The Social Concerns Ministry Team invites you to join them and to continue to…
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
DAYS 121-150
Our resource is Eugene Peterson’s
THE MESSAGE//REMIX:PAUSE
DAY 121
1 Kings 8: This is one of the longest prayers in the Bible. What, more than anything else, does Solomon ask from God? Why? Why is this one thing so important, both then and now? How does God answer this prayer for you?
2 Corinthians 2: In 1 Corinthians, Paul told the church to confront a man who brought unspeakable sin into the church. Now, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, it is time to forgive him. What makes forgiveness an integral part of confronting sin?
DAY 122
1 Kings 9-11: What allowed the wisest man who ever lived to build shrines to fake gods? If Solomon could make such a stupid mistake, how vulnerable to temptation are you? What fake gods capture your affections? Why?
2 Corinthians 3: What is the difference between seeing God as a living, personal presence versus a giver of rules? How does his Spirit make you free? Why is this truth vital to the God-life?
DAY 123
1 Kings 12-14: Why didn’t Jeroboam destroy the gold calves and return to the real God the moment the prophet’s words came true? How did the prophet’s fate support his message? What makes disobedience so much more attractive than obedience?
2 Corinthians 4: Why does Jesus become more evident in your life when you suffer for his sake? How do hard times on the outside build godly character on the inside and prepare you for that which lasts forever?
DAY 124
1 Kings 15-17: Why did God send prophets to speak to the kings? Who had greater authority, the prophets or the king? Why? What was the prophet’s primary responsibility? In what ways are believers today expected to carry on the prophet’s tasks?
2 Corinthians 5: Is a “little of heaven” in your heart (5:5)? Why or why not? Why does God want you to stay homesick for your real home? What is your priority until you arrive? Does living in light of what Jesus did change the way you see others? Yourself?
DAY 125
1 Kings 18-19: Why didn’t pyrotechnics on top of Mount Carmel convince Ahab and the people of Israel to dump Baal and serve God alone? If God’s dropping fire from the sky isn’t enough to turn people to God permanently, what is?
2 Corinthians 6: How will you live openly and expansively for God? How does the command “Don’t become partners with those who reject God” (6:14) change your dating life? Your business life? Why does this command matter?
DAY 126
“Please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us,” Paul
begged the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 6:1). Yet squandering the God-life
seems to be the preferred method of operation for far too many of those who
taste God’s kindness. From the book of Genesis down through the time of the
judges and on into the reign of the kings, “godly” people constantly gave in to
compromise. Even Solomon with all his wisdom tarnished his legacy in the
closing days of his life. Apparently the lure of having a harem of over a
thousand women proved stronger than the promise of an eternal reward in heaven.
Why do so many waste God’s grace? Jesus said he came to give more and better
life than you ever dreamed of. Why is this life so hard to hold on to? Or is
it? In spite of the sorry track record of so many, God’s power shines through
the lives of those who gladly surrender everything for the sake of Christ. Paul
was one of those people. Even with his mistakes, David was as well. So was
Joshua. And Moses. And Deborah. And Abraham. And Sarah. And many, many more
who fill the pages of the Bible.
Over the next six days you will see more examples of those who squander the marvelous life God longs to give God’s children. At the same time, in the midst of it all, you will find even stronger examples of faithful servants. The question you must answer with far more than words is simply this: Which examples will you choose to follow?
DAY 127
1 Kings 20-22: Ahab set an all-time record for evil, yet God forgave him the moment he repented. What allowed God to do such a thing? If God showed Ahab mercy, is anyone too far gone for God’s grace? Why is God so eager to forgive?
2 Corinthians 7: What is God trying to clean up in your life? Talk to God about it. What do you need to do to make your body a holy temple for worship? Why is doing this so difficult? What do godly sorrow and grief over sin do in your life?
DAY 128
2 Kings 1-2: Elijah made a career of taking a stand for God against impossible odds. Why would Elisha want Elijah’s life repeated in his own? Do you? What makes anyone want to be a “holy man”? How does being holy tie into becoming bold for God?
