10 day plan

Big truths for hearts young and old

Day 10 of 10

NIV

Romans 15:4

4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Reflection:  Further reading: Psalms 119:105

Enjoying God’s word is a good thing. I am very grateful to God that the Bible has always been a part of my life. I have memories of lying in bed as my parents read Bible stories to my siblings and me. I can close my eyes and picture the Bible that my Dad used when I was a child; as well as the Teen Walk Study Bible which I was given as a teenager. I remember learning about the importance of a quiet time each day and being introduced to Bible reading plans. I have been saturated with Scripture – and I have also at times struggled with a regular Bible reading habit. Many seasons have come and gone for me with my discipline of being in God’s word. Yet the truth remains: enjoying God’s word is a good thing. It is this truth I would like to teach my children. We have, this year, developed a night-time routine that I find an enormous blessing, because it includes a story from their children’s Bible. We are currently reading The Jesus Storybook Bible cover to cover, then starting again. The thing I enjoy the most is not the stories themselves – although they are brilliant, with beautiful writing and teaching from Sally Lloyd Jones – but the fact that my kids LOVE it! They love having the Bible every night. They are the ones driving the routine. They feel sad if it’s too late to read the Bible. They are definitely keeping me accountable! I pray that we can foster this love of the Bible as they grow older, into a new routine and a new season. And I am praying that their love of God’s word in this season would instil good disciplines and practices in me as well!

Question: What season are you in when it comes to regularly reading (or listening) to God’s word? What blessings have you received from a regular Bible reading discipline (now, or in the past)?

Prayer:  Dear God, thank you for your word. Thank you that you have spoken and revealed yourself to us. Thank you that we can know you through your word, and that by it, you light our path. Please help me to remember that enjoying your word on a regular basis is a blessing and an encouragement. Thank you for the privilege of having easy access to your word, in my heart language. Please bless all around the world with the same. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

Days

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Suggested Plans

7

A Question of Justice

14

Friendship

Romans 15:1-33

1We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;

I will sing the praises of your name.”

10Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

11And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;

let all the peoples extol him.”

12And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,

one who will arise to rule over the nations;

in him the Gentiles will hope.”

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand.”

22This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

23But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

30I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.