Summer Bible Reading Countdown!

Precious friends,

Yay!! Congratulations! Many of us have just wrapped up another school year (and some are in the home-stretch, yes you can do it!!) Praise the Lord for another school year under our belts. 

We had a joyful year with wonderful accomplishments, sweet memories, and this year we also faced many challenges and heart-breaking trials. I’m sure as you reflect back over this school year, you are faced with many of these same emotions.

I thank the Lord that our emotions are often reminders of how much we need the Lord everyday. In our joy, suffering, and anxious thoughts, Jesus is in all the details of our lives! When we turn to Jesus Christ and cast our cares on Him, He can then calm our storms, and give us guidance in how to navigate our responsibilities, emotions, and provide the wisdom and comfort that we need!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phillippians 4:7-9

I pray as we begin our summer that our great comforter, Jesus Christ, will comfort us with His peace that surpasses all understanding as we seek Him, and He will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!

Okay, are you guys ready to RELAX? Yes, definitely we are!!  I want to encourage us to relax in all the ways, EXCEPT for in our relationship with the Lord. The summer can actually be a wonderful time to seek Him even more! Lord-willing, we will all have a little more freedom in our days. So, let’s use this summer as a time to lean into the Lord even MORE!

Lord please help us establish a daily habit of seeking YOU so when the busyness of school life rolls around again, we have our habit set in place, so we are ready to face another school year with YOU!

Our summer reading plan through The One year Bible, is an excellent way to have a daily plan for a summer with the Lord. 

When it comes to “God” goals, we definitely do not want to approach it in our own strength. Seeking the Lord, shouldn’t be a check list of getting things done, or thinking we are “better” Christians if we do so.

We want to approach the Lord in prayer first!

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

So, I encourage you to ASK the Lord in prayer to give you a heart that wants to seek Him this summer.

ASK the Lord to help you make time for Him this summer.

ASK the Lord to teach you HIS will this summer.

ASK the Lord to give you a heart of understanding this summer.

And, ASK the Lord to bring others around you to encourage you, and that you could also encourage others to spend time with the Lord in prayer, time reading His word, and in fellowship this summer!

Remembering to ASK the Lord first, is a great reminder that we really should seek the Lord first as we approach all situations in our life!

I have found that the first step in the “ABIDE” quiet time method outlined on your summer reading list, is so helpful for this reminder. The “A” in abide, stands for “Ask.”  We are going to learn more about the “Ask” step coming soon, but for now think of it as the reminder that in prayer we can ask the Lord to help us seek His will in all the situations of our lives.

“Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:3-6

Proverbs 2 tells us that when we call out to the Lord for His insight and cry aloud to Him for understanding we will find the knowledge of God! Oh praise the Lord that when we earnestly seek Him, He graciously gives us His understanding!

So a few things that I want to encourage you in as we approach our summer in the word of God.

1. I think you probably have figured it out by now: ASK! I’d love to encourage you to call out to the Lord, and ask Him in prayer to help you have a desire to seek Him and His word. We shouldn’t approach anything in life apart from God, and especially when talking about seeking Him. We really want the Lord to cultivate our heart and be the driving factor that allows us to know Him more, not doing this in our own strength! 

“Lord please help me know you more, Please help me make time in my day to spend with You, and help me understand Your word.” (Psalms 119 is my favorite for seeking a heart the desires God’s word.) The Lord will answer your prayer, and like Matthew 7:7 says, when we seek Christ, we will find Him! I’ve seen it in my own life, and the Lord will graciously answer your prayers too!

2. Don’t let others or even yourself discourage you! 

It’s easy to be discouraged, especially when seeking Christ, and why is that? Well, it’s a spiritual battle and between our own selfish desires, others, and the enemy who does not want us to seek God. There is a lot preventing us from seeking Christ! So, on our behalf I’m crying out to the Lord for us now, and asking Him: “Lord Jesus please help us get in to your Word, and help us pray to you this summer.”  I want to encourage all of us to have a daily quiet time with the Lord, seeking Him in prayer and in His word for wisdom. And, I encourage you to join me in praying this as well!

Following the “ABIDE” method: Ask, Bible, Investigate, Dwell, and Engage, is a great tool in helping us form a daily habit of seeking Him in prayer, and applying His wonderful Word to our lives.

And, I really think that yes even sweet little 4th graders through 90+ year olds CAN read through The One Year Bible daily. 

