¡Hola, hola! Welcome to week 20 of our Bible Reading Challenge. Isn’t that great? We have been learning how to wear this new habit, every day we feel more comfortable wearing it, and I trust that people around us are starting to notice how we are wearing it every day. Because this is what this challenge is about: owning our time in the Word and in prayer. It is not about feeling guilty for not having read a day, but about not wanting to miss a day. It is not about checking boxes, but about the joy of taking the Book and reading it, one more verse, one more chapter, one more book. This is not a challenge about feeling good about ourselves for reading the Bible consistently, but about realizing that coming to the Word every day is our life line.

This past week I was thinking about a few books I have recently read, and how each author retells what the Word of God did to them.  Rosaria Butterfield in her book “Openness Unhindered” talks about how reading her Bible, in large chunks of whole books at a time, transformed her and set her free from her sins. She makes it clear that the more she read the Bible, the more the Bible worked in her. It impressed me as a vivid testimony of what the Lord said of Hs Word: “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” How encouraging, Friends. Let’s keep reading the Word of the Lord, Friends, knowing that every time we open it, it is accomplishing something in us. The other book I want to mention is one by my friend Hannah Grieser, “The Clouds Ye So Much Dread.” In her book she narrates how, when her family endured the hard Providence of knowing that one of her sons had been diagnosed with Leukemia, she pleaded with God for him: “The Psalms and hymns that I had sung for years and committed to memory  -sometimes without much thought – were now surfacing in my head and heart and providing to be both priceless and indispensable. All this pictures as God as a refuge, as a fortress, as a rock, as a tower, as a physician, as a friend now meant something far more concrete. Here was comfort beyond imagining. Here was peace beyond understanding.” How this testimony should encourage us to persevere in the Word! The Word of the Lord is food for us today but we must not forget that when we read it, and pray it, and mediate on it regularly we are filling our head and heart with it so that, when difficult times come, the Holy Spirit will draw it back to our memories to strengthen us and give us hope. So Friend, be encouraged! Take the Book and read it!

This week we will continue reading the book of Kings. We will finish I Kings on Wednesday and Thursday we’ll start with II Kings. We will read some Psalms (140 and 139) and Proverbs (4-7). Note that on Tuesday, we will be reading James 4-5. That is not a mistake. I purposely decided to do that because I want you to keep seeing how the Bible is all unified. James is, in a way, the Proverbs of the New Testament. In Proverbs 5 we will read Solomon’s warnings against adultery and the same day we will read James’ warnings agains worldliness, covetousness, and and anxiety. Keep your eyes opened to see how all these warning are intrinsically related.

It will be a great week filled with great readings. We will read of the lives and ministries of Elijah, a type of John the Baptist, and of Elisha, a type of Christ. Also, Friends, pay attention when you read James 5, because in it we’ll see what is the lesson we must learn form Elijah. Isn’t it wonderful to know that the New Testament is the inspired commentary of the Old Testament?

May our prayer this week be, “Yes, Lord.”

Under His sun and under His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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And just like that, ¡hola, hola! from mid January! And here we are now getting ready to start week 19 in our Bible Reading Challenge because He is good to us and keeps drawing us to His Word.

By now, many of you are super encouraged to keep reading, some others, after having dropped out for a while, are back with us and some others just recently joined us. Know, Friends, that we are praying for you and are so very grateful that you are reading along. May the Lord continue giving the increase!

This past week I was thinking about the challenge of being in the Word daily, and you know what I think is the real challenge in doing this? The challenge is to keep reading the Word of God in faith knowing that it is God who is speaking to us through it. Think about it. Why do we stop reading our Bibles? It is not because we lack the time to do it, we now know that we can’t use that as an excuse. No, we stop reading our Bibles because we lack the faith to believe that God himself speaks to us through it. We stop reading it when, in our unbelief, we start living as if we were autonomous and know how to do this thing called life without any direction from the Holy Spirit. We stop reading it when, in our unbelief, we decide to listen to our troubled heart heavy with anxieties instead of listening to what God has to say in the midst of our troubles and anxieties. We stop reading it when we sin, because, in our unbelief, we think it is not profiting us or that God cannot forgive us -again. So, dear Friend, be reminded of this: the only way to battle unbelief is by being in the Word. So, keep coming, verse after verse, chapter after chapter, book after book, day after day. God will fulfill His purpose in you and will strengthen your faith as you take the Book and read it. Be encouraged! Persevere!

