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Feb 19, 2024 06:00am

The Bible Recap: Days 337-343

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(The following are reflections from the writer’s personal journey through The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble – a Bible reading plan to read the Bible chronologically in one year. To learn more about The Bible Recap, visit thebiblerecap.com. Find more posts from this series at lifeword.org/thebiblerecap.)

Day 337: Read 1 Corinthians Chapters 15-16

My Takeaways:

This letter to the Corinthians was definitely meaty! We finished it up today! (I wonder how the Corinthians received it?)

Paul talks about Christ’s resurrection—it is key! Without it, our faith is dead. The resurrection of Jesus matters!

Paul talks about the end of this life, when God comes down from heaven and rules, the last enemy that will be defeated will be death. He also addresses our earthly bodies and how they will be changed, in a twinkling of an eye, when we die or in the Rapture—when Jesus comes back to get us.

Amid all this, I love how Paul throws in one of his famous “knock it off” statements: “Bad company corrupts good morals. Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.”

Paul doesn’t mince words, does he? And, he’s not wrong. I tell my kids this all the time!

And he ends his letter to the Corinthians with advice we all can heed and follow as Christians: “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Do everything in love.”

Yes and amen, Paul!

My God Shot is the repeated theme Paul keeps urging us in his letters: STAND FIRM IN YOUR FAITH. God needs His kids to believe Him and trust Him, especially when persecution comes and emotions can run high. All throughout the Bible, we have seen how God wants His kids to trust Him—that He knows best. That when He calls us to hard things, He will be there. He will empower us to face them. That He is faithful.

And that hard things will lead to our purpose in Christ.

So, from His eyes, if we just love Him and trust Him, He can do the impossible in our lives. Friends, after almost a year of reading God’s word, we may live our lives differently. He has not let anyone down in the Bible. He won’t let us down either.

Day 338: Read 2 Corinthians Chapters 1-4

My Takeaways:

Affliction and perspective. That’s what I feel is the heart of Paul’s letter today.

Paul is writing to the Corinthians to see if they are living out what he urged them to do in his first letter…and in this letter, he is adding some more godly wisdom and directives.

He points out that he and Timothy were so afflicted in Asia, they despaired of life. Paul points this out to show how God intervened and saved them from death—and that he and Timothy will continue to put their hope in Him to deliver them. Paul attributes God’s deliverance to the many prayers that came from the Corinthians. Prayer was the key in their being saved—I love that!

Paul also encourages them to not give way to unforgiveness—that they are called to forgive and comfort anyone who has caused them pain (perhaps the hardest of all directives for believers…). That they are to affirm their love to the one who wounded them so that Satan doesn’t have a foothold in their lives to work. Paul is checking up on them, testing them on this to see if they have obeyed and will continue to obey. As someone who has struggled, and occasionally still does, to forgive, I can tell you that the root of bitterness is strong and can take you down a steep and dark path to nowhere good. Satan will use this to trip us all up for years if we let him. Unforgiveness is a bitter poison—the only person it harms is US. Forgiveness is like opening the door of the jail cell and walking out. It’s freeing. Paul knows this and urges them to do this!

Paul urges them to not give up—that they are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. They are persecuted but not destroyed. That they bear the cross of Christ in their lives. That this persecution, in essence, kills their flesh and the only way they overcome is by God’s spirit and strength. They are living examples of what God can do in surrendered believers who live off of Him.

Though their bodies are taking the toll, they are growing stronger spiritually, renewed daily by God’s Spirit. They keep their eyes on the prize amid this persecution: eternity in heaven with Jesus.

My God Shot comes from Paul’s affliction—it’s in the way that God meets them amid their pain and strengthens them through it. The persecution is still there, but God sees and empowers them through it. He renews them daily to keep fighting the good fight. Because they trust Him, they experience Him in such a way, it emboldens them to keep preaching the good news!

Day 339: Read 2 Corinthians Chapters 5-9

My Takeaways:

Walk by faith, not by sight.

These chapters are rich in popular verses we know and love! Paul is encouraging the Corinthians much today.

He noted there was something special about the churches in Macedonia and their affliction—they were abounding in joy! And though they were poor, they were overflowing in generosity. Affliction and persecution only seemed to amp up their faith in God. How do I know? Well, you know: they were filled with joy. Joy has been one of the themes of our readings the whole year. The closer we are to God, the more we lean into Him, the more we discover His character all throughout the Bible, the more we trust and love Him. The beautiful side effect of loving and trusting God is JOY.

