Happy Leap Year!
Introduction
Pippa and I wanted to send a brief note to encourage all of you taking part in the challenge of reading the whole Bible this year to keep going. Rick Warren has written that ‘reading the Bible generates life, it produces change, it heals hurts, it builds character, it transforms circumstances, it imparts joy, it overcomes adversity, it defeats temptation, it infuses hope, it releases power, it cleanses the mind’. We hope and pray that reading the Bible brings much benefit to your life, just as it has done for ours. So today we want to leave you with a selection of verses as we pray for you on this journey.
Psalm 1:1–3
Commentary
1. Keep delighting and meditating on God’s words
Psalm 1:1–3
‘Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers’
John 5:39
Commentary
2. Keep focused on Jesus as you read
John 5:39
‘You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me’.
Deuteronomy 4:1–2
Commentary
3. Keep putting God’s word into practice
Deuteronomy 4:1–2
‘Now, Israel, hear 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 the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 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’.
Lord, thank you so much for everyone who is following this plan and seeking to read the whole Bible with us. I want to pray for every person doing it, that you would fill them with your Holy Spirit as they read. That you would bless their lives, surround them with your angels, guard them, protect them and bless every aspect of their lives (their family, their friends, their community, their work, everything that they are involved in). And that they would stay close to you and hear you speaking through the Bible each day in Jesus’ name. Amen.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Leadership Conference at the Royal Albert Hall on 6–7 May. It’s going to be an amazing event, and I am so excited.
We’ll have 5 500 people in the Royal Albert Hall worshipping Jesus together, praying for one another and hearing inspiring messages. And I think it’s going to be a life transforming event. I really hope to see you there. God bless.
Pippa adds
Hurray! An extra day, February 29th. Every day is precious with the Lord.
Thought for the Day
‘Reading the Bible generates life, it produces change, it heals hurts, it builds character, it transforms circumstances, it imparts joy, it overcomes adversity, it defeats temptation, it infuses hope, it releases power, it cleanses the mind’
-Rick Warren
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References
Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life, (Zondervan, 2004) p.170
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993