This week we will finish reading the book of Isaiah -and as I mentioned in the last Webinar, pay attention to the connections between Isaiah and John in relationship to the glory of God, abiding in the Word, and prayer. On Tuesday (Jan. 16), you have a combination of passages that might look strange. There is no mistake. I recommend you read Isaiah 65 and 66, Psalm 141, and Proverbs 28 in the morning, and at night, Psalm 142 and Proverbs 9.  Wednesday, January 17, we’ll have a catch-up day. For those who are current in their readings and would like a suggestion, I would say read either 1 John (again!) or Ephesians (again!) because in both epistles we can clearly see the theme of “abiding.” Or maybe, Psalms 72 and 127 (those are the two Psalms that Solomon composed). On this Catch-up day, don’t forget to invite more friends to join us -or to encourage those who feel that they are way too behind to catch up with the rest of the group that are not reading their Bibles anymore to join us. Remember that after a catch-up day we start a new book, which is great because it always feels like we have this opportunity to start anew.

After our catch-up day, we will start reading 1 Kings and the first three Proverbs of Solomon. We will read about the last days of King David, the reign of Solomon, and the reign of the first Kings of the Northern Kingdom. It will be a page turner, Friends!

May our prayer this week be, “Thank you, Father, because not one word has failed of all your good promises to us…please be with us. Do not leave us or forsake us, but incline our hearts to you that we may walk in all your rules, which you have commanded in your Word.” (1 Kings 8:56-58)

“See you” next Monday on our weekly Webinar at 10:00 am PST.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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And just like that, ¡hola, hola! from mid January! And here we are now getting ready to start week 19 in our Bible Reading Challenge because He is good to us and keeps drawing us to His Word.

By now, many of you are super encouraged to keep reading, some others, after having dropped out for a while, are back with us and some others just recently joined us. Know, Friends, that we are praying for you and are so very grateful that you are reading along. May the Lord continue giving the increase!

This past week I was thinking about the challenge of being in the Word daily, and you know what I think is the real challenge in doing this? The challenge is to keep reading the Word of God in faith knowing that it is God who is speaking to us through it. Think about it. Why do we stop reading our Bibles? It is not because we lack the time to do it, we now know that we can’t use that as an excuse. No, we stop reading our Bibles because we lack the faith to believe that God himself speaks to us through it. We stop reading it when, in our unbelief, we start living as if we were autonomous and know how to do this thing called life without any direction from the Holy Spirit. We stop reading it when, in our unbelief, we decide to listen to our troubled heart heavy with anxieties instead of listening to what God has to say in the midst of our troubles and anxieties. We stop reading it when we sin, because, in our unbelief, we think it is not profiting us or that God cannot forgive us -again. So, dear Friend, be reminded of this: the only way to battle unbelief is by being in the Word. So, keep coming, verse after verse, chapter after chapter, book after book, day after day. God will fulfill His purpose in you and will strengthen your faith as you take the Book and read it. Be encouraged! Persevere!

This week we will finish reading the book of Isaiah -and as I mentioned in the last Webinar, pay attention to the connections between Isaiah and John in relationship to the glory of God, abiding in the Word, and prayer. On Tuesday (Jan. 16), you have a combination of passages that might look strange. There is no mistake. I recommend you read Isaiah 65 and 66, Psalm 141, and Proverbs 28 in the morning, and at night, Psalm 142 and Proverbs 9.  Wednesday, January 17, we’ll have a catch-up day. For those who are current in their readings and would like a suggestion, I would say read either 1 John (again!) or Ephesians (again!) because in both epistles we can clearly see the theme of “abiding.” Or maybe, Psalms 72 and 127 (those are the two Psalms that Solomon composed). On this Catch-up day, don’t forget to invite more friends to join us -or to encourage those who feel that they are way too behind to catch up with the rest of the group that are not reading their Bibles anymore to join us. Remember that after a catch-up day we start a new book, which is great because it always feels like we have this opportunity to start anew.

After our catch-up day, we will start reading 1 Kings and the first three Proverbs of Solomon. We will read about the last days of King David, the reign of Solomon, and the reign of the first Kings of the Northern Kingdom. It will be a page turner, Friends!

May our prayer this week be, “Thank you, Father, because not one word has failed of all your good promises to us…please be with us. Do not leave us or forsake us, but incline our hearts to you that we may walk in all your rules, which you have commanded in your Word.” (1 Kings 8:56-58)

