Still_Climbing Posted May 30, 2011 Group: Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 3 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 28 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 6 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/24/2010 Status: Offline Share Posted May 30, 2011 last year i commemorated the anniversary of me not smoking by doing a 90 day journey through the Bible. it actually took me 92 days, but.... i'd like to do it again this year. but i'd love to do it with other people. and i'd like to do it chronologically. is there a way we could set it up in the bible study group? or could we at least see if there would be any interest? if there was enough interest, i'd really like to start it on july 21, because that's a very personal date to me. besides, i really think anyone who is interested in doing this really needs to be prayed up for a few weeks before starting, and then hopefully the prayer support from others would continue through the three months. it is a huge commitment to read through the entire bible in such a short time, but it is also a tremendous blessing. you get so much out of it when it's that concentrated. part of my desire to do this as a group is because i'm really going to need the encouragement and the accountability this time around. there is so much going on this summer... between work, and trying to get my jewelry "business" off the ground, and flying to florida to be with my daughter for a couple of weeks when she has her baby... i'm going to be easily distracted, and having a network of people doing this will help me stay focused. *submits a expression of interest* I understand that the personal benefit will be proportioned to the amount of time and study put in, but can you please detail what would be expected from a participant besides the scheduled readings? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~candice~ Posted May 30, 2011 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 955 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 11,318 Content Per Day: 1.89 Reputation: 448 Days Won: 33 Joined: 12/16/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted May 30, 2011 right at an hour, if i don't stop for a nap. (as i've gotten older, reading makes me sleepy.) it comes out to 12 pages per day. I can do that. I also have an audio bible which makes feasting on the Word faster (but it zooms by sometimes and I have to rewind and relisten). What is day 1? I'll see how long that takes me to listen to on the train home. I did not know you mathematicians were HOBO's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LadyC Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 *submits a expression of interest* I understand that the personal benefit will be proportioned to the amount of time and study put in, but can you please detail what would be expected from a participant besides the scheduled readings? Thanks. really i'd just like for everyone to post a "soap" formatted thing each day... or at least try to every day. i missed days here and there, especially towards the end, but i tried to be consistent. in case you're wondering what soap is.... S = a scripture or passage that really stood out to you, O = an observation about that passage... maybe the context of it or something. A = how you can apply that scripture to your own life, and P: a prayer to wrap it all up. here's an example of one of mine from last year to give you a feel for it. B90: Day 65, Hosea 13 - Amos 9 by Christie Schuler Smith on Friday, September 24, 2010 at 11:41pm (this is for yesterday... i read it then, but didn't get around til posting til now.) S: Amos 7:5-6 (New Living Translation) 5 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.” 6 Then the Lord relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign Lord. O: amos had a vision first of israel being destroyed by locusts. this vision was destruction by fire. in both instances, amos cried out to God on behalf of his nation, begging God for mercy. both times, He answered amos's prayers. A: ok, we know that what is going to happen (concerning end times) is going to happen. no changing that. but this passage really opened up my eyes to how powerful the prayers of God's people really are, on a national level. not many people back then seemed to be praying for israel, and yet those few people were bold enough in their prayers that God held off on the judgment he'd planned. i have no doubt that we're living in the end times... but, people have thought that for decades. what if the prayers of the few are what have delayed things thus far? i mean, what if, without those prayers, Christ had returned 25 years ago? and what if i were to pray fervently for our nation, and for israel, and for God's mercy... could it be that my prayers, and the prayers of those who pray for the world we live in, might postpone the inevitable? P: God, i know that we're supposed to pray for our world, our country, our leaders. and i know that i never do. and even now, a part of me is only half-hearted. the bigger part still keeps telling me that it's all in your hands and is happening according to your will, your plan. but time and time again in the OT, you adjusted your plans as people prayed! this gives me something to really ponder. and just for good measure, here's another i wrote. this one is my favorite. it's way longer than any other soap i wrote during the 90 days. B90: Days 73 & 74, Luke 2-20 by Christie Schuler Smith on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 9:51pm But God, I knew you on facebook! S: Luke 13:25-27 (New King James Version) 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ O: during the days of Jesus' ministry, he was asked why not everyone would be saved. the above was the summation of his answer. A: so i'm gonna do a more modern version of an ancient parable here. there will come a day when we are all standing before God, and many will be turned away. people who truly believe they deserve to spend eternity with Jesus, but really, they don't know Him at all. on that day of judgment, the conversation between them and God may go something like this... "God, let me in! hey, you know me! why are you turning me away? "Depart from me, i never knew you." "but Lord, Lord, sure you know me! remember me? i friended you on facebook!" "Depart from me, I never knew you." "i know, i know, i hid you from my news feed, but that's only because if i stopped to read everything you said, i might have missed someone's barn-raising on farmville!" "Depart from me, I never knew you." "but God, i even promised prayers for people when they'd request them! i know, i sometimes forgot to really pray, but i meant to, honest!" "Depart from me, I never knew you." "but i loved you Lord! don't you remember all those times i pressed the LIKE button when people would post some scripture? and remember the times when i copied some cutesy little saying into my status line about loving Jesus? " and still He says... "Depart from me, I never knew you." i'm only using facebook as an illustration because it's so contemporary. i'm not judging anyone on facebook, so if anyone gets upset at my little story, then maybe God's tapping you on the shoulder. i'm not, though. in fact, i can even feel God tapping mine, because even in my "parable", i can see myself in it. the point is, sometimes we get so caught up talking about God that we forget to listen to Him. we substitute copying someone else's written statement about faith into our status bars for actually taking the time to witness to people individually. we promise to say a prayer for someone rather than stop right then and pray with them, and then get sidetracked by trying to keep up with all the gifts from a bunch of game apps that people have sent and forget to pray at all for them. and really, this isn't even about facebook at all. because it happens in our daily lives too... we just get so caught up in the daily grind of living that we fail to rejoice in the one that gives us life! honestly, i've heard and read this passage a thousand times in my life, and never really understood it i guess. i think i always thought of it abstractly... like the people who God says "depart from me, i never knew you" were (oh, God forgive me if i shouldn't say this...) rich televangelists and false prophets and people who promise devine healing through some vial of holy water taken from a holy spring on a piece of land that used to be in the middle of a cattle auction in a field near princeton, texas. who said that? some wanna-be-holy-man named leroy something or other. (jenkins, i think.) but really, it's not about them, is it? it's about everyday people like me! it's about claiming to know Jesus but not spending a lick of time with him! it's about saying "i love God", but then totally ignore Him! it's about proclaiming Jesus to be "Lord and saviour" but not even giving a moment's consideration to making Him "Lord of my life"! P: God, i'm not sure if i'm getting more out of luke because he worded things better, or if it's because i've essentially read the things three times, matthew, mark, and now luke. funny, i think i gleaned more from mark than matthew, and more from luke than from mark.. i bet i'll glean even more when i read the book of john. in any case, thanks for being so repetitive for me, because sometimes i feel like i'm a little slow to catch on. anyway, i'm kinda rambling. i should get back to the point here... Father, teach me to desire more of you! tap me a little harder when i start to get distracted from you. and give me a swift kick during those times when i say one thing and do another! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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