For those that have been following along it is now day 7, we have made it a week. I hope everyone is keeping up and anyone that wants to start it is not to late. You can still catch up by reading a little extra or just start right along with us and come back to the chapters you missed later on.
Genesis 18 starts with Abraham sitting by his tent when three visitors show up. Abraham immediately takes these visitors into his house and offers them food, drink and water to clean their feet. We learn that the visitors are the Lord and he once again tells Abraham that by this time next year Sarah will be with child. Sarah laughs when she hears this and the lord confronts her on it. The Lord tells them nothing is impossible with Him and that it will happen. Finishing chapter 18 brings us to the Lord and his companions leaving Abraham's hospitality and traveling on to Sodom. Abraham walks with them and talks with the Lord on what He is about to do. The Lord tells Abraham that if righteous people are found in Sodom then he will spare the city but if none our found it will be destroyed. I felt like Abraham was getting pretty bold by the questions he was asking the Lord in this last section. I wonder if I would have been able to stand up to the Lord the way Abraham did?
Genesis 19 tells the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. We begin with the two travelers which happen to be angels meeting Lot at the entrance to Sodom. Sodom invites them into his house and offers them food and water to clean with. The men of Sodom come to Lot's house and request that the travelers be handed over so that they could have their way with them. The angels tell Lot of their plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and urge him to leave the city before it is destroyed. Lot takes his wife and daughters and flee to a nearby town for safety. As they are fleeing Lot's wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt. The chapter ends with Lot and his daughters leaving Zoar and living in the mountains. The daughters deceive their father and lay with him so that they can preserve their family line. This chapter really disgust me. The things that were being done in Sodom and Gomorrah in my opinion deserved the wrath of God. As for the last portion of this chapter I have yet to come to an understanding of it. I do not see what would possess daughters to lay down with their father.
Matthew 6: 1 - 18 begins with more ways in which we are to live our lives. We are told that we should give to those in need. When we do this though we are to do it with out telling everyone what we have done. Next we learn how it is that we should pray. We should not pray aloud to be heard by everyone but we should be doing it alone so that it is a quite time between yourself and the Lord. He then gives us the way we are to pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matt. 6:9 - 13) We are also told in this section of prayer that we are to forgive those who sin against us because if we do not the Father will not forgive our sins. The last portion for today is on fasting. We are not to show an appearance of fasting but clean ourselves and fast in private to the Lord. This portion of Matthew that was read today I feel teaches us a lot. It shows us how to pray, fast and that we are to give to those in need. We are to do in private so that it is a holy communion time with God.
Tomorrow's reading is:
Genesis 20, 21, 22 and Matthew 6:19 - 34
So far, I'm keeping up pretty good. I found a program called Bible Explorer 4 and installed it on my laptop. Then I downloaded several different versions of the Bible that were free to download. It also has a Bible reading schedule that is pretty close to your schedule. It also lets me keep track of what I have read. At the end of the first seven days it has gone through Genesis 1-17 and Matthew 1-5. Pretty close to what you are doing. I'll try to keep up with you but I like the way I can track this on the computer and know if I have missed anything. If you are interested, I can show it to your sometime. Only drawback is some of the Bible versions that I would like to use cost money so I'm just using the free versions at this time. I have the King James Version, The American Standard Version, the Bible In Basic English, God's Word, and Young's Literal Translation. I'll continue to read your comments. Enjoy your insight.
ReplyDelete18. I can't blame Sarah for her doubt about having a child, but I bet she felt very sheepish when the Lord confronted her about her laughter.
ReplyDelete19. I also find this chapter disgusting. Lot offers his daughters to the towns people, the towns peoples actions, and Lot's daughters having his children. This is the first time I'm reading most of the Bible and I'm shocked by a lot of the things we've read about so far.
6. I loved this chapter. Specifically, I like knowing that the Lord knows the prayers on our heart before we say it. I don't consider myself very articulate in my prayers, so it's a comfort to know that the Lord knows what they are despite my short comings.