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  Bible reading for Oct 25 -- 26 Oct 25 -- Daniel 10 and Psalm 119:1-24 Oct 26 -- Daniel 11 and Psalm 119:25-48 ================   "And he said, 'O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.' And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, 'Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.'" (Daniel 10:19) BEHIND THE SCENES (ch 10). Daniel is not studying the future like a disinterested spectator. These revelations involve the future and welfare of his own people (e.g., 7:25; 8:24-25). He has been praying about these things, and confessing their sins. In this chapter we get a peek into the angelic drama behind the scenes. These chapters of Daniel introduce us to the only two angels named in the Bible -- Gabriel (8:16; 9:21) and Michael (10:13, 21; 12:1). Some Christians may get too carried away by the notion of spiritual warfare (and so engage in unbiblical practices), but some believers ignore this dimension entirely. ...

  Bible reading for July 26 -- 27 July 26 -- Jeremiah 22 and Mark 8 July 27 -- Jeremiah 23 and Mark 9 ================    "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land." (Jeremiah 23:5)    ABUSE OF POWER (ch 22) . King Josiah, himself a good and godly ruler, had two sons and a grandson mentioned in this chapter. Shallum (renamed Jehoahaz) ruled briefly after Josiah's death and was subsequently deposed by Pharaoh Necho and taken to Egypt, where he died. (At that time, before Babylon defeated Egypt, Jerusalem was subject to Egyptian power.) Eliakim (renamed Jehoiakim) replaced Jehoahaz and ruled oppressively. He used forced labor to build himself a lavish new palace. Jeremiah says, however, he would have a donkey's burial (vv 18-19). We also read of Jehoiakim's response to Jeremiah's prophecies later in chapter...

Bible reading for October 1.  1 Kings 3. "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" (1 Kings 3:9) A WISE KING. Solomon considers the task before him and asks God for wisdom. Already, he is wise (1 Kgs 2:6, 9), but he asks for more wisdom to rule the people of God, now a great nation (vv 1-15). The wisdom God gives him would be seen in the story that followed (vv 16-28). The nation would begin to see "that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice" (v 28). One example of his wisdom that we might overlook is seen in his approach to worship. At first Solomon participates in the popular worship at the high place in Gibeon (vv 2-4), but after his encounter with God he comes before the Lord in Jerusalem at the ark of the covenant (v 15). He has begun to discern the right way to worship the Lord. A caveat: wisdom means being able to discern right and...

"The unfolding of your words gives light;  it imparts understanding to the simple."   (Psalm 119:130)  "Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures..." (Luke 24:45) Not routine.   It is important that we read the Scriptures aware of the presence of God , and that we are asking the Holy Spirit to help us understand and apply the Scriptures rightly.  We must be sensitive especially to those areas the Spirit is drawing our attention to, and then pray about those truths, commandments, or promises. This is the teaching ministry of our Lord to us through the Holy Spirit.  We need him to illumine our minds and hearts as we read.    J. I. Packer explains this:  "The work of the Spirit in imparting this knowledge is called 'illumination,' or enlightening. It is not a giving of new revelation, but a work within us that enables us to grasp and to love the revelation that is there before us in the biblical text as heard ...