“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'””

Matthew 3:1-3 ESV

http://bible.com/59/mat.3.1-3.esv

All,

This stands out because John says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Why do you think John says repent? He could have said, “Love, Joy, Peace….”, but he said repent. It seems that we have lost the importance of repentance today. Without repentance, we don’t fully see our actions as sin. God hates sin because He knows it hurts us. He doesn’t look at sin with a wink and say, “Oh well”. However, God CAN’T WAIT to forgive us once we get to the point of repentance. Please pray that we and our friends truly repent for our sins today. Please pray for Julie Hires dad.

“But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.”

Matthew 2:19-23 ESV

http://bible.com/59/mat.2.19-23.esv

All,

This stands out because Matthew says, “he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled”.  Like yesterday’s reading, Jesus is not just about the New Testament. He is pointed to throughout the Old Testament and is our answer for salvation. Please pray that we and our friends allow Jesus to transform us today into His likeness. Please pray for Sonny Hires’ father-in-law as he is prepping for brain surgery on Thursday.

“Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV

http://bible.com/59/isa.66.1-2.esv

All,

This stands out because the Lord says, “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” How often do you tremble at God’s Word? Is the Bible something you read to please God? Is it something that encourages you for the day? Does it bring you closer to God? Does it make you tremble to be outside of God’s will? Please pray that we and our friends know God’s Word and abide in Him. Please pray for Robert Yarbrough as he continues treatment for cancer.

This post finishes the “Old Testament in a year” reading. I will take a couple weeks off from sending commentary, but I plan on starting another “reading in a year” plan. It will probably be the New Testament. Please let me know if you would want to read along with me and I will let you know how to set it up in the “You version” app.

“”For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.”

Isaiah 65:17-18 ESV

http://bible.com/59/isa.65.17-18.esv

All,

This stands out because the Lord says, “I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” Is a new heaven and earth something you think about daily? What about with whom you will spend time in the new heaven? Will your loved ones be there? Is there a loved one in which you are concerned? If you had the cure for cancer, would you tell them? Please pray that we and our friends discuss the future with our friends in which we are concerned. Please pray for Mark Kessler and family as Stacey is with Jesus now cancer free.

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.”

Isaiah 62:1-2 ESV

http://bible.com/59/isa.62.1-2.esv

All,

This stands out because Isaiah says, “until her righteousness goes forth as brightness”. Israel has been in the news for 5000 years. There are many stats about the achievements that have come from .2% of the population. Without God’s hand on Israel, how would they survive? Please pray that we and our friends look to God for our refuge. Please pray for Danelle.

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”

Isaiah 61:10-11 ESV

http://bible.com/59/isa.61.10-11.esv

All,

This stands out because Isaiah says, “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”  God has planted a seed inside all of us that will spout in due time for God’s purpose. That seed is watered by a continual relationship in Christ by spending time with Him and reading His Word. Please pray that we and our friends realize the blessing it is to Abide in Christ today. Please pray for David and Wes and they go through co-facilitator training today.

“Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.””

Daniel 6:3-7, 13 ESV

http://bible.com/59/dan.6.3-7,13.esv

All,

This stands out because the men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” There will always be challenges to anything God wants you to do. The challenges will always seem like the “good” thing to do from a secular prospective, but may not be God’s purpose. Please pray that we and our friends seek God’s purpose and trust in His guidance. Please pray for Steve as he considers how CLC may help his issue.

“King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.”

Daniel 5:1-5 ESV

http://bible.com/59/dan.5.1-5.esv

All,

This stands out because Daniel says, “They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.” Are you ever tempted to praise the created instead of the Creator? I am. God loves for us to enjoy the blessings He gives us, but He also knows we will be tempted to worship those things. God’s first command is to have no other God’s before Him. Please pray that we and our friends thank God immediately when we are grateful for anything He has given us. Please pray for David and Wes’s group as they are forming.

“Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”

Isaiah 58:2-3, 6 ESV

http://bible.com/59/isa.58.2-3,6.esv

All,

This stands out because the Lord says, “and to break every yoke?” We chuckle when someone says that God is not a cosmic vending machine, but do we let that thought sneak in our heads? Do you ever try to earn God’s favor and then be your own god for a time? It’s easy to be and get yoked to certain idols in this world. Do we see them as hurting our relationship with God and thus hurting us? Please pray that we and our friends break every yoke that isn’t of God. Please pray for Hunter and David and they start their group.

“”Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:6-9 ESV

http://bible.com/59/isa.55.6-9.esv

All,

This stands out because the Lord says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near”. Will the Lord always be near? Do most assume we can “really” seek him “tomorrow”? Is that a real relationship? God wants the best for us and He knows, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts” so we have to trust Him. Especially when our thoughts conflict with His. Please pray that we and our friends seek the Lord while He may be found. Please pray for Robert Yarbrough as he battles throat cancer.