Matthew 10:29 - God's protection and destiny

Everything that happens, happens with God's permission.  It's a comfort because of the feeling that someone is in control.  And yet I wonder how it impacts on free will. One way to look at it is that the purpose of God for creation will be accomplished no matter what.  Of course you can also view it as a form destiny, but being brushstrokes, it does not have respect who will be the players.  


Is it possible that God, in the fulfillment of His plans, takes away certain people's free will for a time?  For example, in the case of Egypt during the time of Moses.  Is the heart of Pharaoh hardened for the duration of the time that God would show His power through the plagues?  Or is repentance available for Pharaoh in between the plagues?  If I simply read the account, it appears that the latter is not the case.  Plus the fact that the Passover must come to pass.  And without the deaths of the firstborn, how would the symbolism of Passover be made? 

Job 1- 3

6:19 PM 1/9/2011


Job 1


For someone who is bent on the destruction of mankind, it sounds awkward, even absurd, to allow Satan to appear before God.


The series of tragedies that came to Job in one day is a combination of natural disasters and violence.  And yet, all of these were allowed by God, since when He allowed Satan to do harm to Job, it was not specified how or in what manner.


Is it possible that Job had considered how all of these can happen in one day if not for something supernatural happening? Hence his reaction.




Job 2


I am wondering what is the nature why the "sons of God" needed to present themselves.


I am also wondering how long it has been since the disasters that happen to Job's life and this period.


These passages also show the extent of power that Satan has, in terms of controlling nature as well as human will.


To accept adversity from God may be such a strange concept to modern Christians who are sees God thru the lens of a generous Father.  


Job's friends did not went out to see Job during the first set of tragedies that happened to him.  Either he did not went so far as to make too much news of it.  Or his friends have come to realize how serious things now are.  




Job 3


I wonder what is the purpose of Job's speech.  Maybe it's a simple way of finding consolation, of reaching out to people who are now there to possibly listen to him.

Isaiah 4 - 6

5:55 PM 1/8/2011


chapter 4


The concept of being destined is once again seen in verse 3.


Isaiah 5


on verse 10, it would be more helpful for me if I am aware of how much should the planting area mentioned normally yield.  


Quite interesting that excessive wine/beer drinking is associated with lack of discernment of God's actions, and even worse, of evildoing.


Isaiah 6


What made Isaiah heed the call of the Lord?  Is it the knowledge that he now stands righteous before God?

Ephesians 4 - 6

Ephesians 4


Ephesians 5


v. 32 - something profound happens around us everyday.  It remains to be profound, and yet we take it for granted as it is common. But its profoundness is not reduced one bit by its commonness.


Ephesians 6

Matthew 4 - 6

1:33 PM 1/9/2011


Matthew 4


Led to be tempted.


In contrast to the Israelite's experience (Deut 8:3) where they did not have a choice in the desert but to rely on God's provision, Jesus' action to fast is a deliberate one of reliance. I supposed the same effect have been brought upon to Jesus as it is to the Israelites for this experience. 


Jesus only started his ministry after the temptation, and not immediately after his anointing.  But of course it was two events immediately happening after one another.
Matthew 5


verse 11 - are those who are following Jesus already experiencing some form of persecution, or is this more of a prophetic statement?


v. 17 - Jesus mentions The Law and The Prophets as two categories of Scriptures in what we know now as Old Testament.  So I guess the rest of the non-Prophet books are also categorized together with The Law, which is more than the first 5 books attributed to Moses?


It is quite interesting how the laws that the people has been taught either omits something or adds something, the effect of which becomes legalistic or even contrary to the Bible.


Matthew 6


5 - How is prayer supposed to be?  You approach a God who already know what you want, and in addition knows what you need, which can be the same thing or two entirely different things.  


13 - Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted, and yet in the prayer He taught it includes a request not to led to temptation.  

Psalms 4-6

Psalm 4 


Psalm 5 




Psalm 6


Sounds like this man needs help, and he has been receiving some righteous punishment from God.  And it seems like some of his enemies are gloating over his situation. 


There is no remembrance of you in Sheol - does this represent the viewpoint in OT about the afterlife?  Or is this simply a rhetorical comment?

Joshua 2

A promise is not an excuse to be careless.

