Lack of Good Internet Access

I will be out of good internet access for a bit, so blog will be down until travels are finished.  Please pray for us!

If you have been following along with the daily Bible readings, you can find the daily readings here: http://www.ewordtoday.com/year/esv/bjan01.htm

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July 27 – Song of Solomon

Bible Reading Commitment, Encouragement, and Challenge

July 27 – Song of Solomon

Observe with some (Interpretation in Parentheses)

• SEX IS VERY GOOD!
• BUT, only within God’s designed context of one man and one woman in the covenant of marriage
• And the book of Song of Solomon unpacks the goodness of sex within the God-designed gift of marriage
• Regularly, the two people who love each other ask not to “stir or awaken love until it pleases.”
• There is this progression in the book of anticipation and excitement
• And after the wedding day between the beloved man and beloved woman, the imagery describing the goodness and enjoyment of sex within marriage is vivid.

How Points to Christ

• This book is NOT describing the relationship between Christ and the church
• But, the heart of every marriage is designed to point to Christ
• The pattern for the covenant of marriage is the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• While sex is very good within marriage, sex is not the purpose of marriage
• The purpose of marriage is to reflect the glory of God’s grace in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• Sex within marriage is simply one way to glorify God in marriage as husband and wife express their selfless love towards one another.

Apply

• Please pray for the redemption of sex in this world, beginning in the church
• And for all those who are married and want to grow in enjoying their spouse within the covenant of marriage, I would highly recommend C.J. Mahaney’s book, “Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God” as he takes us through the Song of Solomon.
• Another good book will be John Piper’s book, “Sex and the Supremacy of God.”

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July 27 – Prayer for the Unreached

May God increase our desire for His glory to spread to all nations and peoples – Joshua Project!

Unreached of the Day

Please pray for the …

Shan of Myanmar (Burma)

Population: 4,084,000

Language: Shan

Religion: Buddhism

Evangelical: 0.70%

For more details…

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July 26 – Ecclesiastes 9-12

Bible Reading Commitment, Encouragement, and Challenge

July 26 – Ecclesiastes 9-12

Observe with some (Interpretation in Parentheses)

• As the author closes this book, he continues to restate the truth that all is vanity and meaningless (apart from Christ!)
• Therefore, he powerfully closes the entire book by saying, “The end of the matter; all has been heard.  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
• The author hammers home the need to Fear God
• And as in the rest of Scripture, he is clear that the Fear of God, and a renewed relationship with God will overflow into a new life lived in obedience to God
• (We are saved by faith alone, not by works, but we are saved by faith that is not alone, a faith accompanied by the fruit of works)

How Points to Christ

• Everything is vanity and meaningless apart from Christ!
• Christ alone gives meaning to all things, to wisdom, pleasure, working hard
• The fear of God leads us to Christ
• Christ saves us for good deeds, to be conformed to His image

Apply

• Please pray that I and the rest of God’s people would grow in the fear of God
• And please pray that we would demonstrate the genuineness of our faith through joyful obedience to all of God’s commandments.
• May God’s people be characterized by a repentant lifestyle and a growing holiness.

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July 26 – Prayer for the Unreached

May God increase our desire for His glory to spread to all nations and peoples – Joshua Project!

Unreached of the Day

Please pray for the …

Bayad of Mongolia

Population: 59,000

Language: Mongolian, Halh

Religion: Non-Religious

Evangelical: 0.05%

For more details…

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July 25 – Ecclesiastes 5-8

Bible Reading Commitment, Encouragement, and Challenge

July 25 – Ecclesiastes 5-8

Observe with some (Interpretation in Parentheses)

• Everything is vanity and meaningless!
• The author had just unloaded a plethora of specific areas of life to support his main point that everything is vanity and meaningless.
• But in the midst of all the vanity in this world, the only meaningful being is God, and the fear of God
• Nonetheless, we still live in this fallen world, experiencing the brokenness that comes from sin all around us, and in chapters 5-7, the author seeks to help us live in this world in wisdom
• Despite its vanity, there is a way to life live in the path of wisdom and life instead of folly and death
• Why is all the above the reality we live in?  The answer is simple, yet sobering.
• 7:29 says, “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
• (Simply put, God made this world perfect, but man sought to rebel against God and sinned against God, causing all the death, destruction, corruption, and suffering we see in this world)

How Points to Christ

• Everything is vanity and meaningless apart from Christ!
• Christ alone gives meaning to all things, to wisdom, pleasure, working hard
• The fear of God leads us to Christ
• And Christ is the only one who can reverse and redeem the world’s corruption, suffering, and all the effects of man’s sin

Apply

• Please pray that I and the rest of God’s people would grow in the fear of God
• And please pray that we would seek to bring meaning to this world by bringing Christ to people’s lives
• Changing the world apart from preaching Christ is likewise vanity and meaningless
• Christ is the only being, not a changed world, that brings life and joy and meaning to life.

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July 25 – Prayer for the Unreached

May God increase our desire for His glory to spread to all nations and peoples – Joshua Project!

Unreached of the Day

Please pray for the …

Landoma of Guinea

Population: 21,000

Language: Landoma

Religion: Islam

Evangelical: 0.06%

For more details…

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July 24 – Ecclesiastes 1-4

Bible Reading Commitment, Encouragement, and Challenge

July 24 – Ecclesiastes 1-4

Observe with some (Interpretation in Parentheses)

• Everything is vanity and meaningless!
• Human, earthly, practical wisdom are vanity and meaningless
• Pleasure and seeking to satisfy pleasure are vanity and meaningless
• Working hard to obtain worldly wealth and riches are vanity and meaningless

How Points to Christ

• Everything is vanity and meaningless apart from Christ!
• Christ alone gives meaning to all things, to wisdom, pleasure, working hard

Apply

• Please pray that I would center my entire life on Christ and to recognize the futility of things in this world, that I would seek to live and point people to Christ and His Gospel.

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July 24 – Prayer for the Unreached

May God increase our desire for His glory to spread to all nations and peoples – Joshua Project!

Unreached of the Day

Please pray for the …

Hui of China

Population: 12,583,000

Language: Chinese, Mandarin

Religion: Islam

Evangelical: 0.00%

For more details…

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July 23 – Proverbs 30-31

Bible Reading Commitment, Encouragement, and Challenge

July 23 – Proverbs 30-31

Observe with some (Interpretation in Parentheses)

• Chapters 1-9 sets the context for the book calling us to pursue wisdom and not folly
• From chapter 10-22:16, Solomon gives us many individual proverbs
• From 22:17-24:22, we have another section where the author calls the reader to incline their ear and hear the words of the wise and to apply wisdom to their hearts
• In this section, the author gives us 30 sayings (22:20) of wisdom for us to apply
• From 24:23-34, we have additional wisdom saying
• And in 25-29, we see that King Hezekiah also compiled many of Solomon’s proverbs
• Lastly, in chapters 30-31, we have saying from 2 more men, Agur and King Lemuel
• ALL are well worth meditation and application!
• But we don’t have time to unpack all the wisdom in this section – I will choose a few for application for my own life below.

How Points to Christ

• Jesus Christ is the true Wisdom of God
• The wisdom of this world is as utter foolishness compared to the wisdom of God
• True wisdom comes from relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord
• So we must remember that we cannot successfully strive to apply any and all of these Proverbs apart from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord (that is first priority!)

Apply

• Some sayings of wisdom that jumped out to me that challenged me in application.
• So please pray for me to apply the below proverbs and all of the rest.
• 30:7-9 – “Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”
• 31:10 – “An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels.  (YES!)
• I thank God for my excellent wife.
• For those looking for wives, notice that the text says, an EXCELLENT wife, not a “perfect” wife, who can find?
• I pray that I would be a husband and a man worth following for an excellent wife!
• Need much prayer!

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