¡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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¡Hola, hola! Welcome to week 15 of our Bible Reading Challenge, Friends! This coming week is the last week we will meet for our Webinar this year (Monday, 18 at 10:00am PST), but we will back on January 8th. I am still hoping, however, to send you an email or two to encourage you and somehow remind you that we are together persevering in this challenge. But… I am not promising anything (insert smiley face here, Friends).

I am so happy for the holidays this year as all my children will be home. We won’t have a white Christmas, but we will for sure have one full of laughter and good conversations around the table. And I am so very grateful for that.

This week we will finish reading the second book of Samuel, Psalms 18 and 54 and then, on Tuesday we will have a very welcome catch-up day. I want to suggest two options for that day:

1. Divide Monday readings in two. The chapters are a bit longer this time, so I’m thinking that you can read the two Psalms on Tuesday.

2. You can read John 1-3 and Matthew 1-3. If you choose this option, you will be reading, in the same week, the three accounts of Jesus’ birth recorded in the Gospels.

After our catch-up day we will start Micah and the gospel of Luke (who also wrote the book of Acts).

Micah was a prophet around the same time as Hosea and Isaiah, and as any other prophet of the Lord, he points to the sins of the people, calls them to repentance and reminds them of God’s lovingkindness and willingness to forgive their sins. When reading Micah, keep your eyes open to see God at work in the midst of judgement: how in His perfect justice He deals with sin, but how in His perfect mercy and compassion, He extends the possibility of reconciliation, of restoration, and of peace. And so we find in this book one of the greatest prophecies about the coming of the Messiah, of Jesus Christ. Now, when you get to chapter 7, be ready to find a passage that will for sure drive you to pray the Scriptures.

Luke was travel companion of Paul and a physician. He also authored the book of Acts, which is like the sequel of his epistle (both are addressed to Theophilus). It is interesting to note how much Mary’s song of praise will make us think of Hannah’s song back in 1 Samuel 2 -and we will talk more about how fascinating this is on our webinar on Monday.

In Luke 19:10 we find the heart of the gospel: “The Son of man came to seek and save the lost.”  and when the time came, “He set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (9:57). Jesus was determined to seek and save the lost, and in many verses you will read how he did that, what strategy He had to find them. Hint: eating and drinking were involved (Luke 7: 34).

This week our readings are wonderful. They are the stories we should be reading in Advent, the stories that make our story make sense. Because of these stories, we put lights all over our homes, and make cookies, and gather with family and friends, and sing with joy. Christ has come, Friends! No more waiting!  And we cannot remain quiet, we cannot be spectators in this huge narrative. We must go tell it on the mountains, over the hills, around our neighborhood, on social media, and everywhere that Jesus Christ is born!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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Dear sisters,

¡Hola, hola! Isn’t it wonderful to know that we are actually “preparing Jesus room” in our hearts every day as we come to His Word? Isn’t it wonderful to know that no matter which devotional book we have chosen to read this Advent season, we are not missing out reading the best Book to read this season? Isn’t it wonderful to know that every time we come to the Word, we come to the living Word of God that never returns void? Isn’t it wonderful that when we open the Word of God, Immanuel is truly with us? This is truly a wonderful season!

This week we will finish the first book of Samuel and start the second. We will also read Psalms 34, 54, 57, 13, 20, 21, 51, 3, 4, 5, and 7. Yes! It is not a mistake! We will be all over the Psalms because I tried -as much as possible- to pair the Psalms that David wrote when he was going through different circumstances. For example, on Friday we will read 2 Samuel 12 and in that chapter we come across the time when Nathan the Prophet rebukes David for the grievous sin he committed with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. And then in Psalm 51, we read the psalm that David wrote to confess his own sin. We continue reading the same day and come to chapter 15, and we find the tragic story of Absalom’s conspiracy against his own father, King David, and so we read Psalm 3 (again), a Psalm David wrote when he was fleeing from his own son.

