Dear sisters,
¡Hola, week 10! Today we will start our 10th week of this Bible Reading Challenge, Friends! Praise God for all the answered prayers and for blessing us with this plan. God has been so kind to us!
My dear friend, Rachel Jankovic shared these encouraging words on our Facebook page this week and I thought that she said exactly what we all need to hear. So here you go, be encouraged by her words:
“The goal of this challenge is to help women truly become women of the Word. It is not about getting a gold star beside every chapter of every OT book, or about doing a better job than our sisters at finding the time. The goal is to pursue the Word, be shaped by the Word, and to be women who are habitually in the Word.
There are two challenges that we will face doing this, and most of us have probably already faced both – the flesh, and the devil. The flesh gets tired, gets annoyed at other women who seem to be doing better, feels sorry for ourselves, frustrated, rolls it’s eyes at Deuteronomy, or generally lets us down. The devil wants to encourage every one of these tendencies of the flesh and will give us all ample opportunities to let these little sparks fan in to flames.
But who is for us? This goal of this challenge is a goal that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt God loves. It is His Word we pursue, it is His shaping we are asking for. This is His good work that He has begun in us, and He will complete it.
So keep these things in mind. God is perfect, but He is not a perfectionist. Do not let perfect be the enemy of good. Do not let your ideal performance of reading the Bible keep you from coming to the word at all. When we have said just jump in on today, that is not an out for the losers or training wheels for the weak, or some kind of lesser way. The reason that we are saying to do that is because that is the whole point of this challenge. To be women who habitually come to the Word. That is itself the discipline – not letting petty things come between you and what you should be doing.”
Isn’t that encouraging? So, now we are ready to talk about what we will be reading this week. We will finish reading Deuteronomy and Mark, we’ll read Psalms 1 and 2, Proverbs 26, and Hebrews 5 (again!). On Wednesday we will find a surprise catch-up day in the middle of week. How nice is that? And because I know that many of you want suggested readings for that day, I say that if you have the time, you can read Galatians 3, Romans 8, and Hebrews 12. Warning: Bring Kleenex.
On Thursday we will start another pairing of books that will make your heart sing: Joshua and Acts. We will be reading in the book of Joshua how God will equip and lead His people through different battles to take possession of the Promised Land, and in Acts we will see how God will equip and lead the New Testament Church to posses the land, to advance the Kingdom of God.
In both stories God’s people will encounter big and real enemies, the inhabitants of the Promised Land were fierce and the civil government and religious system that the church faced were merciless. But in both cases, God was bigger than His enemies, and in both cases His Presence and His promises went ahead of them. Joshua and the apostles prayed and God answered them, not by removing them from the battle field, but by increasing their faith. God made them bold and through His Spirit made them courageous and fearless. They knew Who had called them and knew that He was able to give them the victory. And in both cases the end is the same: God wins, Jesus reigns and God’s will prevails.
I pray that this week you will find much encouragement in the Word and that in your trials you will see, by faith, the end: God wins.
May our prayer this week be, “ God, this week, help us to devote ourselves to prayer and to the Word. Bless our coming to You, we pray.” (Acts 6:4)
Under His Sun and by His grace,
Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship
