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Love, The Gospel & The Law

This month we’ll read:

• The three letters of John and the book of Philemon (think “love”)
• The book of Luke (think “Gospel”)
• Deuteronomy (think “Law”)

The exciting thing is that all reveal God’s purposes, His nature and His great love for us. Here’s a snippet from Deuteronomy, Luke and 1 John.

⁷“The LORD did not choose you and lavish his love on you because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! ⁸It was simply because the LORD loves you, and because he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such amazing power… ⁹Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and constantly loves those who love him and obey his commands. Deuteronomy 7:-9

^30b“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end….^35b So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:30-35

¹How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him…. ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. ⁴Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. ⁵But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins…. 1 John 3:1-5

If you don’t know this God, I encourage you to read with us this month. If you do know this God, I encourage you to read with us this month. He has something to say to each of us. I’m looking forward to it!

Blessings, Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for March is below.

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

Census, Sermons, the Holy Spirit & Doctrine – All in One Month!

It’s Census Time
Have you ever done any research into your family history? If so, you probably looked at old census records to learn about your great grandparents or great-great grandparents. It’s that time again. Have you received and completed your US Census form yet?

It’s also census time in our Resting at the River’s Edge reading. The book of Numbers records many census that God instructed the Israelites to make. God instructions the Israelites to take several census, and we have the privilege of looking at the records. What always surprises me the most is how many Israelites there really were! This was no small community that God had Moses leading!

Deuteronomy – Moses’ Final Messages
After reading through Numbers, we’ll begin Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is a great book! It’s made up of a series of sermons that Moses preached as he prepared to leave the Israelites. It represents his last advice to those he has led before dying.

Acts & Romans
We’ve already read the first half of Acts and I am thoroughly enjoying it this year. It’s a book chock full of the Holy Spirit moving in people’s lives, and shows how people who were just coming to know the Lord established His Church, which is alive today.

When we finish the book of Acts, we move on to Paul’s letter to the Romans. The book of Romans was instrumental in me coming to Christ. It just made so much sense, portraying God as the just God that He is. You’ll find my favorite verse in chapter 5 of Romans –

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

When I read that verse, my heart was pierced through – Christ died for me when I was so very far from Him – when I was metaphorically kicking His shins and running the other way. It was the point in time in which I quit running from Christ and began sincerely seeking to understand Him.

I pray that as you read God’s Word this month, that He speaks to you and inspires you to pursue Him more diligently. Because He is worth it all.

The recommended reading schedule is below.

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