Cheese. If I had to pinpoint a single food that will assure tossing and turning, vivid dreams, and even a bit of snoring, all it takes is a serving size before bed and a restless night is almost guaranteed. Nevertheless, if cheese alone caused distress in my sleep, it simply would take some discipline in my diet to cure this issue. My resting is subjected to more interruptions. The rumblings of my mind often disturb the counting of sheep more than the rumblings in my gut. Thinking about the stresses of work, school, family or reliving the failings of my day can be the late night double feature playing inside my head. Without the perspective that comes from God, it is hard to find rest.
“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7
“Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord.” Psalm 4: 4,5
Like Cain, the source of this restlessness often stems from some type of disconnection from God. We are hanging on to something that the eternal God has made clear is His area of reckoning. Our past. Our future. Our sin. Our fear. Our stress. Our anger. All of these are the cheese that is gumming up the works of the rest we can find in God even when we are weak and heavy laden. Continually turning towards the issues provides anything but relief, further stalling your slumber. Furthermore, sin is waiting outside our door when we choose to act without the “green light” of God’s will. Instead of searching your finite mind for an answer, humble yourself and seek the face of the infinite God.
This works well beyond the confines of your covers. It can be found behind a steering wheel when you are driving away from another argument, sitting at a desk reminded of the endless list of things that you won’t get done today, or kneeling behind a closed door drowning in depression of loss. The solution is the same in all situations: worship God Almighty. When we are reminded of who He is, we don’t have to hold the answer because He has readied one and is holding onto us. While it’s possible to receive revelation in these moments (James states that our God gives wisdom generously to all without finding fault), the answer we may receive is His presence into our mercy, fears, and shortcoming, which is the relief we so desperately need to quiet our minds and catch a few winks. The silence is not rejection or a stalling tactic. The silence is the peace that comes from trust in the Lord so you can rest in peace.
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8
-Aaron Winner
Reflection Questions
Where could your life use a little more peace? Where have you looked for it?
What do we learn from the narrative of Cain and Abel regarding peace, and also the lack thereof? What do we learn from David’s example in Psalm 4?
In your Bible reading today, what do you discover about God and his character? Thank Him for it.
While it might seem that Christmas is far behind us in the rear view mirror, technically we are on the tenth day of Christmas, when the lords are leaping. Today’s reading crosses paths with the humble, yet noble beginning of our Savior that we have been well-seasoned in. The genealogy presents Jesus as the rightful heir to the kingship of Israel. What is peculiar about Matthew’s opening, our first reading of the gospels, is the line which he chooses. Jesus is presented as heir to the throne through his adopted earthly father, Joseph. Unfortunately, during our advent season, the role of the Son of Man’s early father is often downplayed, as the screen time is often given to Mary, the shepherds, the wise man, John the Baptist, even Simeon, yet the story of Joseph is often skipped or scrapped as much as the the genealogies. I think there is much we can learn from his story.
The first lesson we can learn from the narrative of Joseph is God wanted Jesus to have an earthly Father. It is sad to see and say, but that the role of the father in our present day and age has been reduced to the punchline of a sitcom. Dads are important. The statistics show that when a mother alone attends church with her children, the chances that her children will grow to be a regular attender is a one in fifty chance. However, when the father attends, the effect is fiftyfold. The statistics are baffling but speak to the point of the subtle, yet intentional role of the father’s influence on the family. From the scriptures we can see that Joseph took his family to synagogue. From the intentionality in God’s plan, I don’t think it would be farfetched to say that Joseph did even more for the spiritual upbringing of Jesus, going beyond giving him a ride to church and providing a model and example of a life dedicated to God.
Next, in the face of disgrace, Joseph showed compassion. Joseph didn’t need to take a paternity test to know he wasn’t the father. By His measure, he had not done anything dishonorable. It was well within his right to expose Mary, and not only break their engagement, but to have her stoned to death. While there isn’t much to this part of the narrative, so we don’t know all the nitty-gritty details, we can see that Joseph made it a point not to disgrace Mary. We can empathize with Joseph because he didn’t have all the facts or at least was confronted with a moment which required great faith. It is likely that he doubted and refused to believe, but he didn’t give into his anger, instead choosing a merciful course of action to deal with what he thought was sin. As people who experience mistakes, either done to us or by us, let us show grace.
