Saturday, November 30, 2013

Day 334, November 30 - Psalm 140

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6 I say to the Lord, You are my God;
      give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
7 O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
       you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
       do not further their[b] evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah

The Voice

Friday, November 29, 2013

Day 333, November 29 - Revelation 1

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17b The One: This is not the time for fear; I am the First and the Last, 18 and I am the living One. I entered the realm of the dead; but see, I am alive now and for all the ages—even ages to come. [Amen.] I possess the keys to open the prison of death and hades.
The Voice

I'll be honest, the book of The Revelation is a tough one for me to wrap my brain around, but I'm going to read it over the next few weeks left in the year. I'm hoping The Voice will make it a little more understandable. I'll also utilize some commentaries and study Bible notes.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Day 332, November 28 - 3 John 1

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My Thanksgiving Prayer for you!

2 My beloved friend, I pray that everything is going well for you and that your body is as healthy as your soul is prosperous. 3 I was thrilled when the brothers and sisters came and told me stories of your faithfulness as you continue to walk in the truth. 4 The greatest joy in my life is hearing how my children are walking in the truth.

15 May you experience true peace. I send you greetings from the fellow believers here. Greet all our friends there personally.
The Voice

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Day 331, November 27 - 2 John 1

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7 The corrupt world is filled with liars and frauds who deny the reality that Jesus the Anointed has come into the world as a man of flesh and blood. These people are deceivers and antiChrists.[a] 8 Ensure that you do not lose what we have worked for so that you will be fully rewarded.

The Voice

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Day 330, November 26 - 1 John 5

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18 We all know that everyone fathered by God will not make sin a way of life because God protects His children from the evil one, and the evil one can’t touch them. 19 Have confidence in the fact that we belong to God, but also know that the world around us is in the grips of the evil one. 20 We also can be sure of the fact that the Son of God has come and given us a mind so that we may know Him as the embodiment of all that is true. We live in this truth, in His Son Jesus, the Anointed One. He is the True God and eternal life.

21 My little children, keep away from idols.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Day 329, November 25 - 1 John 4

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7 My loved ones, let us devote ourselves to loving one another. Love comes straight from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and truly knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
The Voice
As we go into Thanksgiving I think it's important to think about and love those around us.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Day 328, November 24 - Psalm 139

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1 O Eternal One, You have explored my heart and know exactly who I am;
2 You even know the small details like when I take a seat and when I stand up again. Even when I am far away, You know what I’m thinking.
3 You observe my wanderings and my sleeping, my waking and my dreaming, and You know everything I do in more detail than even I know.

13 For You shaped me, inside and out. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath.
14 I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe. You have approached even the smallest details with excellence; Your works are wonderful; I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.

23 Explore me, O God, and know the real me. Dig deeply and discover who I am. Put me to the test and watch how I handle the strain.
24 Examine me to see if there is an evil bone in me, and guide me down Your path forever.

Such a powerful Psalm about how well God knows us and how we are uniquely created.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Day 327, November 23 - Psalm 137 & 138

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Psalm 138
7 Whenever I walk into trouble,
      You are there to bring me out.
You hold out Your hand
      to protect me against the wrath of my enemies,
       and hold me safely in Your right hand.
8 The Eternal will finish what He started in me.
        Your faithful love, O Eternal One, lasts forever;
        do not give up on what Your hands have made.
The Voice

The Eternal will finish what He started in me! AMEN!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Day 326, November 22 - 1 John 3

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2 My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now. The full picture of our destiny is not yet clear, but we know this much: when Jesus appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. 3 All those who focus their hopes on Him and His coming seek to purify themselves just as He is pure.
The Voice

I love the fact that we've been adopted!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Day 325, November 21 - 1 John 2

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24 Let the good news, the story you have heard from the beginning of your journey, live in and take hold of you. If that happens and you focus on the good news, then you will always remain in a relationship with the Son and the Father. 25 This is what He promised us: eternal life.
The Voice

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Day 324, November 20 - 1 John 1

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9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (ESV)

9 But if we own up to our sins, God shows that He is faithful and just by forgiving us of our sins and purifying us from the pollution of all the bad things we have done. (The Voice)

I normally like The Voice translation, I'm not sure I like "if we own up to our sins"... is that really the same as confessing them? I need to think about that a little more.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Day 323, November 19 - Hebrews 13

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20 Now may the God of peace, who brought the great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, back from the dead through the blood of the new everlasting covenant, 21 perfect you in every good work as you work God’s will. May God do in you only those things that are pleasing in His sight through Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, to whom we give glory always and forever. Amen.

(The Voice)

Monday, November 18, 2013

Day 322, November 18 - Hebrews 12

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1 So since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us.

This is from the Basilica in San Jose, CA verse 1 comes to life when I look at this ceiling:
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2 Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.
The Voice

This is such a great chapter. There are so many wonderful verses in this chapter.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Day 321, November 17 - Psalm 136

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One of my favorite Psalms (I haven't said that in awhile!!)

....for his steadfast love endures forever

And when I read this Psalm I think of this song by Chris Tomlin done by Michael W. Smith


Saturday, November 16, 2013

Day 320, November 16 - Psalm 135

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2 Join in the chorus, all you who minister in the Eternal’s temple;
       in the courts of our God’s temple,
3 Glorify the Eternal, for He is good!
       Sing praises, and honor His name for it is delightful.
(The Voice)

Friday, November 15, 2013

Day 319, November 15 - Hebrews 11

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Verse 1
Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you’ve never seen.
(The Voice)

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Day 318, November 14 - Hebrews 10

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19 So, my friends, Jesus by His blood gives us courage to enter the most holy place. 20 He has created for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through His flesh. 21 Since we have a great High Priest who presides over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with true hearts full of faith, with hearts rinsed clean of any evil conscience, and with bodies cleansed with pure water. 23 Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One who promised it to us is faithful. 24 Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, 25 not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches.
The Voice

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Day 317, November 13 - Hebrews 9

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15 This is why Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant: through His death, He delivered us from the sins that we had built up under the first covenant, and His death has made it possible for all who are called to receive God’s promised inheritance. 16 For whenever there is a testament—a will—the death of the one who made it must be confirmed 17 because a will takes effect only at the death of its maker; it has no validity as long as the maker is still alive.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Day 316, November 12 - Hebrews 8

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1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent[a] that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.
(ESV)

Monday, November 11, 2013

Day 315, November 11 - Hebrews 7

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2b Let’s look more closely at Melchizedek. First, his name means “king of righteousness”; and his title, king of Salem, means “king of peace.” 3 The Scriptures don’t name his mother or father or descendants, and they don’t record his birth or his death. We could say he’s like the Son of God: eternal, a priest forever.
22 So we can see that Jesus has become the guarantee of a new and better covenant. 23 Further, the prior priesthood of the sons of Levi has included many priests because death cut short their service, 24 but Jesus holds His priesthood permanently because He lives His resurrected life forever. 25 From such a vantage, He is able to save those who approach God through Him for all time because He will forever live to be their advocate in the presence of God.
The Voice

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Day 314, November 10 - Psalm 133, 134

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Psalm 134

A song for those journeying to worship.

1 Praise the Eternal, all you who serve Him—
       who stand ready to serve in the house of the Eternal through the night.
2 Lift up your hands toward His sanctuary,
       and praise the Eternal.
3 May the Eternal grant you His blessing from Zion,
       God, the weaver of heaven and earth.

The Voice

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Day 313, November 9 - Psalm 131, 132

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Psalm 131 -
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
        my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
       too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
       like a weaned child with its mother;
       like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
       from this time forth and forevermore.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Day 312, November 8 - Hebrews 6

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1 So let’s push on toward a more perfect understanding and move beyond just the basic teachings of the Anointed One. There’s no reason to rehash the fundamentals: repenting from what you loved in your old dead lives, believing in God as our Creator and Redeemer, 2 teaching about baptism, setting aside those called to service through the ritual laying on of hands, the coming resurrection of those who have died, and God’s final judgment of all people for all time.

The Voice

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Day 311, November 7 - Hebrews 5

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7 When Jesus was on the earth, a man of flesh and blood, He offered up prayers and pleas, groans and tears to the One who could save Him from death. He was heard because He approached God with reverence. 8 Although He was a Son, Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered. 9 And once He was perfected through that suffering He became the way of eternal salvation for all those who hear and follow Him, 10 for God appointed Him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The Voice

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Day 310, November 6 - Hebrews 4

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11 So let us move forward to enter this rest, so that none of us fall into the kind of faithless disobedience that prevented them from entering. 12 The word of God, you see, is alive and moving; sharper than a double-edged sword; piercing the divide between soul and spirit, joints and marrow; able to judge the thoughts and will of the heart.

The Voice

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Day 309, November 5 - Hebrews 3

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12 Brothers and sisters, pay close attention so you won’t develop an evil and unbelieving heart that causes you to abandon the living God. 13 Encourage each other every day—for as long as we can still say “today”—so none of you let the deceitfulness of sin harden your hearts. 14 For we have become partners with the Anointed One—if we can just hold on to our confidence until the end.

The Voice

Monday, November 4, 2013

Day 308, November 4 - Hebrews 2

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5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.
6 It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Day 307, November 3 - Psalm 129, 130

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5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
      and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
         more than watchmen for the morning,
         more than watchmen for the morning.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Day 306, November 2 - Psalm 127, 128

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3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
      the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
      are the children of one's youth.

I need this reminder! (not that my 14 year old is making a little crazy!)

Friday, November 1, 2013

Day 305, November 1 - Hebrews 1

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8 But to the Son He said,
     God, Your throne is eternal;
      You will rule Your kingdom with the scepter of justice.
9 You have loved what is right
      and hated what is evil;
      That is why God, Your God, has anointed You
        with the oil of gladness and lifted You above Your companions.
(The Voice)
Quoted from Psalm 45:6-7

There are many days I need to be anointed with the oil of gladness.