December 31st One Year Bible Readings

You are invited to join us on the One Year Bible journey in 2010!  We currently have over 10,300 people in 67 countries around the world signed up for our free weekly email filled with commentary, encouragement, and questions for reflection.  To join us on the journey in 2010 click on this link for more details and to sign up!

Malachi 3:1-4:6 ~ Revelation 22:1-21 ~ Psalm 150:1-6 ~ Proverbs 31:25-31
~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~
~ Listen to today's Scripture on OneYearAudioBible.org or DailyAudioBible.com (podcast) ~

Happy New Year!  Congratulations to everyone who completed the One Year Bible journey in 2009 today!  It has been awesome to go through the journey this year with each of you.  It is quite a blessing to realize that you've read through God's Word this past year!  It has been a huge blessing for me.  God has continued to transform me this past year through this journey.  Reading through the Bible in a year will change us.  For the better!  :)

Old Testament - Today we finish the book of the prophet Malachi, and it is an awesome 2 chapters we read today!  The first half of Malachi chapter 3 verse 1 is prophesying 400 years in advance of the coming of John the Baptist, who will prepare people's hearts for Jesus by preaching repentance of sins: ""Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me." This is a great thing to reflect on as we close out one year and begin anew.  Do we need a messenger from God to encourage us to repent from our sins?  Will we listen to that messenger and make way for the coming of Jesus into our hearts and lives?  The second half of verse 1 then prophesies that Jesus is indeed coming to usher in the new covenant, or the new testament: "The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the LORD Almighty."  The Good News for us today is that Jesus has come already for the forgiveness of sins and Jesus is coming again in glory!

Art used by permission by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
To order prints visit her "Revelation Illustrated" site.

Verse 2 tells us this about Jesus: "For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal or like a strong soap that whitens clothes."  Will you allow Jesus to refine you through his holy fire?  And make you pure through his holy soap?  (Okay, I realize this is a bit cheesy wording here - has anyone ever called Jesus holy soap before?? :) Actually, would you believe it - I found an image of "Jesus soap" online, as you'll see below! How this all ties into our Malachi readings today I've lost track of... I apologize for my end-of-year giddiness... :)

Verses 6 & 7 are so powerful for us to reflect upon: ""I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty."  As I reflect back upon our One Year Bible readings this year, it is so true that God does not change.  He has shown so much compassion over and over again to the Israelites in the Old Testament.  And he continues to show so much compassion to us today over and over again.  In light of God's holy and unchanging love and compassion for us, will we return to Him?  As you look back on our One Year Bible readings this year, do you agree with God's statement here that He does not change?  Do you believe that all the way from the Old Testament's Genesis to the New Testament's Revelation God does not change?

Verse 10 is one of my favorites and one of the most challenging in the Bible: "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!"   This verse has and will continue to be interpreted so many ways.  Check out the NIV translation of Malachi 3:10 (slightly different than the NLT version above) - "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."   It is very rare in the Bible that God says "test me" and follows it up with an incredible promise of a blessing.  In 2010, will you test God with a tithe?  In 2010, will you trust God with your tithe?

Chapter 4 verse 2 makes me smile with the metaphor of us being compared to a calf frolicking in a field: "But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture."  Do you want to be set free?  Truly free from your burdens and doing things that you do not want to do?  Will you entrust your life to the Sun (Son?) of Righteousness, Jesus?   And then - are you looking forward to leaping with joy like a calf let out to pasture??  :)   I love this metaphor...  it will stick with me.

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Malachi titled "God's Justice and Faithfulness" is at this link and "Preparing for the Day of the Lord" is at this link.

New Testament - Today we finish the book of Revelation with a glorious chapter describing the New Jerusalem in heaven, and with a clear reminder that Jesus is coming again!  Below is artist Pat Marvenko Smith's look "Through the Gate of the Eternal City" from Revelation 22:1-6 in today's readings:

Art used by permission by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
To order prints visit her "Revelation Illustrated" site.

Chapter 22 verses 1 & 2 are so beautiful: "And the angel showed me a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations."   This river combines the elements of the river in the Garden of Eden - see Genesis 2:8-14 - and the river flowing from the temple in Ezekiel's vision - see Ezekiel 47:1-12.  I love this idea of this "river of life".  There are so many beautiful allusions to God and grace being like water or a river in the Bible - particularly in the Psalms.  A river that heals us. I love this.  There is a great song by Steven Curtis Chapman about diving into the river.  I think it's called "Dive" on his Speechless CD.  This song of his reminds me so much of these verses.  One of his lyrics goes something like:  "The River's deep, the river's wide, the river's water is ALIVE!  So sink or swim, I'm diving in!"  Do you want to dive into this holy river of God?  Do you want to be healed and purified by it's waters? Will you dive in?

