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We have now read, for the third time, the story of the father bringing his demon possessed son to be healed by Jesus. We read it in Matthew 17 and Mark 9 as well. For some reason, after reading it for the third time, I got a new understanding of the response Jesus gave. To refresh your memory, Matthew’s version has the father calling it epilepsy and wanted the disciples to cure him, yet Matthew says Jesus “rebuked the demon” (17:18) (side point, that means it was a demon, not a disease). Mark’s version adds that the scribes were present and “disputing with them” (9:14), “them” being the 9 disciples that weren’t with Jesus up on the Mount of Transfiguration. So picture the scene, it was a “great multitude” of people! Luke’s version is the shortest, but included the words of Jesus that the other accounts told as well, “Oh faithless and perverse generation. How long should I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” (9:41) I always assumed that Jesus directed that comment to the disciples because when they asked him why they couldn’t expel the demons, he said it was because of their unbelief. HOWEVER, that is not necessarily the case that He directed this comment to the 12!! I got a new understanding of the scene when I re-read Mark's version. (Sometimes chapter divisions or verse numbers and paragraph titles added by the Bible translators can keep me from seeing the natural flow of the story!) Let's back up a little. Jesus is talking with the three disciples that are with him as they are walking down the mountain. (Mark 9:9) They ask him why Elijah must come first. Jesus says Elijah, AKA John the Baptist, “must restore all things”. Meaning, turn people back to the ways of God, “preparing the way” (Luke 1:76) for Jesus. Jesus goes on to say in this conversation, “But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.” (Mark 9:13) THE VERY NEXT VERSE, verse 14 says, “And when he came to the disciples, (the other 9) he saw a great multitude, around scribes disputing with them.” So, fresh off that conversation where Jesus just said, "they did what they wished" (John was beheaded), he calls this multitude a faithless and preverse generation.  Jesus wasn’t saying that to his disciples! He was saying this to the multitude! Read what one commentary wrote about the scene: “This father was exceedingly faithless. And for this reason the demon did not depart from his child, the unbelief overcoming the power of the apostles. Even now the man brazenly displays his unbelief, approaching the Lord in the presence of all to accuse His disciples. But the Lord shows him that his unbelief caused the child not to be healed, and He in turn rebukes him in the presence of all, and not only him, but all the others with him as well. When He says, O faithless generation, He includes all the Jews.” That was Theophylact's explanation of the passage in Luke. He was one of the most famous Byzantine biblical scholars and exegete in 1100 AD. Cyril of Alexandria (c 376-444) and John Chrysostom (c 349-407) offer similar interpretations in their commentaries on Luke and Matthew, respectively. Interesting!!!  That makes the farher’s words so much more understandable! “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) So, what do we do with the fact that Jesus said the disciples had “unbelief” in Matthew’s version? Well, if we don’t think of that harsh statement of “preverse generation” being directed at the 9, than it almost seems to me like a fatherly encouragement session he had with them afterwards. “If you have faith…nothing will be impossible for you” He then sets them up to feel that boost of encouragement in Luke 10, which I am sure they needed after that episode! I loved reading how excited the 70 were when they got back from their little mission trip and reported to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And ……”In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the spirit..” (Luke 10:21) I LOVE getting new insights like this in familiar stories!!! So fun! How about you? Have you ever read it that way before?

I was today years old when I learned that there are some obvious, and not so obvious uses of hyperbole in the Bible. They say that using literary devices makes for good writing. Well, the Bible is no exception! Hyperbole, or exaggeration, is used to make a point. You know, like when one is super hungry he may say, “I am hungry enough to eat a cow”. He is making the point that he is very hungry, but obviously, he couldn’t eat the whole cow! We had a couple of examples, in our reading this week. In the first chapter of Mark, when Jesus had just healed Peter’s mother-in-law, word got out that he was at her house. Mark writes, “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door.” (1:32-33) The whole city? At the door? No one person stayed home to perhaps be with their sleeping children? And, the whole city was at the door? No-one had stepped into the house? Not one was further out in the front yard? All were at the door? This is an obvious example of hyperbole to express,...it was crowded! Old Testament writers used hyperbole as well. 2 Kings 18:5 says, that Hezekiah trusted in the Lord...so much so, “that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him” Really? Before him? David was before him.... In addition, just 5 chapters later, in 2 Kings, you can read about Josiah and the writer says, “Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.” (23:25) Well, that sounds familiar doesn’t it? No one before or after? What about Hezekiah? I heard a Bible teacher say, this is a form of hyperbole that Jewish people used to stress their point. These kings were really good at trying to follow the Lord, but in reality, others were good before and after them as well. I loved learning this idea of hyperbole this week because it gave me a new understanding to King Solomon. God used hyperbole when he said of Solomon, “I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you,” (1 Kings 3:12). We know this is hyperbole for two reasons, one, is that eight chapters later we read that Solomon turned his heart from the Lord and did evil in the sight of the Lord (11:6). That’s not a wise thing to do! And, two, Jesus came after him. Boom! You can’t get wiser than Jesus!! So, if God used hyperbole in the Old and New Testament, it makes sense to read Matthew 13:31-32, Matt. 24:21, Mark 1:4-5, John 4:39, John 3:26 with the frame of mind of looking for the point being made, and not get hung up on the words that were meant to stress a point but not to be taken literally. That sheds a lot of light on these verses!!! I love learning stuff like this. 🤯

Hello!  Did you notice that today is a free day on the reading plan?  This is a good day to catch up or get ahead! We are flying through Matthew!  I have read this book quite a few times, yet something new always seems to present itself to me.  What stood out to you?  If you have written a little something everyday in a journal or day-planner, it would be easy to review the week and notice what stood out. For me, the familiar words we hear almost every month when we are taking communion at church stood out to me in a new way. (This is a 6 minute read.) Jesus just told his disciples to drink from the cup that He was holding at the Passover meal and explained, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:28) With all the references Matthew gives of Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophesy, I am reminded  that he is writing to a Jewish audience and Jesus is talking to Jewish men sitting around a table having a meal together that is symbolic of the Old Covenant. How remarkable, the statement Jesus made, must have been for all who were sitting at the table! A “new covenant”…..that made me look deeper into the topic. We are going to read more about it in the parallel accounts in Luke 22:20 and Mark 14:29.  Paul refers to those accounts in 1 Cor. 11:25 and 2 Cor. 3:6 and goes deep into the topic in Roman 6, 8 and 11.  The writer of Hebrews also discusses it (chs. 8 & 9)  and refers the reader back to Jeremiah 31:31. “Behold, the days are coming says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.” (Jer. 31:31-32) Wow!  Here it was, the moment Jeremiah wrote about 600 years earlier!! Jesus established the new covenant right there at the dinner table! Every Christian (Christ follower, be it Jew or Gentile) now takes communion to remember the New Covenant. The writer of Hebrews writes, “In that He (Jesus) says, “A new covenant.” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (8:13) That writer was so right!  Forty years after Jesus ascended, the sacrificial system at the temple was done way with (vanished-it’s obsolete). It has never been reestablished over the past 2000 years. At this point, I thought I would give you a little theology lesson to explain two terms.  Covenant Theology verse Dispensational Theology.  People actually hold different views on this “New Covenant” idea that Jesus presented at the Old Covenant dinner table. Depending on which theology you subscribe to, you will read the scriptures through different lens.  You will read the whole Bible through the lens that you were taught to look through. Therefore, Covenant scholars look at the whole Bible and say there have been two covenants that God made with his people: The “Convenient of Works” which was in place during Old Testament times and the New Testament period is considered, the “Covenant of Grace.” In contrast, Dispensational theology teaches that there are seven different time periods (dispensations) that chronologically demonstrate God working with his people in different ways.     "Different ways” includes God working with different people groups in different ways. According to dispensational theologians, God is working with Israel in a different way than he is working with Gentiles. So the old covenant is not finished.  God is still working with the Jewish people under the Old Covenant. There is so much information that Biblical scholars have generated to describe these man-made terms and belief systems, it can be overwhelming!  Which one is right? Well, I only threw these two terms out to you, while we are in Matthew, so that you can be aware that there are brilliant scholars in both camps, and perhaps, it has resulted in confusion for you while you are doing your reading. What I LOVE about this Bible reading plan is that YOU are going to get a very good idea, first hand,  of what the original Christians understood about Christ.  With this first hand information you can form your opinion from THEM (the OG’s), not the 1000’s of scholars who followed after them. Remember, it’s not rocket science.  You are reading the same Holy Scriptures that scholars read. You can figure it out!  There is no hidden meaning behind the words of Jesus. Stick to what the disciples recorded him saying and what Jesus inspired the other writers of the New Testament to write. Stick to what the Bible says, not what an author of another book wrote! However, if you have questions, feel free to ask them on the blog.  We can talk about them and find scripture, together, to answer your questions!! Have a great day!!

