Romans 1

This chapter contrasts the righteous v. the unrighteous, and the difference is faith. Our faith allows us to look at the creation (visible) and have faith in the Creator and his attributes (invisible). Those lacking faith use a variety of explanations to explain the complexity of nature. Reading this passage reminds me of Hebrews 11:1-3. I love the word choice used by the ESV in verse 1: "...the conviction of things not seen." Without faith to convict us that God is behind everything, we would be like those in Romans 1:21. Hebrews 11:3 says that through faith we can understand that what we see was not made out of things that are visible.

Those without faith suppress the truth (1:18) and exchange the truth about God for a lie (1:25). In this world we are constantly in contact with those who do not honor God or give any value to His word. One way that we can be on guard and not be influenced by unrighteousness is to know His word. The more of His word that we have in our hearts, the stronger our faith will grow and we will have a defense against the unrighteousness that is around us.

Fresh Start 2k12

Hey friends,

With a new year it's time to start another daily Bible reading. We started the blog last year to help us share our thoughts & to hold one another accountable to making God's scripture a part of our daily lives. Even though posts tapered off about halfway through the year we thought we'd give it another go & do better to encourage one another in 2012.

Excited about the books in this year's plan. Most days are only a chapter so take advantage of the shorter reading to reread & really meditate on His word.

You will find the plan just to the right side of this page. Let me know if you have trouble accessing the blog...some of you will need me to resend the invite so you can post. Just send me your email!

:) Kendra & Candace

Daily Bible Reading

I would encourage everyone to keep up the daily bible reading. It only takes a few minutes a day and we only have a couple of months left. If you haven't been reading, I would suggest just picking up with today's reading and going from there if you are too far behind to catch up. Reading about the good decision and (mostly) mistakes made by the kings of Israel and Judah has been very interesting and beneficial.

Turn to God...FIRST

When I hear the name David, "man after God's own heart" pops into my head. It's a connection that I make, but not necessarily something that I really think about. However, in our recent readings, David's attitude and reliance on God have jumped out at me.

Back in 1 Sam 30 David's wives are taken captive and verses 6-7 show us his response "...David strengthened himself in the Lord his God...And David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I pursue after this band?'..."

First he drew strength from God in a tough situation. Then he asked God what to do. It's a great example that we should follow.

We see David turning to God over and over again. It's a little different today, because we can't have the same direct conversations that David did, but we should still pray to God for direction when we have decisions to make and praise Him for all that He does for us.

And although we generally aren't hiding out in caves, having family members taken captive, or going into battle, God should be our source of strength and the person we turn to first.

Make me a servant

What really struck me about Ruth is her great attitude of service. She stays with Naomi after her husband dies and is clearly devoted to her. Then you see the providence of God as Ruth gleans in Boaz's fields and events unfold. Ruth goes from being a Moabite, who I'm guessing did not serve God, to giving birth to a son in the lineage of Christ and having her story recorded in the Bible! She wasn't looking out for herself when she left Moab with Naomi, but God was clearly looking out for her.