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November is the official start of the holiday season in our house – Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas follows quickly behind it. I love reading the book of Luke in November because it tells the Christmas story so well. It’s the book that will be our New Testament focus this month. Near the end of the month we’ll begin to read the book of Revelation – God’s final words to us.

Our readings take us through the Old and New Testaments over a two year period. We’re winding up our two years this month and next, so here at Apprehending Grace we’re already thinking about our 2014 plan. If you have any thoughts about how you’d like us to organize the readings, let us know. Comment on the blog, send me an email or past a message on our Facebook page.

The following buttons will open PDFs of the November/December 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.

[button_round color=”blue” url=”http://apprehendinggrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Bookmark-2013-06Nov-Dec.pdf”] Click here for the Sept/Oct 2013 recommended reading bookmark. [/button_round]

[button_round color=”purple” url=”http://apprehendinggrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2013-RARE-Bookmarks.pdf”] Click here to download all bookmarks for 2013. [/button_round]

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

Enjoy your reading! We’d love to hear what God speaks to your heart. 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 November 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.

People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.
Micah 4:2a (NLT)

My husband Phil was reading Scripture recently and realized that as he was reading, he was thinking about how he would teach the passage – how it would be broken into sections, what points he would draw out, etc.

I frequently find myself falling into the trap of reading through the lens of preaching – how the passage would be preached, what points should be drawn out, what illustrations might make the lesson more real to the listeners, etc.

And then there are always the times we read Scripture just to meet our assigned reading for the day. Maybe you never do that, but there are times I realized that I’ve progressed quite far down the page without really having a clue what the topic is.

We’ve stopped reading Scripture as a letter from God to us. God has something very special that He wants to speak to each of us each time we read His Word. He has taken great care to have His Word written and then preserved for thousands of years. The writing and preservation of Scripture is a miracle that we often overlook when considering miracles of God. If you ever have an opportunity to go through a good museum or display about the history of the Bible, it’s worth your time. We went through one at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, FL. It was something I was doing for Phil (he’s more geeky than me)…or so I thought. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

God’s letters are as relevant for us today as they were to the audience for which they were originally written. Yet we often breeze through them or read them in a clinical or scholarly way. Sometimes scholarly is appropriate…so long as there are also times when we read Scripture as God’s letter to us.

When Phil and I are about to have conversation, I “settle in.” I sit across from him, get comfortable, look him in the eyes and watch his face as I listen to his words. I get ready to enjoy him before he actually speaks. Our conversation might be about something as mundane as how his workday was or as meaningful as what God has been speaking to him during his devotional time with Him. Either way, I’m interested so I put myself in a place to pay attention and enjoy our interaction. I look forward to these times every day and miss them when our schedules don’t mesh enough to allow for them.

Treating our times with God in a similar fashion will do wonders for our ability to hear from Him. “Settle in” before you begin to read. If possible, have a special place for meeting with God. It doesn’t have to be a place reserved only for Him – simply a place where you usually meet with Him. I sit in my recliner when I meet God on Saturday mornings. Because I do it almost every Saturday morning, I’ve had some really special times with God there. The chair holds memories with God for me. Now I also sit in that chair to watch television, but there’s a difference when I meet with God. I settle in with a cup of tea and a piece of toast. I start up my computer and I read and write and pray and worship. And God honors my time by sharing His heart with me as I do those things. I often wake Phil a few hours after I’ve gotten up with excitement about something I’ve read in God’s Word.

Treat reading God’s Word as you would treat meeting a special friend – protect the time, prepare for it, set it aside in your calendar as a special event, and be fully “present” as you read. Our Resting at the River’s Edge schedule last week included readings from the prophet Micah. In the last chapter he wrote this:

¹In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all — the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

²People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.
Micah 4:1-2 (NLT)

We are in the last days. Let’s approach our time with the Lord with the enthusiasm the passage holds. When I read this passage, it sounds to me like they are preparing for a picnic with the King of Kings. They are gathering their things, climbing the highest mountain (but it’s a fun climb, a carefree climb, not a treachurous or arduous climb) to sit face to face with God talking about life. Read to enjoy God. He is the creator of the universe and He’s ready and waiting to have a conversation with you!

Resting at the River’s Edge provides an opportunity to participate in reading through the Bible in a systematic way. Here’s more details about the plan and our schedules.

Track your reading along with us using the table below, the the half-page PDF you can download here or the September/October Bookmark you can download here.

We’d love to have you share what God is teaching you. E-mail me, leave a message on the Apprehending Grace Facebook page, or post a comment at the end of any blog.

Word of God, speak to us this month!
Sandy

[button_round color=”purple” url=”http://apprehendinggrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Bookmark-2012-01Jan-Dec.pdf”] Download all 2012 bookmarks here [/button_round]

[button_round color=”green” url=”http://apprehendinggrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Bookmark-2012-09Sep-Oct-1only.pdf”] Download only the September/October 2012 bookmark here [/button_round]

[button_round color=”orange” url=”http://apprehendinggrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/2012-10Oct-ReadingPlan.pdf”] Download a half-page PDF of the October Reading Plan here [/button_round]

Here’s the October reading plan:

“In the beginning was the word…”

This month during our Resting at the River’s Edge readings we’ll read the Gospel of John – starting with the beginning of time, it will take us through the life of Christ and then lead us into the book of Revelation for December’s readings. I thought it would be interesting to read these two books back-to-back. (Although you’ll find 2nd Thessalonians sandwiched in between because I realized I had forgotten to include it in the schedule when we read 1st Thessalonians this month. Oops!)

The Gospel of John is many people’s favorites. It’s a bit too contemplative to be my favorite, but I appreciate it’s uniqueness among the Gospels.

Our Old Testament readings will have us finishing the Old Testament except for the book of Psalms which we’ll read in December. That means we’ll finish the book of Ezekiel, cover six of the minor prophets and read the book of Daniel. Remember, the minor phrophets aren’t called that because their message is minor, but simply because they wrote shorter books. For example, you’ll find these two prayers in the book of Habakkuk:

LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
Habakkuk 3:2 – I often include this prayer of Habakkuk in my times of intercession for revival

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 – this prayer challenges me to rejoice regardless of my circumstances

One of the minor prophets we’ll read is Zechariah. According to the NIV Worship Bible (Zondervan Publishing), “Zechariah is not an easy book to understand, partly because it is an example of apocalyptic literature. This genre includes fantastic visions, grand schemes and mysterious interpretations. Often history is ‘telescoped,’ with past, present and future described as happening at the same time. Above all, Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings demonstrate God’s ultimate sovereignty over everything. God is the cosmic playwright and authoritative director of the drama of history. We worship this God with awe, humble obedience and confidence in His rule over all that is and is to come.” (page 1271)

Hold on to your hats, folks, there’s some fantastic reading ahead!

Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for November is below.

To download a PDF of the November 2011 recommended reading plan, click here.