Tag: Christ

June Scriptures

For the past few years, I have taken on the goal of reading my Bible through one of the one-year reading plans.  Mostly, I’ve used the NLT One-Year Chronological Bible. I seem to prefer this particular one because it’s written as it happened, in chronological order.  It’s interesting to me, when reading the Bible this way, how events in history transpired simultaneously through some of the different books and also the different order of the books from how the Bible is laid out.

Like I said, I read the One-Year Bible for several years using this particular version.  But last year, 2019, I didn’t just want to read the Bible, I wanted to make sure I got something out of the daily reading. So, I decided I would find one verse or scripture passage that spoke the most to me during each day of Bible reading.

My goal was to read the Bible each day, highlight the specific verse or scripture passage that I found and then write it down to keep in a journal. I used a certain highlighter color so I could keep track of which verse I picked for the daily reading, versus other highlights already in there.

Then, late last year, I decided I wanted to do more with my daily verses, besides keeping them in a journal.  I wanted to share them. So, for each month in 2020, I plan to post the scriptures I found for that month in 2019.  Hope you enjoy the June scriptures.

My prayer for you is that as you read these scriptures that spoke to me last year, they will speak to you right here and now; either to something you’re searching for, an answer you need or just confirmation of what God has been speaking to you.

June 1—Proverbs 19:18

Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.

June 2—Proverbs 21:21

Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness and honor.

June 3—Proverbs 24:3-4

A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.

June 4—Song of Solomon 4:7

You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.

June 5—1 Kings 11:36

His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign, shining like a lamp in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name.

June 6—Ecclesiastes 3:11

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

June 7—Ecclesiastes 8:15

So, I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

June 8—Ecclesiastes 12:14

God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

June 9—2 Chronicles 13:12

So you see, God is with us. He is our leader. His priests blow their trumpets and lead us into battle against you. O people of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed!

June 10—2 Chronicles 16:9

The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.

June 11—1 Kings 17:14

For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

June 12—1 Kings 21:3

But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance that was passed down by my ancestors.”

June 13—2 Chronicles 19:7

Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.

June 14—2 Chronicles 21:7

But the Lord did not want to destroy David’s dynasty, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.

June 15—2 Kings 4:16-17

“Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!” “No, my Lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me like that.” But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.

June 16—2 Kings 8:6

“Is this true?” the king asked her. And she told him the story.  So he directed one of his officials to see that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.

June 17—2 Kings 10:30

Nonetheless the Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well in following my instructions to destroy the family of Ahab. Therefore, your descendants will be kings of Israel down to the fourth generation.”

June 18—2 Chronicles 24:2

Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.

June 19—2 Chronicles 24:24

Although the Arameans attacked with only a small army, the Lord helped them conquer the much larger army of Judah. The people of Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so judgment was carried out against Joash.

June 20—Jonah 2:2

He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!”

June 21—Amos 4:13

For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The Lord God of Heavens Armies is his name!

June 22—Isaiah 6:3

They were calling to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

June 23—2 Chronicles 27:2

Jotham did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. He did everything his father, Uzziah, had done, except that Jotham did not sin by entering the Temple of the Lord. But the people continued in their corrupt ways.

June 24—Isaiah 9:6

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

June 25—2 Kings 18:5

Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.

June 26—Hosea 6:3

Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.

June 27—Hosea 14:2

Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises.”

June 28—2 Kings 17:39

You must worship only the Lord your God. He is the one who will rescue you from all your enemies.

June 29—Isaiah 4:2

But in that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel.

June 30—Isaiah 14:1

But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.

**All verses are written from the New Living Translation.

**The verses are taken from the NLT Chronological One-Year Bible from YouVersion

Freedom from Offense

This past week, the women’s bible study that I’m a part of at my church started our new bible study for the spring semester.  This semester, we are studying “The Bait of Satan” by John Bevere.  I’ve read this book before and I’m looking forward to reading it again, but studying it deeper now than I did the first time.

I don’t know about you, but books like this are ones that I like to have the physical book so that I can mark up, underline, highlight and earmark all the pages and passages that speak to me while I’m reading them.  We’ve only discussed the first two chapters in the book.  But as I was reading through the next section in preparation for our class, several of the passages and statements, along with scriptures jumped right off of the page.

Some of these passages spoke so personally to me, that I wanted to share them with you.  Most of these come from the first three chapters in the book and some of the scriptures from the first two chapters of the workbook.  If any of you are dealing with offense in any way, I pray these speak to you as boldly as they did to me.

Luke 17:1

“…It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!”

Just because you were mistreated, you do not have permission to hold on to an offense.

Matthew 5:44

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

If we do not deal with an offense, it will produce more fruit of sin, such as bitterness, anger and resentment.

2 Timothy 2:24-26

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

Jesus said our ability to see correctly is another key to being freed from deception.  Often when we are offended we see ourselves as victims and blame those who have hurt us.  You will only repent when you stop blaming other people.

There are two Greek words for love: phileo and agape.

Phileo is a love among friends; it’s affectionate and conditional.

Agape is the love of God and is unconditional; it is a love that gives even when rejected.

Galatians 6:8-9

“Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature.  But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.  So let’s not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

When you sow the love of God, you will reap the love of God.

We walk in a selfish love that is easily disappointed when our expectations are not met.  If I have no expectations about someone, anything given is a blessing and not something owed.  We set ourselves up for offense when we require certain behaviors from those with whom we have relationships.  The more we expect, the greater the potential offense.

If we don’t risk being hurt, we cannot give unconditional love.  Unconditional love gives others the right to hurt us.

To not be offended, we must freely receive and freely give.

Complaining is rebellion and a lack of fear of the Lord.

Philippians 2:14-15

“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,…”

If it is not dealt with, offense will eventually lead to death.  But when you resist the temptation to be offended, God brings great victory.

James 4:7

“So humble yourselves before God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Authority is given to serve, not to set you apart.

Often, we focus on the impossibility of our circumstances instead of the greatness of God.

1 Corinthians 10:13

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Absolutely no man, woman, child or devil can ever get you out of the will of God!  No one but God holds your destiny!  No mortal man or devil can supersede the plan of God for your life.  But there is only one person who can get you out of the will of God and that is you!

If you stay free from offense you will stay in God’s will.

Remember that Satan fights you the hardest and brings his greatest attach again your harvest (God’s inheritance for you) just before your harvest manifests and becomes a reality.

Numbers 23:19

“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

God has already seen every adverse circumstance we will encounter—no matter how great or small—and He has the way planned for escaping it.  Often the thing that looks like an abortion of God’s plan actually ends up being the road to its fulfillment if we stay in obedience and free from offense.

Stay submitted to God by not becoming offended; resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  We resist the devil by not becoming offended.

God’s Word, His promise, will always come to pass as long as you don’t get offended.

1 Peter 5:10

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

Please feel free to comment and share with me any of the passages, statements and/or scriptures that spoke to you or share with me some of your own…