The Social Concerns Ministry Team invites you to join them and to continue to…
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
DAYS 151-180
Our resource is Eugene Peterson’s
THE MESSAGE//REMIX:PAUSE
DAY 151
Isaiah 28-30: Look back over the case God is building against God’s people. What made God so mad? Since God knows human nature, what does God really expect to find in people? What does it mean to honor the Holy One?
Luke 10: Does Jesus entrust his followers today with the same authority he sent out with the seventy? How? Why? How do you define neighbor? What do exercising authority over evil and showing love toward your neighbor have in common?
DAY 152
Isaiah 31-33: How do sorrow and turning back to God go together? What does it mean to “live right, speak the truth, despise exploitation, refuse bribes, reject violence, and avoid evil amusements” (33:15)? Isn’t it enough to be a decent person who minds his own business and never hurts anyone? Why throw all these requirements into the mix? What impact will incorporating these into your own life make on the world around you?
Luke 11:1-11:28: How do you get ”direct” with God (11:10)? How will this change your prayer life? What are the cat-and-mouse games people play with God? How do hearing Word and guarding it with your life change the way you approach God?
DAY 153
Isaiah 34-35: Why does the same act of God that destroys evil people also open up the Holy Road into God’s presence for those who love God? Why won’t God let just anyone come down God’s road? What seals the fate of those who remain lost?
Luke 11:29-11:54: What do generosity toward the poor and basic matters of justice have to do with God’s love and the internal God-life? If you had been sitting at the table with Jesus and the Pharisee, how would you have fared?
DAY 154
You spent the past two weeks listening as God made God’s case against Israel and Judah, point by point, like a cold prosecuting attorney. By the time you reach this halfway point of Isaiah, you might be wanting to wave a white flag, thinking ENOUGH! I’M CONVINCED OF THEIR GUILT AND THEIR NEED FOR PUNISHMENT! Is God too rough on God’s people? Why or why not? Given all God did for Abraham’s descendants through the centuries, how should these people have responded to God? Why does God expect more from people than they can deliver? Why doesn’t God grade on a curve?
Intermixed with these two tales of woe, God offers the hope of forgiveness and a new start. In Luke, Jesus brought this hope within reach for everyone who will call on his name. Why would a holy God offer guilty people a second chance? If a human judge forgave a convicted car thief instead of sending him to prison, would you think that was right? Would you give a different answer if the thief had stolen your car? How does seeing yourself as the injured party change your understanding of God’s forgiveness?
God used Isaiah as God’s mouthpiece not only to Israel and Judah but also to the nations around them. Why does God address those who were God’s chosen people? Over the next two weeks you will see God’s plan for all the world. As you read Isaiah’s Messages of Comfort, you will understand why Jesus came for everyone. Do you share God’s love and passion for people? Are you willing to go to the same lengths God does to offer people the hope that can be theirs?
DAY 155
Isaiah 36-37: What point does God want to make sure you get from this story, which appears in three different books of the Bible? What truth must you take from these two chapters? Why? How will this truth change the way you approach life?
Luke 12:1-12:34: Are you “contaminated with Pharisee yeast” (12:1)? If so, how can you rid yourself of the disease? How can you protect yourself from contamination? What does it mean to “steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions” (12:31)?
DAY 156
Isaiah 38-39: What did Hezekiah learn about God through his troubles that he couldn’t learn any other way? What have you learned through yours? Why does God use hard times as the training ground for God’s children? Does this seem fair? Why or why not?
Luke 12:35-12:59: How will you be ready for your Master’s return? What fire did Jesus start on this earth? Where does it burn today? How are you to fan the flames, making them burn hotter and spread further?
DAY 157
Isaiah 40-41: God asks in Isaiah 40:25, “So—who is like me?” Circle every word and phrase from these chapters that describes God’s majesty. Then underline every part that describes the way God cares for God’s children. Now answer the question, who is like your God?
Luke 13: What is the difference between a guest at God’s salvation banquet and someone who’s been hanging around the neighborhood all his life? How do you know if you are one and not the other?