Joshua 1

Slowly finding out that 5 chapters a day can be too much to read attentively with moderate speed.  I'll probably cut down to 3 chapters for those that I intend to read up to 5 (Moses' books and History books in OT). 

Joshua 1

God's promise of conquest remains dependent on the actions that the Israelites would take.  It is as far and wide as they are willing to tread upon.

Seems like that by the time Moses died, the instructions he received were already in written form, and in a format that facilitates handling and dessimination.

Exodus 9

Seems like at this point, pride has engulfed Pharaoh completely.


The plague of boils and hail are the first of the plagues where direct damage to a human being can happen.  


It appears that some Egyptians, even court officers, are already taking account of the power of God's Israel.  But then you have to wonder if they consider God in the same way they consider their other gods.  


It was mentioned that several crops were not destroyed because they were "late".  Were they spared as a sign of God's graciousness, so that the whole land may not be destitute?

Exodus 8

Exodus 8

It's quite curious that despite the fact that Pharaoh's magicians can still duplicate the miracles being done by Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh is now more inclined to let them go.  Possibly it's out of necessity, since the frogs are a major disturbance to the life of the nation.  As verse 15 says, Pharaoh again hardened his heart once he got some relief.  And then, just several verses later, Pharaoh remain hardened despite his magicians admitting defeat to another plague brought by Moses and Aaron.

Just wondering if the plague of flies is the first among the plagues where a distinction is made between the Israelites and the Egyptians.

Exodus 5 - 7

By this time, all actions being done by Moses and Aaron seems to be futile, as Pharaoh refuse to listen or even care, primarily because his own court of magicians can duplicate the miracles being performed.  What is not clear though is whether they are really able to make the same miracles and wonders, or it's just "magic" as in tricks and sleight of hand.

The amusing thing is that for the reader, they are made aware that the reactions of Pharaoh are actually part of God's plan, as God had already determined judgment over Egypt.  In the same way, it is already determined that the Israelites will get out of Egypt regardless of their reactions.  Can you actually say that this is a type of predestination, with one group marked for salvation and the other marked for destruction.

Ephesians 3

I often wonder how the revelation to Paul was made.  At his time, what he would have as Scriptures would be the Old Testament as we know it.  I can imagine that in addition to God illuminating the Word to him as he meditate on it, God is also verbally instructing him, in the same way that He spoke to people of old.  So in a way it would be different from how modern-day self-proclaimed prophets style themselves as having a revelation from God, even if it contradicts Scriptures.  Whatever revelation Paul would have received, it would be in the form of a confirmation or understanding of Scriptures.  Which would probably became clear to him in the light of current events.

Ephesians 2

To be saved by faith requires that it is fully from God.  In a sense, even the initiative or desire to seek God must have come from God.  This seems to be the essence of the Bible, since even the slightest idea that some effort was from us would invalidate the fullness of Jesus' sacrifice.  The efforts only come after the salvation.  In a way that's the only way it would make sense if we really believe that we are "dead in our trespasses", because how can the dead even make an effort?

Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1

Predestination is quite a complex topic, but one that Paul seems to articulate very easily here.  It almost carries the notion that it is expected.  What is undeniable is the fact that God controls everything that happens.  What isn't so clear is how predestination can exist side by side with free will.  In a way, predestination is also counterintuitive to the Great Commission.  And yet, this is a topic that one should be very careful in not reading in one's own intentions.

I am actually getting inclined to dig deeper into this topic, but I am deciding that if I ever do so, it should not be to the detriment of the daily readings.


I'm curious how much the Old Testament has to say about predestination.    In this particular passage, Paul is not even analyzing how predestination is possible. He is merely stating the fact of what a Christian is predestined to be.

Matthew 1 - 3

Matthew 1

What is the significance of the 3 14-generation counts?  Some resources suggest it is merely intended as an aid to memorization.

If Mary became pregnant before being married to Joseph, is this not considered a sin?  And isn't the correct response would be to bring her to judgment?  But of course, it's understandable that he still loved her despite of what he thought happened, hence the reaction of not wanting to put her under punishment.

Dreams seems to have a place in Jewish theology as a legitimate means for God to communicate with man.

Matthew 2

I'm wondering if the same Jewish priests that Herod asked for the probable location of the Messiah's birth are also the same ones that demanded Jesus' crucifixion years later.

