January 5 / Matt. 1:1-25

Matthew 1:1-25

RTNT 2021. Evidently I spent quite a bit of time looking at genealogies two years ago and learned a lot. See the January 8, 2019 post. The biggest item is David’s succession running through Solomon (Matthew) or his other son, Nathan (Luke). With that split you can get two very different and legitimate ancestries for Jesus’ birth.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. (v. 19) The Chronological Study Bible had a long note about this last section (today’s last eight verses). They made one point that was meaningful. They talked about “a culture that was obsessed with shame and honor”. And Joseph has to deal with that for both Mary and himself. He could shame Mary by divorcing her publicly or he could shame himself by claiming premarital relations. Neither way was good. Thankfully God interceded directly with him, sending an angel to quiet his spirit. I wonder how often God has quieted our own troubled spirits with a word from a friend or an unexpected event that turns things around for us. We need to be more aware of those “glory sightings” in our lives!

See also:

January 4 / Luke 1:57-80

Luke 1:57-80

RTNT 2021. I note below that in 2019 I really saw the distinction in Zacharias’ prayer between his prophecies for Jesus (Luke 1:68-75) and John (Luke 1:76-79). But today in his prophecy concerning Jesus verses 74 and 75 stuck out: …that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. Zacharias probably had in mind the same Messiah that most Jews expected, a powerful ruler who would overthrow Roman rule and re-establish Jewish sovereignty as it was in the days of David and Solomon. Little did they know that the Messiah’s deliverance would be much more complete than just a simple political deliverance, but that it would free each and every one of us from the bondage of sin – a much greater power over them (and us) than any Roman or other political rule. Jesus’ deliverance was/is so complete and we have only to accept it; the work is done – let us rejoice and be glad in it!

See also:

January 3 / Luke 1:26-56

Luke 1:26-56

Slow to post today – we had our granddaughter overnight and her morning routine overwhelmed my morning activities!

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you… (v. 35a) What struck me most was the last half of what I quoted, the power of the Most High will overshadow you. I’m thinking of our COVID world and the “power of the Most High”. I know that the Lord God is powerful enough to overwhelm COVID wherever it is and however He chooses, granting healing to us either individually or globally. Seemingly He has chosen not to interfere on a global scale, except perhaps in the research of the scientists and pharmacists who have developed vaccines against COVID. But we all know that He is with us in this pandemic – He knows what’s going on and He wants to work through us to speak to a broken world. Christianity needs to come out of this pandemic stronger than ever – it’s the opportunity we have before us!

Elizabeth speaking: And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. (v. 45) Here, the first few words instead of the last few (as above), And blessed is she who believed… Jesus said the same thing when speaking with “Doubting Thomas”: Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. We are blessed when we believe, especially when we believe what we cannot see. Those of us who are reading this post are among those who have not seen and yet have believed. It’s “Glory Sighting” Sunday at St. Andrew’s. Rejoice in your personal “glory sighting” of knowing Jesus!

See also:

January 2 / Luke 1:1-25

Luke 1:1-25

In two consecutive verses, we see two different ministries for John the Baptist: And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah… to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. (vv. 16-17) He was ministering directly to the people who came to the Jordan to hear him and be baptized and he was a forerunner for Jesus, in the spirit and power of Elijah. Essentially, for the people coming to him, he was telling them to look inside themselves (repentance) and to look beyond themselves (to Jesus). It’s what we do every time we have an opportunity to share Jesus with someone – or more commonly, David in the pulpit. He asks his listeners to look inside themselves and then to look beyond themselves, to Jesus. That seems to me a good everyday plan for each of us – to look inside and to look beyond.

See also:

January 1 / John 1:1-18

John 1:1-18

Happy New Year, folks! And what a year it’ll be! It’ll be whatever He makes it for us, so long as we walk hand-in-hand with Him. Glory!

So today, a new year, a new goal – reading through the New Testament, chronologically, in short spurts, 20 to 25 verses per day. A few minutes to read and more time to reflect, to pick out that one (or more) verse(s) that struck you, that one truth you hadn’t seen before, what our pastor David has said, “Notice what you notice”.

So what did I notice today? Two things… First, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… (v. 14a) Having just gone through the Christmas season, the Incarnation, and reflecting on that – that Jesus, the Incarnate Word left His heavenly home and became man and lived fully within our sphere. That very thought just grabs me! What a step-down, all for love of us…! And the second thing that I saw was verse 17, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Those of us in RTB last year just finished reading through the Epistles, also chronologically, such that Hebrews was one of the last books we read, just finishing it in mid-December. And the author of Hebrews spent a lot of time talking about Moses and the Law and contrasting them with Jesus. So we’re coming full circle here – what we just read last year is being reinforced this year. Again, Glory!

Looking forward to many of you sharing whatever strikes you, blessing all the rest of us…!

Have a blessed year!

See also: January 1 (2019) / John 1:1-18

January 2021 Readings

DateReading(s)Verses
01-JanJohn 1:1-1818
02-JanLuke 1:1-2525
03-JanLuke 1:26-5631
04-JanLuke 1:57-8024
05-JanMatt. 1:1-2525
06-JanLuke 2:1-2020
07-JanLuke 2:21-3818
08-JanMatt. 2:1-2323
09-JanLuke 2:39-5214
10-JanMatt. 3:1-1717
11-JanMark 1:1-1313
12-JanLuke 3:1-2020
13-JanJohn 1:19-3416
14-JanLuke 3:21-3818
15-JanMatt. 4:1-1111
16-JanLuke 4:1-1313
17-JanJohn 1:35-5117
18-JanJohn 2:1-2525
19-JanJohn 3:1-2121
20-JanJohn 3:22-3615
21-JanJohn 4:1-2626
22-JanJohn 4:27-4519
23-JanMatt. 4:12-2211
24-JanMark 1:14-2815
25-JanLuke 4:14-3724
26-JanMatt. 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-4114
27-JanMatt. 4:23-25; Mark 1:35-39; Luke 4:42-5:1122
28-JanMatt. 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-1615
29-JanMatt. 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-2630
30-JanMatt. 9:9-13; Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-3216
31-JanMatt. 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-3916

December 31 / III John 1:9-14

III John 1:9-14

So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. (v. 10) John really takes Diotrephes to task, charging him with four counts of wrongdoing. I wonder how Diotrephes ascended to his position of church “leadership”, effectively using dictatorial means to subjugate his congregation. Just now in re-reading my comment I started to speak out against someone I knew in church leadership who tended to exert undue influence over others, but I was reminded not to speak ill against “the Lord’s anointed” (using I Samuel 24:6, but a bit out of context). It is clearly appropriate for someone like the apostle John to call out someone like Diotrephes – John has “the chops” to do so. The rest of us need to be careful in speaking out against our church leaders.

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. (v. 11a) I’m reminded of Paul occasionally suggesting that his readers imitate him (I Corinthians 4:16, 11:1; Philippians 3:17, 4:9). John is less pointed than Paul, speaking more generally of imitating “good”, but I suspect that John’s readers would be able (like Paul’s readers) to apply “good” to this elder apostle!

And so we end RTB 2020. What a year! Happily moving on to 2021. Come join me…!!

Slava Bohu!

December 30 / III John 1:1-8

III John 1:1-8

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (v. 4) This is such a true statement! Carol and I rejoice greatly that all four of our kids are seeking the Lord – some seeking Him in different denominations or with particular issues different than Carol and me, but still seeking Him. But in repeating this verse, the flip side is also important – how difficult it is for Christian parents whose children are not seeking the Lord. We have good friends, some within our congregation whose children have moved on from the faith. The parents are troubled and often feel guilty that they did not raise their kids as they should have. Often I think the parents take on too much blame; the kids’ peer groups (and society in general) have led them down those wrong paths. So let’s pray for those parents and their children whom we know to be in this unfortunate situation.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. (v. 2) When you really look at this verse you’ll see that John is affirming Gaius’ spiritual health and praying for his physical well-being. Again, a good prayer for us today, to pray that people be in good spiritual health, even as COVID and other difficulties ravage our world.

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers … we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. (vv. 5, 8) Apparently Gaius regularly opens his house to traveling missionaries and is affirmed for such by John. I’m reminded of our church’s support for various missionaries through our Mission Committee and for individuals within our church who support these folks. Some of us have also had the opportunity to host missionaries in our homes (Mark Bruner and the Harkonens, among others) and to lend our own financial support. Through his writing for the ages John is also affirming us and our church. And yet again, a further call to prayer! So much to pray for…!

Slava Bohu!

December 29 / II John 1:7-13

II John 1:7-13

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (vv. 10-11) When the apostle John was writing this letter he probably had the Gnostics in mind – people who were denying the full divinity of Jesus. Today we have various sects who also deny Jesus’ full deity – primary among those are Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. I don’t know whether it was my early reading or whether I had somehow been “coached” into proper Christian behavior, but I have been visited numerous times by JWs and Mormons and always met them at the door, sometimes engaging in small conversation, but never inviting them in and refusing their entry if they had asked to come in and chat a bit. Having read these two verses today, I am pleased that I behaved as St. John had taught.

And so we end II John.

Slava Bohu!

December 28 / II John 1:1-6

II John 1:1-6

The elder to the elect lady and her children… (v. 1a) Bible scholars ask whether John was writing this letter to a particular woman or whether the “elect lady” reference was meant to be a greeting to an entire church body. I would argue that John is writing to a particular person. In verse 4 he writes “I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth…”. This phrasing seems strange for someone writing to an entire church body – with the writer commenting that only “some” of the members were “walking in the truth”? Wouldn’t we expect all members of a church body to be …walking in the truth? But I find it perfectly appropriate for someone to direct that comment to a personal friend. We commonly ask one another, “How are your children?” And we especially like to hear reports of our friends’ children who have moved away. Our Christmas letters are full of references to our children and grandchildren. John also in the very next verse refers to “dear lady”. So I think the reference is more personal than public.

In this second letter, the apostle John maintains the same two basic commands that he wrote in his first letter – …love one another …<and>… walk according to His commandments (vv. 5b-6a). Simple enough, right…??!!

Slava Bohu!