Verse 8 is powerful for us to reflect upon, where we see an angel speaking to John after he fell to worship the angel:  ""No, don't worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this scroll. Worship God!"" My thought here is that do we sometimes worship other people in our life?   And does this worship of other people ultimately take away from our worship of God?  Meaning, I think it might sometimes be tempting for us to "worship" our pastors or ministers or spiritual mentors.  But, should we do this?  I think we would do well to remember that these people in our life are simply servants of God, like this angel.  They are not God.  We are called to give our hearts and minds and souls and worship to God and God only.

Verse 20 (almost) closes out the book of Revelation with these words: “Come, Lord Jesus!” Are these three words a prayer of your heart? Should they be? It’s only recently that I started praying these words from my heart, and it is an amazing thing to truly pray and truly desire. Come Lord Jesus!

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Revelation chapter 22 titled "The Epilogue" is at this link and "Famous Last Words" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 150 is a wonderful end to the Psalter filled with a call to Praise God with all that we are!  Give it up for God and God only!

Proverbs - Proverbs 31:25-31 are a continued great look at what a godly woman does.  I really like verse 30 which seems so opposite of what our culture is often selling us today: "Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised."  I think this holds so true for women and men - our beauty or good looks or outer appearances do not last.  They are not eternal.  What matters is what's inside - our relationship with and love of God and other people.  So, I think this is a great reminder for us to focus on what's inside - which is what's eternal.  And yes, our culture will continue to try to sell us on the latest fads to look better on the outside.  Will you refuse to buy into that which will not last?  Do you realize that holiness is beautiful?  This picture below comes from Memphis, Tennessee:

YouTube - Today's readings in Revelation reminded me of the Steven Curtis Chapman song "Dive." However, rather than share that song with you in the video below, our readings in Revelation chapter 22 also reminded me of his powerful song about his daughter called "Heaven is the Face." Here's a great live version of this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nT88tmF5O8

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let those who hear say, "Come!" Let those who are thirsty come; and let all who wish take the free gift of the water of life." Revelation 22:17 (TNIV)

Comments From You and Question of the Day:  For those of you wrapping up the One Year Bible today in 2009, I'd like to ask you to post up your reflections on this experience in the Comments section below.  The reason for this request is because we have hundreds of new folks signing up to take the One Year Bible journey in 2010.  What advice would you give them?  Any encouragement?  What has reading the Bible on a daily basis meant to you over the past year?  Has this experience changed you in any way?  Thanks for sharing!  Also, for everyone, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

Comments

[Ramona]

This is somewhat off topic based on the scripture readings but lately I have not posted and not for lack of doing the daily readings. I find myself focusing on year-end thoughts, what have I learned in this year’s reading through the Word; and more importantly, what thing or things from this discipline have I applied to my life. What have I taken away from the daily reading and then exercised in my life? I guess you cold say I’ve been doing an audit as well as an inventory.

Even though haven’t posted for a little over a week and since I am finishing up my 19th year of reading through the Bible, I realize it is not old, it is not futile and I’m still seeing things I’ve never seen before although I’ve read it before. God’s Word is ever pregnant with new, old things, which I either was not mature enough to handle when I first read the book or did not have enough foundation built to receive the message.

This year my goal was to “find out how God did things and fall into line.” This coming year, I think it will be looking at God’s Word separately as one word, in The Word, one verse, one chapter, one book and also as a whole. This past year I found myself in a purposeful exercise program to try to counter the effects of Type II diabetes and reverse the symptoms if I can. As one get older, there is a tendency to buy into the fallacy of inevitability and accept the limitations of aging: weight gain, limited flexibility, memory loss and those aches and pains of wear and tear. But in the middle of the year I saw an article about a woman, Morjorie Newlin, who at the age of 72 began lifting weights at a gym with the Big Boys. At the age of 86 she can bench press and dead lift 95 pounds (43 kilos) and squat 135 (61). My imagination ran wild. What did I believed about myself and others I took for gospel truth? I began reading everything I could about exercise/moving and it’s effect on the body and found out that what I thought was inevitable the effects of aging on the body was not true. What I was seeing and experiencing was the effects of not moving—I was slowing down because I thought 1) I was entitled and 2) I needed to fit into the “norms” of the population group I was in.

These last two weeks God has been speaking to me about paralleling what I was finding out about moving and not moving on the physical body with the spiritual. All thought out the Old and New the spiritual body, be it Israel, the Temple, the Church our own body has been compared to the spiritual.

Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:4-5 HCSB)

I have been thinking about the role of our “fat” cells looking at them as our “hope;” the muscles as our “faith” and what happens to our bodies when we fail to move/exercise them be it anaerobic (without air) or aerobic (with air). Fat cells are stored energy, fat cells are needed to keep the body functioning and to propel the body to move. But what happens to us when we fail to move and keep gaining fat? Spiritually how does this play out? To much hope (fat) and not enough faith (muscle) to move us into doing what we have been called to do makes us obese. Muscle (faith) only gains strength when pressure is put on it until it is tired out. We can always build muscle (faith) but fat never goes away, in fact, it always increases when we don’t move. Yet fat (hope) can multiply is such a way that it crushes our lungs, our life breathe and compress our heart, killing the very thing God created to keep us alive on the earth. What have I done with the knowledge I have received in reading through the Bible all these many years? Am I obese restricted by the amount of info I’ve received but not used in application, or am I lean and mean? Muscle has definition and form, fat has no form or definition it just takes up space. Am I a believer with purpose and form; or, am I one who takes up much needed space? Am I spreading out and limiting the available space that the mean and lean Christians need to operate?

