hard work – living by faith

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.

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.

November 1—Matthew 26:41

“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the Spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

November 2—Mark 14:62

Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

November 3—John 18:37

Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

November 4—Mark 15:38-39

And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

November 5—Matthew 28:6

He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.

November 6—John 20:31

But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

November 7—Acts 2:2-4

Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

November 8—Acts 4:29-30

And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of the holy servant Jesus.

November 9—Acts 7:59

As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

November 10—Acts 9:18

Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

November 11—Acts 11:17

“And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”

November 12—Acts 13:38-39

“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do.”

November 13—Galatians 1:10

Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

November 14—Acts 15:11

“…we believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

November 15—Acts 15:35

Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord there.

November 16—1 Thessalonians 3:12

And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.

November 17—2 Thessalonians 1:11

So, we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.

November 18—1 Corinthians 3:6-8

I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.

November 19—1 Corinthians 4:5

So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

November 20—1 Corinthians 8:6

But for us, there is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.

November 21—1 Corinthians 13:7

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

November 22—1 Corinthians 14:26

Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.

November 23—1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything in love.

November 24—Romans 3:23-24

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

November 25—Romans 6:16

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

November 26—Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

November 27—Romans 12:4-5

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

November 28—Romans 15:13

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

November 29—2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

November 30—2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure, “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

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

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

First, I want to say how grateful and thankful I am to have a Dad like you! You’ve taught me so much throughout my life and as an adult I can see how truly blessed my life has been because of you.

You’ve always been there for every event, big or small, in my life! You have a love of sports and you wanted to share that with me, your oldest daughter, by putting me on teams when I was younger. You taught me how to play basketball and golf. Basketball didn’t work out too well for me, though, as I ducked for cover every time the ball came at me…so much for the tall working in my favor for that sport! 🙂 Then, you showed me a hurdle because you knew my long legs could leap over those in a race. But I just looked at you like you were crazy!!

As it turned out, music was more my speed, so you exchanged exciting basketball games for less exciting band concerts. But that never stopped you, because you were there for every single one…from junior high to high school and all the way to college. You were there at all the football games and all the concerts. You came to all of the Parents’ Days at Texas Tech and watched me march the halftime shows during the football games. You even traveled to watch me play my trumpet at church and in Christmas programs…you’ve been there for it all, Dad.

And you continue to support and encourage me in my adult years. A couple of years ago, you took all of us to the Texas State Fair in Dallas; something you’d wanted to do for so long. You come to Lubbock when you can to play in golf tournaments with me (mostly with Jim, but I play when I can); you get up early on your vacation to come watch me at my Crossfit class. And most recently, you went to watch me run a 5K at the Mayor’s Marathon and took me to breakfast to celebrate when I finished.

As I’ve gotten older, I know the true value of a dollar and what it means to work hard and those are things you taught me when I was growing up. You and Mom worked a lot to save for family vacations we took during the summers. And we didn’t just go camping; we loaded up and went to places like California and Montana. But they weren’t just trips to get to those places; it was the trips to those places. Because of those vacations, I’ve been to the 4 Corners, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park; I’ve even been to Canada and Disneyland.

When I was younger I wondered (and sometimes complained) about why we had to drive and not fly to all those places and why we always stopped at parks for picnic lunches instead eating in restaurants. But now I know it was to save money for all the good stuff…the fun stuff; not waste it on expensive restaurant food. Because of your good work ethic, I not only have great memories from those family vacations, but I also know how to work hard to provide for my family.

You’re always there Dad, for everything! You’ve taught me so much and I just wanted the opportunity to let you know that I noticed. Life is short so we need to make the most of the time we have. We need to make the time to tell those we love that we love them. And we need to tell our loved ones why they mean so much to us.

I thank you for my love of the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers. We weren’t just fans that watched on TV, we were fans that sat in the stands and cheered on our teams. And I know now that those tickets weren’t cheap, so I thank you for taking the time and the money to take us to fun games like those. Like the family vacations, those are priceless memories I will treasure forever

I know my husband thanks you for my love of football, playing golf and watching action movies! Thanks to you, he never has to go to sappy chick flicks; he gets to watch the good stuff because that’s what I always want to see…the good action movies! 🙂 But I thank you for taking the time for Daddy-Daughter dates, too, to dinner, the movies, to play Putt-Putt or whatever I wanted to do; I treasure those memories to this day.

Thank you, Dad for always working so hard to provide for our family! You gave us a happy childhood, good work ethic, memorable family vacations and a great role model to follow. Next to the word “Dad” in the dictionary, should be your picture because to me, you are everything a Dad stands for and was created by God to be.

You’ve been there for me from the beginning…I think there’s a picture of you sleeping in the waiting room when I was born. And you’ll keep being there for everything I do…as long as God allows. So until that time comes, we’ll make the most of every opportunity we have to make new memories.

Thanks for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G, Dad! I love you so very much!!!