tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5359683726311843362024-03-05T01:57:56.575-05:00Daily Word!Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.comBlogger1429125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-29652706688875776072021-12-31T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-31T00:00:00.173-05:00December 31 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgYFH5IydFXp9Gb9fvUUC3Fi2sgQ5AOTZE-XLNNFDGDk5lBWgVjT-H4do6LPg_ifx_QCgqwqS5Kst1BK1kmrk2UmE9aULVQjl8RiwCanvQCFdkWeqS4o_HrCtdJ7h6yHQVeXn0g6dzA/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgYFH5IydFXp9Gb9fvUUC3Fi2sgQ5AOTZE-XLNNFDGDk5lBWgVjT-H4do6LPg_ifx_QCgqwqS5Kst1BK1kmrk2UmE9aULVQjl8RiwCanvQCFdkWeqS4o_HrCtdJ7h6yHQVeXn0g6dzA/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>MALACHI 3:1-4:6</p><p>REVELATION 22:1-21</p><p>PSALM 150:1-6</p><p>PROVERBS 31:25-31</p><p>MALACHI 3:1-4:6</p><p>" Look! I [the LORD] am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the LORD Almighty. 2 " But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal or like a strong soap that whitens clothes. 3 He will sit and judge like a refiner of silver, watching closely as the dross is burned away. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold or silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD. 4 Then once more the LORD will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in former times. 5 At that time I will put you on trial. I will be a ready witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty. 6 " I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. " But you ask, ` How can we return when we have never gone away?' 8 " Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! " But you ask, ` What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?' " You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty, " I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not shrivel before they are ripe," says the LORD Almighty. 12 " Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight," says the LORD Almighty. 13 " You have said terrible things about me," says the LORD. " But you say, ` What do you mean? How have we spoken against you?' 14 " You have said, ` What's the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for our sins? 15 From now on we will say, " Blessed are the arrogant." For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them go free of harm.' " 16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him. 17 " They will be my people," says the LORD Almighty. " On the day when I act, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient and dutiful child. 18 Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."4:1 THE LORD Almighty says, " The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. The arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw on that day. They will be consumed like a tree--roots and all. 2 " But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. 3 On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet," says the LORD Almighty. 4 " Remember to obey the instructions of my servant Moses, all the laws and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel. 5 " Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse."</p><p>REVELATION 22:1-21</p><p>And the angel showed me [John] a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. 3 No longer will anything be cursed. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there--no need for lamps or sun--for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. 6 Then the angel said to me, " These words are trustworthy and true: ` The Lord God, who tells his prophets what the future holds, has sent his angel to tell you what will happen soon.' " 7 " Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the prophecy written in this scroll."8 I, John, am the one who saw and heard all these things. And when I saw and heard these things, I fell down to worship the angel who showed them to me. 9 But again he said, " No, don't worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this scroll. Worship God!" 10 Then he instructed me, " Do not seal up the prophetic words you have written, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who is doing wrong continue to do wrong; the one who is vile, continue to be vile; the one who is good, continue to do good; and the one who is holy, continue in holiness." 12 " See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay all according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs--the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. 16 " I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star."17 The Spirit and the bride say, " Come." Let each one who hears them say, "Come ." Let the thirsty ones come--anyone who wants to. Let them come and drink the water of life without charge. 18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book. 20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, " Yes, I am coming soon!" Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.</p><p>PSALM 150:1-6</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>Praise God in his heavenly dwelling;</p><p>praise him in his mighty heaven!</p><p>2 Praise him for his mighty works;</p><p>praise his unequaled greatness!</p><p>3 Praise him with a blast of the trumpet;</p><p>praise him with the lyre and harp!</p><p>4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;</p><p>praise him with stringed instruments and flutes!</p><p>5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals;</p><p>praise him with loud clanging cymbals.</p><p>6 Let everything that lives sing praises to the LORD!</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>PROVERBS 31:25-31</p><p>She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions. She carefully watches all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness. Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: " There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!" Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-30518725130262649842021-12-30T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-30T00:00:00.160-05:00December 30 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRjNZMe6E2O5Ur80KYAdzwiPFRuk7E2V4mRufW6Wa62Md8e3u1DfZctFOWf_TM-QNz_hrXXlBeosIcUaWhl2MtMab0PhO1089jLRF_CaI9qEDxXv1ChGrdWaft1k9UGCCf1iwy1uvhQ/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRjNZMe6E2O5Ur80KYAdzwiPFRuk7E2V4mRufW6Wa62Md8e3u1DfZctFOWf_TM-QNz_hrXXlBeosIcUaWhl2MtMab0PhO1089jLRF_CaI9qEDxXv1ChGrdWaft1k9UGCCf1iwy1uvhQ/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /> <p></p><p>MALACHI 1:1-2:17</p><p>REVELATION 21:1-27</p><p>PSALM 149:1-9</p><p>PROVERBS 31:10-24</p><p>MALACHI 1:1-2:17</p><p>This is the message that the LORD gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi. 2 " I have loved you deeply," says the LORD. But you retort, " Really? How have you loved us?" And the LORD replies, " I showed my love for you by loving your ancestor Jacob. Yet Esau was Jacob's brother, 3 and I rejected Esau and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau's inheritance into a desert for jackals." 4 And Esau's descendants in Edom may say, " We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins." But this is what the LORD Almighty says: " They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again! Their country will be known as ` The Land of Wickedness,' and their people will be called ` The People with Whom the LORD Is Forever Angry.' 5 When you see the destruction for yourselves, you will say, ` Truly, the LORD's great power reaches far beyond our borders!' " 6 The LORD Almighty says to the priests: " A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. I am your father and master, but where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have despised my name! " But you ask, ` How have we ever despised your name?' 7 " You have despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. " Then you ask, ` How have we defiled the sacrifices?'" You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD deserves no respect. 8 When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn't that wrong? And isn't it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!" says the LORD Almighty. 9 " Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?" asks the LORD Almighty. 10 " I wish that someone among you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not at all pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, " and I will not accept your offerings. 11 But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. 12 " But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it's all right to defile the Lord's table. 13 You say, ` It's too hard to serve the LORD,' and you turn up your noses at his commands," says the LORD Almighty. " Think of it! Animals that are stolen and mutilated, crippled and sick--presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?" asks the LORD. 14 " Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, " and my name is feared among the nations!2:1 " LISTEN, you priests; this command is for you! 2 Listen to me and take it to heart. Honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, " or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning seriously. 3 I will rebuke your descendants and splatter your faces with the dung of your festival sacrifices, and I will add you to the dung heap. 4 Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites may continue," says the LORD Almighty. 5 " The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and this is what I gave them. This called for reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 They passed on to the people all the truth they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin. 7 The priests' lips should guard knowledge, and people should go to them for instruction, for the priests are the messengers of the LORD Almighty. 8 But not you! You have left God's paths. Your ` guidance' has caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites," says the LORD Almighty. 9 " So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown partiality in your interpretation of the law." 10 Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why are we faithless to each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors? 11 In Judah, in Israel, and in Jerusalem there is treachery, for the men of Judah have defiled the LORD's beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. 12 May the LORD cut off from the nation of Israel every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the LORD Almighty.13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the LORD's altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings, and he doesn't accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, " Why has the LORD abandoned us?" I'll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made to each other on your wedding day when you were young. But you have been disloyal to her, though she remained your faithful companion, the wife of your marriage vows. 15 Didn't the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard yourself; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 " For I hate divorce!" says the LORD, the God of Israel. " It is as cruel as putting on a victim's bloodstained coat," says the LORD Almighty. " So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife." 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. " Wearied him?" you ask. " How have we wearied him?" You have wearied him by suggesting that the LORD favors evildoers since he does not punish them. You have wearied him by asking, " Where is the God of justice?"</p><p>REVELATION 21:1-27</p><p>Then I [John] saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, " Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever." 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, " Look, I am making all things new!" And then he said to me, " Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true." 6 And he also said, " It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega--the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give the springs of the water of life without charge! 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. 8 But cowards who turn away from me, and unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those who practice witchcraft, and idol worshipers, and all liars--their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death." 9 Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, " Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."10 So he took me in spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 It was filled with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper. 12 Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. 13 There were three gates on each side--east, north, south, and west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, it was in the form of a cube, for its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. 17 Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (the angel used a standard human measure). 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve gems: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were made of pearls--each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. 22 No temple could be seen in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 24 The nations of the earth will walk in its light, and the rulers of the world will come and bring their glory to it. 25 Its gates never close at the end of day because there is no night. 26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. 27 Nothing evil will be allowed to enter--no one who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty--but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.</p><p>PSALM 149:1-9</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>Sing to the LORD a new song.</p><p>Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful.</p><p>2 O Israel, rejoice in your Maker.</p><p>O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King.</p><p>3 Praise his name with dancing,</p><p>accompanied by tambourine and harp.</p><p>4 For the LORD delights in his people;</p><p>he crowns the humble with salvation.</p><p>5 Let the faithful rejoice in this honor.</p><p>Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.</p><p>6 Let the praises of God be in their mouths,</p><p>and a sharp sword in their hands--</p><p>7 to execute vengeance on the nations</p><p>and punishment on the peoples,</p><p>8 to bind their kings with shackles</p><p>and their leaders with iron chains,</p><p>9 to execute the judgment written against them.</p><p>This is the glory of his faithful ones.</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>PROVERBS 31:10-24</p><p>Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him all her life. She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. She is like a merchant's ship; she brings her food from afar. She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day's work for her servant girls. She goes out to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard. She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She watches for bargains; her lights burn late into the night. Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber. She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy. She has no fear of winter for her household because all of them have warm clothes. She quilts her own bedspreads. She dresses like royalty in gowns of finest cloth. Her husband is well known, for he sits in the council meeting with the other civic leaders. She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-80051054720313271052021-12-29T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-29T00:00:00.175-05:00December 29 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS__brkgv0DyGzWoqBiOqL-1WYDIczS2cHhgkyC7-XwcOhSJoROAgh4kePfTGAlDWt4Uh9qKvY2mk8xXDzoq4RVcKAtZ9MndAsdfCk-JzBzH7GsYzXzoxnZKTzjTOKMRlgMQH70TU-GQ/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS__brkgv0DyGzWoqBiOqL-1WYDIczS2cHhgkyC7-XwcOhSJoROAgh4kePfTGAlDWt4Uh9qKvY2mk8xXDzoq4RVcKAtZ9MndAsdfCk-JzBzH7GsYzXzoxnZKTzjTOKMRlgMQH70TU-GQ/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ZECHARIAH 14:1-21</p><p>REVELATION 20:1-15</p><p>PSALM 148:1-14</p><p>PROVERBS 31:8-9</p><p>ZECHARIAH 14:1-21</p><p>Watch, for the day of the LORD is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you [the people of Jerusalem]! 2 On that day I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses plundered, and the women raped. Half the population will be taken away into captivity, and half will be left among the ruins of the city. 3 Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west, for half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. 5 You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal. Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones with him. 6 On that day the sources of light will no longer shine, 7 yet there will be continuous day! Only the LORD knows how this could happen! There will be no normal day and night, for at evening time it will still be light. 8 On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean, flowing continuously both in summer and in winter. 9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one LORD--his name alone will be worshiped. 10 All the land from Geba, north of Judah, to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become one vast plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up in its original place and will be inhabited all the way from the Benjamin Gate over to the site of the old gate, then to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. 11 And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed. 12 And the LORD will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will shrivel in their sockets, and their tongues will decay in their mouths. 13 On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will fight against each other in hand-to-hand combat; 14 Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the neighboring nations will be captured--great quantities of gold and silver and fine clothing. 15 This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps. 16 In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 And any nation anywhere in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, will have no rain. 18 And if the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the LORD will punish them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go. 19 Egypt and the other nations will all be punished if they don't go to celebrate the festival.20 On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: SET APART AS HOLY TO THE LORD. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the LORD will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar. 21 In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be set apart as holy to the LORD Almighty. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. And on that day there will no longer be traders in the Temple of the LORD Almighty.</p><p>REVELATION 20:1-15</p><p>Then I [John] saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon--that old serpent, the Devil, Satan--and bound him in chains for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he would be released again for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the word of God. And I saw the souls of those who had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years. 7 When the thousand years end, Satan will be let out of his prison. 8 He will go out to deceive the nations from every corner of the earth, which are called Gog and Magog. He will gather them together for battle--a mighty host, as numberless as sand along the shore. 9 And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God's people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them. 10 Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.11 And I saw a great white throne, and I saw the one who was sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. 12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 The sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead in them. They were all judged according to their deeds. 14 And death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death--the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.</p><p>PSALM 148:1-14</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>Praise the LORD from the heavens!</p><p>Praise him from the skies!</p><p>2 Praise him, all his angels!</p><p>Praise him, all the armies of heaven!</p><p>3 Praise him, sun and moon!</p><p>Praise him, all you twinkling stars!</p><p>4 Praise him, skies above!</p><p>Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!</p><p>5 Let every created thing give praise to the LORD,</p><p>for he issued his command, and they came into being.</p><p>6 He established them forever and forever.</p><p>His orders will never be revoked.</p><p>7 Praise the LORD from the earth,</p><p>you creatures of the ocean depths,</p><p>8 fire and hail, snow and storm,</p><p>wind and weather that obey him,</p><p>9 mountains and all hills,</p><p>fruit trees and all cedars,</p><p>10 wild animals and all livestock,</p><p>reptiles and birds,</p><p>11 kings of the earth and all people,</p><p>rulers and judges of the earth,</p><p>12 young men and maidens,</p><p>old men and children.</p><p>13 Let them all praise the name of the LORD.</p><p>For his name is very great;</p><p>his glory towers over the earth and heaven!</p><p>14 He has made his people strong,</p><p>honoring his godly ones--</p><p>the people of Israel who are close to him.</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>PROVERBS 31:8-9</p><p>Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-28131203549178212802021-12-28T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-28T00:00:00.169-05:00December 28 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bO7PZqU10snuwwQ42jQqa7LJSp6cEgUjak8vA2CKLkSSriMnDMFLMX0_UuKCFKY2Jr94e4J1R_T-zONERwlEThY6qXDzCSqryzKPgqcp7zJ6gN4j9DYYFZYbmexx6QXcFhi8gtZ2SA/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bO7PZqU10snuwwQ42jQqa7LJSp6cEgUjak8vA2CKLkSSriMnDMFLMX0_UuKCFKY2Jr94e4J1R_T-zONERwlEThY6qXDzCSqryzKPgqcp7zJ6gN4j9DYYFZYbmexx6QXcFhi8gtZ2SA/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /><p><br /></p><p>ZECHARIAH 12:1-13:9</p><p>REVELATION 19:1-21</p><p>PSALM 147:1-20</p><p>PROVERBS 31:1-7</p><p>ZECHARIAH 12:1-13:9</p><p>This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the LORD: " This message is from the LORD, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the spirit within humans. 2 I will make Jerusalem and Judah like an intoxicating drink to all the nearby nations that send their armies to besiege Jerusalem. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone, a burden for the world. None of the nations who try to lift it will escape unscathed. 4 " On that day, says the LORD, I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind the horses of her enemies. 5 And the clans of Judah will say to themselves, ` The people of Jerusalem have found strength in the LORD Almighty, their God.' 6 " On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a brazier that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure. 7 The LORD will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah. 8 On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the LORD who goes before them! 9 For my plan is to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 " Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. 11 The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the grievous mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo. 12 " All Israel will weep in profound sorrow, each family by itself, with the husbands and wives in separate groups. The family of David will mourn, along with the family of Nathan, 13 the family of Levi, and the family of Shimei. 14 Each of the surviving families from Judah will mourn separately, husbands and wives apart.13:1 " ON that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and defilement. 2 " And on that day, says the LORD Almighty, I will get rid of every trace of idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land all false prophets and the unclean spirits that inspire them. 3 If anyone begins prophesying again, his own father and mother will tell him, ` You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the name of the LORD.' Then his own father and mother will stab him. 4 " No one will be boasting then of a prophetic gift! No one will wear prophet's clothes to try to fool the people. 5 ` No,' he will say. ` I'm not a prophet; I'm a farmer. The soil has been my means of livelihood from my earliest youth.' 6 And if someone asks, ` Then what are those scars on your chest?' he will say, ` I was wounded at the home of friends!'7 " Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my partner, says the LORD Almighty. Strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs. 8 Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die, says the LORD. But a third will be left in the land. 9 I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure, just as gold and silver are refined and purified by fire. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ` These are my people,' and they will say, ` The LORD is our God.' "</p><p>REVELATION 19:1-21</p><p>After this, I [John] heard the sound of a vast crowd in heaven shouting, " Hallelujah! Salvation is from our God. Glory and power belong to him alone. 2 His judgments are just and true. He has punished the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and he has avenged the murder of his servants." 3 Again and again their voices rang, " Hallelujah! The smoke from that city ascends forever and forever!" 4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living beings fell down and worshiped God, who was sitting on the throne. They cried out, " Amen! Hallelujah!" 5 And from the throne came a voice that said, " Praise our God, all his servants, from the least to the greatest, all who fear him." 6 Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a huge crowd, or the roar of mighty ocean waves, or the crash of loud thunder: " Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She is permitted to wear the finest white linen." (Fine linen represents the good deeds done by the people of God.) 9 And the angel said, " Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And he added, " These are true words that come from God."10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, " No, don't worship me. For I am a servant of God, just like you and other brothers and sisters* who testify of their faith in Jesus. Worship God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus." 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and then goes to war. 12 His eyes were bright like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him, and only he knew what it meant. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven, dressed in pure white linen, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth came a sharp sword, and with it he struck down the nations. He ruled them with an iron rod, and he trod the winepress of the fierce wrath of almighty God. 16 On his robe and thigh was written this title: King of kings and Lord of lords. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: " Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, captains, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great."19 Then I saw the beast gathering the kings of the earth and their armies in order to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast--miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came out of the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And all the vultures of the sky gorged themselves on the dead bodies.</p><p>PSALM 147:1-20</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>How good it is to sing praises to our God!</p><p>How delightful and how right!</p><p>2 The LORD is rebuilding Jerusalem</p><p>and bringing the exiles back to Israel.</p><p>3 He heals the brokenhearted,</p><p>binding up their wounds.</p><p>4 He counts the stars</p><p>and calls them all by name.</p><p>5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!</p><p>His understanding is beyond comprehension!</p><p>6 The LORD supports the humble,</p><p>but he brings the wicked down into the dust.</p><p>7 Sing out your thanks to the LORD;</p><p>sing praises to our God, accompanied by harps.</p><p>8 He covers the heavens with clouds,</p><p>provides rain for the earth,</p><p>and makes the green grass grow in mountain pastures.</p><p>9 He feeds the wild animals,</p><p>and the young ravens cry to him for food.</p><p>10 The strength of a horse does not impress him;</p><p>how puny in his sight is the strength of a man.</p><p>11 Rather, the LORD's delight is in those who honor him,</p><p>those who put their hope in his unfailing love.</p><p>12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!</p><p>Praise your God, O Zion!</p><p>13 For he has fortified the bars of your gates</p><p>and blessed your children within you.</p><p>14 He sends peace across your nation</p><p>and satisfies you with plenty of the finest wheat.</p><p>15 He sends his orders to the world--</p><p>how swiftly his word flies!</p><p>16 He sends the snow like white wool;</p><p>he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes.</p><p>17 He hurls the hail like stones.</p><p>Who can stand against his freezing cold?</p><p>18 Then, at his command, it all melts.</p><p>He sends his winds, and the ice thaws.</p><p>19 He has revealed his words to Jacob,</p><p>his principles and laws to Israel.</p><p>20 He has not done this with any other nation;</p><p>they do not know his laws.