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.

S – Lamentations 5:21 “Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!  Give us back the joys we once had!”

O – The writer cries out to God to restore His people.  This involves God bringing them back to Him and giving His people the joys they once had.

A – In my own life, the greatest times of joy are always found when I am in right relationship with God.  With Him there is fullness of joy that goes beyond circumstances.  As I read this passage this morning I had the opportunity rest in God through an extended time of prayer.  I experienced this restoration, closeness and joy.

P – Lord, thank You for always offering me restoration and joy when I come to You.  Thank You for the ultimate restoration You have given to those who believe in Jesus.

Find time to rest in the joy of restoration that God offers 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 – Psalms 85:6 – “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”

O – Why do we need spiritual revival?  So we can rejoice in (be glad, delight in) the Lord.

A – Today we are entering day two of our senior adult sponsored revival.  I am reminded of the importance of revival and will pray for God to revive us spiritually SO THAT we can rejoice in Him.

P – Lord, “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”

Do you need to be spiritually revived?  Meditate on Psalm 85 this morning and ask God for revival in your life.   

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 – Psalm 84:5-6 “What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.”

O – Bear with me, I’m going show more scripture here than normal.  I’m actually in tears right now.  God is comforting me this morning.  A few verses earlier, the Psalmist writes: “I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God” (Psalm 84:2).  Several verses later we read: “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10).

In times of pain, our time with the Lord is where we find “refreshment” and “blessing.”  In another part of our One Year Bible reading for today we read: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds” (Jeremiah 23:21-22).

A – I am being deeply convicted and convinced of my need and desire for time with the Lord.  I am going to rest in His Word and the Holy Spirit through a time of pain.

P – Lord, I feel your refreshing rain.  Thank you for your comfort.  Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

Are you in “ the Valley of Weeping?”  Spend time with the Lord today.

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 – Philippians 3:8 “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”

O – Paul calls “everything else,” this in includes a lot of stuff, “worthless” and “garbage” compared to the “infinite value of knowing Christ.”  In order to know Christ he has “discarded everything else” so that he could “gain Christ.”

A – I must make my relationships with Jesus what I value most.  I must discard everything so that I can gain Christ.  Today, I want to look for something I can throw away that takes my focus off of Him.

P – Lord, forgive me for placing value in so many things outside of my relationship with Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, help me to always prioritize my relationship with Jesus.

Is your relationship with Christ what you value most?  What do you need to throw in the trash?

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.