How is your reading going?  I hope you have settled into a routine and are enjoying Matthew. Before I get into the parables today, in my own reading of chapter 13, I wanted to share something I learned this past week that is found in the sermon on the mount (Ch. 5). It never ceases to amaze me that I can keep learning new things each time I read the New Testament! This is about a 5-minute read. I was listening to a Bible teacher who pointed out that in chapter five Jesus is clarifying Old Testament law, not creating new standards.  To see how he clarifies, you need to keep Matthew 23:23 in mind.  He is telling the Pharisees that they lost focus on what truly matters in the law. “For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” Now keeping those three matters in mind, Jesus picked a few Old Testament commands to clarify the weightier matters.  In regards to justice, he uses the commands about murder and adultery.  In regards to faithful (being a man of integrity), he uses the points on marriage and oaths. As far as mercy, he uses the example of going above what is required and loving your enemy.  I highly recommend you hear the lecture, I found it very insightful! https://thenarrowpath.com/audio/verse-by-verse/matthew/029_Matthew_5.21-5.26.mp3 One point in particular stood out to me, because of the pro-life stance that I hold, was the clarification to justice when Jesus starts with, “You have heard it said to those of old, “You shall not murder…But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matt.5:21-22). What is objectionable to murder?  Some would say that it is taking a human life and human life is sacred because it was made in the image of God. In fact, the pro-life movement uses “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday” in January to highlight their cause and fight for life. Well, this is the new thing I learned this week….. While it is true that we are made in the image of God, that is not why killing is wrong!  God condones killing (capital punishment) in around 30 situations in the Old Testament and it is condoned in the New Testament (Romans 1 & 13:1-4 and Acts 25:10-11) as well. So, it can’t be simply stated that “taking a human life is wrong”. Have you ever heard pro-choice people say that pro-life people are inconsistent?  “You say you are pro-life because you don’t want to see the fetus destroyed but you are in favor of capital punishment- which is killing people, so you are inconsistent”. There is a difference between capital punishment and murder. This week I got clarity on how to articulate the difference. The teacher I was listening to gave this suggestion.  Perhaps Christians should use the term “Pro-justice” verses “Pro-life”.   Oooooh, I like that!!!  There is no justice in killing innocent lives in the womb, but there is justice in punishing a criminal. The guiding principle Jesus was illustrating was that of justice. Now, keep that in mind when you read the next part when Jesus says, “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgement” (Matt. 5:22). It is not justice to be angry without a cause. Do you see how Jesus is not changing the law at all,….just bringing it back to what it originally was, an issue of justice?  Use justice as the filter when reading about saying someone has an empty head. Clearly, everyone has something in their head.  To say they don’t is unjust. As you are on the way to court, when you have done something unjust, you better fix it or, you will be thrown into prison.  (Notice in the example given, you are the one in the wrong when taking your adversary to court. vs. 25). I loved the teacher's insight for Matt. 5:21-30, reading it through the lens of justice.  I also love that I am now equipped to articulate an answer to anyone who accuses me of being inconsistent in my convictions between murder and capital punishment.  I am not necessarily pro-life as much as I am pro-justice. That’s what Jesus taught and I am sticking with him!!

I got a new day planner and still have some eggnog left for my latte, so I am excited to get started reading with you. Here is a five-minute read that you might find interesting related to Matt 1&2. I have always wondered why the wise men were looking to the stars to see when the King of the Jews would be born. I heard recently that outside historical sources such as Tacitus and Josephus wrote about the expected King of the Jews coming on the scene about the time of John the Baptist. Why? Why was everyone expecting it at this time? After all, it had been over 400 years since the last prophet wrote anything directed to the Jewish people. So, why now? Well, I recently heard something that explains why! I had never heard this explanation before so it was exciting for me to learn this! I want to share it with you if you have a moment. First, we have to go over a brief history of Israel. (This is a review, you may already know.) • Solomon blew it in his old age (931 BC), so God divided the kingdom of Israel as a consequence of Solomon’s unfaithfulness. • Israel is divided. The north retains the name Israel (comprised of 10 the tribes) and the south, made up of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, is called Judah. • The northern kingdom is wicked for the next 200 years, and as a result, in 722 BC, is conquered by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17). The northern people were taken captive, driven out of the area, or killed. Historians say these people were basically “lost to history”. • The southern kingdom (Judah) had a few good kings which made them last longer. Still, they too, as a result of their unfaithfulness, were carried off into captivity by the Babylonians in 586 BC (136 years after their northern brothers were obliterated). • The difference between these two nations was that the tribe of Judah never completely disappeared. Cyrus the Great let them return to their land (Ez. 1). From this time forward, the history of the Jews is the history of the tribe of Judah. Even though Cyrus was still lord over them, he allowed the local authorities to rule their people. In the same way, when Rome conquered Babylon, they too allowed the Jewish people to have a local “king” on the throne up to 40 years before Christ was born. ***So here is the part that I had never heard before. This is sooooo interesting!!! *** Genesis 49:10 tells how Jacob blesses his children (1859 BC). This is what he says to his son, Judah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” Wait, what?! The scepter will not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes? So, what happened 40 years before Christ? Rome put King Herod in place as the ruler of the Jewish people. BUT, he was not from the tribe of Judah!!! He was half-Jewish, but not considered to be from the tribe of Judah as the kings before him. This was the first time since the reign of David that the “scepter” had departed from Judah. THIS IS WHY EVERYBODY (including the wise men) WAS LOOKING FOR THE MESSIAH AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY. Have you ever heard that before? It makes total sense!! That is why people flocked out to the countryside to see John baptizing people. “Could he be who we have been expecting?” I am sure Herod was acquainted with Jacob’s prophetic words to his son Judah. This gives a whole new understanding as to why, “When Herod the king heard this (the King of the Jews had been born), he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matt 2:3) Ahh, good stuff! I love learning new things each time I read the Bible. A prophecy given 1859 years before Christ comes to pass! That’s incredible!! What did you get out of the reading? I highly recommend you get a notebook or day planner to write something each day that stands out to you. Make it brief! You don't have to spend a lot of time writing. I have found that if I even write one sentence, I remember the reading better than if I write nothing at all. I will touch base with you again in about a week. Until then, happy reading!