2 Corinthians 8-9: Troubles and pressure reveal what’s really inside a person. What do they push out of you? How can poverty produce generosity? What does your attitude toward giving reveal about your relationship with God? What should motivate you to give?
DAY 129
2 Kings 3-5: The people in the northern kingdom never showed any desire for God, yet God sent them Elijah and Elisha, two of the greatest prophets of all time. Why does God reach out to people who don’t want any part of God?
2 Corinthians 10: What powerful God tools does God give God’s children, tools for them to change the world? Why don’t the worldly ways of marketing and manipulation accomplish anything eternal? What’s wrong with taking credit for the things you do for God?
DAY 130
2 Kings 6-7: If God can make an ax head float, if God can deliver an entire army to one unarmed prophet, and if God can end a severe famine overnight, what can God not do? Take a long look at God’s power. How do the problems that stress you out compare?
2 Corinthians 11: What motivates someone to deceive people with false prophets? How can you tell one of God’s real messengers from the fake? What do Paul’s experiences say about the life you can expect when you devote everything to God?
DAY 131
2 Kings 8-9: What kept God from destroying Judah and their wicked kings once and for all? Why does God go to such lengths to keep God’s promises? Even with God’s mercy, God upholds God’s justice. Why? In what ways do justice and mercy go together?
2 Corinthians 12: How can physical limitations and handicaps be gifts from God? Why would a loving God refuse to take pain and humiliation away from God’s children? What weakness do you have in your life that can become a showcase of God’s grace and power?
DAY 132
2 Kings 10-11: After doing so much in the name of God, why didn’t Jehu destroy Jeroboam’s golden calves? Why didn’t he honor the God of Israel with an undivided heart? What prompts people to depend on God only for a season?
2 Corinthians 13: Paul tells you to give yourself a checkup to make sure that Jesus Christ is in you. Do it now. Based on all you’ve read, what should you look for? What should you do if you fail the test or fall short of where your God wants you to be?
DAY 133
Over the past week, the difference between God and human beings jumped off the pages. God keeps God’s promises; people make all sorts of vows to God when crisis strikes, only to forget about God when life goes back to normal. God finishes what God starts; when it comes to faith, most people barely make it out of the gates. God shows an almost unbelievable eagerness to forgive. Even the worst sinners find God’s arms open wide when they repent. Most human beings are far too wrapped up in what they can get for themselves to seek out those who need the healing touch of forgiveness. God is all-powerful. Nothing is too difficult for God. People, on the other hand, are fragile clay jars whose weaknesses give God a chance to put God’s power on display.
As you explored God’s character this past week, what surprised you? What encouraged you? What troubled you? What raised more questions than it answered? How did your relationship with God change as a result of looking closely at God’s character? How did your view of yourself change as you looked into the mirror of God’s Word? What changed in the way you face difficult situations and difficult people after reading about the ways God uses both?
Tomorrow you will begin reading the third gospel, the book of Luke. Listen closely for its unique message as God reaffirms God truly is the God of the outcasts.
DAY 134
2 Kings 12-14: How does the unfaithfulness of God’s children impact his faithfulness to God’s word? Why does God wait so long for people to turn back to God? Why does God show compassion to people who act as though God doesn’t exist?
Luke 1:1-1:25: Why did Zachariah doubt Gabriel’s message? Why didn’t God find someone else to father the forerunner of the Messiah in light of Zachariah’s doubt? Why can’t doubt and unbelief keep God from doing what God wants to do?
DAY 135
2 Kings 15-17: Why wouldn’t any of Judah’s kings get rid of the sex-and-religion shrines? Why did the priests and the people follow evil kings and go along with their idol worship? What finally pushes God to the point of saying, “Enough!”?
Luke 1:26-1:56: If some young, pregnant, unmarried girl like Mary told you her story, would you believe her? Adultery brought a death sentence in her day. Why did she take this risk for God? In what way does her faith challenge you to go further with God?
