CCI Opelika One Year Bible Reading 2010

1.5.10

Genesis 11-13:4 ⁶ And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

John – In unity nothing you purpose to do is impossible!

13⁴ to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

John – Abraham regularly called on the Lord. He went through famines and difficulties, but He knew where to go, to the Lord!

Matthew 5:1-26

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.

John – In Gods kingdom you receive what you GIVE.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

John – Your heart purity is important for you vision of God….hmmm….

²³ Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Psalm 5:1-26

5¹² For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Favor - Strong's H7522 - ratsown

רָצוֺן

Transliteration ratsown

Pronunciation rä·tsōn' (Key)

1) pleasure, delight, favour, goodwill, acceptance, will

a) goodwill, favour

b) acceptance

c) will, desire, pleasure, self-will

John – Favor is a shield from God for the righteous.

Proverbs 1:24-28

²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
²⁵ Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
²⁷ When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ “ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

John – Because and Because = when and then. God works so often in cause and affect.

Ty: That is interesting. God is always Just and honorable. Its difficult to comprehend how God allows us to have free-choice, and allows us to experience the effects of our own decisions. I think it is easier to discern wrong and right, but it reminds me of the idea of "Good, Bad, and God" decisions. It much more difficult to follow Gods will when a certain action or decision is perceived to be good. In the context of Gen 11:13-14:

⁶ And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

Ty (Cont. from above) : I wonder how many "good decisions" that I have proposed to others that went against the will of God . Like a good Father, he makes his will known to us but he does not force his will on us (Verse 23: "I will pour my sprit on you, I will make my words known to you"). He knows that the effects of these decisions may prove to be a greater teacher, and by not forcing his will he gives us free choice. God is more just than the legal systems created by any man. The effects of these decisions may not bring use terror, but an absence of something greater than the rewards that the world can give. It makes me think about the power of our words. I can think of many times that I had said I was going to do something in a conversation when I was not really sure if it was what God had for me, letting it roll off my tongue, and come to realize later that it actually came true. I know he makes all things good for his purposes, but It is a mystery how he aligns our choices into his purposes.

Day 5

Ge 11:4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” ⁶ And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them

Laura: It is amazing that faith and unity is truly that powerful. That God said, look what they are doing. and that God said, they are one and one language and that if they kept things the way there were, nothing they proposed to do would be withheld from them.

² I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Laura: This is just so powerful.

¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” ²⁰ So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Laura: I know the modified version says might have taken her....but strongs just says "take" for all those words.

H3947 1) to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away

³ And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Laura: I think there is something to the fact that he went back to the same place he built the first altar. If he's anything like us, remembering a way God moved makes us want to go back and relive it again.

¹² For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Laura: Praise God for his favor!

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Ty: Salt also preserves, believers are called to preserve righteousness on earth until he returns. Salt was as valuable as gold in these times, it was the object of many conflicts and many traveled hundreds of miles to get it. I think it is easy to miss the significance that Jesus is trying to portray here because we do not view salt with the same significance that people in those times did. We should seek the flavor of righteousness as much as they sought after the flavor of salt in those times.