No matter what our lives look like on the outside, we can brim with joy on the inside because we know who goes with us each day. That, friends, is walking by faith.

And if we continue to sow—amid persecution, amid affliction, amid no visible fruition—we will reap generously. We can sow by tithing, by giving, by witnessing, by praying, by living out our faith. Whatever spiritual sowing you are doing, don’t give up! A harvest is coming. It’s another way we walk by faith, and not by sight.

And when we walk by faith, not by sight, we are ambassadors for Christ—we are representatives for the One who knew no sin but became sin so that we can have a relationship with God and be declared righteous.

My God Shot comes from the byproduct of growing close to God: Our inner person is being renewed day by day by the Holy Spirit. I hope you feel you have grown spiritually this year! I hope you feel stirred up and stronger than when we started this journey! It’s nice to know that as our “tents” age, we can grow stronger in spirit to face those seasons of getting older.

Day 340: Read 2 Corinthians Chapters 10-13

My Takeaways:

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Oh, these last few chapters to the Corinthians are so weighty in meaning! First, I can’t imagine the Corinthians listening to this letter all in one sitting! (That would be one long sermon—there’s so much he addresses!) Second, it is chock full of insight and commands about living as believers. (This is where I would have needed to take notes!)

Paul and his tent have been through it all—beatings, stoning, shipwrecked, persecution of all kinds from Gentiles and Jews, hunger, and lack of proper clothing. Yes, Paul had a dramatic conversion story, friends, but his life after his conversion paid the price. He suffered tremendously for the Gospel, and he did it willingly! He admits his weaknesses because there God met him and strengthened him. In his weakness, he became spiritually strong. And to keep him humble in his revelations of God and experiences with God (like his rollercoaster ride to heaven!), he was plagued the rest of his life with a “thorn in the flesh.”

Friends, I think we all have that thorn in the flesh that keeps us dependent upon God, leaning upon Him, connected to Him even more. Though Paul prayed three times for God to remove it, God left it. And Paul still declared God’s faithfulness to him amid his greatest struggle. That’s faith, friends. God’s grace was sufficient to Paul.

Paul also commands them to take every thought captive to obey Christ. They are hearing a lot from other preachers (who they are paying), and these preaches aren’t preaching the truth: they are false prophets disguised as angels of light. He tells them that this is how Satan works—through deception! They test themselves and what they are hearing. Not only that, they must examine their lives and see if they are living out the Gospel.

So many pearls of wisdom for spiritual living here! What was your God Shot? Mine was in how God has sustained Paul to face tremendous adversity—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—and every time, God strengthened him through it. Yes, there were times in which God delivered him from these moments, but more times than not, God allowed him to face the harshest of circumstances to see that God was enough for every obstacle and trial in life.

Paul’s jar of clay was pressed and pushed down so hard, it cracked…and in this cracking, something special happened: light came out. Others saw his struggle and heard his faithfulness. His light reached many because of his persecutions. I think Paul would have lived this life over again and again so that others would be impacted by his message and believe.

So, when you think life is too much and your jar is being cracked, don’t give up! Perhaps God allowed this trial, this circumstance, this moment not only for you—but for others watching you go through it. Our lives are living testimonies of Jesus Christ, friends. Don’t fight the cracking moments of life. It’s when you can shine the brightest.

Day 341: Read Romans Chapters 1-3

My Takeaways:

This letter is heavy with meaning and spiritual wisdom! I will touch upon a few things, but let me be honest: there are there deep concepts that I am still wrapping my mind around!

I feel like Paul, in many ways, shares this: we ALL have a sin problem. We all have fallen short of the glory of God. We all are held accountable. Since the beginning of time, God has revealed Himself in many ways—creation is one that we all can definitely see. In this way, people are without excuse to the knowledge that there is a God and He has rules for living.

But, those who reject God’s way of living, those who suppress the truth, are delivered to the desires of their hearts. In other words, God is letting them have what they want. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They worshipped the creation instead of the Creator. And God let them live with a corrupt mind and a seared conscience.

Yikes.

We are without excuses, friends. Paul keeps stressing that there is no one righteous—no, not one! We are all fallen humans, sinners in need of Savior. That any kindness he shows to us is meant to lead us to repentance!

To live life God’s way, we must live by faith. In this way, we aren’t ashamed of the Gospel! Paul stresses to be authentic in our faith—to not live by man made laws but to live by the law of faith! Laws like circumsion don’t save us, but letting God circumsize our hearts is the key to salvation and living by faith.

