of his holiness. Heed correction. Ask why it has come, and what it is designed to teach. Set yourself to learn the lesson quickly. Above all, let us heed more carefully god's Holy Word, which is profitable for correction, as well as for teaching, reproof, and instruction. How often might we have been spared the searching correction of trouble if we had allowed our lives to be pruned by God's Word!
Our behavior under correction will show whether we are in the Way of Life or not. If the Life of God be truly within us, we will meekly accept adn profit by the correction, from whatever source it comes. Otherwise we will murmur and fret, till the wine becomes vinegar, and the milk sour.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Some thoughts on Proverbs, our book of the month.
Proverbs 4:7 says, "Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding." People focus a lot on "getting" these days, but in all our getting, do we really get what matters most? The scriptures tell us to get understanding, for understanding and wisdom are more precious than all the material goods we could acquire. vs. 10 goes on to say, "Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many." That sounds like something worth pursuing to me! Hope you agree! Seek out His wisdom in the scriptures today!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A New Approach in the New Year
Greetings all, and happy New Year! As I mentioned in my previous post we are going to take a slightly different approach to our Bible reading this year. First of all I want to encourage each of you to commit to a personal Bible reading program of your own choosing. Good Bible reading plans can be found in the back of many study Bibles, in Bible study software programs, on-line, or even via smart phone apps. I want to encourage you to take a systematic approach to your Bible reading including both the Old and New Testament in your regular reading plan. If you don't have a good plan in mind, feel free to check out the first page archived on this blog to help you develop a plan of your own.
In addition to your own reading plan, I would like to invite you to join me in focusing on a specific book each month of the year for closer study and discussion. Each month a new book from a different part of the Bible will be assigned. One month it will be one of the poetic books, another month one of the epistles, then something from the Old Testament and so forth and so on. Questions for discussion will be posted on this site throughout the month and your comments and questions are welcome.
In order to participate in the discussions on the blog you will need to log in with a g-mail address. These are free and easy to obtain by going to www.gmail.com. It is my hope that this year we will be able to engage in some interesting discussions on this site as we seek to encourage one another to both read and heed the word!
As I considered which book to begin our year with I was reminded of the passage from Proverbs 3:5,6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (KJV). What wonderful wisdom with which to start the new year! In keeping with that sentiment our book for special study and discussion for this month is going to be the book of Proverbs. Join me this month in reading one chapter a day in this wonderful book of God's revealed wisdom! Feel free to post your thoughts, favorite verses, or questions for discussion and I will do the same. Today's reading will be Proverbs chapter 1, tomorrows will be Proverbs chapter 2 and so on through the rest of the month! I look forward to hearing from you as we read this wonderful book together!
God Bless You, and Have a Happy New Year!
Ken Davis/Read and Heed The Word!
In addition to your own reading plan, I would like to invite you to join me in focusing on a specific book each month of the year for closer study and discussion. Each month a new book from a different part of the Bible will be assigned. One month it will be one of the poetic books, another month one of the epistles, then something from the Old Testament and so forth and so on. Questions for discussion will be posted on this site throughout the month and your comments and questions are welcome.
In order to participate in the discussions on the blog you will need to log in with a g-mail address. These are free and easy to obtain by going to www.gmail.com. It is my hope that this year we will be able to engage in some interesting discussions on this site as we seek to encourage one another to both read and heed the word!
As I considered which book to begin our year with I was reminded of the passage from Proverbs 3:5,6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (KJV). What wonderful wisdom with which to start the new year! In keeping with that sentiment our book for special study and discussion for this month is going to be the book of Proverbs. Join me this month in reading one chapter a day in this wonderful book of God's revealed wisdom! Feel free to post your thoughts, favorite verses, or questions for discussion and I will do the same. Today's reading will be Proverbs chapter 1, tomorrows will be Proverbs chapter 2 and so on through the rest of the month! I look forward to hearing from you as we read this wonderful book together!
God Bless You, and Have a Happy New Year!
Ken Davis/Read and Heed The Word!
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