Exodus 18:18 “You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.” 

Jethro will go on to instruct Moses to: “look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

What is God saying to me? What God has called me to do, He has not called me to do alone.

How will I obey? I will look at my workload this morning, prioritize, and delegate.  In addition, I must look for the opportunity to serve those around me.  Like me, they “are not able to do it alone.”

Who will I tell? My administrative assistant.

Great leaders delegate to alleviate.

Our Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

Psalms 25:9 “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”

What is God saying to me? Personal humility leads to spiritual clarity.  Several verses earlier we read: “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths”(Psalms 25:4).  If I will humble myself, God will direct me to the best decisions.

How will I obey? Rebecca and I have been praying diligently for the Lord to show us “his way” for a family decision.  I’m reminded this morning that I must humble myself before God in order to be lead.  I will look for areas of pride and confess them.  Through confession God cleanses (1 John 1:9).

Who will I tell? I am meeting with a close friend today.  I will ask him to point out where he sees pride in my life.

Personal humility leads to spiritual clarity. 

Our Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

Scripture: Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

What is God saying to me?: Nothing compares to the “treasure” and “joy” of the kingdom of heaven.  I need to deny myself, take up my cross daily and follow Jesus.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Jesus will save it.

How will I obey?: Today, I want to look for things in my life that I have not been ready to sell for the sake of Jesus.  Then, I want to prayerfully turn them over to God.  “Lord, show me things that I am holding back from You.  What do I have that I haven’t been willing to sell in order to buy the kingdom?”

Who will I tell?: Rebecca.

Our Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Psalm 9:1-2 “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

O – I will be glad when I focus on the goodness of God.

A – This morning I want to spend an extended time singing praise songs and thinking about God’s wonderful deeds.

P – Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to save the world!  Help me to give You thanks with my whole heart.

Do you want to be glad?  Focus on the goodness of God.

Our Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This logo for Park Cities’ new sermon series on Acts reflects God’s heart to bless the world.

O – In the verse prior, God told Abraham “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”  In the first nine chapters of Genesis, God commanded “be fruitful and multiply” five different times (2x to animals).  God wants to bless the whole world.  “(I)n you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  This promise was ultimately fulfilled in Abraham’s offspring, Jesus.

A – I’m reminded today that God has blessed me through Jesus to be a blessing to others.  Acts 1:8 says: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  I am eagerly seeking opportunities to be fruitful and multiply the kingdom of God by sharing the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit.

P – Lord, use me to bring the message of Your blessing, the gospel of Jesus, to the world.

How can God bless the families of the earth through you? 

Our Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Revelation 12:1, 2, 10, 11 “Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth… Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser (described as a dragon in Rev 12) of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.”

O – John gives us an apocalyptic view of Christmas.  Christmas was the beginning to the last fight in the cosmic war that brought peace on earth.  Satan has been “defeated by the blood of the Lamb.”  Over the last few years, I have actually considered adding a dragon to our manger scene (and it looks like someone else has).  So much more was happening that night than the world realized.  The incarnation of God With Us was the beginning of the end of the great battle with sin.

A – This Christmas, I want to look at the nativity differently.  I want to see it as the battlefield where God dropped the ultimate bomb on Satan.  Not just a silent night where “all is calm.”

P – Lord, thank you for bringing peace on earth by overcoming Satan for us through Jesus.

Give glory to God in the highest for brining peace on earth, goodwill to men.

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – 2 John 1:5-6 “I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.”

O – “Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another…”  Jesus said: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love… This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you..”  John 15:9-12

A – I want to look for opportunities to sacrificially love God through loving others today.

P – Lord, thank You for the incredible love You have shown me!  Help me to love others the way You love me.

Who can you love God through?

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Psalms 119:71 “My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.”

O – David suffered a lot (rejection from his leadership, his family, etc.).  He tells us that pain was good for him because it taught him to listen to God’s Word.

A – I must focus on the Bible when I go through trial.

P – Lord, thank you for Your Word!  Though I don’t feel it, thank you also for the suffering that pushes me to listen to it.

How can you turn your suffering into a focus session on God’s decrees?

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Psalms 119:7 “As I learn Your righteous regulations, I will thank You by living as I should!”

O – We do not obey God (live as we should) to say please.  We obey God to say thank you.

A – I want to rejoice in the righteous instructions that the God of grace has given to me.  I want to thank Him by living as I should.

P – Lord, Thank you for loving me where I am.  Thank You for sending Jesus to die for sinners.  Lord, I want to learn Your righteous regulations and thank You by living as I should.  I’m eager to obey.

Are you living out of a posturing of please or thank you?

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Ezekiel 38:20 “All living things—the fish in the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people on earth—will quake in terror at my presence. Mountains will be thrown down; cliffs will crumble; walls will fall to the earth.”

Sharing Christ and Witnessing the Power of God in Nepal

O – All living things (fish, birds, small animals, people, etc.) will quake and all non-living things (mountains, cliffs, walls, etc.) will fall before the power of God.

A – Our missions team in Nepal had the opportunity to witness this verse in action.  Today, I want to live with the constant realization that God is all-powerful.

P – Lord, You are powerful!  In Your presence nothing can stand.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.