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” – Matthew 1:24
Finally, God spoke directly to Joseph, and he immediately took action. When an angel of the Lord delivers the life-changing message to Joseph, he changes his course to follow the Lord’s direction. He takes Mary as his wife. He waits to consummate the marriage. He names his son, Jesus. In tomorrow’s reading we’ll see he moves on direct instructions in the middle of the night in order to protect his wife and newborn child. He then again waits and listens for the voice of God before he returns home. I am positive that Joseph continued to listen for the voice of God long after the toddler stage of Jesus. Joseph became closely aligned to his Heavenly Father by listening for His voice. We too, have the same opportunity. The Word of God has been delivered to us. We simply need to open our Bible, click on a link, and the words are as clear as an angel’s voice in the midst of our dreams. If we are seeking God, we must allow ourselves to be convicted: to change course and take action. While we may not be rearing the adopted Son of God, we all have an opportunity to speak with our lives to those adopted through Jesus Christ, as mothers and fathers of faith.
-Aaron Winner
Reflection Questions
What do you think Jesus may have learned from Joseph, his earthly father?
To whom, and how, can you be a mother or father of faith?
In my Bible reading today, I found God to be________________.
And, as an extra little bonus, in preparation for adding in our Old Testament Bible Reading tomorrow, beginning with Genesis 1&2 – here is the…
Introduction to the Book of Genesis
The book of Genesis is probably the most important book ever written. The word Genesis means “origin.” The book of Genesis contains the history of the origin of:
the universe
the solar system
the atmosphere
life
man
marriage
evil and death
languages
government
culture
nations
religion
God’s chosen people
No other book of the Bible is quoted or referred to as often as Genesis – in other books of the Bible. I have read that there are at least 200 quotations or allusions to Genesis in the New Testament.
If Genesis were eliminated from the Bible, the rest of the Bible would be impossible to understand. For example, look at these comparisons between the first few chapters of Genesis and the last few chapters of Revelation:
Genesis Revelation
Division of light and darkness (1:4) — No night there (21:25)
Division of land and sea (1:10) — No more sea (21:1)
Rule of sun and moon (1:16) — No need of sun or moon (21:23)
Man in a prepared garden (2:8, 9) — Man in prepared city (21:2)
River flowing out of Eden (2:10) — River flowing from God’s throne (22:1)
Gold in the land (2:12) — Gold in the city (21:21)
Tree of life in the midst of garden (2:9) — Tree of life throughout city (22:2)
Precious stones (2:12) — All manner of precious stones (21:19)
God walking in garden (3:8) — God dwelling with HIS people (21:3)
Cursed World (Genesis) Eternal World (Revelation)
Cursed ground (3:17) — No more curse (22:3)
Daily sorrow (3:17) — No more sorrow (21:4)
Thorns and thistles (3:18) — No more pain (21:4)
Sweat on face (3:19) — Tears wiped away (21:4)
Returning to dust (3:19) — No more death (21:4)
Evil continually (6:5) — Nothing that defiles (21:27)
Coats of skins (3:21) — Fine linen, white and clean (19:14)
Satan opposing (3:15) — Satan banished (20:10)
Kept from tree of life (3:24) — Access to tree of life (22:14)
Banished from garden (3:23) — Free to enter city (22:14)
Some suggest that Genesis (at least the first 11 chapters) are an allegory, and not historically accurate.
If Genesis were not historically trustworthy, then neither is the rest of the Bible, including what it says about Jesus. If Adam is only an allegory, then by all logic, so is Christ. Genesis is not a collection of myths and legends, but a factual record of real events and real people, possibly even diaries of those people at the beginning of history.
The book of Genesis is written in the form of narrative records of historical events. Biblical parallels to Genesis are found in such books as Kings, Chronicles, Luke, and Acts. In all of these, the writer either collected previous documents and edited them (e.g. I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles), or else recorded the events which he had either seen himself or had collected from others who were witnesses (e.g. Luke, Acts).
Moses actually wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Moses likely compiled and possibly edited the material in the book of Genesis, with the Holy Spirit guiding him in this process. The original material may have been passed down, from father to son, via the line of the patriarchs listed in Genesis. It may be that Adam, Noah, Shem, Terah, and others each wrote down an individual account of the events which had occurred during his own lifetime. These records presumably were kept in such a way that they would be preserved until they finally came into Moses’ possession.
It is probable that these original documents can still be recognized by the key phrase: “These are the generations of…” The word “generations” is a translation of the Hebrew word “toledoth,” and means “origins” or “records of the origins.”