1st and 2nd Samuel were originally one book, and I encourage you to read the story and use your imagination to follow along. Let the story captivate you. It is a real page-turner, Friends. And as you read, be careful how you read yourself into the story. Dare to see yourself, maybe as a woman who is being enslaved by envy -like Saul was. Maybe you are not seeking the Lord’s direction for all the affairs of your life, like Saul and at one point David didn’t.  Remember that David couldn’t see himself in the story when Nathan confronted him for his sin. David’s sin had blinded him to his own sin.  Pray to God and let the Holy Spirit show you the areas in which His Word needs to cleanse you, and repent and believe. Embrace God’s forgiveness and sing for joy.

We will be reading many Psalms and oh, what a gift they are to us! When we don’t know what or how to pray, the Psalms give us words of praise, words of mourning, words of hope, words of agony…words to pray. So let’s be praying this week. Praying much. Sisters, we have read Leviticus, we have read Hebrews, we can understand this exhortation from Paul even better now, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 3:16) So, yes, let’s come before Him in the name of Jesus and pray.

Bonhoeffer wrote in a little book something that I would love to share with you today, “If we want to read and to pray the prayers of the Bible and especially the Psalms, therefore, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ. We must ask how we can understand the Psalms as God’s Word, and then we shall be able to pray them. It does not depend, therefore, on whether the Psalms express adequately that which we feel at a given moment in our heart. If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray. If we were dependent entirely on ourselves, we would probably pray only the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. But God wants it otherwise. The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.” (Psalms: the Prayer Book of the Bible).

May the Lord bless you as you come to His Word, may your mouth sing His praises, and your heart burst in gladness as you draw near to Him.

I hope to “see” you next Monday in 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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Dear sisters,

¡Hola, hola! And hello, December! This month is going to be a happy, busy month! We all know that, right?  This means that we must be ready to anticipate some temptations that normally come along with busy times like these, you know? Like quitting our Bible reading because, well …”we will be super busy.” So be on your guard, Friends. Put on and wear well the habit of being in the Word; make sure the straps are well tied around your waist just like the apron you wear in the kitchen. Plan ahead. Don’t put it off for later, for after the party and the shopping and the cooking and the concert. Let the Word be your joy and strength this season. May the coming of His Word be your food, your very life. Hear it, sing it, pray it, let it be in your mouth. Christ came to us so that we can come to Him. So come! Let every heart prepare Him room!

This week we will read the book of Ruth, Song of Solomon, 1 Samuel 1-20, Psalms 8, 10, 150, and 50 (NOTE: I made a mistake and assigned the reading of Psalm 50 on Saturday, December 9, when I should have assigned Psalm 59 that day. You can change that on your plan and then go to April 14 and change it to Psalm 50).

After reading Judges, especially the last chapters, we will find the book of Ruth so incredibly comforting. And it should be that way, like the gospel: the bad news before the good news. The book of Ruth is a gospel-saturated story that blows my mind every time I read it. It starts saying,  “In the days when the Judges ruled there was famine in the land…” And now we know exactly what that means. We know exactly how the days when the Judges ruled looked. We know how terrible it all was, how everyone was doing what seemed right in their own eyes. The land was barren, like the people of God in those days, like Naomi (Mara), like Ruth the Gentile. But God was about to turn the story of two women, and a nation, and you and I, into something beautiful. Redemption, I dare say, is the name of this story. I hope you can watch Monday’s webinar in which we will talk more about how clearly we can see the Gospel in this book.

Song of Solomon is a love poem between a married couple. And we know that  just as the Redemptive story in Genesis started in the Garden with a marriage, so the story ends with another marriage in another garden:  Jesus, the groom will be married to His bride, the church forever.

I pray that you will read the Psalms and see in them the prayers that can become your very own prayers. May we learn to pray as we read the Word, and pray the Word as we do our chores, Sisters, only by God’s grace.

Let our prayer this week be, “Thank you, Father because you are indeed mindful of me and care for me. This is too wonderful to comprehend! How you saved me! Open my eyes so that I may have eternal assurance of your love for me.” Amen.

I hope you can join us for the Webinar this coming Monday at 10:00 am PST (link below). It is always a joy to know that you are there, listening. Thank you.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Ladies Christ Church Ladies Fellowship.

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