Overload...

It is impossible to summarize the happenings of chapters 5-8. I will declare that it is far better to just read them. However I have included some verses that stood out, but more importantly, challenged me in my reading.

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If YOU lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?”

Matthew 5:13 (Message)

What a simple response to the question of life. I submit that the times in our lives when we feel empty, depressed and directionless are the times that we have lost our saltiness. When we are out of relationship with Christ we feel it to our very core. Our purpose is to be the salt. When we’ve lost our saltiness, we’ve lost our purpose. I can’t helped but be convicted by how many lives I have failed to sprinkle with a dash of Jesus Brand Salt because of my own lack of saltiness.

Shaking things up

First, how in the world do you discuss the entire Sermon on the Mount in one blog post? I don't think it can be done, so I'm not going to try. I began reading this morning in the NIV, my go to translation. But, I've read these chapters so many times before that I found myself in a rut, seeing the same things, looking at the sections I've underlined or highlighted in the past. So, to shake it up, I read these chapters in the Message paraphrase. I would recommend this (not necessarily the Message, but switching translations now and then) tactic to help shake up your study time. When you read in a different translation it forces you to see it fresh, to focus on different things, to allow God to speak to you anew. /soapbox.

Matthew Chapters 1-4 ~ by Joel

I always forget how awesome the gospels are! 

The first half of chapter 1 lays out in detail the lineage that Christ came from. While usually I would probably skip over this, this time I read with great curiosity! And to my surprise, reading it allowed me to learn some new stuff. For instance, there are exactly 14 generations between Abraham and David, 14 generations between David and the Babylonian Exile and 14 generations between the Exile to Jesus! If you are reading this blog, I challenge to comment on this post as to what the significance of that is before I do! I don't know yet, but I will be finding out!!! After this prologue of sorts, Matthew jumps right into the short version of Jesus' conception, Joseph's chat with an angel and Jesus' birth.

. . .from the mouth of God

I love the Temptation Narrative of Jesus. I love that immediately after Jesus is baptized, right after God confirms that this is his one and only son, the Spirit leads him into the desert to be tempted. We like to think of faith as a bubble that insulates us from hardship, but often faith leads up into hardship. Anyway, that isn't what jumped off the page for me today.

In Mt 4:4, Jesus responds to the first temptation by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3.  He echoes Moses' reminder that what sustains humanity is not food, but the word of God. But, I noticed something new this time. Look at the exact words Jesus says.

The Reading Plan

Here's the reading plan if you'd like to join in the fun.

February (and the first two days of January)

30 Matthew 1-4

31 Matthew 5-7

1 Matthew 8-11

2 Matthew 12-15

3 Matthew 16-19

4 Matthew 20-23

5

6 Matthew 24-25

7 Matthew 26-28

8 Mark 1-3

9 Mark 4-7

10 Mark 8-10

11 Mark 11-13

12

13 Mark 14-16

14 Luke 1-2

15 Luke 3-6

16 Luke 7-9

17 Luke 10-12

18 Luke 13-15

19

20 Luke 16-18

21 Luke 19-21

22 Luke 22-24

23 John 1-2

24 John 3-5

25 John 6-8

26

27 John 9-12

28 John 13-17

29 John 18-21

March

1 Acts 1-4

2 Acts 5-7

3 Acts 8-9

4 Acts 10-12

5 Acts 13-15

6 Acts 16-18

7

8 Acts 19-20

9 Acts 21-23

10 Acts 24-26

11 Acts 27-28

12 Romans 1-3

13 Romans 4-5

14

15 Romans 6-8

16 Romans 9-11

17 Romans 12-16

18 1 Corinthians 1-6

19 1 Corinthians 7-10

20 1 Corinthians 11-14

21

22 1 Corinthians 15-16

23 2 Corinthians 1-5

24 2 Corinthians 6-9

25 2 Corinthians 10-13

26 Galatians 1-6

27 Ephesians 1-6

28

29 Philippians 1-4

30 Colossians 1-4

31 1 Thessalonians 1-5

April

1 2 Thessalonians 1-3

2 1 Timothy 1-3

3 1 Timothy 4-6

4 2 Timothy 1-4

5 Titus 1-3

6

7 Philemon

8 Hebrews 1-2

9 Hebrews 3-4

10 Hebrews 5-7

11 Hebrews 8-10

12 Hebrews 11-13

13

14 James 1-5

15 1 Peter 1-5

16 2 Peter 1-3

17 1 John 1-5

18 2 John

19 3 John

20

21 Jude

22 Revelation 1-3

23 Revelation 4-5

24 Revelation 6-7

25 Revelation 8-9

26 Revelation 10-13

27

28 Revelation 14-16

29 Revelation 17-19

30 Revelation 20-22