“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth” Gen 2:4
“This is the written account of the generations of Adam” Gen 5:1 (This suggests these were written)
“These are the generations of Noah” Gen 6:9
“Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah” Gen 10:1
“These are the generations of Shem” Gen 11:10
“Now these are the generations of Terah” Gen 11:27
“Now these are the generations of Ishmael” Gen 25:12
“And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son” Gen 25:19
“Now these are the generations of Esau” Gen 36:1
“And these are the generations of Esau” Gen 36:9
“These are the generations of Jacob” Gen 37:2
An understanding of Genesis is vital to an understanding of the eternal plan of GOD. Strap yourselves in as we prepare to read through God’s word again this year.
Welcome to the first post of our 2023 SeekGrowLove Bible reading plan! We are beginning the year with a little time in Psalm 119, and in the next couple days will add in the other Old Testament and New Testament readings. You can download and print the whole plan found at the end of today’s post. Every time we begin a new book of the Bible, we will include a little introduction written by Steve Mattison.
Introducing the Book – Psalm
The book of Psalms was Israel’s songbook. It contains a collection of psalms (or songs) that primarily focus on praising God for who he is and for what he has done. The Hebrew title is, “the book of praises.” Most of these psalms are prayers to God written by King David, although other authors, ranging from Moses, to Solomon, to the sons of Korah also contributed.
The book of Psalms teaches us to seek God with our whole heart, to tell Him the truth and to tell Him everything, and to worship Him because of who He is, not just because of what He has done. It contains a range of topics, from people crying out to God from the depths of their despair, to those praising God with jubilation from the depths of their hearts.
The book of Psalms has spoken to me in my lowest lows as well as in my highest highs. May the inspired words in this book resonate well with you as you read these psalms this year.
Psalm 119 Devotion
Who in their right mind is thinking about the end right now? Really? Terrible title. TERRIBLE. This is the time of fresh starts! New beginnings! Redos! Our mind focused on the brief novelty of this moment’s pants kicking; the annual motivation for improvements we have put off for weeks, months, or even years. While we might commit to a dream today, I would say there is little thought given to the realities of December 31st, 2023: 365 calendar days away. Whether it’s gym memberships, nicotine patches, cauliflower pizzas, saving accounts, or even bible reading plans, have we bought into the idea that we are preparing ourselves for a full year of commitment in our resolutions? Look at your Google Calendar or your bank statement: what have you planned and paid for in a full-year upfront knowing that it will change your life by the end? Or is your resolve more like the free 7-day trial, leaving one foot in 2022 in case you want to make a getaway?
“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:9-11
I will go ahead and say, it is not fiscally responsible, or even logically feasible, to pile up a year’s worth of cauliflower pizza into a deep freeze, but our commitment level to any life-changing resolution, should count the cost of sacrifice with the end in mind. This is an echo of what our Heavenly Father has done through Jesus Christ. Paul speaks to this in Colossians 1:16 when he states “For through [Jesus] were all things created, things that are in heaven, and things that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” Our eternal God has dictated to us the rules, plans, and ordinations of his personal and universal will that will lead us to a relationship with Him, which has ended the penalty of sin with the blood of Jesus Christ and leads to the big finale, the Kingdom of God. Knowing the end, it is much easier to keep to and dictate the decrees of each day. Without the end in mind, we are just tragic creatures of toil, mindlessly moving from one task to the next.
“Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.” – Psalm 119:33
Our God is not a God of chaos (1 Cor 14:33). He works in logic and rules that are shared with us because WE as heirs according to the promise are included in the end. We don’t have to feel out the way, make up the path, or bump down the lane. God has made his moral law clear. It is not just a list of “thou shalt nots” but enhancements and boundaries provided for our own physical safety, societal responsibility, psychological well-being, and the eternal enhancement of the connection and relationship between the Heavenly Father and his children. He is not a part-time parent, nor can we be part-time children. You can’t periodically pause your subscription or ghost your way out of the membership. Our life is better lived, today and eternally, when we are resolute to learning and practicing His ways that are forged in the ultimate love and truths. We become devoted.