DAY 158
Isaiah 42-43: In what ways does Jesus fit the description of the Servant who will set everything right? God sent God’s Savior as an act of God’s incredible love for the human race. Yet why do most people choose sin over God?
Luke 14: Meditate on Jesus’ words in Luke 14:33. What is dearest to you? What price are you willing to pay to be Jesus’ disciple?
DAY 159
Isaiah 44-45: Making a god out of the same block of wood used to build a fire is pretty stupid. So, take a close look at where your time, money, and energy go. How does that stuff compare to the guy praying to his no-god made of firewood?
Luke 15: Why does God hunt so intently for a lost sheep? Why do God and all the angels celebrate every time a lost soul returns? Why would a father throw a welcome party for such a lost son? How do these stories change the way you view God? People?
DAY 160
Isaiah 46-48: Once again, consider the evidence that God is who God says God is. Find the proofs God lists in today’s selection, then put them to the test. In light of what you’ve discovered, how should you now live?
Luke 16: God gave the ultimate proof of who God is by raising Jesus from the dead. Yet, in the story of the rich man and the beggar, Abraham says those who won’t listen to Moses or the Prophets won’t be convinced by someone rising from the dead. Why won’t they? Why does it take more to convince someone to turn to God?
DAY 161
The chapters you read this week offer some of the sweetest promises in the Bible. God’s unfathomable power and his incomprehensible love dare you to compare God to all impostors. Then God invites you to draw close and find what the human heart yearns for. Of all the promises you read last week, which did you need to hear the most? Which passages do you never want to forget? Talk to God about your discoveries.
Along with the message of comfort, God includes warnings. God ridiculed idolatry through the story of the man who cut down a tree, carved half of it into an idol, and used the rest to build a fire. Thinking oh yeah, those people are crazy and going no further might be tempting until you listen to Jesus: “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33) Why is clinging to anything other than God an act of idolatry? When you consider all God offers, in what way do your feelings about what’s dearest to you change? What price, then, do you pay when you kiss all that stuff good-bye for Jesus’ sake?
God’s message of comfort and hope has just begun. Over the next several days you will absorb both God’s plans for the world and the means by which God will carry them out. In the middle of everything is Jesus. Read carefully for the story of his death on the cross, foretold centuries before he was even born. You know how much God’s forgiving your sin would cost him personally. So why did God go ahead and pay the price?
DAY 162
Isaiah 49-51: Have you ever felt that God has forgotten you? What were the circumstances? Why is it impossible for God to lose track of those God loves? How does knowing God never forgets you change your perspective on the trials you go through?
Luke 17: Why is there no “more” or “less” in faith? How do obedience and gratitude express faith? What does it mean to “grasp and cling to faith on your own terms” (17:33)? Why is that a bad thing? What does it take to approach life on God’s terms?
DAY 163
Isaiah 52-54: Why did God give such a detailed account of the death of God’s Son, the Messiah, so far ahead of time? What allows God’s saving power to look like this? What makes good news out of this story of such undeserved cruelty and brutality?
Luke 18: Put yourself in the rich official’s place. Would you sell everything you own and follow Jesus? Consider this question in light of today’s selection from Isaiah. Compare the price Jesus paid to the demands he makes on you.
DAY 164
Isaiah 55-57: What is God inviting you to do in today’s reading? What in your life do you need to bring to God to receive it? At what point does God refuse to forgive those who come to God? How do you feel about God’s refusal?
Luke 19:1-19:27: Why would Jesus seek out a crook like Zacchaeus? Does knowing you are responsible for wisely investing eternal resources change the way you see people like Zacchaeus? In what ways? Why does God entrust so much to you?
DAY 165
Isaiah 58-60: Underline in these chapters every reference to the need for justice, the ending of oppression, and caring for the destitute. How does God expect you to carry out these high-priority activities? Do you feel capable? Why or why not?
Luke 19:28-19:48: Why didn’t Jesus savor the crowd’s enthusiasm? What allowed people to receive him with joy, only to turn on him a week later? Why was this processional necessary? If you were a religious leader, how would you have greeted Jesus? Why?
