Psalm 19:1
¹The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Amen.

Matthew 16:13-16
¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Romans 16:17-18
¹⁷I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. ¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

2 Timothy 2:14-18
¹⁴Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.

Job 16:1-3
¹Then Job replied:

²“I have heard many things like these;
miserable comforters are you all!

³Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What ails you that you keep on arguing?

Psalm 16:5-6
⁵Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.

⁶The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Proverbs 16:23
²³A wise man’s heart guides his mouth,
and his lips promote instruction.

Proverbs 16:28
²⁸A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends.

Acts 16:29-33
²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

³⁰He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.” ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

Perhaps it’s a small vial of sand or dirt, to help remember a memorable place. Maybe a coin from another country, or a ticket stub from a movie you attended with a special someone. Maybe it’s something else?

We love these things. They’re treasures to us… Markers of memories. Inherently worthless… yet invaluable.

Scripture contains an example of just this kind of remembrance technique.

Twelve stones.

Joshua 4:1-9
¹When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ²“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, ³and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

⁴So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’, ⁷tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

⁸So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. ⁹Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

We human beings have an amazing ability to forget what God has done in our lives. I don’t understand it, but it’s true. God can blow us away with His goodness, faithfulness, and love for us one day, yet we find ourselves questioning His love and care for us the next.

We need constant reminders of what He has done.

The Israelites had twelve stones, placed in a specific location to remind them of what God had done.

I have a friend who has an entire container of marked stones. When God does something important in his family’s life, they pick a new stone, write a couple notes about the event on the stone with a sharpie, and place it in a container they keep on display.

I have a tattered page from a Baptist Hymnal that I picked up in the front yard of my mother-in-law’s home May of 2003 following a devastating tornado. I kid you not, the song was “From Every Stormy Wind that Blows”. God worked in amazing ways in the town of Battlefield that week, and that page let me know immediately that God was still there in the middle of the destruction.

I have three rubber bands, one red, one yellow, and one pink, placed on my wrist in July 2010 by a beautiful little girl in the Dominican Republic. They’re worth less than a penny, I’m sure, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. God opened my eyes to our privileged existence on that trip, and gave me a heart for orphans.

My point, again?

We need these kinds of reminders of God’s goodness and work.

So what “stones” have you held onto?

Given that, I thought I’d share some verses that stuck out to me. I may not do this every day as I go through this reading plan, but I plan on doing it somewhat regularly. I think it will be very interesting to see what themes begin to emerge daily, and would imagine you’ll find this interesting too. So check back from time to time.

Before I continue, though, please be warned: combining snippets of Scripture from various places in the Bible can be a dangerous thing, as it’s not too hard to make the Bible appear to say something it doesn’t. I’m compiling these verses because I think it’s interesting to provide a snapshot of some of the Scripture I’m coming across daily, NOT to try to lead anyone into a certain way of thinking by reading these verses together. If you want to understand what God’s Word says (not to mention understand how God is using His Word to speak to you!), you simply cannot neglect context! If any of these verses jump out at you, look them up and read the surrounding Scriptures! If you have questions about what you’ve read, ask your pastor, or a trusted friend! Or even ask me… I’ll be happy to try to help you understand what God’s word is saying.

With that all said… here are today’s Scripture snapshots:

Proverbs 1:7
⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Joshua 1:8
⁸Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Romans 1:20-22
²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities –- his eternal power and divine nature –- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. ²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

Proverbs 1:19
¹⁹Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Isaiah 1:13-20
¹³Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

¹⁴Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;

¹⁶wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,

¹⁷learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

¹⁸“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;

²⁰but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Job 1:20-22
²⁰At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ²¹ and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

²²In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Joshua 1:9
⁹Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I don’t want to call it a “New Year’s Resolution”, per se, but one thing I always kick myself for about two weeks after the beginning of each new year is that I don’t have a concrete plan for studying Scripture like I should. I think to myself, “Sure wish I’d have started a Bible in a Year plan or something”, and then proceed to NOT do so and flounder in my devotional life.

Not so this year.

I’ve ran across a very interesting plan that I’m excited about: “Professor Horner’s Bible-Reading System”.

It’s different than most I’ve seen, and perhaps that’s what has me excited. Ten chapters a day… from ten different locations in Scripture.

Yeah, sounds like a shotgun approach to Scripture initially, I know.

But dig into the details.