DAY 136
2 Kings 18-19: So how does Hezekiah respond to the prospect of certain doom? He prays. That’s all. Why? What kind of strategy is prayer? What do you learn about faith and God’s abilities from this story?
Luke 1:57-1:80: How did nine months of silence change Zachariah? Why would God send a prophet to prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah? Listen to the message John will bring. Why does God enjoy showing people mercy and grace?
DAY 137
2 Kings 20-21: What was wrong with Hezekiah’s response to the news that Babylon would plunder the kingdom in the not too distant future? What allowed a good man like Hezekiah to produce an evil son like Manasseh? Why?
Luke 2: How does this account of Jesus’ birth differ from the Christmas stories you’ve heard all your life? On this day of great joy, why would Simeon talk about rejection and pain? Why wouldn’t everyone welcome the good news Jesus came to bring?
DAY 138
2 Kings 22-23: Why do people think they can placate God with a little religious activity? Once it was too late to stop God’s coming judgment, why did Josiah go ahead with his religious reform? Why couldn’t one good king change God’s mind about Judah?
Luke 3: John was popular, so much so that being baptized by him became the thing to do. Why wasn’t the act of baptism enough? Why didn’t John play to the crowds? Why did he demand real life change? Why isn’t religious show enough to appease God?
DAY 139
2 Kings 24-25: Why did God want to make sure everyone knew the fall of Jerusalem was not a random event? What role does God play in historical events? Do you believe he is as involved in current events as he was then? Why or why not?
Luke 4: Why would the Holy Spirit lead Jesus to be tempted by Satan? Put yourself in the crowd during Jesus’ first sermon. You grew up with him, just a regular guy, but now he claims to be the One Isaiah promised. How would you respond?
DAY 140
The final verse of 2 Kings brings Israel’s story full circle. Approximately seven hundred years after God set them free, Nebuchadnezzar overran Jerusalem and took the best and the brightest back with him to Babylon. Seven centuries of splitting their affections between God and a pantheon of other gods and goddesses finally caught up with them. It took a long time, but the Israelites finally learned they could push God too far. The northern kingdom first felt the brunt of God’s wrath. A little over a hundred years later, the southern kingdom suffered the same fate.
What did God teach you about Godself as you read Israel’s story? What did God teach you about human nature? Why do people cling to worthless idols rather than embracing God’s mercy? People may not build sex-and-religion shrines in their backyards today, but idolatry still thrives. What gods tug on the hearts of people, especially people who claim to follow Jesus? What competes with your affection? Ask God to show you. What will you do to protect yourself from developing a yo-yo relationship with God?
Tomorrow you begin reading the Prophets. God sent each man as God’s spokesman during the kings (the period of time you just read about). The books of history told you what happened. Now you will read the same story from God’s perspective. As God tells his side of the story, you will not only understand what happened to Israel and Judah but you will also learn to see God’s hand at work in the events of history unfolding around you today.
DAY 141
Isaiah 1-3: Why would people whose hearts are far from God offer God a frenzy of sacrifices? Why does God find that kind of religion disgusting? Why does God demand that God’s people stand up for the defenseless and uphold justice for the powerless?
Luke 5: Why would Jesus touch a leper, attend a party filled with notorious crooks, and invite a tax collector to be his disciple (tax collectors were despised by everyone)? What draws Jesus to the outcasts? What draws outcasts to Jesus? What barriers do religious people try to build between outcasts and Jesus, both then and now?
DAY 142
Isaiah 4-6: How does experiencing the holiness of God change your understanding of God’s judgment? Why won’t everyone who hears God’s words understand God’s message? Why does God intersperse warnings of judgment with promises of restoration and hope?
Luke 6:1-6:26: How do religious rules get in the way of knowing God? Why do God’s blessings come when we lose everything? All our lives we’re told we need high self-esteem. Why, then, does Jesus say trouble lies ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself?
