Welcome to reading the New Testament in four months! I am looking forward to new insights from my reading and hearing your thoughts on the reading!
So, let’s get started!
Have you ever thought that Jesus is taking too long to return to earth to bring his people home? I’ve thought that. But, today’s reading was a good reminder for me that God has his perfect timing.
God obviously doesn’t think that 1000’s of years was too long to take to fulfill his promise to Abraham. I recently read Genesis so that promise is fresh in my mind, “Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.” (Gen. 18:18) This is a clear reference to the Messiah for whom the Jewish people were/are waiting. So, when I read the first chapter, in today’s reading, the lineage of Jesus (1:1-17), It stood out to me that those names represent over 2000 years of Jewish history! God’s promise of a Messiah was fulfilled 2000 years after he told Abraham!
So back to what I mentioned earlier, Jesus tells us he is going to return someday (we will read that when we get to Matthew 24:27). It shouldn’t come as a surprise that 2000 years has passed since he said that. It seems to me, it’s God’s M.O. (modus operandi). 😉 So, if God kept his promise to Abraham, you can bet he is going to keep his promise to us about returning and it will be in his perfect time.
What stood out to you?
Happy New Year Anita! Excited to start 2019 with daily New Testament readings.
ReplyDeleteYay!! Happy New Year to you too!
DeleteSo happy to join you in 2019!
ReplyDeleteYea! I hope to hear what stands out to you as we read together!
DeleteHappy New Year!! Just finished day 1 ♥️ Yes! Gods timing is always perfect! Finding Joy and His purpose in the waiting is always fun! This is where He shapes and refines our hearts to be more like Him and uses us to bless others!! Looking forward to a wonderful year of waiting ♥️
ReplyDeleteAmen to that!! 😀
DeleteHappy New Year! So excited to join you in the reading plan! And I love what you said about God's Perfect Timing (which to me often feels slow...but God is building my faith and my endurance during "the waiting"). Anyhow, what stood out to me is how tenderly God directed, coached and warned the wise men, Joseph, and Mary through the ENTIRE process of staying alive... Its almost hard for me to imagine feeling hard pressed on every side just to survive... It shows me God' INCREDIBLE tenderness, compassion and care...
ReplyDeleteYes, I noticed as well that being the earthly parents of God himself didn't leave Joseph and Mary immune from the fears of the world. They had to run for their lives after all! Their example of trusting God while also escaping is a good reminder to us; God will take care of us, but we still have to act.
DeleteThank you for including me! I am excited to walk through this with you! God’s timing is always perfect and He knows just what I need to fill my heart with more of Him!! ❤️🙏
ReplyDeleteGlad you are joining!!! It's my hope that the daily reminders will keep you going strong the next four months. Time will fly!
DeleteBoth yesterday and today I was drawn to see Joseph more clearly in his significance to God's plan and the word dream kept jumping out at me. How powerful that Joseph KNEW and believed the voice of the Angel because of his faith in God. His dream was in fact, the truth and he believed and was obedient! Joseph's obedience to God from the conception of Jesus and to protect his family magnifies the significance of the father in our society today. This all spoke to me about how significant that the role of husband/father is in all family life and we need to honor and protect this in our society today.
ReplyDeleteSo very true! Joseph was a good man and a great role model for men today!
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