</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>PROVERBS 31:1-7</p><p>These are the sayings of King Lemuel, an oracle that his mother taught him. O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my promises, do not spend your strength on women, on those who ruin kings. And it is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave liquor. For if they drink, they may forget their duties and be unable to give justice to those who are oppressed. Liquor is for the dying, and wine for those in deep depression. Let them drink to forget their poverty and remember their troubles no more. </p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-59681687146808706762021-12-27T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-27T00:00:00.193-05:00December 27 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzITwo5l715mwDn-Ej01gMZcxq2gPMlti3V1d4GjIuf8pFyzw804JkZrq-sHw3yIooarGopQiW55hNSiRCSMmE4UNEBTkTAtRI_a57v11YHhNz3basaSJ6C71yA999-jBIWFRy83sXnQ/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzITwo5l715mwDn-Ej01gMZcxq2gPMlti3V1d4GjIuf8pFyzw804JkZrq-sHw3yIooarGopQiW55hNSiRCSMmE4UNEBTkTAtRI_a57v11YHhNz3basaSJ6C71yA999-jBIWFRy83sXnQ/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ZECHARIAH 10:1-11:17</p><p>REVELATION 18:1-24</p><p>PSALM 146:1-10</p><p>PROVERBS 30:33</p><p>ZECHARIAH 10:1-11:17</p><p>Ask the LORD for rain in the spring, and he will give it. It is the LORD who makes storm clouds that drop showers of rain so that every field becomes a lush pasture. 2 Household gods give false advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce comfortless falsehoods. So my people are wandering like lost sheep, without a shepherd to protect and guide them. 3 " My anger burns against your shepherds, and I will punish these leaders. For the LORD Almighty has arrived to look after his flock of Judah; he will make them strong and glorious, like a proud warhorse in battle. 4 From Judah will come the cornerstone, the tent peg, the battle bow, and all the rulers. 5 They will be like mighty warriors in battle, trampling their enemies in the mud under their feet. Since the LORD is with them as they fight, they will overthrow even the horsemen of the enemy.6 " I will strengthen Judah and save Israel; I will reestablish them because I love them. It will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the LORD their God, who will hear their cries. 7 The people of Israel will become like mighty warriors, and their hearts will be happy as if by wine. Their children, too, will see it all and be glad; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD. 8 When I whistle to them, they will come running, for I have redeemed them. From the few that are left, their population will grow again to its former size. 9 Though I have scattered them like seeds among the nations, still they will remember me in distant lands. With their children, they will survive and come home again to Israel. 10 I will bring them back from Egypt and Assyria and resettle them in Gilead and Lebanon. There won't be enough room for them all! 11 They will pass safely through the sea of distress, for the waves of the sea will be held back. And the waters of the Nile will become dry. The pride of Assyria will be crushed, and the rule of Egypt will end. 12 I will make my people strong in my power, and they will go wherever they wish by my authority. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 11:1 OPEN your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may sweep through your cedar forests. 2 Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars; the tallest and most beautiful of them are fallen. Weep, you oaks of Bashan, as you watch the thickest forests being felled. 3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their wealth is gone. Hear the young lions roaring, for their thickets in the Jordan Valley have been destroyed. 4 This is what the LORD my God says: " Go and care for a flock that is intended for slaughter. 5 The buyers will slaughter their sheep without remorse. The sellers will say, ` Praise the LORD, I am now rich!' Even the shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 And likewise, I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land," says the LORD. " I will let them fall into each other's clutches, as well as into the clutches of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not protect them."7 So I cared for the flock intended for slaughter--the flock that was oppressed. Then I took two shepherd's staffs and named one Favor and the other Union. 8 I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month. But I became impatient with these sheep--this nation--and they hated me, too. 9 So I told them, " I won't be your shepherd any longer. If you die, you die. If you are killed, you are killed. And those who remain will devour each other!" 10 Then I took my staff called Favor and snapped it in two, showing that I had revoked the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 That was the end of my covenant with them. Those who bought and sold sheep were watching me, and they knew that the LORD was speaking to them through my actions. 12 And I said to them, " If you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to." So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said to me, " Throw it to the potters"--this magnificent sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potters in the Temple of the LORD. 14 Then I broke my other staff, Union, to show that the bond of unity between Judah and Israel was broken. 15 Then the LORD said to me, " Go again and play the part of a worthless shepherd. 16 This will illustrate how I will give this nation a shepherd who will not care for the sheep that are threatened by death, nor look after the young, nor heal the injured, nor feed the healthy. Instead, this shepherd will eat the meat of the fattest sheep and tear off their hooves. 17 Doom is certain for this worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will cut his arm and pierce his right eye! His arm will become useless, and his right eye completely blind!"</p><p>REVELATION 18:1-24</p><p>After all this I [John] saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor. 2 He gave a mighty shout, " Babylon is fallen--that great city is fallen! She has become the hideout of demons and evil spirits, a nest for filthy buzzards, and a den for dreadful beasts. 3 For all the nations have drunk the wine of her passionate immorality. The rulers of the world have committed adultery with her, and merchants throughout the world have grown rich as a result of her luxurious living." 4 Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, " Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. 5 For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God is ready to judge her for her evil deeds. 6 Do to her as she has done to your people. Give her a double penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed a cup of terror for others, so give her twice as much as she gave out. 7 She has lived in luxury and pleasure, so match it now with torments and sorrows. She boasts, ` I am queen on my throne. I am no helpless widow. I will not experience sorrow.' 8 Therefore, the sorrows of death and mourning and famine will overtake her in a single day. She will be utterly consumed by fire, for the Lord God who judges her is mighty." 9 And the rulers of the world who took part in her immoral acts and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. 10 They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out, " How terrible, how terrible for Babylon, that great city! In one single moment God's judgment came on her." 11 The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. 12 She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple dye, silk, scarlet cloth, every kind of perfumed wood, ivory goods, objects made of expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble. 13 She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and slaves--yes, she even traded in human lives. 14 " All the fancy things you loved so much are gone," they cry. " The luxuries and splendor that you prized so much will never be yours again. They are gone forever." 15 The merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will weep and cry. 16 " How terrible, how terrible for that great city! She was so beautiful--like a woman clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens, decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 And in one single moment all the wealth of the city is gone!" And all the shipowners and captains of the merchant ships and their crews will stand at a distance. 18 They will weep as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, " Where in all the world is there another city like this?" 19 And they will throw dust on their heads to show their great sorrow. And they will say, " How terrible, how terrible for the great city! She made us all rich from her great wealth. And now in a single hour it is all gone." 20 But you, O heaven, rejoice over her fate. And you also rejoice, O holy people of God and apostles and prophets! For at last God has judged her on your behalf. 21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder as large as a great millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted, " Babylon, the great city, will be thrown down as violently as I have thrown away this stone, and she will disappear forever. 22 Never again will the sound of music be heard there--no more harps, songs, flutes, or trumpets. There will be no industry of any kind, and no more milling of grain. 23 Her nights will be dark, without a single lamp. There will be no happy voices of brides and grooms. This will happen because her merchants, who were the greatest in the world, deceived the nations with her sorceries. 24 In her streets the blood of the prophets was spilled. She was the one who slaughtered God's people all over the world."</p><p>PSALM 146:1-10</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>Praise the LORD, I tell myself.</p><p>2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live.</p><p>I will sing praises to my God even with my dying breath.</p><p>3 Don't put your confidence in powerful people;</p><p>there is no help for you there.</p><p>4 When their breathing stops, they return to the earth,</p><p>and in a moment all their plans come to an end.</p><p>5 But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,</p><p>whose hope is in the LORD their God.</p><p>6 He is the one who made heaven and earth,</p><p>the sea, and everything in them.</p><p>He is the one who keeps every promise forever,</p><p>7 who gives justice to the oppressed</p><p>and food to the hungry.</p><p>The LORD frees the prisoners.</p><p>8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.</p><p>The LORD lifts the burdens of those bent beneath their loads.</p><p>The LORD loves the righteous.</p><p>9 The LORD protects the foreigners among us.</p><p>He cares for the orphans and widows,</p><p>but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.</p><p>10 The LORD will reign forever.</p><p>O Jerusalem, your God is King in every generation!</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>PROVERBS 30:33</p><p>As the beating of cream yields butter, and a blow to the nose causes bleeding, so anger causes quarrels. </p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-68985520145078237572021-12-26T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-26T00:00:00.180-05:00December 26 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1B18aT-SJW4VC_g7pGKDyG-x9juNyFh4CCI_-ArqN-VDwO2dh6q0a-v712qaAdQPe52YwGmy9r_R9pwGna71TfKT38WHIuPor0KGWf80oPPXc_0xy1c-8BjJmyV39fwyOWtbLNNBwZg/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1B18aT-SJW4VC_g7pGKDyG-x9juNyFh4CCI_-ArqN-VDwO2dh6q0a-v712qaAdQPe52YwGmy9r_R9pwGna71TfKT38WHIuPor0KGWf80oPPXc_0xy1c-8BjJmyV39fwyOWtbLNNBwZg/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ZECHARIAH 9:1-17</p><p>REVELATION 17:1-18</p><p>PSALM 145:1-21</p><p>PROVERBS 30:32</p><p>ZECHARIAH 9:1-17</p><p>This is the message from the LORD against the land of Aram and the city of Damascus, for the eyes of all humanity, including the people of Israel, are on the LORD. 2 Doom is certain for Hamath, near Damascus, and for the cities of Tyre and Sidon, too, though they are so clever. 3 Tyre has built a strong fortress and has piled up so much silver and gold that it is as common as dust in the streets! 4 But now the Lord will strip away Tyre's possessions and hurl its fortifications into the Mediterranean Sea. Tyre will be set on fire and burned to the ground. 5 The city of Ashkelon will see Tyre fall and will be filled with fear. Gaza will shake with terror, and so will Ekron, for their hopes will be dashed. Gaza will be conquered and its king killed, and Ashkelon will be completely deserted. 6 Foreigners will occupy the city of Ashdod. Thus, I will destroy the pride of the Philistines. 7 They will no longer eat meat with blood in it or feed on other forbidden foods. All the surviving Philistines will worship our God and be adopted as a new clan in Judah. And the Philistines of Ekron will join my people, just as the Jebusites once did. 8 I will guard my Temple and protect it from invading armies. I am closely watching their movements. No foreign oppressor will ever again overrun my people's land. 9 Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey--even on a donkey's colt. 10 I will remove the battle chariots from Israel and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and I will destroy all the weapons used in battle. Your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 11 Because of the covenant I made with you, sealed with blood, I will free your prisoners from death in a waterless dungeon. 12 Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners, for there is yet hope! I promise this very day that I will repay you two mercies for each of your woes! 13 Judah is my bow, and Israel is my arrow! Jerusalem is my sword, and like a warrior, I will brandish it against the Greeks. 14 The LORD will appear above his people; his arrows will fly like lightning! The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet; he will go out against his enemies like a whirlwind from the southern desert. 15 The LORD Almighty will protect his people, and they will subdue their enemies with sling stones. They will shout in battle as though drunk with wine, shedding the blood of their enemies. They will be filled with blood like a bowl, drenched with blood like the corners of the altar. 16 When that day arrives, the LORD their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. 17 How wonderful and beautiful they will be! The young men and women will thrive on the abundance of grain and new wine.</p><p>REVELATION 17:1-18</p><p>One of the seven angels who had poured out the seven bowls came over and spoke to me [John]. " Come with me," he said, " and I will show you the judgment that is going to come on the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2 The rulers of the world have had immoral relations with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality." 3 So the angel took me in spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, written all over with blasphemies against God. 4 The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. She held in her hand a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. 5 A mysterious name was written on her forehead: " Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World." 6 I could see that she was drunk--drunk with the blood of God's holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her completely amazed.7 " Why are you so amazed?" the angel asked. " I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast you saw was alive but isn't now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from before the world began, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died. 9 " And now understand this: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills of the city where this woman rules. They also represent seven kings. 10 Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief. 11 The scarlet beast that was alive and then died is the eighth king. He is like the other seven, and he, too, will go to his doom. 12 His ten horns are ten kings who have not yet risen to power; they will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. 13 They will all agree to give their power and authority to him. 14 Together they will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord over all lords and King over all kings, and his people are the called and chosen and faithful ones."15 And the angel said to me, " The waters where the prostitute is sitting represent masses of people of every nation and language. 16 The scarlet beast and his ten horns--which represent ten kings who will reign with him--all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire. 17 For God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes. They will mutually agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast, and so the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."</p><p>PSALM 145:1-21</p><p>A psalm of praise of David.</p><p>1 I will praise you, my God and King,</p><p>and bless your name forever and ever.</p><p>2 I will bless you every day,</p><p>and I will praise you forever.</p><p>3 Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise!</p><p>His greatness is beyond discovery!</p><p>4 Let each generation tell its children</p><p>of your mighty acts.</p><p>5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor</p><p>and your wonderful miracles.</p><p>6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;</p><p>I will proclaim your greatness.</p><p>7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;</p><p>they will sing with joy of your righteousness.</p><p>8 The LORD is kind and merciful,</p><p>slow to get angry, full of unfailing love.</p><p>9 The LORD is good to everyone.</p><p>He showers compassion on all his creation.</p><p>10 All of your works will thank you, LORD,</p><p>and your faithful followers will bless you.</p><p>11 They will talk together about the glory of your kingdom;</p><p>they will celebrate examples of your power.</p><p>12 They will tell about your mighty deeds</p><p>and about the majesty and glory of your reign.</p><p>13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.</p><p>You rule generation after generation.</p><p>The LORD is faithful in all he says;</p><p>he is gracious in all he does.</p><p>14 The LORD helps the fallen</p><p>and lifts up those bent beneath their loads.</p><p>15 All eyes look to you for help;</p><p>you give them their food as they need it.</p><p>16 When you open your hand,</p><p>you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.</p><p>17 The LORD is righteous in everything he does;</p><p>he is filled with kindness.</p><p>18 The LORD is close to all who call on him,</p><p>yes, to all who call on him sincerely.</p><p>19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;</p><p>he hears their cries for help and rescues them.</p><p>20 The LORD protects all those who love him,</p><p>but he destroys the wicked.</p><p>21 I will praise the LORD,</p><p>and everyone on earth will bless his holy name</p><p>forever and forever.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:32</p><p>If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, don't brag about it--cover your mouth with your hand in shame.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-49486974624216206902021-12-25T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-25T00:00:00.171-05:00December 25 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwnMTeLCAoJDCQ16Cz4Uy5E4Ku3iu3UugM7T0aviL0S4YA-LK1cFZOdawghyphenhyphenkhZr_vathHe6RGkiZG3Go_UwzyVhSNeH93r6lKwSgIXnV-Bhk4QmzqT9x-zkAq5te7rCiGOXz03OL-g/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwnMTeLCAoJDCQ16Cz4Uy5E4Ku3iu3UugM7T0aviL0S4YA-LK1cFZOdawghyphenhyphenkhZr_vathHe6RGkiZG3Go_UwzyVhSNeH93r6lKwSgIXnV-Bhk4QmzqT9x-zkAq5te7rCiGOXz03OL-g/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><div><br /></div>MERRY CHRISTMAS AND MAY THE LORD BLESS THIS DAY AND YEAR FOR YOU ABOVE ALL OTHERS!<br /><p><br /></p><p>ZECHARIAH 8:1-23</p><p>REVELATION 16:1-21</p><p>PSALM 144:1-15</p><p>PROVERBS 30:29-31</p><p>ZECHARIAH 8:1-23</p><p>Then another message came to me [Zechariah] from the LORD Almighty: 2 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem! 3 And now the LORD says: I am returning to Mount Zion, and I will live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain. 4 This is what the LORD Almighty says: Once again old men and women will walk Jerusalem's streets with a cane and sit together in the city squares. 5 And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play. 6 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small and discouraged remnant of God's people. But do you think this is impossible for me, the LORD Almighty? 7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west. 8 I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God. 9 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: Take heart and finish the task! You have heard what the prophets have been saying about building the Temple of the LORD Almighty ever since the foundation was laid. 10 Before the work on the Temple began, there were no jobs and no wages for either people or animals. No traveler was safe from the enemy, for there were enemies on all sides. I had turned everyone against each other. 11 But now I will not treat the remnant of my people as I treated them before, says the LORD Almighty. 12 For I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the sky will release the dew. Once more I will make the remnant in Judah and Israel the heirs of these blessings. 13 Among the nations, Judah and Israel had become symbols of what it means to be cursed. But no longer! Now I will rescue you and make you both a symbol and a source of blessing! So don't be afraid or discouraged, but instead get on with rebuilding the Temple! 14 " For this is what the LORD Almighty says: I did not change my mind when your ancestors angered me and I promised to punish them, says the LORD Almighty. 15 Neither will I change my decision to bless Jerusalem and the people of Judah. So don't be afraid. 16 But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace. 17 Do not make evil plots to harm each other. And stop this habit of swearing to things that are false. I hate all these things, says the LORD."18 Here is another message that came to me from the LORD Almighty. 19 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in early summer, midsummer, autumn, and winter are now ended. They will become festivals of joy and celebration for the people of Judah. So love truth and peace. 20 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. 21 The people of one city will say to the people in another, ` Let us go to Jerusalem to ask the LORD to bless us and to seek the LORD Almighty. We are planning to go ourselves.' 22 People from many nations, even powerful nations, will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to ask the LORD to bless them. 23 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: In those days ten people from nations and languages around the world will clutch at the hem of one Jew's robe. And they will say, ` Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' "</p><p>REVELATION 16:1-21</p><p>Then I [John] heard a mighty voice shouting from the Temple to the seven angels, " Now go your ways and empty out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." 2 So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. 3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And everything in the sea died. 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, " You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and who always was. 6 For your holy people and your prophets have been killed, and their blood was poured out on the earth. So you have given their murderers blood to drink. It is their just reward." 7 And I heard a voice from the altar saying, " Yes, Lord God Almighty, your punishments are true and just." 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to scorch everyone with its fire. 9 Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who sent all of these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects ground their teeth in anguish, 11 and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies westward without hindrance. 13 And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. 14 These miracle-working demons caused all the rulers of the world to gather for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God Almighty. 15 " Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their robes ready so they will not need to walk naked and ashamed."16 And they gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place called Armageddon in Hebrew. 17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne of the Temple in heaven, saying, " It is finished!" 18 Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed. And there was an earthquake greater than ever before in human history. 19 The great city of Babylon split into three pieces, and cities around the world fell into heaps of rubble. And so God remembered all of Babylon's sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath. 20 And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled. 21 There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the hailstorm, which was a very terrible plague.</p><p>PSALM 144:1-15</p><p>A psalm of David.</p><p>1 Bless the LORD, who is my rock.</p><p>He gives me strength for war</p><p>and skill for battle.</p><p>2 He is my loving ally and my fortress,</p><p>my tower of safety, my deliverer.</p><p>He stands before me as a shield, and I take refuge in him.</p><p>He subdues the nations under me.</p><p>3 O LORD, what are mortals that you should notice us,</p><p>mere humans that you should care for us?</p><p>4 For we are like a breath of air;</p><p>our days are like a passing shadow.</p><p>5 Bend down the heavens, LORD, and come down.</p><p>Touch the mountains so they billow smoke.</p><p>6 Release your lightning bolts and scatter your enemies!</p><p>Release your arrows and confuse them!</p><p>7 Reach down from heaven and rescue me;</p><p>deliver me from deep waters,</p><p>from the power of my enemies.</p><p>8 Their mouths are full of lies;</p><p>they swear to tell the truth, but they lie.</p><p>9 I will sing a new song to you, O God!</p><p>I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp.</p><p>10 For you grant victory to kings!</p><p>You are the one who rescued your servant David.</p><p>11 Save me from the fatal sword!</p><p>Rescue me from the power of my enemies.</p><p>Their mouths are full of lies;</p><p>they swear to tell the truth, but they lie.</p><p>12 May our sons flourish in their youth</p><p>like well-nurtured plants.</p><p>May our daughters be like graceful pillars,</p><p>carved to beautify a palace.</p><p>13 May our farms be filled</p><p>with crops of every kind.</p><p>May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands,</p><p>even tens of thousands,</p><p>14 and may our oxen be loaded down with produce.</p><p>May there be no breached walls, no forced exile,</p><p>no cries of distress in our squares.</p><p>15 Yes, happy are those who have it like this!</p><p>Happy indeed are those whose God is the LORD.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:29-31</p><p>There are three stately monarchs on the earth--no, four: the lion, king of animals, who won't turn aside for anything, the strutting rooster, the male goat, a king as he leads his army. </p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-12721463903974266582021-12-24T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-24T00:00:00.171-05:00December 24 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntthQNvG-3k72LXqOXWTkO2acQasYKQlFGBVmxsI52lWOnekgS6eJpA-OEgs3FsQ25QqIAKgrezYt2PsiQL-_VT-_4tlr-itt8S-zOfWvfIzqSzv-oJsIsr-HanxCwO36TL4Rfy7HzA/s1024/bible+christmas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntthQNvG-3k72LXqOXWTkO2acQasYKQlFGBVmxsI52lWOnekgS6eJpA-OEgs3FsQ25QqIAKgrezYt2PsiQL-_VT-_4tlr-itt8S-zOfWvfIzqSzv-oJsIsr-HanxCwO36TL4Rfy7HzA/s320/bible+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /><p>Just as a reminder our Christmas eve service starts at 6 PM</p><p> ZECHARIAH 6:1-7:14</p><p>REVELATION 15:1-8</p><p>PSALM 143:1-12</p><p>PROVERBS 30:24-28</p><p>ZECHARIAH 6:1-7:14</p><p>Then I [Zechariah] looked up again and saw four chariots coming from between two bronze mountains. 2 The first chariot was pulled by red horses, the second by black horses, 3 the third by white horses, and the fourth by dappled-gray horses. 4 " And what are these, my lord?" I asked the angel who was talking with me. 5 He replied, " These are the four spirits of heaven who stand before the Lord of all the earth. They are going out to do his work. 6 The chariot with black horses is going north, the chariot with white horses is going west, and the chariot with dappled-gray horses is going south." 7 The powerful horses were eager to be off, to patrol back and forth across the earth. And the LORD said, " Go and patrol the earth!" So they left at once on their patrol. 8 Then the LORD summoned me and said, " Those who went north have vented the anger of my Spirit there." 