The Social Concerns Ministry Team invites you to join them and to continue to…
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
DAYS 241-270
Our resource is Eugene Peterson’s
THE MESSAGE//REMIX:PAUSE
DAY 241
Psalms 32-35: Psalm 32 introduces an essential part of your conversation with God: confession. Pray through this psalm and experience the joy of forgiveness that follows when you come clean before God with your failures.
1 Thessalonians 3: Why is trouble a part of the calling of Christ-followers? Don’t just think about yourself as you answer this question. Look around. Whom do you need to pray for and encourage so they may be infused with strength and purity?
DAY 242
Psalms 36-38: Personalize Psalm 36. Who is the God-rebel you envy just a little? Pray for him. Ask God to break through his self-delusion. Then praise God for God’s meteoric love, God’s astronomic loyalty, God’s titanic purpose, and God’s oceanic verdicts.
1 Thessalonians 4: What does a holy and beautiful life look like in action? How does knowing death is not the end change the way you grieve and mourn fellow believers who die? How do you approach life knowing Jesus is coming back for you?
DAY 243
Psalms 39-41: Psalm 39 forces you to think about subjects perhaps you would rather ignore. Contemplate the uncomfortable truth: Your life is nothing but a puff of air, a shadow in a campfire. Talk with God about how you can maximize the impact of your life.
1 Thessalonians 5: Why won’t God give an exact time for Jesus’ return? In what ways can you “look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out” (5:15), without the command degenerating into sentimental gush?
DAY 244
Psalms 42-44: “When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you,” the psalmist writes in 42:6. Pray back to God all you’ve learned about God. Allow God’s revelation of God’s self to refresh your soul and fix your eyes on God.
2 Thessalonians 1: How does knowing justice is on the way make suffering bearable now? Why must God even the score with those who refuse to know God? How can the simple act of belief make an eternal difference in your destiny? Shouldn’t more be required?
DAY 245
Above all else, the God-life is one filled with hope. This hope is rooted in the promises God made in the past, draws from God’s presence today, and looks forward to the glory God has for God’s children in the future. Nothing can squash God’s hope. It will carry you through any situation and defeat any foe who comes against you. God’s hope enabled the psalmist to sing God’s praises even as his world caved in around him, and it enabled Paul to reassure the Thessalonians that their best days lay ahead. Hope is the distinctive characteristic of Christ’s followers. This hope sets them apart from the world.
Although the word “hope” appears only once in Psalms, how does the message of hope permeate the entire book? Some of the prayers you read this week are frantic. You can sense the anguish and imagine the tears falling on the page. What allows hope to coincide with desperation? Other psalms brim with confidence as they sing of God’s glory. What keeps hope from becoming arrogance?
Your New Testament readings took you through 1 Thessalonians, a book that built on the hope of Christ’s return. That’s good news. But the bad news is that the people had to suffer intense persecution for Jesus. God promises to bring about justice in the end, but why does the wait have to be so long? Why won’t God do something to improve today? Why must hope be all wrapped up in the future? Think about how hope will change the way you face both today and tomorrow. Think about with whom you will share this hope that can so easily be taken for granted.
DAY 246
Psalms 45-47: Of God the psalmist says in 46:6, “Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten, but Earth does anything God says.” Why does the physical universe have no choice but to obey God? Why is this simple truth so easy to forget?
2 Thessalonians 2: Why do people obsessively try to solve the mystery of when Jesus will return? How does this frenzy open the door for Satan? What protects you from falling for the fake miracles of the Antichrist, as well as every other scheme Satan hatches?
DAY 247
Psalms 48-50: Are you easily impressed by the rich and famous? Why or why not? Psalm 49 tells you to let God change your view of the wealthy and powerful, as well as your view of yourself. Why must you stop living for the moment to make your life count?
2 Thessalonians 3: Why are laziness and the God-life mutually exclusive? Paul said if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Does refusing to feed a hungry man who refuses to work contradict godly compassion? Why or why not?