Grace and peace for all the travelers going into the New Year with the Words of Life, The Bible—God’s Word.

Mike I join with all the others and the voices to come, Thank You for your commitment to this Blog--truly this is God's work.

Ramona

[lee]

I want to encourage everyone to 'get into the Word' this year....the Scripture is so meaningful to me and my walk with God....I pray blessings for all who participate.....I know God has blessed me!!
Thanks so much Mike for your commitment to this blog....God is truly in this!

[Jane]

Today is a special day for me. Two years ago a good friend, (thanks Luch) sent me a email encouraging me to check out Mike's one year bible blog. I did seek it out and joined, but I only played at it in 2008. I did not get started on time and never seemed to catch up. - I was not faithful to make it a priority, as I was involved in other Bible Studies that took a chunk of daily time.

As 2009 was approaching I felt had really missed out on a blessing by not being a consistent part of this cyber community who read together God's word and began to pray that I would have the ability to join and be a faithful part of this community who took the time to read God's Word cover to cover in 2009. Today marks the completion of 2009's readings and I have been here each and every day in 2009, and the blessings in my life, for being here, and consistently reading God's Word are too numerous to count!!

Thank you Mike for your faithful posting of this blog. Your encouragement, thought provoking questions, excellent media and insights has made this such a wonderful experience for me. I am sure in heaven you will only then to begin to realize the impact your blog has had on many of us in God's family.

Thank you too, to those who have added their comments. I have always enjoyed reading them and often checked back in the evening to see that I did not miss any of the comments.

I am looking forward to beginning again tomorrow, my special time each morning reading through God's Word.

Blessings to each who come here each day and Happy New Year friends!
Jane

[Charlotte King]

I have made this of reading God's word first before I start my day. It helpd me and his word has never failed. Thamk you for this blog and may you and your family and bible readers and believers all over the world have a properous New Year. Charlotte

[Luch]

I always look forward to my 'daily dose' OYB before i get moving in the morning.

My hope is that this will be the year that new people will join us on this fabulous trek through the Scriptures that keep us close to our Triune God.

For any who are more visually and audible oriented in their learning process you can also plug in to Brian Hardin's audio one year bible at this link.

feed://feeds.feedburner.com/dailyaudiobible

[Tim]

I've only been on board since October, but the OYB readings have had a profound influence in getting me back to thinking on the things of God and bringing me back to my home church after almost 2 years. I can't wait to see how God's word will influence me in 2010.

[Hillbilly Pat]

Mike, I've lost count of the years but I think we have just completed year five together and are getting ready to enter year six of reading through the entire Bible together. I joined you the year after you started this wonderful ministry and I can't thank you enough for the awesome job you do on it for each of us every single day. I've watched both the size of your ministry and the design of your web page grow and it has been a gratifying and marvelous experience.

As there are more than just one Pat here I'm going to change my name to Hillbilly Pat this year.

God bless you Mike and God bless each of you that follow this daily Bible study.

[Adam Drake]

Thank you Mike for keeping this blog going these past years.

I finally took it upon myself to post a comment. (I have been following this blog for over two years now; although, in the previous years, I never consistently stayed the course .) Last year I made a dedication to GOD that I would read through the entire bible. (not much for resolutions.) With GOD's help and the assistance of your blog, this achievment was accomplished in 2009. For those of you who would like to make this type of dedication; Place it in GOD's hands and utilize tools like making this website your "home page". It is harder to "forget" when you open your browser and there it is right there in front of you.

I cannot think of anything more important to read that the "Word of GOD". Prayerfully consider making it a priority in your life this year!!!!

P.S. I have gotten a deeper appreciation of the "Aaronic blessing" this year. What fitting words to all of us who hunger for peace in a chaotic world!

Adam

Numbers 6:24-26 (New International Version)

24 " ' "The LORD bless you
and keep you;

25 the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

26 the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace." '

[Alan Mills]

Hi Mike, Thank you for OYB. This was my 3rd year & I didn't do as well this year. After a pretty good start, I missed many days, would read 2 or 3 at a time, then I did the audio thing for most of the year, again not doing it all the time. I've decided to get going with it again this year & keep[ng up. I did this past year keep up with another goal, loosing weight & between Dec. 2008 & Dec. 2009 I lost 50 lbs. I'm going to stay as focussed on my Bible reading this year. Thanks for your help & the support of the comments. Alan