Two chapters a day will have you done with the whole New Testament by mid-May. I hope you join me!! Print out the reading plan and get started January 1st. Subscribe if you want reminders and encouragement to keep going throughout the reading. I HIGHLY recommend that you purchase a day planner. I have found it extremely helpful to write down one thing I learned in the reading for the day. It doesn't need to be long. Just a short note to yourself will help you remember what you just read. I am so excited to see what God will have me learn this time through the New Testament. I hope you are too!!!

We are done! Can you believe it? We finished the whole New Testament in 3 months. Good job! I hope you enjoyed it. Revelation was absolutely fascinating to me this time through! Concurently I was read a book that explained the different ways Christians interpret the prophetic letter. I highly recommend getting the book to aid in your understanding of a very confusing letter! Revelation, A Parallel Commentary Four views revised and updated By Steve Gregg I would love to know what view you take when reading Revelation! 🤓 I hope you have a blessed Easter with your family and God bless the rest of your year with many new insights from his Word. Good bye for now! BTW, I am heading south this summer with two of my kids to learn Spanish! So I am trying to get a jump on the learning with my new mug! Felices Pascuas! Happy Easter! 🐣

Can you believe we only have one more week of reading and then we are done with the whole New Testament?!  I love reaching goals!! I will be able to check this one off my New Years Resolutions list.  Yay! Again, there is so much to comment about on the reading.  I am loving reading Revelation, but something stood out to me in 1 Peter I wanted to review. Did you see that Peter gave us a practical/concrete list of things to do in order to have a good life here on earth? It wasn't a long list and it was things that are easy to remember and do-able! That is my kind of list! This is my paraphrased version of 1 Peter 3:10: - Hold your tongue - Don’t lie - Turn away from evil and do good - Seek and pursue peace. This is a list of righteous behavior (good works) that is required of citizens in God’s kingdom.  That’s straight forward, don’t you think? By doing these things, you are going to love your life and see good days (vs. 10)! I love that!! Now, Lord, if you could help me out with doing those things all the time, I would appreciate it! 😁 Have fun reading Revelation this week and please share anything that atood out to you!

I read something in James yesterday that got me thinking about the five Solas that came out of the Reformation. Are you familiar with those? When protestants broke away from the Catholic Church, they claimed five Solas (Latin word for “Alone”); five core beliefs of the Christian faith. God’s Word (Scripture) alone. (Meaning the Bible is the highest source of authority.) Faith alone. (Being right with God only comes through faith in Jesus.) Grace alone. (You can’t earn God’s grace by doing works.) Christ alone. (No one can come to the Father except through Christ) To the glory of God alone.(in all we do it should glorify God) I love those and can get behind all of them perfectly! I guess that makes me Protestant. 😁 Recently I was in a conversation with a parent who insisted that his adult children were saved because they confessed a faith in Jesus. Yet, he admitted they didn’t live a life that would demonstrate that said belief.  He went on to say that didn’t matter. He was taught “Faith Alone”,  therefore, they’re in! End of story! When boiling ideas down, using word play as the  literary devise to remember the basics, the deeper meaning of the idea can get lost over time.  It is essential to use the FULL COUNCIL of God (see point #1 above) OFTEN to maintain clarity. The friend I mentioned has gotten a little cloudy in his thinking and needs to jump into our reading of James. Today I read, “You see then, that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24) Doesn’t that seem in contradiction of point #2 of core beliefs? Not at all. Our faith is what gets us in right standing with God, but that faith is not mere words, but demonstratable faith (as James points out). “Faith actions” are actions that show obedience to Christ. So the friend I mentioned is missing part of the equation to what true faith entails. The “faith and works” idea got twisted up during the years of Catholic church dominance up to the 1500’s, so a reset button, so to speak, was hit, getting the focus back on faith for salvation, not “man-made” works for salvation. As much as I like the simpleness of the 5 Solas, I think the reset button needs to be hit again to clarify “faith alone”. Maybe change it to something like, “demonstrate-able faith alone”? I don’t know. What do you think? What I appreciate about this reading plan is that getting the full cousel of God brings such clarity!!! Love it!!!

We are flying through the letters now! There is so much to comment on I am having a hard time picking one thing! I really like what Paul said in 1 Thess. 2:13. “For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you should believe.” Paul knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the words he spoke (and then wrote down) were the very words of God! He repeated that sentiment again in Titus 1:3. What he preached is what we have in written form (The Bible). The Word of God “works effectively” in those who believe. It works to rid our lives of the bad things listed in Colossians 3:5-9 and helps us to “put on the new man” (3:12-14). Reading the qualities of the “New Man” can seem a bit daunting. We are to have tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering; we are to bear with one another, forgive one another, and above all, put on love. Doesn’t that sound daunting? Yet, just when I feel those qualities are too lofty for me, I get encouraged to read that God‘s Word works effectively in me to be able to do those things!! Praise the Lord, the burden rests on the Lord changing me (by reading his word and through the Holy Spirit). The burden is not on me to change myself . Whew!! 😅 I love that! What stood out to you?

Hello fellow readers! You should be in Colossians today. Did anything stick out to you in the reading this week? Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (1:17-20)stood out to me. It seems like whenever I ask for prayer or pray for others it usually involves making life better. I pray for physical healing, getting over a difficult situation or blessings on an event. I rarely pray for what Paul did and I don’t think to ask for those prayers feom others. So, today I would like to pray for you like Paul did to those he knew! Lord, for those here who are diligently reading your Word, I pray you give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. I pray for understanding as we read your word so that we can know what is the hope of your calling, which are the riches of the glory of your inheritance, and to know the exceeding greatness of your power toward us who believe. Amen! Have fun reading this week.  I would love to hear what you get out of the reading!

I hope your reading is going well! I had one of those fun, “Ahh-ha”moments this week while reading 1 Corinthians 15:29, so I thought I would share it. 29 “otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead did not rise at all?” That verse has always perplexed me! What does it mean to be baptized for the dead?????🤔 I thought I would look to some commentaries to see what scholars had to say. I am so glad I did! The verse makes perfect sense to me now! 🤓 The key is context, context, context! The commentary that helped me the most in my understanding was one that pointed to Matthew 20:22 to understand what type of baptism is being referred to here. Remember when the mother of James and John wants her boys to sit on either side of Jesus when he comes into his kingdom? Listen to what Jesus says to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”  Then Jesus says that indeed, they will be baptized with the baptism that Jesus experienced, which was affliction, suffering and martyrdom!! 😳 That is the baptism Paul was speaking of to the Corinthians. We know that because of the context that followed in verse 30, “And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? I affirm, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die daily.” He goes on to talk of ways he had suffered and asked, why? (He has a much more exhaustive list of his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11.) Why would he put himself in dangerous positions if his converts weren’t going to raise after they died. Some believers in the Corinthian church had died, who knows from what, old age, sickness? Your guess is as good as mine, but the bottom line is that those still living in the Corinthian church were doubting what happened to those souls who had passed on. Paul is emphatically saying, yes, they will be raised! (Verse 23) Christ was raised first and then believers will do the same. Now for verse 29, what would have been the point of the evangelist to have suffered persecution, trials and martyrdom (baptized like Jesus had been)  for those people who believed, but are now dead, if they don’t rise? In context, Paul is making the point that evangelists are willing to suffer and even die a martyr’s death in order to share the Gospel because of their absolute certainty that there is definitely a resurrection of the dead. Doesn’t that make perfect sense!!!! I love those ahh-ha moments!!! ☺️ Verse 29 is perfectly clear to me now!! 😃