DAY 248
Psalm 51: David penned this Psalm after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. Why would God listen to this prayer? Meditate on its words. Allow David to show you how to approach God when your life contradicts everything you claim to believe.
1 Timothy 1: Given Paul’s past, why would God pick him to spread the good news to the non-Jews? How is God glorified through extreme grace? How could anyone walk away from Jesus? And how could Paul let professing believers wander off?
DAY 249
Psalms 52-55: Have you ever felt the treachery the Psalmist expresses in Psalm 55? What ran through your head when you discovered a close friend had betrayed you? Tell it to God. Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders. God will carry your load.
1 Timothy 2: What role does prayer play in the God-life? Why? What makes prayer so vital for both you and the world? How do anger and primping get in the way of the business of prayer?
DAY 250
Psalms 56-59: Shouldn’t we pray only for the salvation of wicked people? Psalm 58 says no, that it’s okay to pray that God will smash in wicked people’s teeth. Why isn’t this wrong? How does this fit into God’s plan to save the wicked?
1 Timothy 3: Why does God hold leaders and servants to such high standards? Why should a person’s personal life have anything to do with his or her capabilities? Why does Paul emphasize character (and not, say, education) as the qualification for leadership?
DAY 251
Psalms 60-64: Just as the Psalms teach you to pray, they also teach you to worship. Use Psalm 63 as your guide. Recite it to God as its emotions overflow in you. Allow the Holy Spirit to awaken your own hunger and thirst for God. Then worship God.
1 Timothy 4: How can you recognize demonic illusions and silly stories? What does it mean to exercise daily in God? What are signs of spiritual flabbiness? Why is it equally important to watch your character and your teaching?
DAY 252
The Psalms present God in all God’s majesty. Compared to God, all the biggest, baddest, meanest, most powerful nations of earth are nothing. God speaks and the earth obeys. Who else can do that? How has praying through the Psalms expanded your understanding of the greatness of God? What causes your view of God to shrink? If you don’t feel like that last question applies to you, think back to the life that spilled from your character this past week. Did you do any whining? Complaining? Worrying? Did any misplaced priorities lead you around by the nose? Did you give in to an offer that looked too good to refuse, even though you knew doing so was wrong? All of these are symptoms of a shrunken God. How can keeping your eyes on the full majesty of God keep your life on track with God?
Spend the rest of the day meditating on the greatness of God. Reread the psalms that describe God’s awesome wonder, such as Psalms 47, 48, 49 and 50. Let them set your imagination to flight as you contemplate the glory of God. Don’t rush this or treat it like a religious duty. You were designed to know and worship God, but you will be frustrated in your attempts if your view of God falls short of what God says about God’s self. Let the Holy Spirit use God’s Word to reset your God-setting to the default position that God built into you when God made you in God’s image.
DAY 253
Psalms 65-67: Why was creation made to worship God? The psalmist says dawn and dusk take turns calling out “Come and worship” (65:8). How can you hear nature’s call to worship? How does the universe bring praise to God just by doing what God designed it to do?
1 Timothy 5: How can refusing to care for family members in need repudiate the faith? Why do you have a responsibility to support those in leadership positions within your church? Why can’t they pay their own way like everyone else?
DAY 254
Psalms 68-69: “Quicksand under me, swamp water over me; I’m going down for the third time,” David prays (69:2). What caused his pain? How can he still talk about shouting God’s name with a praising song? How can desperation produce praise?
1 Timothy 6: Is money a bad thing in and of itself? Why or why not? How does the lust for money bring nothing but trouble? Western culture is saturated in consumerism—wanting more all the time. How can you run from the lust for money and still survive?
DAY 255
Psalms 70-72: Read 1 Timothy 2:2 again. Pray for your country’s political leaders today using Psalm 72 as your guide. What chief priority do you need to pray that the nation’s leaders will adopt?
2 Timothy 1: What special abilities has God given you? Are you shy with them, or are you bold with them for God’s sake? What tempts you to be embarrassed to speak up for the Master? Why does it matter that your salvation was all God’s idea?