Joseph was again given instructions through a dream.  All in all, he received instructions in four dreams.  For every instance that a dream was mentioned, Matthew makes mention that the instruction is in fulfillment of a specific prophecy.  However, I don't think that Joseph was actually contemplating this as he follows the instructions in his dream. 

Matthew 3

John the Baptist seems to have come out from nowhere to start preaching, and it seems he was immediately famous. 

The difference in water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism is such that although John is highly regarded by the people, he considers himself less than nothing to the one who can baptize with the Holy Spirit. 

Isaiah 1 - 3

Isaiah 1 - just reading through these verses, it's kind of hard to imagine the degree of sinfulness that the nation of Israel has immersed themselves in.  I guess reading some of the related chapters in the history section of the Old Testament would help, but for now I am limiting myself to the information I can glean from this chapter and the succeeding ones (though I won't mind to be pointed to some resources I can use that can shed more light and understanding).  Some of the things I noticed:


1.  The land is desolate
2.  The people continue to follow the rituals and the ceremonies
3.  Despite of no. 2, it seems that the people are no longer doing the things mentioned in verses 16 - 17.  Likewise the leaders are guilty of the things mentioned in verse 23.

Psalms 1-3

These chapters do not seem to be related to each other in any way.  I guess the Psalms are simply a compilation of what came to be used in temple services and religious gatherings.  Not that they were gathered in some haphazard way.  One thing to note is how some of them are actually prophetic in nature, like Psalm 2.  The people who sang them probably were thinking of something else when they were singing it.  Still others, like Psalm 3, provides a sort of alternate history, taking one inside the heart of the person involved in that particular time in history.

My Plan for a Reading Plan

As far as I can remember, I've always been trying to follow a Bible reading plan. It was the same old story: I will try one, get along with it for a while, then lose steam. You can say I pretty much know how it's NOT supposed to be done. The latest attempt I can recall was when a friend sent me a link from Grace to You about a 9-week reading plan to jumpstart a person who is either new to the Bible or have not been reading it regularly. It is designed as a weekly schedule, which should allow a person to catch up within the week should he missed a day or two of reading. I've gotten through 2 weeks before I ended up a week late and ultimately I dropped off the system.

It was around this time that I discovered Youversion. It's essentially a site that provides a couple of Bible versions that one can use in one or more of its recommended Bible reading plans. Once more it kindled the spark in me, and after trying one or two plans, I settled with a plan that would take me through the Old Testament in the order of the books as they are arranged (the plan is for one year but I intend to finish in two years). I managed to finish Genesis before I, once again, got myself behind and behind that I eventually lost interest in continuing.

By this time I was beginning to understand some things. My idea of going through the books as the original readers might have gone through it (meaning, finishing one before proceeding with the next) might not be actually the real case. Regardless, going through one book after the other gives me a feeling of monotony. I then start to wish to go through the other parts of the Bible. Which makes me even less inclined to proceed with my current reading plan. Until I realize I'm already behind too much that I need to restart or try something else.

And so it was around this time that I learned of a reading plan by Professor Grant Horner. It calls for reading 10 chapters a day, with one chapter for one of the ten books for the day. The premise behind the reading plan is to have an interplay of the different books and through that provide a clearer picture and interpretation of what one is reading.

The reading plan makes sense, but I think that for myself 10 chapters a day might be too much to chew. A weekly reading plan like that of Grace To You also makes sense, but I feel I need to improve on it by providing some sort of a daily goal, with a way to catch up within the week should I have some backlog. Plus I need one that provide some variety.

Since Bible books can be categorized into different type of materials, I thought of a plan to go through the Bible. My plan calls for reading 3-5 chapters per day for 6 days, from one of these categories:

1. The Law - from Genesis to Deuteronomy

2. History books - from Joshua to Esther

3. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs

4. The Prophets

5. The Gospels

6. The Letters

Since Revelation doesn't exactly fit or feel like one of the Letters, I can choose to include it with the Psalms.

The minimum should be 3 chapters a day for all categories except for History books at 5 chapters per day. The 7th day is intended to help me catch up. That would allow me to go through all the books in at least a year, and most of the books I will be able to read more than once during the year.

Of course, there's a lot more than a system and human will to go through the Bible in any given length of time. Even more the ability to understand it. May God bless me with the knowledge and understanding of His Word this year.


p.s. check out here how I improved my reading plan..