9 Then I received another message from the LORD: 10 " Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah will bring gifts of silver and gold from the Jews exiled in Babylon. As soon as they arrive, meet them at the home of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Accept their gifts and make a crown from the silver and gold. Then put the crown on the head of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Tell him that the LORD Almighty says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out where he is and build the Temple of the LORD. 13 He will build the LORD's Temple, and he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between the two. 14 " The crown will be a memorial in the Temple of the LORD to honor those who gave it--Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah son of Zephaniah." 15 Many will come from distant lands to rebuild the Temple of the LORD. And when this happens, you will know my messages have been from the LORD Almighty. All this will happen if you carefully obey the commands of the LORD your God.7:1 ON December 7 of the fourth year of King Darius's reign, another message came to Zechariah from the LORD. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech, along with their men, to seek the LORD's favor. 3 They were to ask this question of the prophets and of the priests at the Temple of the LORD Almighty: " Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple's destruction, as we have done for so many years?" 4 The LORD Almighty sent me this message: 5 " Say to all your people and your priests, ` During those seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and at the festival in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? 6 And even now in your holy festivals, you don't think about me but only of pleasing yourselves. 7 Isn't this the same message the LORD proclaimed through the prophets years ago when Jerusalem and the towns of Judah were bustling with people, and the Negev and the foothills of Judah were populated areas?' " 8 Then this message came to Zechariah from the LORD: 9 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: Judge fairly and honestly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. And do not make evil plans to harm each other. 11 " Your ancestors would not listen to this message. They turned stubbornly away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. 12 They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the law or the messages that the LORD Almighty had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD Almighty was so angry with them.13 " Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the LORD Almighty. 14 I scattered them as with a whirlwind among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. The land that had been so pleasant became a desert."</p><p>REVELATION 15:1-8</p><p>Then I [John] saw in heaven another significant event, and it was great and marvelous. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God's wrath to completion. 2 I saw before me what seemed to be a crystal sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. 3 And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: " Great and marvelous are your actions,</p><p>Lord God Almighty.</p><p>Just and true are your ways,</p><p>O King of the nations.</p><p>4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?</p><p>For you alone are holy.</p><p>All nations will come and worship before you,</p><p>for your righteous deeds have been revealed."</p><p>5 Then I looked and saw that the Temple in heaven, God's Tabernacle, was thrown wide open! 6 The seven angels who were holding the bowls of the seven plagues came from the Temple, clothed in spotless white linen with gold belts across their chests. 7 And one of the four living beings handed each of the seven angels a gold bowl filled with the terrible wrath of God, who lives forever and forever. 8 The Temple was filled with smoke from God's glory and power. No one could enter the Temple until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.</p><p>PSALM 143:1-12</p><p>A psalm of David.</p><p>1 Hear my prayer, O LORD;</p><p>listen to my plea!</p><p>Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.</p><p>2 Don't bring your servant to trial!</p><p>Compared to you, no one is perfect.</p><p>3 My enemy has chased me.</p><p>He has knocked me to the ground.</p><p>He forces me to live in darkness like those in the grave.</p><p>4 I am losing all hope;</p><p>I am paralyzed with fear.</p><p>5 I remember the days of old.</p><p>I ponder all your great works.</p><p>I think about what you have done.</p><p>6 I reach out for you.</p><p>I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.</p><p>Interlude7 Come quickly, LORD, and answer me,</p><p>for my depression deepens.</p><p>Don't turn away from me,</p><p>or I will die.</p><p>8 Let me hear of your unfailing love to me in the morning,</p><p>for I am trusting you.</p><p>Show me where to walk,</p><p>for I have come to you in prayer.</p><p>9 Save me from my enemies, LORD;</p><p>I run to you to hide me.</p><p>10 Teach me to do your will,</p><p>for you are my God.</p><p>May your gracious Spirit lead me forward</p><p>on a firm footing.</p><p>11 For the glory of your name, O LORD, save me.</p><p>In your righteousness, bring me out of this distress.</p><p>12 In your unfailing love, cut off all my enemies</p><p>and destroy all my foes,</p><p>for I am your servant.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:24-28</p><p>There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise: Ants--they aren't strong, but they store up food for the winter. Rock badgers--they aren't powerful, but they make their homes among the rocky cliffs. Locusts--they have no king, but they march like an army in ranks. Lizards--they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings' palaces.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-13727710972566898452021-12-23T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-23T00:00:00.164-05:00December 23 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1goBN3rsfscNHJbtE_DP7-UB4pqhZczu56P597ogKNv2mx6zdDl6Y3dTyZtFj7DW7VyW1ATAd9m9wdbhFDZis9yTTCaevAJdOOP15RONsDG6F8a_LKkfbTeuqNHAYZBe5yN_kgPdhyA/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1goBN3rsfscNHJbtE_DP7-UB4pqhZczu56P597ogKNv2mx6zdDl6Y3dTyZtFj7DW7VyW1ATAd9m9wdbhFDZis9yTTCaevAJdOOP15RONsDG6F8a_LKkfbTeuqNHAYZBe5yN_kgPdhyA/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ZECHARIAH 4:1-5:11</p><p>REVELATION 14:1-20</p><p>PSALM 142:1-7</p><p>PROVERBS 30:21-23</p><p>ZECHARIAH 4:1-5:11</p><p>Then the angel who had been talking with me [Zechariah] returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep. 2 " What do you see now?" he asked. I answered, " I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each one having seven spouts with wicks. 3 And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl." 4 Then I asked the angel, " What are these, my lord? What do they mean?" 5 " Don't you know?" the angel asked. " No, my lord," I replied. 6 Then he said to me, " This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabel will set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people will shout: ` May God bless it! May God bless it!' "8 Then another message came to me from the LORD: 9 " Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me. 10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand. For these seven lamps represent the eyes of the LORD that search all around the world." 11 Then I asked the angel, " What are these two olive trees on each side of the lampstand, 12 and what are the two olive branches that pour out golden oil through two gold tubes?" 13 " Don't you know?" he asked. " No, my lord," I replied. 14 Then he said to me, " They represent the two anointed ones who assist the Lord of all the earth."5:1 I LOOKED up again and saw a scroll flying through the air. 2 " What do you see?" the angel asked. " I see a flying scroll," I replied. " It appears to be about thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide."3 Then he said to me, " This scroll contains the curse that is going out over the entire land. One side says that those who steal will be banished from the land; the other side says that those who swear falsely will be banished from the land. 4 And this is what the LORD Almighty says: I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely by my name. And my curse will remain in that house until it is completely destroyed--even its timbers and stones." 5 Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, " Look up! Something is appearing in the sky." 6 " What is it?" I asked.He replied, " It is a basket for measuring grain, and it is filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land." 7 When the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, there was a woman sitting inside it. 8 The angel said, " The woman's name is Wickedness," and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.9 Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, with wings gliding on the wind. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew with it into the sky. 10 " Where are they taking the basket?" I asked the angel. 11 He replied, " To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal."</p><p>REVELATION 14:1-20</p><p>Then I [John] saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together. 3 This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. And no one could learn this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb. 5 No falsehood can be charged against them; they are blameless. 6 And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to the people who belong to this world--to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 " Fear God," he shouted. " Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all the springs of water." 8 Then another angel followed him through the skies, shouting, " Babylon is fallen--that great city is fallen--because she seduced the nations of the world and made them drink the wine of her passionate immorality."9 Then a third angel followed them, shouting, " Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or the hand 10 must drink the wine of God's wrath. It is poured out undiluted into God's cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name. 12 Let this encourage God's holy people to endure persecution patiently and remain firm to the end, obeying his commands and trusting in Jesus." 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, " Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them!" 14 Then I saw the Son of Man sitting on a white cloud. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then an angel came from the Temple and called out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, " Use the sickle, for the time has come for you to harvest; the crop is ripe on the earth." 16 So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.17 After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who has power to destroy the world with fire, shouted to the angel with the sickle, " Use your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment." 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse's bridle.</p><p>PSALM 142:1-7</p><p>A psalm of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.</p><p>1 I cry out to the LORD;</p><p>I plead for the LORD's mercy.</p><p>2 I pour out my complaints before him</p><p>and tell him all my troubles.</p><p>3 For I am overwhelmed,</p><p>and you alone know the way I should turn.</p><p>Wherever I go,</p><p>my enemies have set traps for me.</p><p>4 I look for someone to come and help me,</p><p>but no one gives me a passing thought!</p><p>No one will help me;</p><p>no one cares a bit what happens to me.</p><p>5 Then I pray to you, O LORD.</p><p>I say, " You are my place of refuge.</p><p>You are all I really want in life.</p><p>6 Hear my cry,</p><p>for I am very low.</p><p>Rescue me from my persecutors,</p><p>for they are too strong for me.</p><p>7 Bring me out of prison</p><p>so I can thank you.</p><p>The godly will crowd around me,</p><p>for you treat me kindly."</p><p>PROVERBS 30:21-23</p><p>There are three things that make the earth tremble--no, four it cannot endure: a slave who becomes a king, an overbearing fool who prospers, a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, a servant girl who supplants her mistress.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-18265102764438905432021-12-22T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-22T00:00:00.187-05:00December 22 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1YVnzIsjQKL1UaZgyoujLeIdN9WQQIp9lbfpaynvNCcyfMBTgnhWLKiy0OOAHJZeGhtazYmOSdqXYatXUNXWIIFr5mHMJKChfLkL5Jave32NS1-U0qsZCTLnKtPa-YSgQwUFEwSdRg/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1YVnzIsjQKL1UaZgyoujLeIdN9WQQIp9lbfpaynvNCcyfMBTgnhWLKiy0OOAHJZeGhtazYmOSdqXYatXUNXWIIFr5mHMJKChfLkL5Jave32NS1-U0qsZCTLnKtPa-YSgQwUFEwSdRg/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ZECHARIAH 2:1-3:10</p><p>REVELATION 12:18-13:18</p><p>PSALM 141:1-10</p><p>PROVERBS 30:18-20</p><p>ZECHARIAH 2:1-3:10</p><p>When I [Zechariah] looked around me again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 " Where are you going?" I asked. He replied, " I am going to measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is." 3 Then the angel who was with me went to meet a second angel who was coming toward him. 4 The other angel said, " Hurry, and say to that young man, ` Jerusalem will someday be so full of people that it won't have room enough for everyone! Many will live outside the city walls, with all their livestock--and yet they will be safe. 5 For I, myself, will be a wall of fire around Jerusalem, says the LORD. And I will be the glory inside the city!' " 6 The LORD says, " Come away! Flee from the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds. 7 Come away! Escape to Jerusalem, you who are exiled in Babylon!" 8 " After a period of glory, the LORD Almighty sent me against the nations who oppressed you. For he said, ` Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession. 9 I will raise my fist to crush them, and their own slaves will plunder them.' Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me." 10 The LORD says, " Shout and rejoice, O Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you. 11 Many nations will join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the LORD Almighty sent me to you. 12 The land of Judah will be the LORD's inheritance in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem to be his own city. 13 Be silent before the LORD, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling."3:1 THEN the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD. Satan was there at the angel's right hand, accusing Jeshua of many things. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, " I, the LORD, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from a fire." 3 Jeshua's clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. 4 So the angel said to the others standing there, " Take off his filthy clothes." And turning to Jeshua he said, " See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes." 5 Then I said, " Please, could he also have a clean turban on his head?" So they put a clean priestly turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the angel of the LORD stood by. 6 Then the angel of the LORD spoke very solemnly to Jeshua and said, 7 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: If you follow my ways and obey my requirements, then you will be given authority over my Temple and its courtyards. I will let you walk in and out of my presence along with these others standing here. 8 Listen to me, O Jeshua the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of the good things to come. Soon I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the LORD Almighty, and I will remove the sins of this land in a single day. 10 And on that day, says the LORD Almighty, each of you will invite your neighbor into your home to share your peace and prosperity."</p><p>REVELATION 12:18-13:18</p><p>Then he [the dragon] stood waiting on the shore of the sea. 13:1 AND now in my vision I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. 2 This beast looked like a leopard, but it had bear's feet and a lion's mouth! And the dragon gave him his own power and throne and great authority. 3 I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery--but the fatal wound was healed! All the world marveled at this miracle and followed the beast in awe. 4 They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they worshiped the beast. " Is there anyone as great as the beast?" they exclaimed. " Who is able to fight against him?" 5 Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do what he wanted for forty-two months. 6 And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and all who live in heaven, who are his temple. 7 And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to overcome them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. 8 And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life, which belongs to the Lamb who was killed before the world was made. 9 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand. 10 The people who are destined for prison will be arrested and taken away. Those who are destined for death will be killed. But do not be dismayed, for here is your opportunity to have endurance and faith.11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, and he spoke with the voice of a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and those who belong to this world to worship the first beast, whose death-wound had been healed. 13 He did astounding miracles, such as making fire flash down to earth from heaven while everyone was watching. 14 And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people of the world to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. 15 He was permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die. 16 He required everyone--great and small, rich and poor, slave and free--to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. 18 Wisdom is needed to understand this. Let the one who has understanding solve the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.</p><p>PSALM 141:1-10</p><p>A psalm of David.</p><p>1 O LORD, I am calling to you. Please hurry!</p><p>Listen when I cry to you for help!</p><p>2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,</p><p>and my upraised hands as an evening offering.</p><p>3 Take control of what I say, O LORD,</p><p>and keep my lips sealed.</p><p>4 Don't let me lust for evil things;</p><p>don't let me participate in acts of wickedness.</p><p>Don't let me share in the delicacies</p><p>of those who do evil.</p><p>5 Let the godly strike me!</p><p>It will be a kindness!</p><p>If they reprove me, it is soothing medicine.</p><p>Don't let me refuse it.</p><p>But I am in constant prayer</p><p>against the wicked and their deeds.</p><p>6 When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,</p><p>they will listen to my words and find them pleasing.</p><p>7 Even as a farmer breaks up the soil and brings up rocks,</p><p>so the bones of the wicked will be scattered without a decent burial.</p><p>8 I look to you for help, O Sovereign LORD.</p><p>You are my refuge; don't let them kill me.</p><p>9 Keep me out of the traps they have set for me,</p><p>out of the snares of those who do evil.</p><p>10 Let the wicked fall into their own snares,</p><p>but let me escape.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:18-20</p><p>There are three things that amaze me--no, four things I do not understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman. Equally amazing is how an adulterous woman can satisfy her sexual appetite, shrug her shoulders, and then say, " What's wrong with that?"</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-29209416791979883022021-12-21T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-21T00:00:00.160-05:00December 21 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fFRJkxCHe7KF3u5H810GJzOIA71vd9U3FJXdsGDR7d2MgciO7WHIhDCwCBN3WmSQ3_DvH6y1OQxfupVnoZg7I4Wy5Q27eQAXS-bAtFwfp9gFO1gssHEKqTX5K811A2cpMALQ7PO_kQ/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fFRJkxCHe7KF3u5H810GJzOIA71vd9U3FJXdsGDR7d2MgciO7WHIhDCwCBN3WmSQ3_DvH6y1OQxfupVnoZg7I4Wy5Q27eQAXS-bAtFwfp9gFO1gssHEKqTX5K811A2cpMALQ7PO_kQ/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ZECHARIAH 1:1-21</p><p>REVELATION 12:1-17</p><p>PSALM 140:1-13</p><p>PROVERBS 30:17</p><p>ZECHARIAH 1:1-21</p><p>In midautumn of the second year of King Darius's reign, the LORD gave this message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo. 2 " I, the LORD, was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore, say to the people, ` This is what the LORD Almighty says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD Almighty.' 4 Do not be like your ancestors who would not listen when the earlier prophets said to them, ` This is what the LORD Almighty says: Turn from your evil ways and stop all your evil practices.' 5 " Your ancestors and their prophets are now long dead. 6 But all the things I said through my servants the prophets happened to your ancestors, just as I said they would. As a result, they repented and said, ` We have received what we deserved from the LORD Almighty. He has done what he said he would do.'" 7 Then on February 15 of the second year of King Darius's reign, the LORD sent another message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo. Zechariah said: 8 In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley. Behind him were red, brown, and white horses, each with its own rider. 9 I asked the angel who was talking with me, " My lord, what are all those horses for?" " I will show you," the angel replied. 10 So the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, " They are the ones the LORD has sent out to patrol the earth." 11 Then the other riders reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, " We have patrolled the earth, and the whole earth is at peace." 12 Upon hearing this, the angel of the LORD prayed this prayer: " O LORD Almighty, for seventy years now you have been angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. How long will it be until you again show mercy to them?" 13 And the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.14 Then the angel said to me, " Shout this message for all to hear: ` This is what the LORD Almighty says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong. 15 But I am very angry with the other nations that enjoy peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations punished them far beyond my intentions. 16 " ` Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the LORD Almighty, and plans will be made for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.' 17 Say this also: ` This is what the LORD Almighty says: The towns of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem as his own.' "18 Then I looked up and saw four animal horns. 19 " What are these?" I asked the angel who was talking with me. He replied, " These horns represent the world powers that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." 20 Then the LORD showed me four blacksmiths. 21 " What are these men coming to do?" I asked. The angel replied, " The blacksmiths have come to terrify the four horns that scattered and humbled Judah. They will throw them down and destroy them."</p><p>REVELATION 12:1-17</p><p>Then I [John] witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant, and she cried out in the pain of labor as she awaited her delivery. 3 Suddenly, I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail dragged down one-third of the stars, which he threw to the earth. He stood before the woman as she was about to give birth to her child, ready to devour the baby as soon as it was born. 5 She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And the child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to give her care for 1,260 days.7 Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels. 8 And the dragon lost the battle and was forced out of heaven. 9 This great dragon--the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world--was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, " It has happened at last--the salvation and power and kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ! For the Accuser has been thrown down to earth--the one who accused our brothers and sisters* before our God day and night. 11 And they have defeated him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of their testimony. And they were not afraid to die. 12 Rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea. For the Devil has come down to you in great anger, and he knows that he has little time."13 And when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the child. 14 But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle. This allowed her to fly to a place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time. 15 Then the dragon tried to drown the woman with a flood of water that flowed from its mouth. 16 But the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that gushed out from the mouth of the dragon. 17 Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and he declared war against the rest of her children--all who keep God's commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus.</p><p>PSALM 140:1-13</p><p>For the choir director: A psalm of David.</p><p>1 O LORD, rescue me from evil people.</p><p>Preserve me from those who are violent,</p><p>2 those who plot evil in their hearts</p><p>and stir up trouble all day long.</p><p>3 Their tongues sting like a snake;</p><p>the poison of a viper drips from their lips.</p><p>Interlude4 O LORD, keep me out of the hands of the wicked.</p><p>Preserve me from those who are violent,</p><p>for they are plotting against me.</p><p>5 The proud have set a trap to catch me;</p><p>they have stretched out a net;</p><p>they have placed traps all along the way.</p><p>Interlude6 I said to the LORD, " You are my God!"</p><p>Listen, O LORD, to my cries for mercy!</p><p>7 O Sovereign LORD, my strong savior,</p><p>you protected me on the day of battle.</p><p>8 LORD, do not give in to their evil desires.</p><p>Do not let their evil schemes succeed, O God.</p><p>Interlude9 Let my enemies be destroyed</p><p>by the very evil they have planned for me.</p><p>10 Let burning coals fall down on their heads,</p><p>or throw them into the fire,</p><p>or into deep pits from which they can't escape.</p><p>11 Don't let liars prosper here in our land.</p><p>Cause disaster to fall with great force on the violent.</p><p>12 But I know the LORD will surely help those they persecute;</p><p>he will maintain the rights of the poor.</p><p>13 Surely the godly are praising your name,</p><p>for they will live in your presence.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:17</p><p>The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-75978570532195053402021-12-20T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-20T00:00:00.183-05:00December 20 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76ZSlK6vAZa3_xOsikq674rlG9CLnPRM7BcF98Gs9ThSg7S9clr0wNB1owfsf90DQVzVLlUzXRqKzJO_Zp6w6fRhVwdrMuP7Ic3YazMlvKgT6FjPAEFExjo73C0b0fYkZLnRJ9oW8Kg/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76ZSlK6vAZa3_xOsikq674rlG9CLnPRM7BcF98Gs9ThSg7S9clr0wNB1owfsf90DQVzVLlUzXRqKzJO_Zp6w6fRhVwdrMuP7Ic3YazMlvKgT6FjPAEFExjo73C0b0fYkZLnRJ9oW8Kg/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /> <p></p><p>HAGGAI 1:1-2:23</p><p>REVELATION 11:1-19</p><p>PSALM 139:1-24</p><p>PROVERBS 30:15-16</p><p>HAGGAI 1:1-2:23</p><p>On August 29 of the second year of King Darius's reign, the LORD gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 2 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: The people are saying, ` The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD's house--the Temple.' " 3 So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 " Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? 5 This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 6 You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! 7 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 8 Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. 9 You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses. 10 That is why the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its crops. 11 I have called for a drought on your fields and hills--a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olives and all your other crops, a drought to starve both you and your cattle and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get." 12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God's people obeyed the message from the LORD their God. It had been delivered by the prophet Haggai, whom the LORD their God had sent, and the people worshiped the LORD in earnest. 13 Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave the people this message from the LORD: " I am with you, says the LORD!" 14 So the LORD sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God's people. They came and began their work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God. 15 This was on September 21 of the second year of King Darius's reign.2:1 THEN on October 17 of that same year, the LORD sent another message through the prophet Haggai. 2 " Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God's people there in the land: 3 Is there anyone who can remember this house--the Temple--as it was before? In comparison, how does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! 4 But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD. Take courage, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Take courage, all you people still left in the land, says the LORD. Take courage and work, for I am with you, says the LORD Almighty. 5 My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid. 6 " For this is what the LORD Almighty says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth. I will shake the oceans and the dry land, too. 7 I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD Almighty. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD Almighty. 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD Almighty. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!" 10 On December 18 of the second year of King Darius's reign, the LORD sent this message to the prophet Haggai: 11 " This is what the LORD Almighty says! Ask the priests this question about the law: 12 If one of you is carrying a holy sacrifice in his robes and happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?" The priests replied, " No." 13 Then Haggai asked, " But if someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then brushes against any of the things mentioned, will it be defiled?" And the priests answered, " Yes." 14 Then Haggai said, " That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the LORD. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled. 15 So think about this from now on--consider how things were going for you before you began to lay the foundation of the LORD's Temple. 16 When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty. 17 I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy all the produce of your labor. Yet, even so, you refused to return to me, says the LORD.18 " On this eighteenth day of December--the day when the foundation of the LORD's Temple was laid--carefully consider this: 19 I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn, before you have harvested your grain and before the grapevine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have produced their crops. From this day onward I will bless you." 20 The LORD sent this second message to Haggai on December 18: 21 " Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overthrow royal thrones, destroying the power of foreign kingdoms. I will overturn their chariots and charioteers. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other. 23 But when this happens, says the LORD Almighty, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will treat you like a signet ring on my finger, says the LORD, for I have specially chosen you. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"</p><p>REVELATION 11:1-19</p><p>Then I [John] was given a measuring stick, and I was told, " Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers. 2 But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in sackcloth and will prophesy during those 1,260 days." 4 These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from the mouths of the prophets and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.7 When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them. He will conquer them and kill them. 8 And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city which is called " Sodom" and " Egypt," the city where their Lord was crucified. 9 And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will come to stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. 10 All the people who belong to this world will give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them. 11 But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood up! And terror struck all who were staring at them. 12 Then a loud voice shouted from heaven, " Come up here!" And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched. 13 And in the same hour there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people died in that earthquake. And everyone who did not die was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second terror is past, but look, now the third terror is coming quickly. 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: " The whole world has now become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." 16 And the twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped him. 17 And they said, " We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,</p><p>the one who is and who always was,</p><p>for now you have assumed your great power</p><p>and have begun to reign.</p><p>18 The nations were angry with you,</p><p>but now the time of your wrath has come.</p><p>It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants.</p><p>You will reward your prophets and your holy people,</p><p>all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest.</p><p>And you will destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth."</p><p>19 Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared; there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken by a mighty earthquake.</p><p>PSALM 139:1-24</p><p>For the choir director: A psalm of David.</p><p>1 O LORD, you have examined my heart</p><p>and know everything about me.</p><p>2 You know when I sit down or stand up.</p><p>You know my every thought when far away.</p><p>3 You chart the path ahead of me</p><p>and tell me where to stop and rest.</p><p>Every moment you know where I am.</p><p>4 You know what I am going to say</p><p>even before I say it, LORD.</p><p>5 You both precede and follow me.</p><p>You place your hand of blessing on my head.</p><p>6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,</p><p>too great for me to know!</p><p>7 I can never escape from your spirit!</p><p>I can never get away from your presence!</p><p>8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;</p><p>if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.</p><p>9 If I ride the wings of the morning,</p><p>if I dwell by the farthest oceans,</p><p>10 even there your hand will guide me,</p><p>and your strength will support me.</p><p>11 I could ask the darkness to hide me</p><p>and the light around me to become night--</p><p>12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.</p><p>To you the night shines as bright as day.</p><p>Darkness and light are both alike to you.</p><p>13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body</p><p>and knit me together in my mother's womb.</p><p>14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!</p><p>Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it.</p><p>15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,</p><p>as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.</p><p>16 You saw me before I was born.</p><p>Every day of my life was recorded in your book.</p><p>Every moment was laid out</p><p>before a single day had passed.</p><p>17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God!</p><p>They are innumerable!</p><p>18 I can't even count them;</p><p>they outnumber the grains of sand!</p><p>And when I wake up in the morning,</p><p>you are still with me!</p><p>19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!</p><p>Get out of my life, you murderers!</p><p>20 They blaspheme you;</p><p>your enemies take your name in vain.</p><p>21 O LORD, shouldn't I hate those who hate you?</p><p>Shouldn't I despise those who resist you?</p><p>22 Yes, I hate them with complete hatred,</p><p>for your enemies are my enemies.</p><p>23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;</p><p>test me and know my thoughts.</p><p>24 Point out anything in me that offends you,</p><p>and lead me along the path of everlasting life.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:15-16</p><p>The leech has two suckers that cry out, " More, more!" There are three other things--no, four!--that are never satisfied: the grave, the barren womb, the thirsty desert, the blazing fire.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-77614636304432413662021-12-19T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-19T00:00:00.177-05:00December 19 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3BOkFWNVtY4JDZxY70hY3ZCnw8gQuVwMbXCzBPNRrh7zY8O1HxFsRKiwoDTQV1FtXNzJahZajEeQBNhS8KBtoeEy-r22JF5ppeJvi2zSPWo6tWZkC5_2QXLVZVikyV3gJBsOwQtobA/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3BOkFWNVtY4JDZxY70hY3ZCnw8gQuVwMbXCzBPNRrh7zY8O1HxFsRKiwoDTQV1FtXNzJahZajEeQBNhS8KBtoeEy-r22JF5ppeJvi2zSPWo6tWZkC5_2QXLVZVikyV3gJBsOwQtobA/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /><p><br /></p><p> ZEPHANIAH 1:1-3:20</p><p>REVELATION 10:1-11</p><p>PSALM 138:1-8</p><p>PROVERBS 30:11-14</p><p>ZEPHANIAH 1:1-3:20</p><p>The LORD gave these messages to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. 2 " I will sweep away everything in all your land," says the LORD. 3 " I will sweep away both people and animals alike. Even the birds of the air and the fish in the sea will die. I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble, along with the rest of humanity," says the LORD. 4 " I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship. I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will disappear. 5 For they go up to their roofs and bow to the sun, moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they worship Molech, too. So now I will destroy them! 6 And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD's guidance or seek my blessings." 7 Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD, for the awesome day of the LORD's judgment has come. The LORD has prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners. 8 " On that day of judgment," says the LORD, " I will punish the leaders and princes of Judah and all those following pagan customs. 9 Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies, and those who steal and kill to fill their masters' homes with loot.10 " On that day," says the LORD, " a cry of alarm will come from the Fish Gate and echo throughout the newer Mishneh section of the city. And a great crashing sound will come from the surrounding hills. 11 Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all who buy and sell there will die. 12 " I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem's darkest corners to find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indifferent to the LORD, thinking he will do nothing at all to them. 13 They are the very ones whose property will be plundered by the enemy, whose homes will be ransacked. They will never have a chance to live in the new homes they have built. They will never drink wine from the vineyards they have planted. 14 " That terrible day of the LORD is near. Swiftly it comes--a day when strong men will cry bitterly. 15 It is a day when the LORD's anger will be poured out. It is a day of terrible distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, of clouds, blackness, 16 trumpet calls, and battle cries. Down go the walled cities and strongest battlements! 17 " Because you have sinned against the LORD, I will make you as helpless as a blind man searching for a path. Your blood will be poured out into the dust, and your bodies will lie there rotting on the ground." 18 Your silver and gold will be of no use to you on that day of the LORD's anger. For the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy. He will make a terrifying end of all the people on earth.2:1 GATHER together and pray, you shameless nation. 2 Gather while there is still time, before judgment begins and your opportunity is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD's anger begins. 3 Beg the LORD to save you--all you who are humble, all you who uphold justice. Walk humbly and do what is right. Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you from his anger on that day of destruction. 4 Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron--these Philistine cities, too, will be rooted out and left in desolation. 5 And how terrible it will be for you Philistines who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The LORD will destroy you until not one of you is left. 6 The coastal area will become a pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures for sheep. 7 The few survivors of the tribe of Judah will pasture there. They will lie down to rest in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon. For the LORD their God will visit his people in kindness and restore their prosperity again. 8 " I have heard the taunts of the people of Moab and Ammon, mocking my people and invading their borders. 9 Now, as surely as I live," says the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, " Moab and Ammon will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. Those of my people who are left will plunder them and take their land."10 They will receive the wages of their pride, for they have scoffed at the people of the LORD Almighty. 11 The LORD will terrify them as he destroys all the gods in the land. Then people from nations around the world will worship the LORD, each in their own land. 12 " You Ethiopians will also be slaughtered by my sword," says the LORD. 13 And the LORD will strike the lands of the north with his fist. He will destroy Assyria and make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland, parched like a desert. 14 The city that once was so proud will become a pasture for sheep and cattle. All sorts of wild animals will settle there. Owls of many kinds will live among the ruins of its palaces, hooting from the gaping windows. Rubble will block all the doorways, and the cedar paneling will lie open to the wind and weather.15 This is the fate of that boisterous city, once so secure. " In all the world there is no city as great as I," it boasted. But now, look how it has become an utter ruin, a place where animals live! Everyone passing that way will laugh in derision or shake a defiant fist. 3:1 HOW terrible it will be for rebellious, polluted Jerusalem, the city of violence and crime. 2 It proudly refuses to listen even to the voice of the LORD. No one can tell it anything; it refuses all correction. It does not trust in the LORD or draw near to its God. 3 Its leaders are like roaring lions hunting for their victims--out for everything they can get. Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time, who by dawn have left no trace of their prey. 4 Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain. Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God's laws. 5 But the LORD is still there in the city, and he does no wrong. Day by day his justice is more evident, but no one takes notice--the wicked know no shame. 6 " I have wiped out many nations, devastating their fortress walls and towers. Their cities are now deserted; their streets are in silent ruin. There are no survivors to even tell what happened. 7 I thought, ` Surely they will have reverence for me now! Surely they will listen to my warnings, so I won't need to strike again.' But no; however much I punish them, they continue their evil practices from dawn till dusk and dusk till dawn." 8 So now the LORD says: " Be patient; the time is coming soon when I will stand up and accuse these evil nations. For it is my decision to gather together the kingdoms of the earth and pour out my fiercest anger and fury on them. All the earth will be devoured by the fire of my jealousy.9 " On that day I will purify the lips of all people, so that everyone will be able to worship the LORD together. 10 My scattered people who live beyond the rivers of Ethiopia will come to present their offerings. 11 And then you will no longer need to be ashamed of yourselves, for you will no longer be rebels against me. I will remove all the proud and arrogant people from among you. There will be no pride on my holy mountain. 12 Those who are left will be the lowly and the humble, for it is they who trust in the name of the LORD. 13 The people of Israel who survive will do no wrong to each other, never telling lies or deceiving one another. They will live peaceful lives, lying down to sleep in safety; there will be no one to make them afraid." 14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 For the LORD will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the LORD himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will fear disaster no more. 16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, " Cheer up, Zion! Don't be afraid! 17 For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song." 18 " I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you will be disgraced no more. 19 And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and helpless ones; I will bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory and renown to my former exiles, who have been mocked and shamed. 20 On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction among all the nations of the earth. They will praise you as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the LORD, have spoken!"</p><p>REVELATION 10:1-11</p><p>Then I [John] saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. 2 And in his hand was a small scroll, which he had unrolled. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 And he gave a great shout, like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered. 4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But a voice from heaven called to me: " Keep secret what the seven thunders said. Do not write it down."5 Then the mighty angel standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, " God will wait no longer. 7 But when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God's mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets." 8 Then the voice from heaven called to me again: " Go and take the unrolled scroll from the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." 9 So I approached him and asked him to give me the little scroll. " Yes, take it and eat it," he said. " At first it will taste like honey, but when you swallow it, it will make your stomach sour!" 10 So I took the little scroll from the hands of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but it made my stomach sour. 11 Then he said to me, " You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."</p><p>PSALM 138:1-8</p><p>A psalm of David.</p><p>1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with all my heart;</p><p>I will sing your praises before the gods.</p><p>2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.</p><p>I will give thanks to your name</p><p>for your unfailing love and faithfulness,</p><p>because your promises are backed</p><p>by all the honor of your name.</p><p>3 When I pray, you answer me;</p><p>you encourage me by giving me the strength I need.</p><p>4 Every king in all the earth will give you thanks, O LORD,</p><p>for all of them will hear your words.</p><p>5 Yes, they will sing about the LORD's ways,</p><p>for the glory of the LORD is very great.</p><p>6 Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble,</p><p>but he keeps his distance from the proud.</p><p>7 Though I am surrounded by troubles,</p><p>you will preserve me against the anger of my enemies.</p><p>You will clench your fist against my angry enemies!</p><p>Your power will save me.</p><p>8 The LORD will work out his plans for my life--</p><p>for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.</p><p>Don't abandon me, for you made me.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:11-14</p><p>Some people curse their father and do not thank their mother. They feel pure, but they are filthy and unwashed. They are proud beyond description and disdainful. They devour the poor with teeth as sharp as swords or knives. They destroy the needy from the face of the earth.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-48048070337235006742021-12-18T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-18T00:00:00.168-05:00December 18 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJN5qqTKnXPy9memwNukZnKzkQHJZ03xv5F4oSmhRG_VFBONwlTHm1Js1_VfX2vkKDYg6AND5FrZT6tkfc8FZkmmrjC4yRZCcQ8Wmbmve0PB0qYRMHjGLTONdUMlqT_aspbhqx4GLK6A/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJN5qqTKnXPy9memwNukZnKzkQHJZ03xv5F4oSmhRG_VFBONwlTHm1Js1_VfX2vkKDYg6AND5FrZT6tkfc8FZkmmrjC4yRZCcQ8Wmbmve0PB0qYRMHjGLTONdUMlqT_aspbhqx4GLK6A/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>HABAKKUK 1:1-3:19</p><p>REVELATION 9:1-21</p><p>PSALM 137:1-9</p><p>PROVERBS 30:10</p><p>HABAKKUK 1:1-3:19</p><p>This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received from the LORD in a vision. 2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! " Violence!" I cry, but you do not come to save. 3 Must I forever see this sin and misery all around me? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. 4 The law has become paralyzed and useless, and there is no justice given in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, and justice is perverted with bribes and trickery. 5 The LORD replied, " Look at the nations and be amazed! Watch and be astounded at what I will do! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians to be a new power on the world scene. They are a cruel and violent nation who will march across the world and conquer it. 7 They are notorious for their cruelty. They do as they like, and no one can stop them. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards. They are a fierce people, more fierce than wolves at dusk. Their horsemen race forward from distant places. Like eagles they swoop down to pounce on their prey. 9 " On they come, all of them bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a wind from the desert, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand. 10 They scoff at kings and princes and scorn all their defenses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them! 11 They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their god." 12 O LORD my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal--is your plan in all of this to wipe us out? Surely not! O LORD our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these Babylonians to punish and correct us for our terrible sins. 13 You are perfectly just in this. But will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy people who are more righteous than they? 14 Are we but fish to be caught and killed? Are we but creeping things that have no leader to defend them from their enemies? 15 Must we be strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets while they rejoice? 16 Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. " These nets are the gods who have made us rich!" they will claim. 17 Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?2:1 I WILL climb up into my watchtower now and wait to see what the LORD will say to me and how he will answer my complaint. 2 Then the LORD said to me, " Write my answer in large, clear letters on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else. 3 But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. 4 " Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith. 5 Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They range far and wide, with their mouths opened as wide as death, but they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and peoples. 6 But the time is coming when all their captives will taunt them, saying, ` You thieves! At last justice has caught up with you! Now you will get what you deserve for your oppression and extortion!' 7 Suddenly, your debtors will rise up in anger. They will turn on you and take all you have, while you stand trembling and helpless. 8 You have plundered many nations; now they will plunder you. You murderers! You have filled the countryside with violence and all the cities, too. 9 " How terrible it will be for you who get rich by unjust means! You believe your wealth will buy security, putting your families beyond the reach of danger. 10 But by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives. 11 The very stones in the walls of your houses cry out against you, and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.12 " How terrible it will be for you who build cities with money gained by murder and corruption! 13 Has not the LORD Almighty promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in vain! 14 For the time will come when all the earth will be filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the LORD. 15 " How terrible it will be for you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so that you can gloat over their nakedness and shame. 16 But soon it will be your turn! Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the LORD's judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame. 17 You cut down the forests of Lebanon. Now you will be cut down! You terrified the wild animals you caught in your traps. Now terror will strike you because of your murder and violence in cities everywhere! 18 " What have you gained by worshiping all your man-made idols? How foolish to trust in something made by your own hands! What fools you are to believe such lies! 19 How terrible it will be for you who beg lifeless wooden idols to save you. You ask speechless stone images to tell you what to do. Can an idol speak for God? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside. 20 But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him."3:1 THIS prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk: 2 I have heard all about you, LORD, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy. 3 I see God, the Holy One, moving across the deserts from Edom and Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise! What a wonderful God he is! 4 Rays of brilliant light flash from his hands. He rejoices in his awesome power. 5 Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. 6 When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. But his power is not diminished in the least! 7 I see the peoples of Cushan and Midian trembling in terror.8 Was it in anger, LORD, that you struck the rivers and parted the sea? Were you displeased with them? No, you were sending your chariots of salvation! 9 You were commanding your weapons of power! You split open the earth with flowing rivers! 10 The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands to the LORD. 11 The lofty sun and moon began to fade, obscured by brilliance from your arrows and the flashing of your glittering spear. 12 You marched across the land in awesome anger and trampled the nations in your fury. 13 You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and laid bare their bones from head to toe. 14 With their own weapons, you destroyed those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters piled high. 16 I trembled inside when I heard all this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us. 17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains. (For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)</p><p>REVELATION 9:1-21</p><p>Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I [John] saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air were darkened by the smoke. 3 Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. 4 They were told not to hurt the grass or plants or trees but to attack all the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with agony like the pain of scorpion stings. 6 In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee away! 7 The locusts looked like horses armed for battle. They had gold crowns on their heads, and they had human faces. 8 Their hair was long like the hair of a woman, and their teeth were like the teeth of a lion. 9 They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails that stung like scorpions, with power to torture people. This power was given to them for five months. 11 Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon--the Destroyer. 12 The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. 14 And the voice spoke to the sixth angel who held the trumpet: " Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River." 15 And the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. 16 They led an army of 200 million mounted troops--I heard an announcement of how many there were. 17 And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and sky blue and yellow. The horses' heads were like the heads of lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. 18 One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues--by the fire and the smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. 19 Their power was in their mouths, but also in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people. 20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to turn from their evil deeds. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood--idols that neither see nor hear nor walk! 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their immorality or their thefts.</p><p>PSALM 137:1-9</p><p>Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept</p><p>as we thought of Jerusalem.</p><p>2 We put away our lyres,</p><p>hanging them on the branches of the willow trees.</p><p>3 For there our captors demanded a song of us.</p><p>Our tormentors requested a joyful hymn:</p><p>" Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!"</p><p>4 But how can we sing the songs of the LORD</p><p>while in a foreign land?</p><p>5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,</p><p>let my right hand forget its skill upon the harp.</p><p>6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth</p><p>if I fail to remember you,</p><p>if I don't make Jerusalem my highest joy.</p><p>7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did</p><p>on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem.</p><p>" Destroy it!" they yelled.</p><p>" Level it to the ground!"</p><p>8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed.</p><p>Happy is the one who pays you back</p><p>for what you have done to us.</p><p>9 Happy is the one who takes your babies</p><p>and smashes them against the rocks!</p><p>PROVERBS 30:10</p><p>Never slander a person to his employer. If you do, the person will curse you, and you will pay for it.