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While fall doesn’t officially start until about three weeks into the month, the beginning of September always feels like the beginning of fall to me. And it’s always a time when routines are adjusted to the change in schedules. Be sure to keep your Bible reading in your schedule! Our Resting at the River’s Edge schedule will help you stay on track, reading four or five chapters each weekday. If you fall behind, don’t worry about it! That’s why we only schedule readings on weekdays – so we can use the weekend to catch up. And if you can’t catch up on weekends, still don’t worry about it! Just keep reading at a pace that allows you to enjoy God’s Word. I’m confident that God will reveal Himself to you as you take time to get to know Him.

Click on one of the following buttons to open a PDF file of the September/October bookmark or all bookmarks. After the file has opened, you can print it or save it to your hard drive from your browser’s file menu.

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The September Reading Schedule also appears at the end of this blog.

I look forward to hearing from you about how God is speaking to you through His Word during the coming month. Email me, leave a message on our Apprehending Grace Facebook page, or post a comment at the end of any blog.

Blessings, Friends!
Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for September is below.

Here’s how the Resting at the River’s Edge reading schedules are organized:

• The first two columns of the schedule allow you to read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice over a two-year period. You will typically read about three chapters a day if you follow this reading plan.
• The “Additional Readings” column put you on a plan to read through the entire Bible in one year. You will read between four and five chapters a day if you follow this plan.

Construction Jobs, Queens, an Unfaithful Wife, the Love of God, and Wisdom on a Plethora of Subjects – all in the month of June!

As we Rest at the River’s Edge in June, we’ll be reading five different Old Testament books and read portions of Romans and 1 Corinthians. Sounds like a lot, but we’re still reading only three chapters on most days. Here’s just a hit of some of the things that await you in June:

• Construction, construction and construction – You’ll read about the rebuilding of the temple after the Babylonian captivity in the book of Ezra. In Nehemiah you’ll read about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.
  
• Everyone knows the story of Esther – the young Jewish woman who would become queen and save her people. We’ll follow Esther’s story with the story of Hosea and his wife Gomer. The story of Hosea and his unfaithful wife Gomer provides a beautiful picture of how God takes us back again and again even when we are unfaithful to Him.
• I hope you’re enjoying the reading we’ve been doing in Romans. We’ll finish the book coming to such favorite passages as “Nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8) and Paul’s great prayer “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15).
• Paul will provide wisdom about all sorts of things in 1 Corinthians: Spiritual pride, sexual sin, marriage, public worship, gifts of the Spirit, and more.

I pray that God speaks to you each day as you read. Remember to pause and pray before reading – ask God to join you and open your heart, mind and spirit as you read.

Blessings, friends,
Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for June is below.

To download a PDF of June’s recommended reading plan, click here.

We’ve read through Genesis and Exodus and are now turning our attention to Leviticus. Leviticus is an instruction manual for priests. There are times when it may seem repetitive, but it reveals the holiness of God and his gracious recognition of the imperfection of man. The provisions in teh book made it possible for our perfect, holy God to live among the sinful Israelites. It points to our need for a Savior. For those who want to dig deeply, all the sacrifices and feasts point to Christ in some way.

We’ll also finish the book of Esther and read Ruth, Joel and Jonah before delving back into some of the Psalms. Jonah is one of my very favorite books – I’ve subtitled him “The Petulant Prophet.”

In the New Testament, we’re going to read the Acts of the Apostles.

I  hope you’re continuing in the journey through the Bible. Again, don’t get discouraged if you fall behind…just keep reading.

Recommended Reading Plan for March

To download a PDF of March’s reading schedule, click here.

Enjoy!

The Israelites are Moving On & So Are We

Well, as we just read in Genesis, Joseph’s family joined him in Egypt. Seventy of them, it reiterates in Exodus 1:5. But after a time, the current Pharaoh that Joseph had served died. And the Israelites multipled rapidly. And the new Pharaoh believed the Israelites were a threat to them. So he enslaved them.

You’ll read about all that in Exodus 1. Then you’ll read about how God hears the cry of his people and raises up someone to lead them out of slavery. That someone is Moses. The first half of Exodus is dedicated to the Israelites gaining their freedom from the Egyptians. The second half is dedicated to God teaching the Israelites how to be a people led by God. There is much we can learn about being a people led by God as we read the book of Exodus.

 We’ll also read the gospel of Mark. Most scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel to be written. Luke (and the book of Acts) were written shortly after Mark’s gospel was written. Then came the gospel of Matthew.

In January, we read Matthew’s gospel. It was written primarily to Jewish Christians — people who would already have a strong understanding of the Old Testament about A.D. 70. Mark’s gospel, on the other hand, was written primarily to Roman Christians — people who would not have such a strong understanding of our God and how He interacts with people. It was written about A.D. 64. The gosepl of Mark begins to “connect the dots” for the Roman Christians, who would have heard many stories about Jesus, but didn’t understand them in a greater context. You’ll find that it is fast-paced, moving quickly from scene to scene.

We’ll fill out the month by continuing to read in Psalms. The book of Psalms is actually broken into three sections, called books. We will complete the first book by reading through Psalm 41.

 Finally, we’ll finish the month by beginning to read the book of Esther.

Sounds like a lot of reading! We stay true to our schedule of 4-5 chapters five days a week, so it’s not nearly so overwhelming as it might sound. The daily reading plan for February is shown below.

Recommended Reading Plan for February

If you prefer to download a PDF of the plan, click here. 

To download a PDF of January’s reading schedule, click here.