DAY 256
Psalms 73-74: “Nice guys finish last” seems to sum up Psalm 73. How does life make you think that financial success means more than living for God? Why does entering God’s presence cure envy? Can you honestly say God is all you want? Why or why not?
2 Timothy 2: How can you tell when talk about God is careening toward pious nitpicking or inane discussions? Why must these be avoided? How does the insight of verses 25 and 26 change the way you view the actions of unbelievers?
DAY 257
Psalms 75-77: When have you felt abandoned by God? Why? How does remembering all God has done in the past change your perspective? Which carries more weight, the crisis of the moment or God’s track record? Does your life reflect your answer?
2 Timothy 3: Why do believers act shocked when people act the way verses 1-5 describe? What does Paul mean by verse 12? What enables you to withstand trouble and live unstained by the world?
DAY 258
Psalm 78: How can reminding God of God’s past actions enhance your prayer life? How does remembering God’s faithfulness to earlier generations, both to bless obedience and punish disobedience, keep your own life on track?
2 Timothy 4: What constitutes spiritual “junk food”? Why should anyone who claims to believe the truth turn their backs on it? How does living for God’s applause change your approach to all of life?
DAY 259
Faith is like a muscle. It grows stronger the more it is pushed to its limits. That sounds simple enough, but you know it isn’t. The process is never pleasant, and it almost always hurts. If the first day of going to the gym makes it hard for you to get out of bed the next day, why would you think the process of growing stronger in faith would be easy? The tests and trials make the journey difficult. But without them you will never progress beyond a surface belief in God.
Most of the psalms you read over the past six days were written in the middle of this difficult journey. What did you learn about trusting God no matter what life throws at you? Which Psalms best capture your most recent struggles? What conversations between you and God did these Psalms spark? What did God teach you about God’s faithfulness? How did your relationship with God develop?
Toward the end of the next week you will begin reading through the book of Matthew, the fourth gospel, which is the first gospel in the New Testament. The first gospel became last in Pause because Matthew takes you back to the Old Testament more than any of the other three. Over and over again Matthew quotes promises and prophecies from the Law, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets. Many of the quotes will sound familiar—you’ve already read the prophecies of the Messiah’s coming in their original context. Every book of the Bible works together to tell one story. All the pieces come together in Jesus.
DAY 260
Psalms 79-81: Why would a just God let people suffer because of the sins of their forefathers? Why would God allow you to pay for the mistakes of your parents or grandparents? And how does faith respond when this happens?
Titus 1: Titus is the third book in a row that describes qualifications for leaders in the church. How does your own life measure up to Paul’s list? What will it take for God to prepare you for leadership?
DAY 261
Psalms 82-86: Does one day of worshipping God beat a thousand on Greek island beaches to you? Why or why not? Be honest with God. How strongly does the desire to lose yourself in God’s presence burn inside of you?
Titus 2: How does solid doctrine translate into solid living? What keeps the command to turn your back on a godless, indulgent life from becoming a life of religious rules? How does living a God-honoring life wet your appetite for Christ’s return?
DAY 262
Psalms 87-89: Meditate on the truth that God made the cosmos, from atom to archangel. Examine your world, from the mammoth to the tiny. How does finding God’s fingerprints everywhere change your perspective on both the world and God?
Titus 3: What makes arguing over trivial matters of religion attractive? How can you just walk away from a divisive person? Why shouldn’t you keep trying to enlighten him and show him the errors of his way?
DAY 263
Psalms 90-93: Paul said anyone who wants to live all-out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble. Yet the psalmist says God will rescue you from hidden traps and shield you from deadly hazards. How can both of these statements be true?
Philemon 1: If you were Philemon, why would this letter make you stop thinking of your escaped slave as property and instead see him as a brother? Why does truly believing in Jesus produce radical social change?