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-92125279858402341732021-12-17T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-17T00:00:00.179-05:00December 17 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpeBP-cCLfMdyTMwKRmcXqfOOIAon3_iZV96yDbtiJcsI9YX6cQ3-vCIf6ynGjP8Qx6TC0jEZrZQnjNYTSz9-lsUcZxaSfgIV5Uk2TY5A2iq8QQOKj4g6JslLM0Oe_i-OQntg8gDpAg/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpeBP-cCLfMdyTMwKRmcXqfOOIAon3_iZV96yDbtiJcsI9YX6cQ3-vCIf6ynGjP8Qx6TC0jEZrZQnjNYTSz9-lsUcZxaSfgIV5Uk2TY5A2iq8QQOKj4g6JslLM0Oe_i-OQntg8gDpAg/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>NAHUM 1:1-3:19</p><p>REVELATION 8:1-13</p><p>PSALM 136:1-26</p><p>PROVERBS 30:7-9</p><p>NAHUM 1:1-3:19</p><p>This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh. 2 The LORD is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and wrath. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and furiously destroys his enemies! 3 The LORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet. 4 At his command the oceans and rivers dry up, the lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wilt. 5 In his presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed. 6 Who can stand before his fierce anger? Who can survive his burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence. 7 The LORD is good. When trouble comes, he is a strong refuge. And he knows everyone who trusts in him. 8 But he sweeps away his enemies in an overwhelming flood. He pursues his foes into the darkness of night. 9 Why are you scheming against the LORD? He will destroy you with one blow; he won't need to strike twice! 10 His enemies, tangled up like thorns, staggering like drunks, will be burned like dry straw in a field. 11 Who is this king of yours who dares to plot evil against the LORD?12 This is what the LORD says: " Even though the Assyrians have many allies, they will be destroyed and disappear. O my people, I have already punished you once, and I will not do it again. 13 Now I will break your chains and release you from Assyrian oppression." 14 And this is what the LORD says concerning the Assyrians in Nineveh: " You will have no more children to carry on your name. I will destroy all the idols in the temples of your gods. I am preparing a grave for you because you are despicable and don't deserve to live!" 15 Look! A messenger is coming over the mountains with good news! He is bringing a message of peace. Celebrate your festivals, O people of Judah, and fulfill all your vows, for your enemies from Nineveh will never invade your land again. They have been completely destroyed!2:1 NINEVEH, you are already surrounded by enemy armies! Sound the alarm! Man the ramparts! Muster your defenses, and keep a sharp watch for the enemy attack to begin! 2 For the land of Israel lies empty and broken after your attacks, but the LORD will restore its honor and power again. 3 Shields flash red in the sunlight! The attack begins! See their scarlet uniforms! Watch as their glittering chariots move into position, with a forest of spears waving above them. 4 The chariots race recklessly along the streets and through the squares, swift as lightning, flickering like torches. 5 The king shouts to his officers; they stumble in their haste, rushing to the walls to set up their defenses. 6 But too late! The river gates are open! The enemy has entered! The palace is about to collapse! 7 Nineveh's exile has been decreed, and all the servant girls mourn its capture. Listen to them moan like doves; watch them beat their breasts in sorrow. 8 Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir! The people are slipping away. " Stop, stop!" someone shouts, but the people just keep on running. 9 Loot the silver! Plunder the gold! There seems no end to Nineveh's many treasures--its vast, uncounted wealth. 10 Soon the city is an empty shambles, stripped of its wealth. Hearts melt in horror, and knees shake. The people stand aghast, their faces pale and trembling. 11 Where now is that great Nineveh, lion of the nations, full of fight and boldness, where the old and feeble and the young and tender lived with nothing to fear? 12 O Nineveh, you were once a mighty lion! You crushed your enemies to feed your cubs and your mate. You filled your city and your homes with captives and plunder.13 " I am your enemy!" says the LORD Almighty. " Your chariots will soon go up in smoke. The finest of your youth will be killed in battle. Never again will you bring back plunder from conquered nations. Never again will the voices of your proud messengers be heard." 3:1 HOW terrible it will be for Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth to be plundered. 2 Listen! Hear the crack of the whips as the chariots rush forward against her. Wheels rumble, horses' hooves pound, and chariots clatter as they bump wildly through the streets. 3 See the flashing swords and glittering spears in the upraised arms of the cavalry! The dead are lying in the streets--dead bodies, heaps of bodies, everywhere. People stumble over them, scramble to their feet, and fall again. 4 All this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all to worship her false gods, enchanting people everywhere. 5 " No wonder I am your enemy!" declares the LORD Almighty. " And now I will lift your skirts so all the earth will see your nakedness and shame. 6 I will cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are. 7 All who see you will shrink back in horror and say, ` Nineveh lies in utter ruin.' Yet no one anywhere will regret your destruction."8 Are you any better than Thebes, surrounded by rivers, protected by water on all sides? 9 Ethiopia and the land of Egypt were the source of her strength, which seemed without limit. The nations of Put and Libya also helped and supported her. 10 Yet Thebes fell, and her people were led away as captives. Her babies were dashed to death against the stones of the streets. Soldiers cast lots to see who would get the Egyptian officers as servants. All their leaders were bound in chains. 11 And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard. You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy. 12 All your fortresses will fall. They will be devoured like the ripe figs that fall into the mouths of those who shake the trees. 13 Your troops will be as weak and helpless as women. The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy and set on fire and burned.14 Get ready for the siege! Store up water! Strengthen the defenses! Make bricks to repair the walls! Go into the pits to trample clay, and pack it into molds! 15 But in the middle of your preparations, the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down. The enemy will consume you like locusts, devouring everything they see. There will be no escape, even if you multiply like grasshoppers. 16 Merchants, as numerous as the stars, have filled your city with vast wealth. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and then fly away. 17 Your princes and officials are also like locusts, crowding together in the hedges to survive the cold. But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up to warm the earth, all of them will fly away and disappear. 18 O Assyrian king, your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains. There is no longer a shepherd to gather them together. 19 There is no healing for your wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear of your destruction will clap their hands for joy. Where can anyone be found who has not suffered from your cruelty?</p><p>REVELATION 8:1-13</p><p>When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I [John] saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to be offered on the gold altar before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. 5 Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake. 6 Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down upon the earth, and one-third of the earth was set on fire. One-third of the trees were burned, and all the grass was burned. 8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. And one-third of the water in the sea became blood. 9 And one-third of all things living in the sea died. And one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed. 10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great flaming star fell out of the sky, burning like a torch. It fell upon one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died because the water was so bitter. 12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark and one-third of the night also. 13 Then I looked up. And I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, " Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets."</p><p>PSALM 136:1-26</p><p>Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>2 Give thanks to the God of gods.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>4 Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>5 Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>6 Give thanks to him who placed the earth on the water.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>7 Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights--</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>8 the sun to rule the day,</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>9 and the moon and stars to rule the night.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>10 Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>11 He brought Israel out of Egypt.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>12 He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>13 Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>14 He led Israel safely through,</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>15 but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the sea.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>16 Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>17 Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>18 He killed powerful kings--</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>19 Sihon king of the Amorites,</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>20 and Og king of Bashan.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>21 God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance--</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>22 a special possession to his servant Israel.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>23 He remembered our utter weakness.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>24 He saved us from our enemies.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>25 He gives food to every living thing.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.</p><p>His faithful love endures forever.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:7-9</p><p>O God, I beg two favors from you before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, " Who is the LORD?" And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-60316230618431186552021-12-16T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-16T00:00:00.169-05:00December 16 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj1Wk2jtXGcb7tnrCCOVNHsATGvVex6q_dZ0tQRb9Fg4rip3blY55D8V9EEkX1HsYv4IPf4QWVj0ZkvpIq6qf7vDbywwh3NuzG4SLz1QLCUswGYkDVhbssSvuqYyHcy8wT2gqLv7jGQ/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj1Wk2jtXGcb7tnrCCOVNHsATGvVex6q_dZ0tQRb9Fg4rip3blY55D8V9EEkX1HsYv4IPf4QWVj0ZkvpIq6qf7vDbywwh3NuzG4SLz1QLCUswGYkDVhbssSvuqYyHcy8wT2gqLv7jGQ/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>MICAH 5:1-7:20</p><p>REVELATION 7:1-17</p><p>PSALM 135:1-21</p><p>PROVERBS 30:5-6</p><p>MICAH 5:1-7:20</p><p>Mobilize! Marshal your troops! The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem. With a rod they will strike the leader of Israel in the face. 2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village in Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past. 3 The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth to her son. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land. 4 And he will stand to lead his flock with the LORD's strength, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored all around the world. 5 And he will be the source of our peace. When the Assyrians invade our land and break through our defenses, we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us, eight princes to lead us. 6 They will rule Assyria with drawn swords and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod. They will rescue us from the Assyrians when they pour over the borders to invade our land. 7 Then the few left in Israel will go out among the nations. They will be like dew sent by the LORD or like rain falling on the grass, which no one can hold back. 8 The remnant of Israel will go out among the nations and be as strong as a lion. And the other nations will be like helpless sheep, with no one to rescue them. 9 The people of Israel will stand up to their foes, and all their enemies will be wiped out. 10 " At that same time," says the LORD, " I will destroy all your weapons--your horses and chariots. 11 I will tear down your walls and demolish the defenses of your cities. 12 I will put an end to all witchcraft; there will be no more fortune-tellers to consult. 13 I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars, so you will never again worship the work of your own hands. 14 I will abolish your pagan shrines with their Asherah poles and destroy the cities where your idol temples stand. 15 I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me."6:1 LISTEN to what the LORD is saying: " Stand up and state your case against me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints. 2 " And now, O mountains, listen to the LORD's complaint! He has a case against his people Israel! He will prosecute them to the full extent of the law. 3 O my people, what have I done to make you turn from me? Tell me why your patience is exhausted! Answer me! 4 For I brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from your slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you. 5 " Don't you remember, my people, how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead? And remember your journey from Acacia to Gilgal, when I, the LORD, did everything I could to teach you about my faithfulness." 6 What can we bring to the LORD to make up for what we've done? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? 7 Should we offer him thousands of rams and tens of thousands of rivers of olive oil? Would that please the LORD? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for the sins of our souls? Would that make him glad? 8 No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 9 Listen! Fear the LORD if you are wise! His voice is calling out to everyone in Jerusalem: " The armies of destruction are coming; the LORD is sending them. 10 Will there be no end of your getting rich by cheating? The homes of the wicked are filled with treasures gained by dishonestly measuring out grain in short measures. 11 And how can I tolerate all your merchants who use dishonest scales and weights? 12 The rich among you have become wealthy through extortion and violence. Your citizens are so used to lying that their tongues can no longer tell the truth. 13 " Therefore, I will wound you! I will bring you to ruin for all your sins. 14 You will eat but never have enough. Your hunger pangs and emptiness will still remain. And though you try to save your money, it will come to nothing in the end. You will save a little, but I will give it to those who conquer you. 15 You will plant crops but not harvest them. You will press your olives but not get enough oil to anoint yourselves. You will trample the grapes but get no juice to make your wine. 16 " The only laws you keep are those of evil King Omri; the only example you follow is that of wicked King Ahab! Therefore, I will make an example of you, bringing you to complete ruin. You will be treated with contempt, mocked by all who see you."7:1 WHAT misery is mine! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. 2 The godly people have all disappeared; not one fair-minded person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, even setting traps for their own brothers. 3 They go about their evil deeds with both hands. How skilled they are at using them! Officials and judges alike demand bribes. The people with money and influence pay them off, and together they scheme to twist justice. 4 Even the best of them is like a brier; the straightest is more crooked than a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your time of punishment is here. 5 Don't trust anyone--not your best friend or even your wife! 6 For the son despises his father. The daughter defies her mother. The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household. 7 As for me, I look to the LORD for his help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. 8 Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD himself will be my light. 9 I will be patient as the LORD punishes me, for I have sinned against him. But after that, he will take up my case and punish my enemies for all the evil they have done to me. The LORD will bring me out of my darkness into the light, and I will see his righteousness. 10 Then my enemies will see that the LORD is on my side. They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying, " Where is the LORD--that God of yours?" With my own eyes I will see them trampled down like mud in the streets. 11 In that day, Israel, your cities will be rebuilt, and your borders will be extended. 12 People from many lands will come and honor you--from Assyria all the way to the towns of Egypt, and from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River, and from many distant seas and mountains. 13 But the land will become empty and desolate because of the wickedness of those who live there. 14 O LORD, come and rule your people; lead your flock in green pastures. Help them to live in peace and prosperity. Let them enjoy the fertile pastures of Bashan and Gilead as they did long ago. 15 " Yes," says the LORD, " I will do mighty miracles for you, like those I did when I rescued you from slavery in Egypt."16 All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the LORD will do for you. They will be embarrassed that their power is so insignificant. They will stand in silent awe, deaf to everything around them. 17 They will come to realize what lowly creatures they really are. Like snakes crawling from their holes, they will come out to meet the LORD our God. They will fear him greatly, trembling in terror at his presence. 18 Where is another God like you, who pardons the sins of the survivors among his people? You cannot stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing mercy. 19 Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! 20 You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised with an oath to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.</p><p>REVELATION 7:1-17</p><p>Then I [John] saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from blowing upon the earth. Not a leaf rustled in the trees, and the sea became as smooth as glass. 2 And I saw another angel coming from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted out to those four angels who had been given power to injure land and sea, 3 " Wait! Don't hurt the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants." 4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God. There were 144,000 who were sealed from all the tribes of Israel: 5 from Judah 12,000 from Reuben 12,000 from Gad 12,000 6 from Asher 12,000 from Naphtali 12,000 from Manasseh 12,000 7 from Simeon 12,000 from Levi 12,000 from Issachar 12,000 8 from Zebulun 12,000 from Joseph 12,000 from Benjamin 12,0009 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a mighty shout, " Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!" 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell face down before the throne and worshiped God. 12 They said, " Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom</p><p>and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength</p><p>belong to our God forever and forever. Amen!"</p><p>13 Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, " Who are these who are clothed in white? Where do they come from?" 14 And I said to him, " Sir, you are the one who knows."Then he said to me, " These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. 15 That is why they are standing in front of the throne of God, serving him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will live among them and shelter them. 16 They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and they will be fully protected from the scorching noontime heat. 17 For the Lamb who stands in front of the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away all their tears."</p><p>PSALM 135:1-21</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>Praise the name of the LORD!</p><p>Praise him, you who serve the LORD,</p><p>2 you who serve in the house of the LORD,</p><p>in the courts of the house of our God.</p><p>3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;</p><p>celebrate his wonderful name with music.</p><p>4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,</p><p>Israel for his own special treasure.</p><p>5 I know the greatness of the LORD--</p><p>that our Lord is greater than any other god.</p><p>6 The LORD does whatever pleases him</p><p>throughout all heaven and earth,</p><p>and on the seas and in their depths.</p><p>7 He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.</p><p>He sends the lightning with the rain</p><p>and releases the wind from his storehouses.</p><p>8 He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home,</p><p>both people and animals.</p><p>9 He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt;</p><p>Pharaoh and all his people watched.</p><p>10 He struck down great nations</p><p>and slaughtered mighty kings--</p><p>11 Sihon king of the Amorites,</p><p>Og king of Bashan,</p><p>and all the kings of Canaan.</p><p>12 He gave their land as an inheritance,</p><p>a special possession to his people Israel.</p><p>13 Your name, O LORD, endures forever;</p><p>your fame, O LORD, is known to every generation.</p><p>14 For the LORD will vindicate his people</p><p>and have compassion on his servants.</p><p>15 Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,</p><p>shaped by human hands.</p><p>16 They cannot talk, though they have mouths,</p><p>or see, though they have eyes!</p><p>17 They cannot hear with their ears</p><p>or smell with their noses.</p><p>18 And those who make them are just like them,</p><p>as are all who trust in them.</p><p>19 O Israel, praise the LORD!</p><p>O priests of Aaron, praise the LORD!</p><p>20 O Levites, praise the LORD!</p><p>All you who fear the LORD, praise the LORD!</p><p>21 The LORD be praised from Zion,</p><p>for he lives here in Jerusalem.</p><p>Praise the LORD!</p><p>PROVERBS 30:5-6</p><p>Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection. Do not add to his words, or he may rebuke you, and you will be found a liar. </p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-73510577675742687782021-12-15T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-15T00:00:00.180-05:00December 15 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpOk9NoCw90mcsbfgcKpyZ7PIHbx-pNeD0ytCYypULv9dqraYCA7ubtKjw6Neswttjs_mlBngnYQ0q711C9Va6-noINusW0rxE9vlRyMmypxb2udzmidaW4nHtHaVqUFDSxkZ4vGr6Vw/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpOk9NoCw90mcsbfgcKpyZ7PIHbx-pNeD0ytCYypULv9dqraYCA7ubtKjw6Neswttjs_mlBngnYQ0q711C9Va6-noINusW0rxE9vlRyMmypxb2udzmidaW4nHtHaVqUFDSxkZ4vGr6Vw/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>MICAH 1:1-4:13</p><p>REVELATION 6:1-17</p><p>PSALM 134:1-3</p><p>PROVERBS 30:1-4</p><p>MICAH 1:1-4:13</p><p>The LORD gave these messages to Micah of Moresheth during the years when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. The messages concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem, and they came to Micah in the form of visions. 2 Attention! Let all the people of the world listen! The Sovereign LORD has made accusations against you; the Lord speaks from his holy Temple. 3 Look! The LORD is coming! He leaves his throne in heaven and comes to earth, walking on the high places. 4 They melt beneath his feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill. 5 And why is this happening? Because of the sins and rebellion of Israel and Judah. Who is to blame for Israel's rebellion? Samaria, its capital city! Where is the center of idolatry in Judah? In Jerusalem, its capital! 6 " So I, the LORD, will make the city of Samaria a heap of rubble. Her streets will be plowed up for planting vineyards. I will roll the stones of her walls down into the valley below, exposing all her foundations. 7 All her carved images will be smashed to pieces. All her sacred treasures will be burned up. These things were bought with the money earned by her prostitution, and they will now be carried away to pay prostitutes elsewhere." 8 Because of all this, I will mourn and lament. I will walk around naked and barefoot in sorrow and shame. I will howl like a jackal and wail like an ostrich. 9 For my people's wound is far too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem.10 Don't tell our enemies in the city of Gath; don't weep at all. You people in Beth-leaphrah, roll in the dust to show your anguish and despair. 11 You people of Shaphir, go as captives into exile--naked and ashamed. The people of Zaanan dare not come outside their walls. The people of Beth-ezel mourn because the very foundations of their city have been swept away. 12 The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, but only bitterness awaits them as the LORD's judgment reaches even to the gates of Jerusalem. 13 Quick! Use your swiftest chariots and flee, you people of Lachish. You were the first city in Judah to follow Israel in the sin of idol worship, and so you led Jerusalem into sin. 14 Send a farewell gift to Moresheth-gath; there is no hope of saving it. The town of Aczib has deceived the kings of Israel, for it promised help it could not give. 15 You people of Mareshah, I will bring a conqueror to capture your town. And the leaders of Israel will go to Adullam. 16 Weep, you people of Judah! Shave your heads in sorrow, for the children you love will be snatched away, and you will never see them again. Make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for your little ones will be exiled to distant lands. 2:1 HOW terrible it will be for you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry out any of the wicked schemes you have power to accomplish. 2 When you want a certain piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone's house, you take it by fraud and violence. No one's family or inheritance is safe with you around! 3 But this is what the LORD says: " I will reward your evil with evil; you won't be able to escape! After I am through with you, none of you will ever again walk proudly in the streets." 4 In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about your experience: " We are finished,</p><p>completely ruined!</p><p>God has confiscated our land,</p><p>taking it from us.</p><p>He has given our fields</p><p>to those who betrayed us."</p><p>5 Others will set your boundaries then, and the LORD's people will have no say in how the land is divided. 6 " Don't say such things," the people say. " Don't prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!" 7 Should you talk that way, O family of Israel? Will the LORD have patience with such behavior? If you would do what is right, you would find my words to be good. 8 Yet to this very hour my people rise against me! You steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, making them as ragged as men who have just come home from battle. 9 You have evicted women from their homes and stripped their children of all their God-given rights. 10 Up! Begone! This is no longer your land and home, for you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely. 11 Suppose a prophet full of lies were to say to you, " I'll preach to you the joys of wine and drink!" That's just the kind of prophet you would like!12 " Someday, O Israel, I will gather the few of you who are left. I will bring you together again like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture. Yes, your land will again be filled with noisy crowds! 13 Your leader will break out and lead you out of exile. He will bring you through the gates of your cities of captivity, back to your own land. Your king will lead you; the LORD himself will guide you." 3:1 LISTEN, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong, 2 but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones. 3 You eat my people's flesh, cut away their skin, and break their bones. You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot. 4 Then you beg the LORD for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to listen? After all the evil you have done, he won't even look at you! 5 This is what the LORD says to you false prophets: " You are leading my people astray! You promise peace for those who give you food, but you declare war on anyone who refuses to pay you. 6 Now the night will close around you, cutting off all your visions. Darkness will cover you, making it impossible for you to predict the future. The sun will set for you prophets, and your day will come to an end. 7 Then you seers will cover your faces in shame, and you diviners will be disgraced. And you will admit that your messages were not from God."8 But as for me, I am filled with power and the Spirit of the LORD. I am filled with justice and might, fearlessly pointing out Israel's sin and rebellion. 9 Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice and twist all that is right. 10 You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption. 11 You rulers govern for the bribes you can get; you priests teach God's laws only for a price; you prophets won't prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim you are depending on the LORD. " No harm can come to us," you say, " for the LORD is here among us." 12 So because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to rubble! A great forest will grow on the hilltop, where the Temple now stands.4:1 IN the last days, the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem will become the most important place on earth. People from all over the world will go there to worship. 2 Many nations will come and say, " Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Temple of the God of Israel. There he will teach us his ways, so that we may obey him." For in those days the LORD's teaching and his word will go out from Jerusalem. 3 The LORD will settle international disputes. All the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. All wars will stop, and military training will come to an end. 4 Everyone will live quietly in their own homes in peace and prosperity, for there will be nothing to fear. The LORD Almighty has promised this! 5 Even though the nations around us worship idols, we will follow the LORD our God forever and ever. 6 " In that coming day," says the LORD, " I will gather together my people who are lame, who have been exiles, filled with grief. 7 They are weak and far from home, but I will make them strong again, a mighty nation. Then I, the LORD, will rule from Jerusalem as their king forever."8 As for you, O Jerusalem, the citadel of God's people, your royal might and power will come back to you again. The kingship will be restored to my precious Jerusalem. 9 But why are you now screaming in terror? Have you no king to lead you? He is dead! Have you no wise people to counsel you? All are gone! Pain has gripped you like it does a woman in labor. 10 Writhe and groan in terrible pain, you people of Jerusalem, for you must leave this city to live in the open fields. You will soon be sent into exile in distant Babylon. But the LORD will rescue you there; he will redeem you from the grip of your enemies. 11 True, many nations have gathered together against you, calling for your blood, eager to gloat over your destruction. 12 But they do not know the LORD's thoughts or understand his plan. These nations don't know that he is gathering them together to be beaten and trampled like bundles of grain on a threshing floor. 13 " Rise up and destroy the nations, O Jerusalem!" says the LORD. " For I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves, so you can trample many nations to pieces. Then you will give all the wealth they acquired as offerings to me, the Lord of all the earth."</p><p>REVELATION 6:1-17</p><p>As I [John] watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then one of the four living beings called out with a voice that sounded like thunder, " Come!" 2 I looked up and saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory. 3 When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, " Come!" 4 And another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to remove peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.5 When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, " Come!" And I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And a voice from among the four living beings said, " A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley for a day's pay. And don't waste the olive oil and wine." 7 And when the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, " Come!" 8 And I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green like a corpse. And Death was the name of its rider, who was followed around by the Grave. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.9 And when the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their witness. 10 They called loudly to the Lord and said, " O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge the people who belong to this world for what they have done to us? When will you avenge our blood against these people?" 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters*--their fellow servants of Jesus--had been martyred. 12 I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. 13 Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from trees shaken by mighty winds. 14 And the sky was rolled up like a scroll and taken away. And all of the mountains and all of the islands disappeared. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy people, the people with great power, and every slave and every free person--all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, " Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who will be able to survive?"</p><p>PSALM 134:1-3</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.</p><p>1 Oh, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,</p><p>you who serve as night watchmen in the house of the LORD.</p><p>2 Lift your hands in holiness,</p><p>and bless the LORD.</p><p>3 May the LORD, who made heaven and earth,</p><p>bless you from Jerusalem.</p><p>PROVERBS 30:1-4</p><p>The message of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle. I am weary, O God; I am weary and worn out, O God. I am too ignorant to be human, and I lack common sense. I have not mastered human wisdom, nor do I know the Holy One. Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name--and his son's name? Tell me if you know!</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-33067953347072084592021-12-14T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-14T00:00:00.175-05:00December 14 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZpHNcQP3Tqv2m9RrWESO9Cyr3s63zoIQH2_yGWQC1nHEW5DvOhw0eWGfQq8lyWhShqV9YF7L5X6yRcHa9SrttvdrRPktCXhDN128FadAngai3RzYw4yxwcHfBn4QDwOruouW1Zb7YA/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZpHNcQP3Tqv2m9RrWESO9Cyr3s63zoIQH2_yGWQC1nHEW5DvOhw0eWGfQq8lyWhShqV9YF7L5X6yRcHa9SrttvdrRPktCXhDN128FadAngai3RzYw4yxwcHfBn4QDwOruouW1Zb7YA/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /><p><br /></p><p> JONAH 1:1-4:11</p><p>REVELATION 5:1-14</p><p>PSALM 133:1-3</p><p>PROVERBS 29:26-27</p><p>JONAH 1:1-4:11</p><p>The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 " Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh! Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are." 3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction in order to get away from the LORD. He went down to the seacoast, to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping that by going away to the west he could escape from the LORD. 4 But as the ship was sailing along, suddenly the LORD flung a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to send them to the bottom. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. And all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. " How can you sleep at a time like this?" he shouted. " Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will have mercy on us and spare our lives." 7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, Jonah lost the toss. 8 " What have you done to bring this awful storm down on us?" they demanded. " Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?" 9 And Jonah answered, " I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." 10 Then he told them that he was running away from the LORD. The sailors were terrified when they heard this. " Oh, why did you do it?" they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, " What should we do to you to stop this storm?" 12 " Throw me into the sea," Jonah said, " and it will become calm again. For I know that this terrible storm is all my fault." 13 Instead, the sailors tried even harder to row the boat ashore. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn't make it. 14 Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah's God. " O LORD," they pleaded, " don't make us die for this man's sin. And don't hold us responsible for his death, because it isn't our fault. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons." 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the LORD's great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. 17 Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.2:1 THEN Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish. 2 He said, " I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the world of the dead, and LORD, you heard me! 3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. 4 Then I said, ` O LORD, you have driven me from your presence. How will I ever again see your holy Temple?' 5 " I sank beneath the waves, and death was very near. The waters closed in around me, and seaweed wrapped itself around my head. 6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was locked out of life and imprisoned in the land of the dead. But you, O LORD my God, have snatched me from the yawning jaws of death! 7 " When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. 8 Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God's mercies. 9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone." 10 Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit up Jonah on the beach, and it did.3:1 THEN the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 " Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message of judgment I have given you." 3 This time Jonah obeyed the LORD's command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: " Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!" 5 The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow. 6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes. 7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: " No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all. 8 Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us." 10 When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened.4:1 THIS change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the LORD about it: " Didn't I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people. 3 Just kill me now, LORD! I'd rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen." 4 The LORD replied, " Is it right for you to be angry about this?" 5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see if anything would happen to the city. 6 And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun. This eased some of his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But God also prepared a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant, so that it soon died and withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God sent a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. " Death is certainly better than this!" he exclaimed. 9 Then God said to Jonah, " Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?" " Yes," Jonah retorted, " even angry enough to die!" 10 Then the LORD said, " You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And a plant is only, at best, short lived. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?"</p><p>REVELATION 5:1-14</p><p>And I [John] saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: " Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and unroll it?" 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. 4 Then I wept because no one could be found who was worthy to open the scroll and read it. 5 But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, " Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, has conquered. He is worthy to open the scroll and break its seven seals." 6 I looked and I saw a Lamb that had been killed but was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that are sent out into every part of the earth. 7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense--the prayers of God's people! 9 And they sang a new song with these words: " You are worthy to take the scroll</p><p>and break its seals and open it.</p><p>For you were killed, and your blood has ransomed people for God</p><p>from every tribe and language and people and nation.</p><p>10 And you have caused them to become God's kingdom and his priests.</p><p>And they will reign on the earth."</p><p>11 Then I looked again, and I heard the singing of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and the living beings and the elders. 12 And they sang in a mighty chorus: "The Lamb is worthy--the Lamb who was killed.</p><p>He is worthy to receive power and riches</p><p>and wisdom and strength</p><p>and honor and glory and blessing."</p><p>13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They also sang: " Blessing and honor and glory and power</p><p>belong to the one sitting on the throne</p><p>and to the Lamb forever and ever."</p><p>14 And the four living beings said, " Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped God and the Lamb.</p><p>PSALM 133:1-3</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.</p><p>1 How wonderful it is, how pleasant,</p><p>when brothers live together in harmony!</p><p>2 For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil</p><p>that was poured over Aaron's head,</p><p>that ran down his beard</p><p>and onto the border of his robe.</p><p>3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon</p><p>that falls on the mountains of Zion.</p><p>And the LORD has pronounced his blessing,</p><p>even life forevermore.</p><p>PROVERBS 29:26-27</p><p>Many seek the ruler's favor, but justice comes from the LORD. The godly despise the wicked; the wicked despise the godly.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-71492012418331770132021-12-13T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-13T00:00:00.192-05:00December 13 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFWrAP0WXfJjVTqS9xwC8cg4hCjFFYrOCdU2tfzb_yMcGGG1IEteiS73tZoZbLeJPsPk3z_1oQOegWt4NGEgDPYcvbF4AJpLFIUymqequ7Dq2LD_vPKuXMBrnam6UsE8t02QLQcNHuA/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFWrAP0WXfJjVTqS9xwC8cg4hCjFFYrOCdU2tfzb_yMcGGG1IEteiS73tZoZbLeJPsPk3z_1oQOegWt4NGEgDPYcvbF4AJpLFIUymqequ7Dq2LD_vPKuXMBrnam6UsE8t02QLQcNHuA/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /><p><br /></p><p> OBADIAH 1-21</p><p>REVELATION 4:1-11</p><p>PSALM 132:1-18</p><p>PROVERBS 29:24-25</p><p>OBADIAH 1-21</p><p>This is the vision that the Sovereign LORD revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom. We have heard a message from the LORD that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say, " Get ready, everyone! Let's assemble our armies and attack Edom!" 2 The LORD says, " I will cut you down to size among the nations, Edom; you will be small and despised. 3 You are proud because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. ` Who can ever reach us way up here?' you ask boastfully. Don't fool yourselves! 4 Though you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down. I, the LORD, have spoken!5 " If thieves came at night and robbed you, they would not take everything. Those who harvest grapes always leave a few for the poor. But your enemies will wipe you out completely! 6 Every nook and cranny of Edom will be searched and looted. Every treasure will be found and taken. 7 " All your allies will turn against you. They will help to chase you from your land. They will promise you peace, while plotting your destruction. Your trusted friends will set traps for you, and you won't even know about it. 8 At that time not a single wise person will be left in the whole land of Edom!" says the LORD. " For on the mountains of Edom I will destroy everyone who has wisdom and understanding. 9 The mightiest warriors of Teman will be terrified, and everyone on the mountains of Edom will be cut down in the slaughter. 10 " And why? Because of the violence you did to your close relatives in Israel. Now you will be destroyed completely and filled with shame forever. 11 For you deserted your relatives in Israel during their time of greatest need. You stood aloof, refusing to lift a finger to help when foreign invaders carried off their wealth and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem. You acted as though you were one of Israel's enemies. 12 " You shouldn't have done this! You shouldn't have gloated when they exiled your relatives to distant lands. You shouldn't have rejoiced because they were suffering such misfortune. You shouldn't have crowed over them as they suffered these disasters. 13 You shouldn't have plundered the land of Israel when they were suffering such calamity. You shouldn't have gloated over the destruction of your relatives, looting their homes and making yourselves rich at their expense. 14 You shouldn't have stood at the crossroads, killing those who tried to escape. You shouldn't have captured the survivors, handing them over to their enemies in that terrible time of trouble. 15 " The day is near when I, the LORD, will judge the godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads. 16 Just as you swallowed up my people on my holy mountain, so you and the surrounding nations will swallow the punishment I pour out on you. Yes, you nations will drink and stagger and disappear from history, as though you had never even existed. 17 " But Jerusalem will become a refuge for those who escape; it will be a holy place. And the people of Israel will come back to reclaim their inheritance. 18 At that time Israel will be a raging fire, and Edom, a field of dry stubble. The fire will roar across the field, devouring everything and leaving no survivors in Edom. I, the LORD, have spoken!19 " Then my people living in the Negev will occupy the mountains of Edom. Those living in the foothills of Judah will possess the Philistine plains and take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. And the people of Benjamin will occupy the land of Gilead. 20 The exiles of Israel will return to their land and occupy the Phoenician coast as far north as Zarephath. The captives from Jerusalem exiled in the north will return to their homeland and resettle the villages of the Negev. 21 Deliverers will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the LORD himself will be king!"</p><p>REVELATION 4:1-11</p><p>Then as I [John] looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast. The voice said, " Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things." 2 And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it! 3 The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones--jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. 4 Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. 5 And from the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven lampstands with burning flames. They are the seven spirits of God. 6 In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. 7 The first of these living beings had the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth had the form of an eagle with wings spread out as though in flight. 8 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty--</p><p>the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come."</p><p>9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one who lives forever and ever. And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, 11 " You are worthy, O Lord our God,</p><p>to receive glory and honor and power.</p><p>For you created everything,</p><p>and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created."</p><p>PSALM 132:1-18</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.</p><p>1 LORD, remember David</p><p>and all that he suffered.</p><p>2 He took an oath before the LORD.</p><p>He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel,</p><p>3 " I will not go home;</p><p>I will not let myself rest.</p><p>4 I will not let my eyes sleep</p><p>nor close my eyelids in slumber</p><p>5 until I find a place to build a house for the LORD,</p><p>a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel."</p><p>6 We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah;</p><p>then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar.</p><p>7 Let us go to the dwelling place of the LORD;</p><p>let us bow low before him.</p><p>8 Arise, O LORD, and enter your sanctuary,</p><p>along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.</p><p>9 Your priests will be agents of salvation;</p><p>may your loyal servants sing for joy.</p><p>10 For the sake of your servant David,</p><p>do not reject the king you chose for your people.</p><p>11 The LORD swore to David</p><p>a promise he will never take back:</p><p>" I will place your descendants on your throne.</p><p>12 If your descendants obey the terms of my covenant</p><p>and follow the decrees that I teach them,</p><p>then your royal line will never end."</p><p>13 For the LORD has chosen Jerusalem;</p><p>he has desired it as his home.</p><p>14 " This is my home where I will live forever," he said.</p><p>" I will live here, for this is the place I desired.</p><p>15 I will make this city prosperous</p><p>and satisfy its poor with food.</p><p>16 I will make its priests the agents of salvation;</p><p>its godly people will sing for joy.</p><p>17 Here I will increase the power of David;</p><p>my anointed one will be a light for my people.</p><p>18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,</p><p>but he will be a glorious king."</p><p>PROVERBS 29:24-25</p><p>If you assist a thief, you are only hurting yourself. You will be punished if you report the crime, but you will be cursed if you don't. Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but to trust the LORD means safety.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-63899809855529149122021-12-12T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-12T00:00:00.188-05:00December 12 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDv_PoRONV2GzIET59-aQWqXEjD-3bKLRN3xoFaTugz-Q_SODtFUYVf2p1iLlSp2gDTXb0j50drl41V0re38Fd31tpBHCKx7r23jVoyb0Xr5uNhznV_loYC_ge_43v3EyfK5xhb6SSg/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDv_PoRONV2GzIET59-aQWqXEjD-3bKLRN3xoFaTugz-Q_SODtFUYVf2p1iLlSp2gDTXb0j50drl41V0re38Fd31tpBHCKx7r23jVoyb0Xr5uNhznV_loYC_ge_43v3EyfK5xhb6SSg/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /><p><br /></p><p> AMOS 7:1-9:15</p><p>REVELATION 3:7-22</p><p>PSALM 131:1-3</p><p>PROVERBS 29:23</p><p>AMOS 7:1-9:15</p><p>The Sovereign LORD showed me a vision. I [Amos] saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king's share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up. 2 In my vision the locusts ate everything in sight that was green. Then I said, " O Sovereign LORD, please forgive your people! Unless you relent, Israel will not survive, for we are only a small nation." 3 So the LORD relented and did not fulfill the vision. " I won't do it," he said. 4 Then the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land. 5 Then I said, " O Sovereign LORD, please don't do it. Unless you relent, Israel will not survive, for we are only a small nation." 6 Then the LORD turned from this plan, too. " I won't do that either," said the Sovereign LORD.7 Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was checking it with a plumb line to see if it was straight. 8 And the LORD said to me, " Amos, what do you see?" I answered, " A plumb line." And the Lord replied, " I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. 9 The pagan shrines of your ancestors and the temples of Israel will be destroyed, and I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end." 10 But when Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, heard what Amos was saying, he rushed a message to King Jeroboam: " Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable. It will lead to rebellion all across the land. 11 He is saying, ` Jeroboam will soon be killed and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.' " 12 Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: " Get out of here, you seer! Go on back to the land of Judah and do your preaching there! 13 Don't bother us here in Bethel with your prophecies, especially not here where the royal sanctuary is!" 14 But Amos replied, " I'm not one of your professional prophets. I certainly never trained to be one. I'm just a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees. 15 But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, ` Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.'16 " Now then, listen to this message from the LORD! You say, ` Don't prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people.' 17 But this is what the LORD says: Because you have refused to listen, your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland." 8:1 THEN the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit. 2 " What do you see, Amos?" he asked. I replied, " A basket full of ripe fruit." Then the LORD said, " This fruit represents my people of Israel--ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again. 3 In that day the riotous sounds of singing in the Temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"4 Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample the needy! 5 You can't wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out your grain in false measures and weigh it out on dishonest scales. 6 And you mix the wheat you sell with chaff swept from the floor! Then you enslave poor people for a debt of one piece of silver or a pair of sandals. 7 Now the LORD has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel: " I will never forget the wicked things you have done! 8 The earth will tremble for your deeds, and everyone will mourn. The land will rise up like the Nile River at floodtime, toss about, and sink again. 9 At that time," says the Sovereign LORD, " I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth while it is still day. 10 I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning, and your songs of joy will be turned to weeping. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads as signs of sorrow, as if your only son had died. How very bitter that day will be!11 " The time is surely coming," says the Sovereign LORD, " when I will send a famine on the land--not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD. 12 People will stagger everywhere from sea to sea, searching for the word of the LORD, running here and going there, but they will not find it. 13 Beautiful girls and fine young men will grow faint and weary, thirsting for the LORD's word. 14 And those who worship and swear by the idols of Samaria, Dan, and Beersheba will fall down, never to rise again." 9:1 THEN I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said, " Strike the tops of the Temple columns so hard that the foundation will shake. Smash the columns so the roof will crash down on the people below. Then those who survive will be slaughtered in battle. No one will escape! 2 " Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down. 3 Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel, I will search them out and capture them. Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean, I will send the great sea serpent after them to bite and destroy them. 4 Even if they are driven into exile, I will command the sword to kill them there. I am determined to bring disaster upon them and not to help them." 5 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, touches the land and it melts, and all its people mourn. The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime, and then it sinks again. 6 The upper stories of the LORD's home are in the heavens, while its foundation is on the earth. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The LORD is his name! 7 " Do you Israelites think you are more important to me than the Ethiopians?" asks the LORD. " I brought you out of Egypt, but have I not done as much for other nations, too? I brought the Philistines from Crete and led the Arameans out of Kir. 8 " I, the Sovereign LORD, am watching this sinful nation of Israel, and I will uproot it and scatter its people across the earth. Yet I have promised that I will never completely destroy the family of Israel," says the LORD. 9 " For I have commanded that Israel be persecuted by the other nations as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. 10 But all the sinners will die by the sword--all those who say, ` Nothing bad will happen to us.' 11 " In that day I will restore the fallen kingdom of David. It is now like a house in ruins, but I will rebuild its walls and restore its former glory. 12 And Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be mine. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do these things. 13 " The time will come," says the LORD, " when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine! 14 I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. 15 I will firmly plant them there in the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. " Then they will never be uprooted again."</p><p>REVELATION 3:7-22</p><p>" Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true. He is the one who has the key of David. He opens doors, and no one can shut them; he shuts doors, and no one can open them. 8 " I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can shut. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. 9 Look! I will force those who belong to Satan--those liars who say they are Jews but are not--to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love. 10 " Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 Look, I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write my God's name on them, and they will be citizens in the city of my God--the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And they will have my new name inscribed upon them. 13 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches.14 " Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen--the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation: 15 " I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, ` I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 I advise you to buy gold from me--gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. And also buy white garments so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference. 20 " Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends. 21 I will invite everyone who is victorious to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. 22 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches."</p><p>PSALM 131:1-3</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.</p><p>1 LORD, my heart is not proud;</p><p>my eyes are not haughty.</p><p>I don't concern myself with matters too great</p><p>or awesome for me.</p><p>2 But I have stilled and quieted myself,</p><p>just as a small child is quiet with its mother.</p><p>Yes, like a small child is my soul within me.</p><p>3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD--</p><p>now and always.</p><p>PROVERBS 29:23</p><p>Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-5193984307933078862021-12-11T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-11T00:00:00.166-05:00December 11 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasFnKTiw0KiYVu3sxJnNd09VMLYbZnZIREAzn54eUQW8dsbZRX1mG07ixJBkSR6ij2SWbtC_305daulkFudtKv0opxjtsmDf2pn30i-3UCdoAE48X1ymAGx6o2izDjely3gBCFkRkLA/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasFnKTiw0KiYVu3sxJnNd09VMLYbZnZIREAzn54eUQW8dsbZRX1mG07ixJBkSR6ij2SWbtC_305daulkFudtKv0opxjtsmDf2pn30i-3UCdoAE48X1ymAGx6o2izDjely3gBCFkRkLA/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>AMOS 4:1-6:14</p><p>REVELATION 2:18-3:6</p><p>PSALM 130:1-8</p><p>PROVERBS 29:21-22</p><p>AMOS 4:1-6:14</p><p>Listen to me [Amos], you " fat cows" of Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and who are always asking your husbands for another drink! 2 The Sovereign LORD has sworn this by his holiness: " The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in your noses. Every last one of you will be dragged away like a fish on a hook! 3 You will leave by going straight through the breaks in the wall; you will be thrown from your fortresses. I, the LORD, have spoken! 4 " Go ahead and offer your sacrifices to the idols at Bethel and Gilgal. Keep on disobeying--your sins are mounting up! Offer sacrifices each morning and bring your tithes every three days! 5 Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do," says the Sovereign LORD. 6 " I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the LORD.7 " I kept the rain from falling when you needed it the most, ruining all your crops. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away. 8 People staggered from one town to another for a drink of water, but there was never enough. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the LORD. 9 " I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the LORD. 10 " I sent plagues against you like the plagues I sent against Egypt long ago. I killed your young men in war and slaughtered all your horses. The stench of death filled the air! But still you wouldn't return to me," says the LORD. 11 " I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like half-burned sticks snatched from a fire. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the LORD. 12 " Therefore, I will bring upon you all these further disasters I have announced. Prepare to meet your God as he comes in judgment, you people of Israel!" 13 For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his every thought. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads the mountains under his feet. The LORD God Almighty is his name!5:1 LISTEN, you people of Israel! Listen to this funeral song I am singing: 2 " The virgin Israel has fallen,</p><p>never to rise again!</p><p>She lies forsaken on the ground,</p><p>with none to raise her up."</p><p>3 The Sovereign LORD says: " When one of your cities sends a thousand men to battle, only a hundred will return. When a town sends a hundred, only ten will come back alive." 4 Now this is what the LORD says to the family of Israel: " Come back to me and live! 5 Don't go to worship the idols of Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will come to nothing." 6 Come back to the LORD and live! If you don't, he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely. Your gods in Bethel certainly won't be able to quench the flames! 7 You wicked people! You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the poor and oppressed. Righteousness and fair play are meaningless fictions to you. 8 It is the LORD who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. It is he who turns darkness into morning and day into night. It is he who draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The LORD is his name! 9 With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong, crushing all their defenses. 10 How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth! 11 You trample the poor and steal what little they have through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, you will never live in the beautiful stone houses you are building. You will never drink wine from the lush vineyards you are planting. 12 For I know the vast number of your sins and rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. 13 So those who are wise will keep quiet, for it is an evil time. 14 Do what is good and run from evil--that you may live! Then the LORD God Almighty will truly be your helper, just as you have claimed he is. 15 Hate evil and love what is good; remodel your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on his people who remain.16 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD God Almighty, says: " There will be crying in all the public squares and in every street. Call for the farmers to weep with you, and summon professional mourners to wail and lament. 17 There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through and destroy them all. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 18 How terrible it will be for you who say, " If only the day of the LORD were here! For then the LORD would rescue us from all our enemies." But you have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will not bring light and prosperity, but darkness and disaster. 19 In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion--only to meet a bear. After escaping the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house--and is bitten by a snake. 20 Yes, the day of the LORD will be a dark and hopeless day, without a ray of joy or hope. 21 " I hate all your show and pretense--the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. 22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. 23 Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is. 24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry. 25 " Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel? 26 No, your real interest was in your pagan gods--Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god--the images you yourselves made. 27 So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.6:1 HOW terrible it will be for you who lounge in luxury and think you are secure in Jerusalem and Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, you to whom the people go for help. 2 Go over to Calneh and see what happened there. Then go to the great city of Hamath and on down to the Philistine city of Gath. You are no better than they were, and look at how they were destroyed. 3 You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer. 4 How terrible it will be for you who sprawl on ivory beds surrounded with luxury, eating the meat of tender lambs and choice calves. 5 You sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and you fancy yourselves to be great musicians, as King David was. 6 You drink wine by the bowlful, and you perfume yourselves with exotic fragrances, caring nothing at all that your nation is going to ruin. 7 Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your revelry will end. 8 The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the LORD God Almighty, says: " I despise the pride and false glory of Israel, and I hate their beautiful homes. I will give this city and everything in it to their enemies." 9 If there are ten men left in one house, they will all die. 10 And when a close relative--one who is responsible for burning the dead--goes into the house to carry away a dead body, he will ask the last survivor, " Is there anyone else with you?" And the person will answer, " No!" Then he will say, " Hush! Don't even whisper the name of the LORD. He might hear you!" 11 When the LORD gives the command, homes both great and small will be smashed to pieces. 12 Can horses gallop over rocks? Can oxen be used to plow rocks? Stupid even to ask--but that's how stupid you are when you turn justice into poison and make bitter the sweet fruit of righteousness. 13 And just as stupid is this bragging about your conquest of Lo-debar. You boast, " Didn't we take Karnaim by our own strength and power?" 14 " O people of Israel, I am about to bring an enemy nation against you," says the LORD God Almighty. " It will oppress you bitterly throughout your land--from Lebo-hamath in the north to the Arabah Valley in the south."</p><p>REVELATION 2:18-3:6</p><p>" Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are bright like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze: 19 " I know all the things you do--your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. 20 But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman--that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet--to lead my servants astray. She is encouraging them to worship idols, eat food offered to idols, and commit sexual sin. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she would not turn away from her immorality. 22 Therefore, I will throw her upon a sickbed, and she will suffer greatly with all who commit adultery with her, unless they turn away from all their evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. 24 But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (` deeper truths,' as they call them--depths of Satan, really). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 " To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, I will give authority over all the nations. 27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. 28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star! 29 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches.3:1 " WRITE this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: " I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive--but you are dead. 2 Now wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is at the point of death. Your deeds are far from right in the sight of God. 3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly and turn to me again. Unless you do, I will come upon you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief. 4 " Yet even in Sardis there are some who have not soiled their garments with evil deeds. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. 6 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches."</p><p>PSALM 130:1-8</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.</p><p>1 From the depths of despair, O LORD,</p><p>I call for your help.</p><p>2 Hear my cry, O Lord.</p><p>Pay attention to my prayer.</p><p>3 LORD, if you kept a record of our sins,</p><p>who, O Lord, could ever survive?</p><p>4 But you offer forgiveness,</p><p>that we might learn to fear you.</p><p>5 I am counting on the LORD;</p><p>yes, I am counting on him.</p><p>I have put my hope in his word.</p><p>6 I long for the Lord</p><p>more than sentries long for the dawn,</p><p>yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.</p><p>7 O Israel, hope in the LORD;</p><p>for with the LORD there is unfailing love</p><p>and an overflowing supply of salvation.</p><p>8 He himself will free Israel</p><p>from every kind of sin.</p><p>PROVERBS 29:21-22</p><p>A servant who is pampered from childhood will later become a rebel. A hot-tempered person starts fights and gets into all kinds of sin.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-42116247316990096002021-12-10T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-10T00:00:00.203-05:00December 10 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-QTo9SOZKEbHsvGdFiI7EHvaIJ3iUn-ejV0eFkyR6KYsQlnFThcVYUWKABYpju6_ysIiy-bnpOhty3l_LxMC1vuRVIhdDuvm8_EiuaJDlp8WCjts6lDBJl0Rle8UBdaB5RHlxNLaTA/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-QTo9SOZKEbHsvGdFiI7EHvaIJ3iUn-ejV0eFkyR6KYsQlnFThcVYUWKABYpju6_ysIiy-bnpOhty3l_LxMC1vuRVIhdDuvm8_EiuaJDlp8WCjts6lDBJl0Rle8UBdaB5RHlxNLaTA/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>AMOS 1:1-3:15</p><p>REVELATION 2:1-17</p><p>PSALM 129:1-8</p><p>PROVERBS 29:19-20</p><p>AMOS 1:1-3:15</p><p>This message was given to Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa in Judah. He received this message in visions two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, was king of Israel. 2 This is his report of what he saw and heard: " The LORD's voice roars from his Temple on Mount Zion; he thunders from Jerusalem! Suddenly, the lush pastures of the shepherds dry up. All the grass on Mount Carmel withers and dies." 3 This is what the LORD says: " The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They beat down my people in Gilead as grain is threshed with threshing sledges of iron. 4 So I will send down fire on King Hazael's palace, and the fortresses of King Ben-hadad will be destroyed. 5 I will break down the gates of Damascus and slaughter its people all the way to the valley of Aven. I will destroy the ruler in Beth-eden, and the people of Aram will return to Kir as slaves. I, the LORD, have spoken!"6 This is what the LORD says: " The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They sent my people into exile, selling them as slaves in Edom. 7 So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. 8 I will slaughter the people of Ashdod and destroy the king of Ashkelon. Then I will turn to attack Ekron, and the few Philistines still left will be killed. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!" 9 This is what the LORD says: " The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They broke their treaty of brotherhood with Israel, selling whole villages as slaves to Edom. 10 So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre, and all its fortresses will be destroyed." 11 This is what the LORD says: " The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They chased down their relatives, the Israelites, with swords. They showed them no mercy and were unrelenting in their anger. 12 So I will send down fire on Teman, and the fortresses of Bozrah will be destroyed." 13 This is what the LORD says: " The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! When they attacked Gilead to extend their borders, they committed cruel crimes, ripping open pregnant women with their swords. 14 So I will send down fire on the walls of Rabbah, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. There will be wild shouts during the battle, swirling like a whirlwind in a mighty storm. 15 And their king and his princes will go into exile together. I, the LORD, have spoken!"2:1 THIS is what the LORD says: " The people of Moab have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They desecrated the tomb of Edom's king and burned his bones to ashes. 2 So I will send down fire on the land of Moab, and all the fortresses in Kerioth will be destroyed. The people will fall in the noise of battle, as the warriors shout and the trumpets blare. 3 And I will destroy their king and slaughter all their princes. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 4 This is what the LORD says: " The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They have rejected the laws of the LORD, refusing to obey him. They have been led astray by the same lies that deceived their ancestors. 5 So I will send down fire on Judah, and all the fortresses of Jerusalem will be destroyed."6 This is what the LORD says: " The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They have perverted justice by selling honest people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample helpless people in the dust and deny justice to those who are oppressed. Both father and son sleep with the same woman, corrupting my holy name. 8 At their religious festivals, they lounge around in clothing stolen from their debtors. In the house of their god, they present offerings of wine purchased with stolen money. 9 " Yet think of all I did for my people! I destroyed the Amorites before my people arrived in the land. The Amorites were as tall as cedar trees and strong as oaks, but I destroyed their fruit and dug out their roots. 10 It was I who rescued you from Egypt and led you through the desert for forty years so you could possess the land of the Amorites. 11 I chose some of your sons to be prophets and others to be Nazirites. Can you deny this, my people of Israel?" asks the LORD. 12 " But you caused the Nazirites to sin by making them drink your wine, and you said to my prophets, ` Shut up!'13 " So I will make you groan as a wagon groans when it is loaded down with grain. 14 Your fastest runners will not get away. The strongest among you will become weak. Even the mightiest warriors will be unable to save themselves. 15 The archers will fail to stand their ground. The swiftest soldiers won't be fast enough to escape. Even warriors on horses won't be able to outrun the danger. 16 On that day, the most courageous of your fighting men will drop their weapons and run for their lives. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 3:1 LISTEN to this message that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel and Judah--the entire family I rescued from Egypt: 2 " From among all the families on the earth, I chose you alone. That is why I must punish you for all your sins." 3 Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? 4 Does a lion ever roar in a thicket without first finding a victim? Does a young lion growl in its den without first catching its prey? 5 Does a bird ever get caught in a trap that has no bait? Does a trap ever spring shut when there's nothing there to catch? 6 When the war trumpet blares, shouldn't the people be alarmed? When disaster comes to a city, isn't it because the LORD planned it? 7 " But always, first of all, I warn you through my servants the prophets. I, the Sovereign LORD, have now done this." 8 The lion has roared--tremble in fear! The Sovereign LORD has spoken--I dare not refuse to proclaim his message! 9 Announce this to the leaders of Philistia and Egypt: " Take your seats now on the hills around Samaria, and witness the scandalous spectacle of all Israel's crimes." 10 " My people have forgotten what it means to do right," says the LORD. " Their fortresses are filled with wealth taken by theft and violence. 11 Therefore," says the Sovereign LORD, " an enemy is coming! He will surround them and shatter their defenses. Then he will plunder all their fortresses." 12 This is what the LORD says: " A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion's mouth will recover only two legs and a piece of ear. So it will be when the Israelites in Samaria are rescued with only a broken chair and a tattered pillow. 13 Now listen to this, and announce it throughout all Israel," says the Lord, the LORD God Almighty. 14 " On the very day I punish Israel for its sins, I will destroy the pagan altars at Bethel. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. 15 And I will destroy the beautiful homes of the wealthy--their winter mansions and their summer houses, too--all their palaces filled with ivory. I, the LORD, have spoken!"</p><p>REVELATION 2:1-17</p><p>" Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: 2 " I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 4 But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first. If you don't, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the immoral Nicolaitans, just as I do. 7 " Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.8 " Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who died and is alive: 9 " I know about your suffering and your poverty--but you are rich! I know the slander of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they really aren't because theirs is a synagogue of Satan. 10 Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The Devil will throw some of you into prison and put you to the test. You will be persecuted for ` ten days.' Remain faithful even when facing death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 " Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.12 " Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one who has a sharp two-edged sword: 13 " I know that you live in the city where that great throne of Satan is located, and yet you have remained loyal to me. And you refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan's followers. 14 And yet I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you who are like Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to worship idols by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In the same way, you have some Nicolaitans among you--people who follow the same teaching and commit the same sins. 16 Repent, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 " Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it."</p><p>PSALM 129:1-8</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.</p><p>1 From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me--</p><p>let Israel now say--</p><p>2 from my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me,</p><p>but they have never been able to finish me off.</p><p>3 My back is covered with cuts,</p><p>as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.</p><p>4 But the LORD is good;</p><p>he has cut the cords used by the ungodly to bind me.</p><p>5 May all who hate Jerusalem</p><p>be turned back in shameful defeat.</p><p>6 May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop,</p><p>turning yellow when only half grown,</p><p>7 ignored by the harvester,</p><p>despised by the binder.</p><p>8 And may those who pass by refuse to give them this blessing:</p><p>" The LORD's blessings be upon you;</p><p>we bless you in the LORD's name."</p><p>PROVERBS 29:19-20</p><p>For a servant, mere words are not enough--discipline is needed. For the words may be understood, but they are not heeded. There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking. </p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-18348485977033547682021-12-09T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-09T00:00:00.170-05:00December 9 Reading through the Bible<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6n3VruLtpkGKihiN2BHwe2p_T4n5oeNJmKyQa2ZWrfvdeGn7r-7-zbZm5VQKwi4RXT9k39mRGdLT9ed08rnXXMvzCQlaf5E5ydnomRRIB5DQFnXqe-Wan2meD8YADkXFe7d0ORj9pNw/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6n3VruLtpkGKihiN2BHwe2p_T4n5oeNJmKyQa2ZWrfvdeGn7r-7-zbZm5VQKwi4RXT9k39mRGdLT9ed08rnXXMvzCQlaf5E5ydnomRRIB5DQFnXqe-Wan2meD8YADkXFe7d0ORj9pNw/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><br /><p><br /></p><p> JOEL 1:1-3:21</p><p>REVELATION 1:1-20</p><p>PSALM 128:1-6</p><p>PROVERBS 29:18</p><p>JOEL 1:1-3:21</p><p>The LORD gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, you leaders of the people! Everyone listen! In all your history, has anything like this ever happened before? 3 Tell your children about it in the years to come. Pass the awful story down from generation to generation. 4 After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took what was left! After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts, too!5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! All the grapes are ruined, and all your new wine is gone! 6 A vast army of locusts has invaded my land. It is a terrible army, too numerous to count! Its teeth are as sharp as the teeth of lions! 7 They have destroyed my grapevines and fig trees, stripping their bark and leaving the branches white and bare. 8 Weep with sorrow, as a virgin weeps when her fiancé as died. 9 There is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of the LORD. The priests are mourning because there are no offerings. Listen to the weeping of these ministers of the LORD! 10 The fields are ruined and empty of crops. The grain, the wine, and the olive oil are gone.11 Despair, all you farmers! Wail, all you vine growers! Weep, because the wheat and barley--yes, all the field crops--are ruined. 12 The grapevines and the fig trees have all withered. The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees--yes, all the fruit trees--have dried up. All joy has dried up with them. 13 Dress yourselves in sackcloth, you priests! Wail, you who serve before the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God! There is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of your God. 14 Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there. 15 The day of the LORD is on the way, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be! 16 We watch as our food disappears before our very eyes. There are no joyful celebrations in the house of our God. 17 The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops fail. The barns and granaries stand empty and abandoned. 18 How the animals moan with hunger! The cattle wander about confused because there is no pasture for them. The sheep bleat in misery. 19 LORD, help us! The fire has consumed the pastures and burned up all the trees. 20 Even the wild animals cry out to you because they have no water to drink. The streams have dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures.2:1 BLOW the trumpet in Jerusalem! Sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the LORD is upon us. 2 It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness. Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a mighty army appears! How great and powerful they are! The likes of them have not been seen before and never will be seen again. 3 Fire burns in front of them and follows them in every direction! Ahead of them the land lies as fair as the Garden of Eden in all its beauty. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes. 4 They look like tiny horses, and they run as fast. 5 Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops! Listen to the noise they make--like the rumbling of chariots, like the roar of a fire sweeping across a field, or like a mighty army moving into battle. 6 Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with fright. 7 The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like trained soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank. 8 They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right place. They lunge through the gaps, and no weapon can stop them. 9 They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows. 10 The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. 11 The LORD leads them with a shout! This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the LORD is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can endure it? 12 That is why the LORD says, " Turn to me now, while there is time! Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Don't tear your clothing in your grief; instead, tear your hearts." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful. He is not easily angered. He is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you. 14 Who knows? Perhaps even yet he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this terrible curse. Perhaps he will give you so much that you will be able to offer grain and wine to the LORD your God as before!15 Blow the trumpet in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. 16 Bring everyone--the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room. 17 The priests, who minister in the LORD's presence, will stand between the people and the altar, weeping. Let them pray, " Spare your people, LORD! They belong to you, so don't let them become an object of mockery. Don't let their name become a proverb of unbelieving foreigners who say, ` Where is the God of Israel? He must be helpless!' " 18 Then the LORD will pity his people and be indignant for the honor of his land! 19 He will reply, " Look! I am sending you grain and wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations. 20 I will remove these armies from the north and send them far away. I will drive them back into the parched wastelands, where they will die. Those in the rear will go into the Dead Sea; those at the front will go into the Mediterranean. The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land."Surely the LORD has done great things! 21 Don't be afraid, my people! Be glad now and rejoice because the LORD has done great things. 22 Don't be afraid, you animals of the field! The pastures will soon be green. The trees will again be filled with luscious fruit; fig trees and grapevines will flourish once more. 23 Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rains he sends are an expression of his grace. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring. 24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with wine and olive oil. 25 The LORD says, " I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts, the cutting locusts, the swarming locusts, and the hopping locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you. 26 Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the LORD your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be disgraced like this. 27 Then you will know that I am here among my people of Israel and that I alone am the LORD your God. My people will never again be disgraced like this. 28 " Then after I have poured out my rains again, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. 