DAY 166
Isaiah 61-63: Jesus quoted the first part of today’s reading when he made his first public appearance. Why did he choose this passage? How does seeing both God’s love and God’s justice in Jesus expand your understanding of who your Savior really is?
Luke 20: What does it mean to stumble over Jesus (see 20:18)? Why do people pose silly questions to God and demand an explanation? How does Jesus’ lack of defense to the religious authorities explain God’s refusal to answer all the skeptics’ questions?
DAY 167
Isaiah 64-66: If the people of Israel were so bad, why did God save any of them? Why is God making a new heaven and a new earth? What will be the main activity of the new creation? Why? How does this knowledge change your priorities for the present?
Luke 21: Does thinking about the fulfillment of Jesus’ words fill you with comfort or dread (or a combination of the two)? Why? What will you do to keep your sharp edge of expectation for Vengeance Day from becoming dull?
DAY 168
What most surprised you in the book of Isaiah? What troubled you? What encouraged you? What challenged you? How did the prophecies of God’s coming Servant increase your understanding of Jesus and his mission? How did your understanding of God’s character grow? Of God’s power? Of God’s involvement in history? How did the way you view world events change—past, present, and future? What does the future hold, both for those who love God and those who wish God would get lost?
Why did God emphasize social action in Isaiah—upholding justice, ending oppression, and caring for the widows and the powerless? Did this emphasis surprise you? Why? In what ways does Jesus echo the same messages? Why does social action matter to God? Can you love God without loving people, especially people the rest of the world overlooks? Why or why not?
The prophets not only foretold God’s future plans but they also revealed God’s heart. Perhaps no other book in the Bible shows God’s heart quite like Jeremiah. In Jeremiah’s writings you will find God as a wounded lover whose one true love abandoned him for a life of prostitution. At the same time you will watch in Luke when God’s heart breaks as God’s Son hangs dying on a cross. Together these narratives show God isn’t some cold, detached deity. Instead, you will discover that God lays God’s heart out in love for all people, only to find most will stomp on it. Why then does God keep on doing it?
DAY 169
Jeremiah 1-2: How would it feel for God to tell you God has had a special plan for your life since before you were born? What if that special plan included future rejection? In what way would that change how you feel about God and that plan?
Luke 22:1-22:38: Why would anyone betray Jesus? What made the disciples capable of hearing Jesus talk about his impending death only to start arguing about which of them was greatest? Why is imitating Jesus and becoming a lowly servant so distasteful?
DAY 170
Jeremiah 3-5: If your spouse walked out on you and slept with every person in sight, how would that make you feel? What does God feel when people walk out on God for some other god? Why does God plead for the return of unfaithful believers?
Luke 22:39-22:71: Why didn’t Jesus fight back when the crowd came to arrest him? Why did he heal the ear of one of his accusers instead of zapping all the soldiers? Why didn’t he exact revenge against Judas or the men who slapped him around?
DAY 171
Jeremiah 6-8: Find the specific acts in this reading that provoked God’s anger. What parallels do you see in your own world? How prevalent are the same sort of deeds in the world today? Ask God what God has to say about the situation.
Luke 23: In Jeremiah 6:10 God said, “They’ve tuned out GOD. They don’t want to hear from me.” Why would Jesus die for people who had tuned him out? He died at the hands of cold-hearted men for the sake of a cold-hearted world. Why?
DAY 172
Jeremiah 9-11: Why did Jeremiah keep preaching? How did his tears for the people push him to speak? Why is a broken heart essential for God’s messenger? What is the relationship between popularity and faithfulness?
Luke 24: Why did the disciples have such a hard time believing Jesus was truly alive? Think about the excitement they felt and what it drove them to do. Does this same excitement fill you? If not, what will it take for you to recover it?
DAY 173
Jeremiah 12-14: Spewing bad news after bad news without seeing any results wore Jeremiah down. Does God’s response to Jeremiah’s complaints surprise you? Why would God be so harsh with God’s servant? Is it wrong to complain to God? Why or why not?
Acts 1:1-1:14: Luke says he wrote about everything Jesus began to do. What does this say about the power behind the acts of the apostles? What role does the Holy Spirit play in Jesus’ departure? In the future activities of the apostles?