The genius that I see in the system is precisely that it DOES have participants reading so many different parts of Scripture. You see, readers have the opportunity to digest the whole of the Bible quickly. You’re not just honed in on one particular passage… you’re in Genesis, Joshua, Isaiah, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Matthew, Acts, Romans, 1 Thessalonians… simultaneously. You’re constantly bombarded by the entirety of Scripture, resulting in the big picture of God’s revelation coming across.

As described in the link above and in the program literature, the plan allows Scripture to interpret Scripture. You’ll see prophetic verses or history from the Old Testament referenced by Jesus or the writers of the Epistles. You’ll read the Psalms and receive nourishment from them, as well as wisdom from Proverbs. And you’ll see the growth of the church in Acts. And as you proceed through the plan, you’re never reading the same group of verses… you start over with each of ten sections of Scripture at different points throughout the year.

The result of all this?

Theology revealed. Practical instruction. The story of God. Constant nourishment.

Can you tell I’m excited?

Anyway, if you’re interested in participating along with me, let me know. I’d love to see a group of other believers working through Scripture together.

Psalm 46:1-3 (NIV)
¹God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

³though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 46:7 (NIV)
⁷The LORD Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

God… our refuge and strength. God… with us.

There’s a reason behind that, as you might imagine.

First… the burden of blogging every day was taking a pretty heavy toll on me. I wasn’t finding joy in simply spending time in God’s word, but instead finding it a chore to decide what I should write about each passage. And that’s not to mention the time commitment that only could be met by staying up late after everyone else went to bed, or neglecting another form of worship of God I thoroughly enjoy… playing guitar.

Second? Of late, I’ve felt compelled to put together a formalized discipleship program for my church, and I’d really rather study that topic and put some thoughts together instead of blogging about a daily Bible reading.

Anyway, here’s the deal… Bible in a Year has been sporadic for quite a while now. Expect that to continue for a while. But tomorrow night is where I want your focus (if you’d be so kind).

Tomorrow night, I have a post scheduled on the topic of discipleship that I want you to read, think about, pray about, dissect, comment upon, etc. In a nutshell, if you feel led to say something, I want it said. I think it will be worth your time!

See you back tomorrow night!

Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)
¹As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, O God.

²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?

When is the last time you were thirsty? I mean, REALLY thirsty? Remember what it felt like to finally get a drink? To have your thirst quenched?

When is the last time you thirsted for God? When you needed to connect with Him so badly it almost was physically painful?

If you haven’t, is your lack of thirst for God arising from your thirst constantly being quenched by an ongoing close relationship with Him, or is it simply that you no longer care?

Mark 8:34-37 (NIV)
³⁴Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

I don’t know what you think, but it’s my viewpoint that this is one of the most difficult teachings of Jesus. Deny myself. Take up my cross. Follow Jesus. Be willing to lose my life for Him. Forget about the things of the world, because they can stand in the way of eternity.

Basically… put Jesus first in all things.

It’s anything but easy.

How do you, personally, implement these teachings? How do we go about developing a heart that’s so devoted to Jesus that we’re not only able, but willing to our own desires second? How do you keep yourself aware of where your heart truly lies, that you might refocus when you begin to stray from God’s will to your own?

Tough questions arising from a difficult teaching!

Job 27:5-6 (NIV)
⁵I will never admit you are in the right;
    till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

⁶I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
    my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

Let’s recap a bit. God has allowed Job to be tested by Satan, and he has suffered severely because of it, losing possessions, family… even his health. Despite this, Job continues to worship God. Things get interesting when Job is confronted by his friends, who assume that because of his predicament, that God must be punishing him for some sort of sin.

It’s in that context that we get these statements… “I will never admit you are in the right”, “till I die, I will not deny my integrity”, “I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it”, “my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.”

Talk about intestinal fortitude!

Imagine yourself in Job’s shoes for a minute, and tell me how YOU would respond.

Me? I would have admitted some sort of generic fault by this point… whether guilty or not, I’d have been questioning myself enough that doubt would have crept in about my standing before God. I would have believed myself unrighteous, whether true or not.

Ever encounter someone like Job? Wholly committed to a task they know is right… never swaying from their cause no matter how difficult the circumstances or how great the pressure to change course?

How did you respond to them? Admiration? Contempt? Anything but indifference, right?

People like Job tend to be polarizing figures… we either love them or hate them… even when their cause is 100% right and they are following God wholeheartedly. We simply see truth in too many shades of grey nowadays, and this kind of black and white certainty of commitment is, well… almost shocking.

The path to popularity certainly does not lie in being a person wholly committed to God, never swaying from His way.