THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: April 1

Saturday, October 24, 2009

April 1

Genesis 1:1 1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

APRIL 1

PSALMS: 1, 31, 61, 91, 121

PROVERBS: 1

OLD TESTAMENT

2 KINGS 1:1 - 2:25

NEW TESTAMENT

ACTS 13:42 - 14:7

PSALMS: 1

1Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

4Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish. [1]

PSALMS: 31

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

deliver me in your righteousness.

2Turn your ear to me,

come quickly to my rescue;

be my rock of refuge,

a strong fortress to save me.

3Since you are my rock and my fortress,

for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

4Free me from the trap that is set for me,

for you are my refuge.

5Into your hands I commit my spirit;

redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

6I hate those who cling to worthless idols;

I trust in the LORD.

7I will be glad and rejoice in your love,

for you saw my affliction

and knew the anguish of my soul.

8You have not handed me over to the enemy

but have set my feet in a spacious place.

9Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

my soul and my body with grief.

10My life is consumed by anguish

and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,A

and my bones grow weak. [2]

11Because of all my enemies,

I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;

I am a dread to my friends--

those who see me on the street flee from me.

12I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;

I have become like broken pottery.

13For I hear the slander of many;

there is terror on every side;

they conspire against me

and plot to take my life.

14But I trust in you, O LORD;

I say, "You are my God."

15My times are in your hands;

deliver me from my enemies

and from those who pursue me.

16Let your face shine on your servant;

save me in your unfailing love.

17Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,

for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

and lie silent in the grave.B

18Let their lying lips be silenced,

for with pride and contempt

they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

19How great is your goodness,

which you have stored up for those who fear you,

which you bestow in the sight of men

on those who take refuge in you.

20In the shelter of your presence you hide them

from the intrigues of men;

in your dwelling you keep them safe [3]

from accusing tongues.

21Praise be to the LORD,

for he showed his wonderful love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

22In my alarm I said,

"I am cut off from your sight!"

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

23Love the LORD, all his saints!

The LORD preserves the faithful,

but the proud he pays back in full.

24Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the LORD. [4]

PSALMS: 61

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.

1Hear my cry, O God;

listen to my prayer.

2From the ends of the earth I call to you,

I call as my heart grows faint;

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3For you have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the foe.

4I long to dwell in your tent forever

and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Selah

5For you have heard my vows, O God;

you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

6Increase the days of the king's life,

his years for many generations.

7May he be enthroned in God's presence forever;

appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.

8Then will I ever sing praise to your name

and fulfill my vows day after day. [5]

PSALMS: 91

1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.A

2I will sayB of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

3Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

4He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

9If you make the Most High your dwelling--

even the LORD, who is my refuge--

10then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

11For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

12they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent. [6]

14"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

16With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation." [7]

PSALMS: 121

A song of ascents.

1I lift up my eyes to the hills--

where does my help come from?

2My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

3He will not let your foot slip--

he who watches over you will not slumber;

4indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD watches over you--

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7The LORD will keep you from all harm--

he will watch over your life;

8the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore. [8]

PROVERBS: 1

1 1The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

2for attaining wisdom and discipline;

for understanding words of insight;

3for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,

doing what is right and just and fair;

4for giving prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the young--

5let the wise listen and add to their learning,

and let the discerning get guidance--

6for understanding proverbs and parables,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but foolsA despise wisdom and discipline.

8Listen, my son, to your father's instruction

and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

9They will be a garland to grace your head

and a chain to adorn your neck.

10My son, if sinners entice you,

do not give in to them.

11If they say, "Come along with us;

let's lie in wait for someone's blood,

let's waylay some harmless soul;

12let's swallow them alive, like the grave,B [9]

and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

13we will get all sorts of valuable things

and fill our houses with plunder;

14throw in your lot with us,

and we will share a common purse"--

15my son, do not go along with them,

do not set foot on their paths;

16for their feet rush into sin,

they are swift to shed blood.

17How useless to spread a net

in full view of all the birds!

18These men lie in wait for their own blood;

they waylay only themselves!

19Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;

it takes away the lives of those who get it.

20Wisdom calls aloud in the street,

she raises her voice in the public squares;

21at the head of the noisy streetsC she cries out,

in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

22"How long will you simple onesD love your simple ways?

How long will mockers delight in mockery

and fools hate knowledge?

23If you had responded to my rebuke,

I would have poured out my heart to you

and made my thoughts known to you.

24But since you rejected me when I called

and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,

25since you ignored all my advice

and would not accept my rebuke,

26I in turn will laugh at your disaster; [10]

I will mock when calamity overtakes you--

27when calamity overtakes you like a storm,

when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,

when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28"Then they will call to me but I will not answer;

they will look for me but will not find me.

29Since they hated knowledge

and did not choose to fear the LORD,

30since they would not accept my advice

and spurned my rebuke,

31they will eat the fruit of their ways

and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

32For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,

and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33but whoever listens to me will live in safety

and be at ease, without fear of harm." [11]

OLD TESTAMENT

2 KINGS 1:1 - 2:25

11 After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury."

3But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and

ask them, `Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 4Therefore this is what the LORD says: `You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!' " So Elijah went.

5When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have you come back?"

6"A man came to meet us," they replied. "And he said to us, `Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, "This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!" ' "

7The king asked them, "What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?"

8They replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist."

The king said, "That was Elijah the Tishbite."

9Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "Man of God, the king says, `Come down!' "

10Elijah answered the captain, "If I am a man of God, may fire [12]come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

11At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king says, `Come down at once!' "

12"If I am a man of God," Elijah replied, "may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

13So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. "Man of God," he begged, "please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! 14See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!"

15The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

16He told the king, "This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!"

17So he died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.

Because Ahaziah had no son, JoramA succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. 18As for all the other events of Ahaziah's reign, and what he did, are they [13]not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

21When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel."

But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

3The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?"

"Yes, I know," Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it."

4Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho."

And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.

5The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?"

"Yes, I know," he replied, "but do not speak of it."

6Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan."

And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on.

7Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at [14]the Jordan. 8Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?"

"Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.

10"You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise not."

11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.

13He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

15The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

16"Look," they said, "we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him [15]up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley."

"No," Elisha replied, "do not send them."

17But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, "Send them." And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

19The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."

20"Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.

21Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: `I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.' " 22And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

23From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" 24He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. 25And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.[16]

NEW TESTAMENT

ACTS 13:42 - 14:7

42As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

44On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.

46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

" `I have made youG a light for the Gentiles,

that youH may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'I"

48When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

49The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. [17]52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

141At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and

poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for

the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7where they continued to preach the good news. [18]

John 3:16-21 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,F that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.G 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."H

THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION

Saturday, October 24, 2009

April 1

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John 3:16-21