DAY 264
Psalms 94-97: “Sing God a brand-new song!” (96:1) Let these psalms guide you as you pen your own song to God. You may not be much of a singer, but God doesn’t care. God will love whatever you sing to God. So don’t worry about rhyming or being in tune.
Matthew 1: Four unlikely women with checkered pasts are included in Jesus’ family tree. Why would God orchestrate the lineage of God’s Son in such a way? And why would the Holy Spirit make sure Matthew included this detail?
DAY 265
Psalms 98-102: The psalmist says God rules. Present tense. But how can God rule in a world of sin and injustice? With this question in your mind, think about the words of Psalm 100. God is GOD. Sheer beauty. All-generous in love. Loyal always and ever.
Matthew 2: Matthew 1-2 contains five references to the words of the prophets that were fulfilled in Jesus. Why is this so important? How does the fulfillment show both God’s faithfulness and God’s Son’s authority? In what way does this matter to you?
DAY 266
When the Holy Spirit moves in you, it transforms not only your character but also your outlook on the world. The Spirit opens your eyes to see with God’s eyes. No longer do you witness random events. Instead you recognize God’s hand ruling the universe. Nature and all its beauty are not the result of a string of coincidences and chance events. When you view the world through the lens of the Bible, you understand that God made everything from atoms to archangels and that God designed them to bring God praise. This transformed perspective is called Biblical worldview, and it permeated all the psalms you read this week.
How does seeing the world from God’s perspective change the way you pray (the requests you make, the praises you offer, the discussions you have with God)? What does Biblical worldview do to worry? Why is this worldview essential for surviving in our troubled world? In what way does this worldview enable you to praise God in every situation? What people or situations pull your eyes off God and fill you with doubt, anger, and fear? What does it take for you to consistently remember God is on God’s throne?
Over the next six days you will learn more about seeing with God’s perspective. Psalms will take you on a tour of creation, helping you spot God’s glory everywhere. In Matthew, Jesus will question conventional wisdom about what matters most in life. The world, he will tell you, has it all wrong. As you read, allow Jesus’ words to reset all your ideas about the world. Let the Spirit transform your mind and reshape your thinking into the image of Jesus.
DAY 267
Psalms 103-104: It’s easy to get bored with everyday life. So instead, let God through Psalm 104 open your eyes to the wonder of the ordinary. Join God in enjoying God’s creation. What words of praise well up inside of you as a result?
Matthew 3: Put yourself in John the Baptizer’s camel-hair habit. You’ve devoted your life to clearing a path for God’s Messiah. Suddenly he shows up and asks you to baptize him. What would you think? Say? Do next?
DAY 268
Psalms 105-106: These Psalms retell Israel’s story (the good, the bad, and the ugly). In a similar way, write your story with God. Celebrate God’s faithfulness when God poured out God’s blessings and when you tasted God’s discipline. Then tell your story. Invite others to feast on the wonder of God and all God has done in your life.
Matthew 4: How could Jesus use the Bible as his defense against the Devil without having one handy? Think about the tests the Devil throws at you every day. Do you pass more than you fail? Why or why not? How will you prepare for future tests?
DAY 269
Psalms 107-108: Reread Psalm 107, putting names, faces, and places on each event the psalmist gives of God’s deep love. For example, you may be the person who was sick, but God rescued you in the nick of time. If you aren’t, think of someone who is. Use this Psalm to train your eyes to see God’s deep love in action around you.
Matthew 5:1-5:20: Everything Jesus says about the blessed life goes against conventional wisdom. Reread the list of blessings. How does your life, both your actions and your attitudes, need to change to place yourself in a position to be blessed?
DAY 270
Psalms 109-110: Jesus said you are blessed when you are at the end of your rope. Psalm 109 gives you a peek into the soul of one who is at that point. Let its honesty sweep over you and guide you to be utterly real with your own prayer before God.
Matthew 5:21-5:48: Examine your life in the four areas Jesus touches on. How are you doing? Allow God to reveal the nature of your soul to you. Why is keeping a list in each of these areas much easier than living out the words of Jesus?