That devotion begins with finding a way to be connected to the Word of God every single day. It could be found in this blog. It could be found in personal study, podcast, prayer time, or all the above. What I propose, if we truly are wanting to grow in the word of God this year, to engage and act upon His message that is delivered through His word, you and I must set alarms, write in on our mirrors, put it in our checklist and calendars, and make it priority. Being here to read every day provides an opportunity to do that alongside others who are also seeking out a devoted life to Christ. If our end of life is found in 2023, if Jesus returns, or the Lord tarries for another year and He still gives us life, how much more abundant will December 31st, 2023 be if we have committed ourselves fully to understanding the precepts, the statutes, the laws, the understanding, and the wisdom of your heavenly Father? Let’s be committed to the end, even if we are at a loss of where to begin our year.
“May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me delight. Let me live so that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.” -Psalm 119:171-175
-Aaron Winner
Reflection Questions
In reading through Psalm 119 what do you see of God’s character – how does He show who He is through His inspired word? This is a question we will be asking regularly this year (sometimes phrased differently). We think you will find great benefit in journaling, or making notes in your Bible margin, on how you see and what you learn of God and His character from His written word every day this year.
What are your favorite verses of Psalm 119? What words are used in Psalm 119 to name God’s law or directions for life? What are the benefits given for knowing, following, loving these words of God? What do you find about the results of neglecting these words of God? How would you rate your knowledge of and then, love for, the words of God?
Where do you want to be at the end of 2023? What steps will help you get there? Spend some time in prayer to the God of Psalm 119.
What an exciting time of year! Who is ready for 2023 and a NEW SeekGrowLove Bible reading plan?
At the bottom of this post you will find the new schedule! Wouldn’t it be great if 2023 was the year you daily read the Bible more than ever before?
What does God want to reveal about himself to you – every day of 2023? Come along on the journey with Seek Grow Love to find out!
This year the Seek Grow Love reading plan includes 3 daily readings. Choose 1, 2 or 3 of the readings to complete each day – if you do all three everyday (or get caught up if needed) you will read through the whole Bible in 2023.
– The Old Testament reading is 2-3 chapters a day and takes you through the entire Old Testament, with the exception of Psalms and Proverbs.
– In the second column, one Psalm or Proverb is assigned to each day and through the year each will be repeated.
– The New Testament column is typically one chapter of the New Testament each day. The gospels are spread out throughout the year, Matthew is at the start and end of the year, and Acts will be read after Luke in the spring, the rest of the New Testament is mostly in order. A few weeks will be devoted to a theme related to a holiday season, FUEL theme, or a doctrinal topic.
You may find benefit in spreading out the readings through your day and praying through the Psalm. Perhaps one or more of the readings will work well to do together with your family. You may also find it helpful having an accountability partner, or even creating a small group to share what you have been reading and learning.
Visit SeekGrowLove.com to read daily devotions based on this reading plan, and on the website you can sign up to have the devotions emailed to you every morning. Each devotion will include reflection questions. This year, we specifically challenge you to search everyday for what God is revealing about himself throughout His Scriptures. It would be a great year to start a little journal (or note in your Bible margins or online Bible notes) and record daily what you have read and what you learn about God, His character, His power, His love, His Son, etc… in that passage.
You can also follow on our Facebook page (Seek Grow Love) and Instagram (seekgrowlove).
God bless you as you seek the LORD and read His words this year!
We are happy to announce a NEW Bible reading plan for SeekGrowLove readers in 2022!
We are going to intentionally slow down and each day focus on just ONE Bible chapter. Through the year we will cover every chapter of the New Testament (reading one gospel in each season) and 105 chapters highlighting the best of the Old Testament, with at least one chapter from each of the books. Much thanks to Bob Jones, Old Testament instructor at Atlanta Bible College, for his invaluable help in selecting the Old Testament chapters we have included.
Print and share the printable reading plan attached below. Since we are intentionally slowing down and focusing on just one chapter a day it is a great time for new readers (individuals, families, youth groups, Sunday School classes, etc…). Readers will receive daily email devotions based on that day’s Bible chapter if they sign up as a subscriber at https://seekgrowlove.com/. Seek Grow Love can also be found and liked on facebook to read the devotions there.
An addition this year will be reflection and discussion questions at the end of every devotion which will help us further connect to God and His Scriptures on a personal level. Working through these questions can be very useful for personal contemplation or journaling. Also, they may be used within a mentor relationship or amongst accountability partners. Pray about who God may be prompting you to invite on a journey with you into His Word and His heart. And do you have kids at home – or church kids on your heart? With one chapter a day and discussion questions that can be used during family devotions or by a young person working through God’s word, this is a great opportunity to challenge yourself, your family, your youth class, your accountability partner to SeekGrowLove!
Seek Grow Love 