I’ve had a few questions regarding this plan, so here’s a few FAQ’s that I would love to address:

1. What if I don’t do this?  Of course there is no condemnation for not doing this, we are saved by Grace by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not by doing a daily quiet time, so of course you do not have to participate in this. 🙂 However, spending time with the Lord is essential to growing as a disciple of Christ, and if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, your heart WILL want to spend more time with Him.  So, my suggestion is that you should pray about it. If you pray, and you don’t want to follow along, IT’S TOTALLY OKAY! Praise the Lord, that He answers our prayers and guides us. And, if you pray about getting to know Jesus this summer, and you want to start small we shared in the previous post about breaking it up, so I trust that the Lord will lead you in whatever is best. Reading any amount of scripture, God is going to use that in your life and bless you. However, if you seek the Lord and say “Lord I want to seek you and devote 15 minutes of reading the Bible daily this summer.” Then the Lord will surely come alongside you in that too.  And, remember there is always so much grace, so if you miss a day or 2, a week, or whatever it is, the Lord loves you, and He just wants you to seek Him. Remember, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
2. This is TOO hard!! But, you guys are so smart! And, the one year bible is set up in 15 minute daily readings. How EASY is it to waste 15 minutes, or more like hours doing all sorts of things like: scrolling, video games, tv shows, shopping, playing games or reading other things? So, I know that we are ALL MORE than capable of reading the Bible for 15 minutes. But, again this is a desire that has to come from a heart that WANTS to spend time with the Lord. So, if you are approaching this like a check list to get done, or something you are dreading, then what’s the point? Spending time with the Lord, has to come from an inward desire to know Him more. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit lives in us, and He will guide us in navigating all things, especially when seeking His word. So tap into His power by crying out to Him. “Lord Jesus, help me seek you this summer. Teach me how to spend time with you everyday and read Your Word with understanding.”
3. There’s no way you can do this? People can discourage us because they haven’t asked the Lord to help them in their own daily habit of getting into the word, or they can doubt our capabilities. So they might say this is going to be way too hard for you because it’s not something they themselves have sought the Lord in. So, this is a reminder that as we seek Christ, Jesus will help us accomplish all the things we could never do in our own strength. And, praise God for that, in our weakness, HE IS STRONG. We NEED Jesus in all things, and especially when it comes to seeking His word!
4. I can’t start June 1. No problem, that’s totally okay! This is the amazing thing about the Bible, you can just jump right in at any time and the Lord will meet you right where you are!  And, always feel free to ask questions. I can’t wait to come alongside you all in Christ. Abiding together in Christ is obviously near and dear to my heart, and as we earnestly seek the Lord, He will bless us with His understanding. Lord-willing, later this summer, we will read Acts together and learn how the disciples came together in the early church and devoted themselves to teaching , fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers together, and how the Lord added to their number days by day those that were being saved. Acts 2. I pray that by asking the Lord to help us seek Him and His word this summer, that we will also begin a movement in the hearts of our generation and many will be saved!
5. This seems boring. Seriously, the WORD OF GOD is Amazing! It’s living and it’s active. And, if you have given your life to Jesus, You will be amazed at all the wonderful things that you will learn through the Holy Spirit while seeking Him. Lord-willing, this summer we will be diving into the Old Testament, in 2nd Samuel and at the end of King David’s reign. Then we will head in to Kings where his son Solomon takes over, and then all the way through Job. These are REAL historical accounts, with REAL historical people, and their lives are truly more interesting than any Netflix movie that you can find! And, in the New Testament we will hit the very end of the Gospel of John, and then head into Acts to learn all about the early church. We will then begin Paul’s letters to the Christians in Rome, and finish with his letters to the church in Corinth of AD 55-57. The daily Psalms and Proverbs that we will read are short, and are a wonderful way to seek the heart and wisdom of God. Again, all of this has been designed to read in 15 minute increments for reading with children of all ages! WE TOTALLY GOT THIS!!

Okay, so if you have made it this far, there’s a good chance the Lord IS encouraging you to take on this goal this summer. 😉

 SO here’s a list of tips:

With the Lord’s help we CAN accomplish the most worthy of goals! I’m truly excited to see all the ways the Lord will prayerfully work through us, our friends, and family by reading His word and seeking Him this summer!

We love you Lord, please bless us and guide us this summer! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen