Facebook Fast? (Genesis 29-30 / Matthew 9)

In Genesis 29-30, we see God at work despite the inner struggles taking place between men (and women in this case). Despite the fact that Rachel and Leah seem to be upset with one another, God is busy opening their wombs when He is ready so that the eventual twelve tribes of Israel can be born. When Leah bore her fourth son, she named him Judah (praise). In Matthew 1:2, we learn that early on God was active in this birthmaking process for Matthew 1 is ultimately about the genealogy of Christ (and it was through Judah, that Christ eventually was born). Now that is something to praise God for!

In Matthew 9, we see Jesus displaying his power over physcial weakness and sin (v. 1-8). Do we trust God, even in our weakness? We also see that Jesus is no respector of persons. He sits and eats with the most unlikely of people (v. 9-13). Do people wonder why we hang around certain folks? Finally, Jesus makes the point that the disciples have no need to fast while He is with them (v. 14-17). It is when he leaves them that they will need to fast so that they can remain close to Him. Fasting need not mean food and drink only. In our techno world, I recently heard of some people fasting from Facebook.

Moma's Boy (Genesis 27-28 / Matthew 8)

Genesis 27 is a very interesting chapter. It brings to my mind the ideal mold of a mama's boy in the form of Jacob and a man's man in the form of Esau. Esau wanted to get his father's blessing but mama's boy was a bit more clever using his moma's advice. In Genesis 28:6-9, Esau tries to regain the favor of his father, but actually ends up bringing more misery upon himself by "adding to his pagan wives (Gen. 26:34-35) a wife from a family God had rejected" (MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 53). Why is it that when we sin against God, we often get ourselves into more trouble than what we started with?

In Matthew 8, we see that there is a great cost to following Jesus and that Jesus has power over the weather and demonic spirits. Will we kick Jesus out of our town when He does great things or will we accept His ability to change lives (v. 34)?

15 Minutes With God

This site is dedicated to those who want to have a consistent daily quiet time with God. There are many important tasks that we have to complete every day. But the most important task (spending time with God) seems to get neglected. This site is provided to help us to be accountable to one another in keeping our daily Bible reading a major priority in our lives. The best resolution one could make for the New Year is to read the Bible all the way through. Spending 15 minutes with God daily in His Word is time well spent. It is my hope that you will see the difference this type of commitment will make in your life! Each day's Bible reading commentary is broken into two sections (an OT and a NT section). The NT section commentary is shorter than the OT commentary because the NT reading is often shorter than the OT reading. I have made the commentary short due to the amount of time you will have already spent reading. Not every day or every Bible chapter is covered on this site. On days where chapters are missing from this site, I encourage you to fill in that day by reading the section I have skipped. The goal of Bible reading is not to finish but to be changed. May we all be transformed more into Christ's image (Romans 12:2, Colossians 3:10) through our time spent together.