DAY 174
Jeremiah 15-17: What made Jeremiah complain again to God? Does God’s response to his second complaint surprise you? How does it differ from the first? What encouragement do you find in God’s words when you try to tell people about God but no one seems to listen? Why does God treat people as they really are, not as they pretend to be?
Acts 1:15-2:13: What made unschooled men suddenly start speaking languages they’d never learned? Why would God announce the coming of the Holy Spirit in this way? What was the ultimate purpose behind this miracle?
DAY 175
Jeremiah’s life shows that living in God’s will doesn’t guarantee success or popularity. In fact, Jeremiah, like the majority of faithful people in the Bible, discovered the opposite to be true. Living for a holy God in an unholy world puts you on the outs with most people. Even if you don’t confront ungodly behavior head on, the simple act of letting God shine from your life will upset some people. Every human being was created for God. No one will find the reason for existence apart from God. Yet, instead of running to God, some people run from God. Throughout their lives, some people tell God to leave them alone. So coming face to face with a Christ-follower is a less than subtle reminder that God loves them too much to let them go without a fight. But fight God they do. That’s why the people of Jerusalem ignored Jeremiah. That’s why their great-great-great-grandchildren killed Jesus.
What did you expect from God when you first said yes to God? In what ways have your expectations changed over the past few months? Jesus told his followers the world would treat them the same way it treated him. How do his words affect your enthusiasm for following him? What motivates you to follow God’s plan for your life? What does God offer that will make the sacrifices he demands worth it in the end?
The disciples in Acts knew what they were getting themselves into, yet you will not find a trace of grim resignation to the hard road ahead. Instead, one emotion spills out of their lives regardless of what they go through: joy. As you read during the next couple of weeks, look for their secret.
DAY 176
Jeremiah 18-20: How can Jeremiah curse the day of his birth and still walk by faith? How can knowing God’s future plans bring pain rather than joy? Why can’t Jeremiah hold God’s words in? What would God have to do to inject the same urgency into you?
Acts 2:14-2:47: Why will God’s Spirit cause God’s sons and daughters to prophesy? How does your answer compare to the words God burned inside Jeremiah, words he had to share? If God’s Spirit dwells in you, will God also force you to speak up? Why or why not?
DAY 177
Jeremiah 21-23: Which message was more popular: “GOD-WHO-PUTS-EVERYTHING-RIGHT” is coming (23:6) or “Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You” (23:17)? Why? Which one do people prefer today? Why? How will you tell the truth from a lie?
Acts 3: What might those who screamed for Jesus’ crucifixion have thought when they saw the crippled man healed in his name? Why would God offer forgiveness to those who killed Jesus? What is required to receive God’s gift of salvation?
DAY 178
Jeremiah 24-26: Why did Jeremiah’s words have to be harsh? How do they show God’s mercy? Why did the religious leaders, those who were supposed to know God best, fail to recognize God at work? What gave Jeremiah boldness in the face of their threats?
Acts 4:1-4:31: Why did the religious leaders, those who represented God to the Jews, fail to recognize God at work? What made Peter and John so bold? Why couldn’t they keep silent in the face of threats? What makes believers keep silent today?
DAY 179
Jeremiah 27-28: Why would Jeremiah tell King Zedekiah to submit himself to the godless king of Babylon? Why is accepting God’s discipline so hard to do? Why do most people, like Hananiah, find it repulsive?
Acts 4:32-5:11: Why did God punish Ananias and Sapphira so quickly and severely? What point did the Holy Spirit want to make? Why do people feel tempted to gain praise for themselves when they are supposedly doing things for God?
DAY 180
Jeremiah 29:1-31:1: If God planned to give the exiles the future they hoped for, why did they have to spend seventy years in captivity? Why didn’t God set them free right away? Why doesn’t God’s plan for your life guarantee a trouble-free existence?
Acts 5:12-5:42: Why did the Chief Priest worry about being blamed for Jesus’ death? The Holy Spirit corroborated every detail of Peter and John’s message through many God-signs. How does God confirm God’s message today?