THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation -- January 3 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

JANUARY 3

PSALMS: 3, 33, 63, 93, 123

PROVERBS: 3

OLD TESTAMENT: DEUTERONOMY 4:1 - 49

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 6:39 - 7:10

PSALMS: 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

¹ O LORD, how many are my foes!

How many rise up against me!

² Many are saying of me,

"God will not deliver him."

Selah ^A

³ But you are a shield around me, O LORD;

you bestow glory on me and lift ^B up my head.

⁴ To the LORD I cry aloud,

and he answers me from his holy hill.

Selah

⁵ I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

⁶ I will not fear the tens of thousands

drawn up against me on every side.

⁷ Arise, O LORD!

Deliver me, O my God!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw;

break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ From the LORD comes deliverance.

May your blessing be on your people. Selah ¹

PSALMS: 33

¹ Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;

it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

² Praise the LORD with the harp;

make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

³ Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully, and shout for joy.

⁴ For the word of the LORD is right and true;

he is faithful in all he does.

⁵ The LORD loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,

their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars ^A;

he puts the deep into storehouses.

⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD;

let all the people of the world revere him.

⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The LORD foils the plans of the nations;

he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

¹¹ But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,

the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,

the people he chose for his inheritance.

¹³ From heaven the LORD looks down

and sees all mankind;

¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches

all who live on earth--

¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,

who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength. ²

¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

¹⁸ But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

¹⁹ to deliver them from death

and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;

he is our help and our shield.

²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

²² May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,

even as we put our hope in you. ³

PSALMS: 63

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

¹ O God, you are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you,

my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land

where there is no water.

² I have seen you in the sanctuary

and beheld your power and your glory.

³ Because your love is better than life,

my lips will glorify you.

⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,

and in your name I will lift up my hands.

⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶ On my bed I remember you;

I think of you through the watches of the night.

⁷ Because you are my help,

I sing in the shadow of your wings.

⁸ My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.

⁹ They who seek my life will be destroyed;

they will go down to the depths of the earth.

¹⁰ They will be given over to the sword

and become food for jackals.⁴

¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God;

all who swear by God's name will praise him,

while the mouths of liars will be silenced. ⁵

PSALMS: 93

¹ The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;

the LORD is robed in majesty

and is armed with strength.

The world is firmly established;

it cannot be moved.

² Your throne was established long ago;

you are from all eternity.

³ The seas have lifted up, O LORD,

the seas have lifted up their voice;

the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

⁴ Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,

mightier than the breakers of the sea--

the LORD on high is mighty.

⁵ Your statutes stand firm;

holiness adorns your house

for endless days, O LORD. ⁶

PSALMS: 123

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to you,

to you whose throne is in heaven.

² As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the LORD our God,

till he shows us his mercy.

³ Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us,

for we have endured much contempt.

⁴ We have endured much ridicule from the proud,

much contempt from the arrogant. ⁷

PROVERBS: 3

3 ¹ My son, do not forget my teaching,

but keep my commands in your heart,

² for they will prolong your life many years

and bring you prosperity.

³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make your paths straight. ^A

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD and shun evil.

⁸ This will bring health to your body

and nourishment to your bones.

⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth,

with the firstfruits of all your crops;

¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

and your vats will brim over with new wine.

¹¹ My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline

and do not resent his rebuke,

¹² because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father ^B the son he delights in. ⁸

¹³ Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,

the man who gains understanding,

¹⁴ for she is more profitable than silver

and yields better returns than gold.

¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies;

nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷ Her ways are pleasant ways,

and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;

those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

¹⁹ By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations,

by understanding he set the heavens in place;

²⁰ by his knowledge the deeps were divided,

and the clouds let drop the dew.

²¹ My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment,

do not let them out of your sight;

²² they will be life for you,

an ornament to grace your neck.

²³ Then you will go on your way in safety,

and your foot will not stumble;

²⁴ when you lie down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵ Have no fear of sudden disaster

or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

²⁶ for the LORD will be your confidence

and will keep your foot from being snared.

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,

when it is in your power to act. ⁹

²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor,

"Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"--

when you now have it with you.

²⁹ Do not plot harm against your neighbor,

who lives trustfully near you.

³⁰ Do not accuse a man for no reason--

when he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a violent man

or choose any of his ways,

³² for the LORD detests a perverse man

but takes the upright into his confidence.

³³ The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the home of the righteous.

³⁴ He mocks proud mockers

but gives grace to the humble.

³⁵ The wise inherit honor,

but fools he holds up to shame.

OLD TESTAMENT: DEUTEROMONY 4:1 - 49

4 ¹ Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ² Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

³ You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, ⁴ but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today.

⁵ See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.

⁶ Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." ⁷ What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our ¹⁰ God is near us whenever we pray to him? ⁸ And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

⁹ Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. ¹⁰ Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children." ¹¹ You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

¹² Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. ¹³ He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and ¹¹

laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

¹⁵ You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, ¹⁶ so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, ¹⁷ or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. ¹⁹ And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars--all the heavenly array--do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰ But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

²¹ The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance. ²² I will die in this land; I will not ¹² cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. ²³ Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. ²⁴ For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

²⁵ After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time--if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger, ²⁶ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.

²⁷ The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. ²⁸ There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. ²⁹ But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart ¹³ and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. ³¹ For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

³² Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³ Has any other people heard the voice of ^{God A} speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵ You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him¹⁴there is no other. ³⁶ From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.

³⁷ Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, ³⁸ to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

³⁹ Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.

⁴¹ Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, ⁴² to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if he had unintentionally killed his neighbor without malice aforethought. He could flee into one of these cities and save his life. 43 The cities were these: Bezer in the desert plateau, for the
15 Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Assassinates.

⁴⁴ This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. ⁴⁵ These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt ⁴⁶ and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.

⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.

⁴⁸ This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Siyon ^B (that is, Hermon), ⁴⁹ and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, ^C below the slopes of Pisgah. ¹⁵

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 6:39 - 7:10

³⁹ He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

⁴¹ "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

⁴³ "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵ The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

⁴⁶ "Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my ¹⁶ words and puts them into practice. ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

7 ¹ When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. ² There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. ³ The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." ⁶ So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to ¹⁷ have you come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, `Go,' and he goes; and that one, `Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, `Do this,' and he does it."

⁹ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." ¹⁰ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. ¹⁸

1 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

2 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

3 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

4 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

5 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

6 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

7 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

8 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

9 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

10 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

11 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

12 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

13 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

14 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

15 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

16 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

17 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

18 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever 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 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But 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