Author Archives: chadzaucha

Here is today’s Bible reading:  Exodus 21:22-23:13; Matthew 24:1-28; Psalm 29:1-11; Proverbs 7:6-23.

Exodus 23:4-5 (NIV)
“If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. [5] If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.

Sounds very Sermon on the Mount like doesn’t it?  Matthew 5:44 (NIV) But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.  Who is your “enemy”?  How will you love them this week?  Will you begin by praying for them?

Here is today’s Bible reading:  Exodus 19:16-21:21; Matthew 23:13-39; Psalm 28:1-9; Proverbs 7:1-5.

Exodus 19:16-22 (NIV)
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. [17] Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. [18] Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, [19] and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
[20] The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up [21] and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. [22] Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”

Let us not become too familiar, too cozy, too comfortable with God.  He is holy, holy, holy.  Let us not forget His holiness and may we treat Him with the reverence He deserves.

Here is today’s Bible reading:  Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; Psalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35

Psalm 27:14 (NIV)
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

Waiting is so hard.  We want it now. But if we always got what we wanted when we wanted it we would be spoiled, immature brats.  God is a better parent than that.  He knows we need to grow in maturity, so He requires waiting.  Specifically, He commands us to wait with our focus on Him.  While we wait, He grows us.  Don’t despise the waiting.

How did we get to Thursday already?  I’m looking forward to a good day of study in preparation for Sunday’s message on Romans 12:1-2.

Here is today’s Bible reading: Exodus 15:19-17:7; Matthew 22:1-33; Psalm 27:1-6; Proverbs 6:20-26.

Matthew 22:29 (NIV)
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

How true this is today.  The topical, thematic, felt-need, seeker driven preaching of the day has produced entire churches that are ignorant of God’s Word.  Too many congregations are a mile wide and an inch deep.  We desperately need a return to the Word of God.  It is no coincidence that the absence of the Word goes hand-in-hand with an absence of God’s power.  The measure of the presence of God and His power in a church is not a crowd hat experiences the warm fuzzy sensation that accompanies a well-performed praise song.  Rather, it is in the radical transformation of lives.  The lost are found.  Sinners become saints.  Those in bondage are set free.  May we truly know the Scriptures and the power of God.

“Moses turned aside to look.  There seemed to be a cause-and-effect relationship between Moses’ willingness to pay attention and God’s willingness to speak.  “When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush” (Exodus 3:4).  God spoke because Moses stopped, paused, noticed, turned aside! (61).”

Here is today’s Bible reading:  Exodus 13:17-15:18; Matthew 21:23-46; Psalm 26:1-12; Proverbs 6:16-19

Psalm 26:2 (NIV)
Test me, O Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;

Part of my journey for the past year has been about my heart.  God isn’t interested in us just “behaving.”  He wants us to have hearts that are truly like His.  Mine is not.  I knew that.  He knew that.  And so, He has begun the process of spiritual open heart surgery to change that.  The crazy thing about this procedure is that you have to go on living while it is happening.  That is no small challenge.  But it does make you rely on Him even more.   I look forward to having a heart that is pleasing in His sight.

One month down!  Well done.  I love the fact that people are talking about what they are reading.

I came across another helpful resource recently:  bible.is.  It contains text and also the Word read aloud.  There is also an app for your smartphone.

Here is today’s Bible reading:  Exodus 12:14-13:16; Matthew 20:29-21:22; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 6:12-15.

Matthew 20:30-31 (NIV)
Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
[31] The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

When you are desperate you don’t care about your pride anymore.  You don’t care about what others think.  You shout, cry out, and make an ugly scene until you receive what you need.  I wonder if we would receive more from the Lord if we cried out with this same sense of desperation found in the blind men, if we stopped caring about what others think and only cared about what God thinks.

Had a pretty amazing lunch at Beach House Tacos on the Ventura Pier today.  It is always fun to try new places.  The best part was being with Christy.

Here is today’s Bible reading:  Exodus 10:1-12:13; Matthew 20:1-28; Psalm 25:1-15; Proverbs 6:6-11.

Matthew 20:26-28 (NIV)
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, [27] and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– [28] just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

A lot of our discontent in this life comes when we forget that we are servants.  When we think more highly of ourselves than we ought, we focus on what we think are our rights and what we think we deserve.  But when we choose to follow Jesus, we give up our perceived rights.  And thankfully, we don’t get what we deserve.  We are privileged to be humble servants, serving our Lord through serving others.  When we embrace that role, then we will experience contentment and fulfillment.  Our lives will also overflow with gratitude.

Something pretty cool happened to me this morning.  We have celebrated baptisms the past few weeks.  Our baptismal has a curtain all around it that is closed when not in use.  I went to close it today and couldn’t.  The cord wouldn’t work.  Even crawling up there and trying to manually close the curtains wouldn’t work.  They just wouldn’t budge.  Apparently, there are more baptisms to come.

Here is today’s Bible reading:  Exodus 7:25-9:35; Matthew 19:13-30; Psalm 24:1-10; Proverbs 6:1-5.

Psalm 24:1 (NIV)
Of David. A psalm.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

So true, and so easy to forget.  I don’t own anything.  I am a steward/manager of God’s resources.  Someday I will have to give an account for my stewardship.  Did I use His resources for His glory or my own?

Interestingly, this was precisely the struggle of the rich young ruler that also appeared in today’s reading.  He clung too tightly to what did not belong to him.  As a consequence, he missed out on the far greater blessing.

We are at the completion of week #4.  Great job.  I keep hearing from new people, “I’m doing the Bible reading…”  If you get behind, just pick up where we are today and keep going.

Here is today’s Bible Reading: Exodus 5:22-7:24; Matthew 18:23-19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 5:22-23

Exodus 5:23 (NIV)
Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Isn’t it true that when you obey God things often get “worse” before they get “better.”  Life with Jesus is hard.  It is a cross-bearing, self-denying life of sacrifice.  But there is no life I would rather live.  For the One who overcame the world makes me an overcomer.  And in that journey is found true life.

Psalm 23 is so familiar that we can miss its beauty.  It is especially a help to those struggling with fear and anxiety.  I love those images of green pastures and quiet waters.  Read it again–slowly and meditatively.  May God restore your soul today.