29 In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women alike. 30 " I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth--blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon will turn bloodred before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. 32 And anyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. There will be people on Mount Zion in Jerusalem who escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.3:1 " AT that time, when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem," says the LORD, 2 " I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, for scattering my inheritance among the nations, and for dividing up my land. 3 They cast lots to decide which of my people would be their slaves. They traded young boys for prostitutes and little girls for enough wine to get drunk. 4 " What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out! I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done. 5 You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and you have carried them off to your pagan temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, who took them far from their homeland. 7 But I will bring them back again from all these places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for all you have done. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the peoples of Arabia, a nation far away. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 9 Say to the nations far and wide: " Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors! Let all your fighting men advance for the attack! 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors. 11 Come quickly, all you nations everywhere! Gather together in the valley." And now, O LORD, call out your warriors! 12 " Let the nations be called to arms. Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the LORD, will sit to pronounce judgment on them all. 13 Now let the sickle do its work, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the winepress because it is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people." 14 Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. It is there that the day of the LORD will soon arrive. 15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine. 16 The LORD's voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the earth and heavens will begin to shake. But to his people of Israel, the LORD will be a welcoming refuge and a strong fortress. 17 " Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, live in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy forever, and foreign armies will never conquer her again. 18 In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. Water will fill the dry streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the LORD's Temple, watering the arid valley of acacias. 19 Egypt will become a wasteland and Edom a wilderness, because they attacked Judah and killed her innocent people.20 " But Judah will remain forever, and Jerusalem will endure through all future generations. 21 I will pardon my people's crimes, which I have not yet pardoned; and I, the LORD, will make my home in Jerusalem with my people."</p><p>REVELATION 1:1-20</p><p>This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him concerning the events that will happen soon. An angel was sent to God's servant John so that John could share the revelation with God's other servants. 2 John faithfully reported the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ--everything he saw. 3 God blesses the one who reads this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to it and obey what it says. For the time is near when these things will happen. 4 This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the commander of all the rulers of the world. All praise to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6 He has made us his kingdom and his priests who serve before God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen! 7 Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him--even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will weep because of him. Yes! Amen! 8 " I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. " I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One." 9 I am John, your brother. In Jesus we are partners in suffering and in the Kingdom and in patient endurance. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and speaking about Jesus. 10 It was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast. 11 It said, " Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." 12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were bright like flames of fire. 15 His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, " Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. 19 Write down what you have seen--both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen later. 20 This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."</p><p>PSALM 128:1-6</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.</p><p>1 How happy are those who fear the LORD--</p><p>all who follow his ways!</p><p>2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.</p><p>How happy you will be! How rich your life!</p><p>3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine,</p><p>flourishing within your home.</p><p>And look at all those children!</p><p>There they sit around your table</p><p>as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees.</p><p>4 That is the LORD's reward</p><p>for those who fear him.</p><p>5 May the LORD continually bless you from Zion.</p><p>May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.</p><p>6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.</p><p>And may Israel have quietness and peace.</p><p>PROVERBS 29:18</p><p>When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is happy.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-45759497953488892882021-12-08T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-08T00:00:00.166-05:00December 8 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-AFsi4rJJ_Q-cdXzFwg6Af31AYuPo23eke1BxgxWGT0ivo3EuilbFGjHAhCexQXOiKxNBI0Yx7uXV-Fbbx6l-l0DEfuJlutS8hzQbdohzZu1a7aLJlXUbokkf3rRtpL7qkjKbOFm3_w/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-AFsi4rJJ_Q-cdXzFwg6Af31AYuPo23eke1BxgxWGT0ivo3EuilbFGjHAhCexQXOiKxNBI0Yx7uXV-Fbbx6l-l0DEfuJlutS8hzQbdohzZu1a7aLJlXUbokkf3rRtpL7qkjKbOFm3_w/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>HOSEA 10:1-14:9</p><p>JUDE 1-25</p><p>PSALM 127:1-5</p><p>PROVERBS 29:15-17</p><p>HOSEA 10:1-14:9</p><p>How prosperous Israel is--a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit! But the more wealth the people got, the more they poured it on the altars of their foreign gods. The richer the harvests they brought in, the more beautiful the statues and idols they built. 2 The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The LORD will break down their foreign altars and smash their many idols. 3 Then they will say, " We have no king because we didn't fear the LORD. But what's the difference? What could a king do for us anyway?" 4 They spout empty words and make promises they don't intend to keep. So perverted justice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer's field. 5 The people of Samaria tremble for their calf idol at Beth-aven. The people mourn over it, and the priests wail for it, because its glory will be stripped away. 6 This idol they love so much will be carted away with them when they go as captives to Assyria, a gift to the great king there. Israel will be laughed at and shamed because its people have trusted in this idol. 7 Samaria will be cut off, and its king will disappear like a chip of wood on an ocean wave. 8 And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel's sin, will crumble. Thorns and thistles will grow up around them. They will beg the mountains to bury them and the hills to fall on them. 9 The LORD says, " O Israel, ever since that awful night in Gibeah, there has been only sin and more sin! You have made no progress whatsoever. Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked? 10 Now I will attack you, too, for your rebellion and disobedience. I will call out the armies of the nations to punish you for your multiplied sins.11 " Israel is like a trained heifer accustomed to treading out the grain--an easy job that she loves. Now I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck. I will drive her in front of the plow. Israel and Judah must now break up the hard ground; their days of ease are gone. 12 I said, ` Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.' 13 " But you have cultivated wickedness and raised a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies--trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe! 14 Now the terrors of war will rise among your people. All your fortifications will fall, just as they did when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel. Even mothers and children were dashed to death there. 15 You will share that fate, Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day of judgment dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.11:1 " WHEN Israel was a child, I loved him as a son, and I called my son out of Egypt. 2 But the more I called to him, the more he rebelled, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. 3 It was I who taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn't know or even care that it was I who took care of him. 4 I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him. 5 " But since my people refuse to return to me, they will go back to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria. 6 War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their gates and destroy them, trapping them in their own evil plans. 7 For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don't truly honor me.8 " Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah and Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. 9 No, I will not punish you as much as my burning anger tells me to. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. 10 " For someday the people will follow the LORD. I will roar like a lion, and my people will return trembling from the west. 11 Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Flying like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again," says the LORD. 12 Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit, but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.12:1 THE people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They multiply lies and violence; they make alliances with Assyria and cut deals with the Egyptians. 2 Now the LORD is bringing a lawsuit against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways. 3 Before Jacob was born, he struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. 4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him--5 the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name! 6 So now, come back to your God! Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God. 7 But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales--they love to cheat. 8 Israel boasts, " I am rich, and I've gotten it all by myself! No one can say I got it by cheating! My record is spotless!" 9 " I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from your slavery in Egypt. And I will make you live in tents again, as you do each year when you celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 10 I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables."11 But Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols. And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls; their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone along the edges of a plowed field. 12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram and earned a wife by tending sheep. 13 Then the LORD led Jacob's descendants, the Israelites, out of Egypt by a prophet, who guided and protected them. 14 But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the LORD, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins. 13:1 IN the past when the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the people shook with fear because the other Israelite tribes looked up to them. But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal and thus sealed their destruction. 2 Now they keep on sinning by making silver idols to worship--images shaped skillfully with human hands. " Sacrifice to these," they cry, " and kiss the calf idols!" 3 Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist, like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind, like smoke from a chimney. 4 " I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from your slavery in Egypt. You have no God but me, for there is no other savior. 5 I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. 6 But when you had eaten and were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot me. 7 So now I will attack you like a lion, or like a leopard that lurks along the road. 8 I will rip you to pieces like a bear whose cubs have been taken away. I will tear you apart and devour you like a hungry lion. 9 " You are about to be destroyed, O Israel, though I am your helper. 10 Where now is your king? Why don't you call on him for help? Where are all the leaders of the land? You asked for them, now let them save you! 11 In my anger I gave you kings, and in my fury I took them away.12 " The sins of Ephraim have been collected and stored away for punishment. 13 The people have been offered new birth, but they are like a child who resists being born. How stubborn they are! How foolish! 14 Should I ransom them from the grave? Should I redeem them from death? O death, where are your terrors? O grave, where is your destruction? For I will have no compassion. 15 Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers, but the east wind--a blast from the LORD--will arise in the desert. It will blow hard against the people of Ephraim, drying up their land. All their flowing springs and wells will disappear. Every precious thing they have will be plundered and carried away. 16 The people of Samaria must bear the consequences of their guilt because they rebelled against their God. They will be killed by an invading army, their little ones dashed to death against the ground, their pregnant women ripped open by swords." 14:1 RETURN, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down. 2 Bring your petitions, and return to the LORD. Say to him, " Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you the sacrifice of praise. 3 Assyria cannot save us, nor can our strength in battle. Never again will we call the idols we have made ` our gods.' No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy." 4 The LORD says, " Then I will heal you of your idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever! 5 I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. It will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. 6 Its branches will spread out like those of beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedar forests of Lebanon. 7 My people will return again to the safety of their land. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. 8 " O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit to you all through the year."9 Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But sinners stumble and fall along the way.</p><p>JUDE 1-25</p><p>This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ. 2 May you receive more and more of God's mercy, peace, and love.3 Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. 4 I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 I must remind you--and you know it well--that even though the Lord rescued the whole nation of Israel from Egypt, he later destroyed every one of those who did not remain faithful. 6 And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment. 7 And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil. 8 Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones. 9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, " The Lord rebuke you." (This took place when Michael was arguing with Satan about Moses' body.) 10 But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction. 11 How terrible it will be for them! For they follow the evil example of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they will do anything for money. And like Korah, they will perish because of their rebellion. 12 When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvesttime. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots. 13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness. 14 Now Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, " Look, the Lord is coming</p><p>with thousands of his holy ones.</p><p>15 He will bring the people of the world</p><p>to judgment.</p><p>He will convict the ungodly of all the evil things</p><p>they have done in rebellion</p><p>and of all the insults that godless sinners</p><p>have spoken against him."</p><p>16 These people are grumblers and complainers, doing whatever evil they feel like. They are loudmouthed braggarts, and they flatter others to get favors in return. 17 But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, 18 that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable. 19 Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them. 20 But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit. 21 Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. 22 Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins. 24 And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy. 25 All glory to him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him, in the beginning, now, and forevermore. Amen.</p><p>PSALM 127:1-5</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon.</p><p>1 Unless the LORD builds a house,</p><p>the work of the builders is useless.</p><p>Unless the LORD protects a city,</p><p>guarding it with sentries will do no good.</p><p>2 It is useless for you to work so hard</p><p>from early morning until late at night,</p><p>anxiously working for food to eat;</p><p>for God gives rest to his loved ones.</p><p>3 Children are a gift from the LORD;</p><p>they are a reward from him.</p><p>4 Children born to a young man</p><p>are like sharp arrows in a warrior's hands.</p><p>5 How happy is the man whose quiver is full of them!</p><p>He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.</p><p>PROVERBS 29:15-17</p><p>To discipline and reprimand a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child. When the wicked are in authority, sin increases. But the godly will live to see the tyrant's downfall. Discipline your children, and they will give you happiness and peace of mind. </p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535968372631184336.post-84646604883959355612021-12-07T00:00:00.001-05:002021-12-07T00:00:00.171-05:00December 7 Reading through the Bible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAODekb9ZTeuxwRFIoVfzQ1NZZP9SxPLftiuybgMyMtUjcSXxiA9j2ldnHVVmuZq0t_9_fe-SKovhdgUrm0pFm6t2PDmnfSyyBc9FVLoClUwKtQ0MSLtlJJDCUXT275w0rFyQZ0hr2vA/s2048/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAODekb9ZTeuxwRFIoVfzQ1NZZP9SxPLftiuybgMyMtUjcSXxiA9j2ldnHVVmuZq0t_9_fe-SKovhdgUrm0pFm6t2PDmnfSyyBc9FVLoClUwKtQ0MSLtlJJDCUXT275w0rFyQZ0hr2vA/s320/coffee-bible+reading+through+the+Bible+in+2020+all+the+way+through.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>HOSEA 6:1-9:17</p><p>3 JOHN 1-15</p><p>PSALM 126:1-6</p><p>PROVERBS 29:12-14</p><p>HOSEA 6:1-9:17</p><p>" Come, let us [Israel and Judah] return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. 2 In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence. 3 Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring." 4 " O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?" asks the LORD. " For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight. 5 I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces. I have slaughtered you with my words, threatening you with death. My judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night. 6 I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices. I want you to know God; that's more important than burnt offerings. 7 " But like Adam, you broke my covenant and rebelled against me. 8 Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. 9 Its citizens are bands of robbers, lying in ambush for their victims. Gangs of priests murder travelers along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin. 10 Yes, I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: My people have defiled themselves by chasing after other gods! 11 " O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, though I wanted so much to restore the fortunes of my people!7:1 " I WANTED to heal Israel, but its sins were far too great. Samaria is filled with liars, thieves, and bandits! 2 Its people don't realize I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them; I see them all! 3 The people make the king glad with their wickedness. The princes laugh about the people's many lies. 4 They are all adulterers, always aflame with lust. They are like an oven that is kept hot even while the baker is still kneading the dough. 5 " On royal holidays, the princes get drunk. The king makes a fool of himself and drinks with those who are making fun of him. 6 Their hearts blaze like a furnace with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it flames forth like a raging fire. 7 They kill their kings one after another, and no one cries out to me for help. 8 " My people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, picking up their evil ways. Now they have become as worthless as a half-baked cake! 9 Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don't even know it. Israel is like an old man with graying hair, unaware of how weak and old he has become. 10 His arrogance testifies against him, yet he doesn't return to the LORD his God or even try to find him. 11 " The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves, first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria. 12 But as they fly about, I will throw my net over them and bring them down like a bird from the sky. I will punish them for all their evil ways.13 " How terrible it will be for my people who have deserted me! Let them die, for they have rebelled against me. I wanted to redeem them, but they have only spoken lies about me. 14 They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail. They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for crops and prosperity. 15 " I trained them and made them strong, yet now they plot evil against me. 16 They look everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High. They are like a crooked bow that always misses its target. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.8:1 " SOUND the alarm! The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the LORD, for they have broken my covenant and revolted against my law. 2 Now Israel pleads with me, ` Help us, for you are our God!' 3 But it is too late! The people of Israel have rejected what is good, and now their enemies will chase after them. 4 The people have appointed kings and princes, but not with my consent. By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold, they have brought about their own destruction. 5 " O Samaria, I reject this calf--this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence? 6 This calf you worship was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits. 7 " They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of wheat wither, producing no grain. And if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it. 8 The people of Israel have been swallowed up; they lie among the nations like an old pot that no one wants. 9 Like a wild donkey looking for a mate, they have gone up to Assyria. The people of Israel have sold themselves to many lovers. 10 But though they have sold themselves to many lands, I will now gather them together. Then they will writhe under the burden of the great king! 11 " Israel has built many altars to take away sin, but these very altars became places for sinning! 12 Even though I gave them all my laws, they act as if those laws don't apply to them. 13 The people of Israel love their rituals of sacrifice, but to me their sacrifices are all meaningless! I will call my people to account for their sins, and I will punish them. They will go back down to Egypt.14 " Israel has built great palaces, and Judah has fortified its cities. But they have both forgotten their Maker. Therefore, I will send down fire on their palaces and burn their fortresses." 9:1 O PEOPLE of Israel, do not rejoice as others do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, offering sacrifices to other gods on every threshing floor. 2 So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. The grapes you gather will not quench your thirst. 3 You may no longer stay here in this land of the LORD. You will be carried off to Egypt and Assyria, where you will live on food that is ceremonially unclean. 4 There, far from home, you will not be allowed to pour out wine as a sacrifice to the LORD. None of the sacrifices you offer there will please him. Such sacrifices will be unclean, just as food touched by a person in mourning is unclean. All who present such sacrifices will be defiled. They may eat this food to feed themselves, but they may not offer it to the LORD. 5 What then will you do on festival days? What will you do on days of feasting in the LORD's presence? 6 Even if you escape destruction from Assyria, you will be conquered by Egypt. Memphis will bury you. Briers will take over your treasures of silver; brambles will fill your homes. 7 The time of Israel's punishment has come; the day of payment is almost here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. " The prophets are crazy!" the people shout. " The inspired men are mad!" So they taunt, for the nation is burdened with sin and shows only hatred for those who love God. 8 The prophet is a watchman for my God over Israel, yet traps are laid in front of him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God. 9 The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely punish them for their sins.10 The LORD says, " O Israel, when I first found you, it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert! When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season! But then they deserted me for Baal-peor, giving themselves to that shameful idol. Soon they became as vile as the god they worshiped. 11 The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will die at birth or perish in the womb or never even be conceived. 12 Even if your children do survive to grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone. 13 I have watched Israel become as beautiful and pleasant as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children to be slaughtered." 14 O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don't give birth and breasts that give no milk. 15 The LORD says, " All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels. 16 The people of Israel are stricken. Their roots are dried up; they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children." 17 My God will reject the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wanderers, homeless among the nations.</p><p>3 JOHN 1-15</p><p>This letter is from John the Elder. It is written to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth. 2 Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is. 3 Some of the brothers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living in the truth. 4 I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children live in the truth. 5 Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God when you take care of the traveling teachers* who are passing through, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. You do well to send them on their way in a manner that pleases God. 7 For they are traveling for the Lord and accept nothing from those who are not Christians. 8 So we ourselves should support them so that we may become partners with them for the truth.9 I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the wicked things he is saying about us. He not only refuses to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church. 11 Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God. 12 But everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, even truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth. 13 I have much to tell you, but I don't want to do it in a letter. 14 For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face. 15 May God's peace be with you. Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.</p><p>PSALM 126:1-6</p><p>A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.</p><p>1 When the LORD restored his exiles to Jerusalem,</p><p>it was like a dream!</p><p>2 We were filled with laughter,</p><p>and we sang for joy.</p><p>And the other nations said,</p><p>" What amazing things the LORD has done for them."</p><p>3 Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us!</p><p>What joy!</p><p>4 Restore our fortunes, LORD,</p><p>as streams renew the desert.</p><p>5 Those who plant in tears</p><p>will harvest with shouts of joy.</p><p>6 They weep as they go to plant their seed,</p><p>but they sing as they return with the harvest.</p><p>PROVERBS 29:12-14</p><p>If a ruler honors liars, all his advisers will be wicked. The poor and the oppressor have this in common--the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. A king who is fair to the poor will have a long reign.</p>Pastor Tim Burganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098968433533957776noreply@blogger.com0