Daily Bible Readings
Daily Bible Readings for Week of July 26, 2021
Monday, July 26th - Jeremiah 15:19-21
Tuesday, July 27th - 2 Corinthians 6:14--7:1
Wednesday, July 28th - 1 Timothy 6:11-21
Thursday, July 29th - Jeremiah 2:4-17
Friday, July 30th - Romans 8:12-17
Saturday, July 31st - Philippians 4:10-20
Prayer of the Week
O God, give us bread. Give us bread to nourish our bodies, and in Christ give us the bread of eternal life that in Him we may grow and thrive and serve; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Memory Verses for July 2021
July 4th - John 15:5
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
July 11th - John 15:8
8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
July 18th - Matthew 3:8
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
July 25th - Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Book of the Month: Gospel of John
Journey to Hope
A Declaration of Blessing
“Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4) It seems a strange thing to say that those who suffer are blessed. Every instinct within our human selves rises in disbelief and confusion. It seems illogical and contradictory. How can anyone who has lost something or someone much loved be blessed? Is that not a misfortune or a curse? Yet, God declares that people who believe God are privileged in the midst of every sad and painful circumstance. How can that be?
Navigating Change
Change Is not something most of us eagerly anticipate, especially if it is not our plan. Grief brings about abrupt change. What was comfortable and familiar yesterday becomes horrifying and different today. Life can be re-categorized—there is BC (before change) and AD (after death or loss).
What the Parable of the Sower Tells Us About Grief
When we grieve the loss of something dear to us our faith is often tested. We are told in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) of four areas where seeds fell and subsequently grew. Three areas could not sustain the plants that sprung up—only one could. Going through grief can reveal our spiritual soil type. God made soil to be a natural medium for the growth of plants and we are the God-designed medium through which faith is cultivated.
Letting Go
We might not think that grieving would be an appropriate word to use for the Israelites after they left Egypt. They had been in the land for many years and it had been welcoming and a prosperous time. But under a new Pharaoh life changed drastically. The bible tells us that the Egyptian masters worked the Israelites “ruthlessly” (Exod. 1:13, 14) and made their lives “bitter” (Exod. 1:14) with “hard/cruel” (Exod. 1:14; 6:9) service. As a result, Israel languished in “misery” and “suffering” (Exod. 3:7).