“See you” next Monday on our weekly Webinar at 10:00 am PST.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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¡Hola, hola! Welcome to the week of the year in which everyone will be talking about New Year’s resolutions. And the underlying question -everyone’s secret question- is, “Will I have the will power to achieve what I have purposed in my own heart?” The good news for those who belong to God, for those who have been born of God, is that we become better people not by having a stronger will power, or by trying harder; we become better people by the work of the Spirit in us. We don’t have to wait until January 1st to start afresh, because we have each day to start afresh. Each day, when we open our eyes and yawn and stretch under the covers, we are breathing new mercies already. And as we take God’s book each day and open it, we are being renewed because the Holy Spirit is at work in us. Remember Ephesians? We walk in a life of sanctification as a result of the work of Christ on the cross on our behalf. Friends, we don’t have to try harder, Christ has done the hard part already. We should not try to try harder to become better Christians, our doing consists in believing in God and resting assured in the work of Christ on the cross. When we believe this, we start -and continue until the end- acting in faith as Christians. We cannot generate resolutions like pray more, read the Word more, love God more, mortify that sin, love our neighbor -and our enemies- more, can you see that? Only God can produce that in us! What a blessing! So, what are we to do? Nothing? Sleep more until it is late in the day without opening our Bibles? No, we pray and ask God to draw us to Him and then act upon what we have prayed. We take our Bible and open it and trust that He will indeed draw us to Him, that He will indeed feed us, and that He will satisfy us in the morning, every morning, with His steadfast love. And He will. We know that He is faithful: Christ had come and we live by faith.

This week we will continue reading Isaiah (ch.16-36) along with some Psalms (144,143), and start reading the gospel of John after having a catch-up day on Wednesday. I think that many will actually be using the catch-up day to actually catch-up with past readings, but if you are current, and are looking for some suggestions for that day, I would say read 1st John (and even 2nd and 3rd John).

Of course there is an immeasurable treasure to be mined in the pages we will be reading this week, but since this is only an email to encourage you to persevere in the Word, and not a book chapter, I can only emphasize one thing and today I want to point you to the importance of John’s gospel in regards to the case the apostle makes for the deity of Jesus. Be prepared to see the Messiah, the One whom Isaiah prophesied that would come and be with us, actually coming and showing us the glory of the Father. Be prepared to be amazed by God.

Friends, may our prayer this week be, “Father, through Jesus and in Jesus we come to you, asking You to fill us with your Spirit today, that from the fullness of Christ we may continue to receive grace upon grace to Iive the life you have given us to live.” (John 1:16)

Have a blessed New Year’s Celebration with your family and friends!

Under his Sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the Team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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¡Hola, hola! What a gift you all have been to us, Friends! We are so grateful for each one of you and to the Lord for the work of His Spirit in each one of us. God is so good!

We have a most wonderful week ahead of us. And especially after having read the Pentateuch, and 7 more books of the Old Testament, we now better understand how amazing it is to actually be able to celebrate that the Messiah has come. That The Promised One, the Son of God, became man and dwelt among us. There is no more waiting for us, no more shadows, no more types, no more longing, our Redeemer came as promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham. Jesus came in the form of a human and died on the cross,  and on the third day He rose again and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for us. Let these truths fill your heart and make you sing louder “Joy to the world!”

This week however, will be a very busy week too. We will be busy doing all the good things that we are supposed to do. We will bake and cook, and wrap gifts, and visit with our family, and write notes and make phone calls, and laugh and sing. But we need to make sure that we set apart time so that we don’t end up neglecting the best thing that there is for us to do this week: Meet with God in His Word and in prayer.

Friends, think about this: Christ, the Promised One, the Messiah, the incarnate Word of God came. And now we have been given the Holy Spirit to teach us His Word. Now, through the Holy Spirit, we have been given eyes that see and ears that hear. Now, as we read the Bible, we can understand what a magnificent story this is and how we can be part of it! Isn’t that all together wonderful? Don’t you want to come and eat it and drink from it? Don’t you want to be drawn to it to find satisfaction in it? How can we choose to neglect coming to the fountain of life and joy?

This week, starting on Tuesday, December 26, we will finish reading the gospel of Luke, then read Ephesians on Wednesday, and then start Isaiah along with some psalms on Thursday.

Ephesians is a perfect letter to read this week. It is actually the best Christmas letter you will ever read. In it you will read of the greatest gift no one could have ever imagined (only God, of course!): salvation by grace through faith. You will read how we, Gentiles, can now be part of God’s grand story, of God’s grand redemptive plan, of God’s grand family because of Jesus Christ. And wait until you read this… we have to do nothing to earn this salvation. Nothing. From beginning to end, our salvation is a gift from God.

In Isaiah we will be reminded how even though our salvation is a gift from God, it was a very costly gift. Our Lord had to suffer, bear our sins, become a curse for us and bear on Himself the cup of the wrath of God – that cup that He asked the Father to remove from him. And all that time, through out all of it, God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – was loving us.

Friends, you don’t want to miss these readings. You will be encouraged and your faith will be strengthened as you read these verses, these chapters, these books. Keep your heart and mind open to the work of the Spirit in you and be flexible with all the circumstances around you this week. Remember, our Lord came to serve and not to be served… this week is a great week to imitate Him on that!

May our prayer this week be, “Father, as we read your Word this week, may Christ dwell in our hearts through faith, so that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 3:18-19)

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the Team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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