DAY 143
Isaiah 7-9: This promised Child, God-With-Us, will take over the running of the world. Why? What can One named “Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness” (9:6) do that human beings have been unable to do?
Luke 6:27-6:49: Why should you love your enemies? How can giving, not getting, lead to blessing? What does it mean to give your life away? Think of ways these ideals can go from religious words to real actions in your life. Pray for God’s help.
DAY 144
Isaiah 10-12: Why does God stand up for the poor, for defenseless widows, and for homeless children? God offers hope of salvation for the entire world. Why must God send God’s Messiah, the green Shoot from Jesse’s stump, to pull this off?
Luke 7:1-7:35: Why did John the Baptizer wonder if Jesus truly was the Messiah? Remember, John is in jail and knows he won’t get out alive. If you were John, why would you want to be sure Jesus was the One? Why didn’t Jesus give him a straight answer?
DAY 145
Isaiah 13-15: Babylon and Assyria were the most powerful nations on earth, yet God lets them know God is stronger. Does this reassure you when you see injustice flourish? Why or why not? When and how does God show God’s sovereignty over nations today?
Luke 7:36-7:50: Why do those who are forgiven much show God extreme gratitude? What insight does this story give you into the blasé attitude of many Christ-followers toward God? Do you resent God’s welcoming the worst kind of sinners? Who are they?
DAY 146
Isaiah 16-18: Think about the religious stuff you did over the past few weeks. Was your focus on God-Your-Salvation, or did your mind wander here and there and everywhere? What crept between you and God even as you sang songs and listened to the teaching?
Luke 8:1-8:25: Why did Jesus use stories, and why didn’t he explain them? Which kind of seed are you? How do you know? Is Jesus a fad for you? Do worries about tomorrow or making money or having fun crowd him out of your life?
DAY 147
Reading Isaiah and Luke together gives you a unique opportunity to witness both the making and fulfillment of many of God’s promises. Throughout his message of judgment, Isaiah offers hope. One day soon, he tells the people of Israel and Judah, God Godself will come to this earth and set things right. In Luke you witness God doing just that as Jesus, Immanuel, the child Isaiah said would be born of a virgin, proclaims the good news of an oppressed people. Jesus is the man from Galilee who brings to light those trapped in darkness. He is the one on whom the Spirit of God hovers, the one who delights in the Fear-of-God.
Yet Isaiah tells us that Jesus’ work was getting started when he walked this earth. Wicked people pervert justice still today, while sin and violence and peace are once and for all on the day his Chosen One takes over the ruling of the earth. You don’t have to be a scholar to know that day still lies somewhere in the future. Why would God come to earth twice, the first time to save the world, and the second time to take it over? Why didn’t he do both at the same time?
Isaiah may be filled with warnings of judgment and awe, yet it also brims with hope. This hope isn’t some distant maybe; it isn’t a faint possibility that may or may not come true. God’s hope invades the earth through God’s Son. It did when Jesus walked among us, and it still does today. How will you become a messenger of this hope to a desperate world?
DAY 148
Isaiah 19-21: Put yourself in Isaiah’s place. God tells you to go naked and barefoot in broad daylight for three years! Would you do it? Why would God tell God’s prophet to do something so crazy?
Luke 8:26-8:56: Here we have another naked guy, only this one is demon-possessed. Why would the forces of hell cower in fear before Jesus? Why does seeing God’s power at work strike fear in the human heart as well?
DAY 149
Isaiah 22-24: Why would anyone throw a party when they should be grieving over the mess they’ve made of their lives? How can this message of doom cause some people to break into glad songs of praise to God?
DAY 150
Isaiah 25-27: Why will God judge the entire earth? If God excludes so many, as critics would charge, why does God invite all the people of the world to enjoy God’s salvation feast? What does this invitation reveal about God’s heart for the world?
Luke 9:37-9:62: What is the difference between hoping to become famous for God and coming to God like a child? Why does your motivation matter? Why was Jesus so rough on those who had legitimate excuses for not following him right away?