Related Message
Welcome to your space to Read. What you'll find here are two different kinds of reading recommendations, resources to read in order to encounter God's revelation of himself in more in depth and personal ways: a list of daily Bible readings to sustain your personal time with God throughout the week, and a few book recommendations to more deeply explore the themes we encountered in worship. "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path," (Ps. 119:105).
Daily Bible Readings for April 8 to April 14, 2012
Faithfully follow this reading plan in 2012 and by the end of the year you will have read through the entire Bible, cover to cover, having encountered the New Testament twice! Sit with God's word. Let it soak into your soul. Listen for God revealing who he is, who he desires you to be, and the life he is calling you into.
| Sunday | 1 Sam. 3-5; Ps. 77; 2 Cor. 8 |
| Monday | 1 Sam. 6-7; Ps. 72; 2 Cor. 9 |
| Tuesday | 1 Sam. 8-10; 2 Cor. 10 |
| Wednesday | I Sam. 11-12; 1 Chr. 1; 2 Cor. 11 |
| Thursday | I Sam. 13; I Chr. 2-3; 2 Cor. 12 |
| Friday | 1 Sam. 14; 1 Chr. 4; 2 Cor. 13 |
| Saturday | 1 Sam. 15-16; 1 Chr. 5; Mt. 1 |
For an introduction to the book of 1 Chronicles , click here.
For an introduction to the book of 1 Mathew, click here.
Book Recommendations for The Distance
Dig deeper and explore further the themes we encountered in worship this weekend. Grab a good book, a pencil and a journal and thoughtfully open yourself up to more intentionally and deeply love God with all of your mind.
In God Is Closer Than You Think, John Ortberg, insists that God is near and knowing him is possible for everyone who wants to feel his presence. To know him requires that we believe that God is in everything, to seek him in the daily and mundane, to learn to recognize and encourage God-inspired thoughts, to look for him in the people you meet and to obey his promptings. His thoughts are not necessarily new, but provide readers with a series of ideas and activities to begin to change the way they see God in their lives. Those looking for an approachable, quick read on a difficult subject will appreciate this guide.
For many Christians, the initial excitement and joy of faith in Christ is replaced by the frustration of being unable to maintain momentum in the spiritual life and an underlying fear that things will never really change. Christ for Real presents an alternative. When we let God remake us in His own image, He replaces our sense of failure and frustration with a a sense of fulfillment and spiritual satisfaction. This is God’s eternal purpose for us in Christ and the goal of the Christian life. Charles Price challenges us to stop trying to live for Jesus and start discovering Christ who is our life, the only true source of spiritual victory and reality. It ought to be required reading for all Christians.
In Dark Night of the Soul, St. John's sharply organized mind gives clean shape to his mystical belief in a loving Being somewhere outside the realm of feeling, thought, or imagination, who can only be known through love. This book describes the process of purgation, first of senses, and then of spirit, that precedes the soul's loving Union with God. This book pulses with the coiled power of its tightly focused picture of the soul's progress. There has never been a better book for discouraged Christians. When you cannot understand what or why you believe, but you find yourself unable to abandon faith, look to St. John for help.