My God Shot is this: God shows us that we are sinners. He reveals himself in many ways throughout our lives in order to convict us, leading us to salvation and repentance so that we may live by faith! But, if we reject Him, He will allow us to live with that seared conscience. Oh friends, after reading the Bible, I know that God doesn’t chase after us just once, and He is done if we reject Him—He is the God who leaves the 99 and chases us down time and time again! This is a continual rejection of God. Look around the world today, I would say so much evil we hear about in the news is done by those who who have seared consciences.

I can’t imagine life without Him. I can’t imagine living without hope and spiritual help. I am so glad for God’s kindness and mercy and grace. My worst day is still infinitely better than my best day without Him. I pray I can live my life by faith, unashamedly and boldly, if only to declare God’s faithfulness.

Day 342: Read Romans Chapters 4-7

My Takeaways:

If I were to title this, it would be: The struggle is for real.

Paul spends much time honing in on this message: God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That He justified us in this one act while we were still enemies to Him, not yet surrendered to Christ. He did this out of His great love for us. In doing so, He makes those who accept His sacrifice for our sins righteous. He referenced Abraham—the pillar of Jews’ faith—and made his point that circumcision did not save Abraham—it was the moment Abraham believed God. The righteousness of God was given to Abraham and is given to all of us who believe God and accept His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

I love the way Paul words this action: “For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through one man’s obedience, the many will be made righteous.”

Yes, Paul. Yes!

But that’s not it, we are given new life upon our belief—that even though we are justified, we are still slaves to sin. Even though we are a new creation, we still have to battle our old flesh, that is a slave to sin. We have to submit it under the control and lordship of God and refuse to be its slave. We can be slaves to God or slaves to sin, but we cannot be both. The more we surrender to be slaves of righteousness, the more God sanctifies us. But, that flesh will fight back. We want to do good, but sin convinces us his way is better.

Sin is there every step of the way to get us off the path of righteousness and onto a slippery slope that leads to a deep pit of shame and regret. This realization—this spiritual poverty—of our sin nature keeps us close to the one who declares us righteous and gives us the strength to overcome sin. For if we cleave to God and keep surrendering to Him—trusting and believing Him, this produces endurances amid our affliction. And endurance will give birth to character. And character will give birth to hope.

When we put our hearts and hope into God, He does not fail us! He pours His love into us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Oh friends, such reminders are beautiful aren’t they? Our strife is never wasted in this world. God uses it to produce things that cannot be bought. He uses adversity and trials to chisel our character that would provide a deeper side effect: people who believe God and follow Him with all their hearts. People who reflect the light. People who, despite their jars of clay being cracked, emit light from their lives.

People who know their spiritual poverty and know their flesh enough to know that Jesus paid it all so that they could have hope and victory in life.

Yes, and amen.

Day 343: Read Romans Chapters 8-10

My Takeaways:

If you could pick some of your favorite verses throughout the Bible, I would be willing to bet one (or several) of them come from today’s reading! I kept reading one after another after another. I was like, “Oh, that is so good!” and “There’s another one!” and “This one too!”

So many beautiful promises today!

For everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved—if they confess with their moth and believe it in their heart, they are saved! That there’s something special about hearing the truth preached—faith is birthed and leads us to walk by faith and believe in God and His sacrifice for our sins: Jesus Christ.

With belief and faith come some pretty amazing “benefits”:

There is no condemnation for God’s kids—Jesus has set us free from law and death! Shame only comes from the enemy of our souls!
When we follow the Spirit’s prompting in our lives, we have life and peace.
We are called to not fall back into slavery and a spirit of fear but to cry out to God for help and trust His lordship in our lives.
The Spirit helps us in our weakness by interceding for us to the Father. When we don’t have the words to cry out to God, the Spirit does it for us!
All things work together for the good of God’s kids, those called according to His purpose.
Nothing can separate us from God’s love!
Anything we have to suffer on earth is worth the glory waiting on us in heaven.
We are more than conquerors through Christ.

Love, love, love these! God just doesn’t save us and is finished with us—He empowers us and encourages us that there’s a whole new life with Him: one of love and peace, strength and hope.

God loves us so, friends, and my God Shot lies in the beauty of Romans 8:28: He can bring good from any hard, horrible, heartbreaking moments in life for His kids. It’s His specialty. I cleave to this hope and promise often. It’s what helps me through those testing moments of life.

He’s worth any hill, mountain, or valley we face. His presence and love can not only guide us through it, we experience Him in it.