The Seven Streams Method

Daniel 1 We launch a new stream today: Exile. The exile occurred when the nation of Israel was taken off to Babylon. We continue to read from the NIV this week. Serena mentioned the Daniel Fast during this episode.

Isaiah 1-3 We are launching a new stream today: the Prophetic. We will be covering Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel in the Prophetic Stream this year. Reading from the NIV this week.

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Joshua 1:1-6:27 We are starting a new stream today: The Nation. We begin in Joshua and will end the year in Esther. The theme for the reading today is obedience. We are reading from the New International Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7streamsmethod | Donate Bookmarks are available to follow along.

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Genesis 1-4 We're going to be reading from the New International Version this week. Genesis means the beginning. And Genesis is believed to have been penned by Moses. Now I saw this really amazing article talking about the origin of Genesis. And you can imagine that back all those years ago they didn't have paper. And so, Genesis was written on tablets.

And those are all going to be housed at SevenStreamsMethod.com. And that is where you can see whatever notes we have for this particular episode - January 1st.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Thank you for this reading today. Thank you for showing us and telling us about the beginning. Thank you for the glimmer of hope that you provide even in the midst of the fall. We thank you for the Scriptures. We thank you for having somebody to write down these words so that we can read them. We just ask your blessing on this reading of the Bible this year. We ask your blessing up those who are taking this journey. Lord, may we see new things each and every day. And may we hear your call in our lives they way these men and women heard the call in their lives. Thank you, Jesus. In Your Name, Amen. 7streamsmethod.com | @7streamsmethod | Donate

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The Seven Streams Method was created to take us through seven divisions of Scripture by reading one portion from each stream for each day of the week.

Read, read, read your Book gently down the streams... Transcript

Welcome one and all to the Seven Streams Method. This method is a unique way to go through the Bible in a year and thank you for joining me on this journey. I am Serena Travis and I will share a little bit about myself and also about this method before we launch into our year of reading through the Bible together.

And then he thought, "What if each day of the week I was listening to a different section of Scripture?"

Creation of The 7 Streams

So the Seven Streams Method is something that was created by my husband, Drake Travis, and he has gone through the Bible many times over. And there's been some years where he's gone through the Bible multiple times and I know that he finds great comfort in going through the Bible. One of the things that he realized as he was spending time listening to the Bible is that he preferred to listen to one section of the Bible per day as opposed to going into the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. He would rather spend that one day listening to one section of Scripture. And then he thought, "What if each day of the week I was listening to a different section of Scripture?" He knew from seminary study that there are natural divisions of types of books in the Bible.

Let's talk about the Bible in the first place. The Bible is not just a book. As some of you may know, it a library. It's a library of historical books, there's a songbook, there are letters. It's a grouping of different types of writing. Some of it is prose, some of it is poetry, and some of it seems a bit cryptic and some of it genealogical so it's more kind of dry material I guess you could say. There's exciting stories and there's kind of a how to section in Leviticus in there of how we're supposed to live. Over all there's this vast array and it's written over many years with different writers. It's very interesting and so much more than a book. And now we are going through the 66 books of the Bible library and we will do that over the course of the year.

The 7 Streams are these: The World, The Nation, Wisdom, Prophetic, Exile, Christ and The Church. Each week we will read from one section of each of those streams. Now The World covers Genesis to Deuteronomy and we're going to spread out over the course of the year. The Nation is Joshua to Esther. Wisdom is Job to Song of Solomon. Prophetic is Isaiah to Ezekiel and the Exile is Daniel to Malachi - those are the Minor Prophets. And then Christ is the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then there's The Church stream which is Acts to Revelation. So with a division like this some of the days will have somewhat short readings while other days we will be rowing a bit more. We'll have to get out another set of oars and we're going to be in it for the long haul. The average time is fairly close to 30 minutes. Over the course of the week, we're going to experience a cross-section of the Bible through the Streams and will find a thread for that week. I'll share the thread through the Streams after the commentary on The Church Stream at the end of our Bible week.

Translations

Each week I will use a different translation of the Bible and by doing that we're going to experience some translations which are more word for word and other translations which are more thought.

Names

One of the most asked questions about reading through the Bible is how to handle all the names. First of all, you'll notice that names can change depending on the translation. Second, I've adopted a more Hebrew pronunciation of the names even though they are Anglicized. You may have heard a different pronunciation depending on when and where you grew up. Third, Drake and I have been in biblical studies for years. Drake went to Seminary so we have been immersed in Bible speak.

So anyway I'm excited about this journey together. You may be taking part in this journey at different times of the day and I find some times that it's even helpful to listen to the Bible as I'm going to sleep. So if that's your plan, I'm totally fine with that. I will not be offended if you fall asleep while I'm reading in fact I would be flattered. It's a wonderful thing to fill your mind with the scriptures as you're falling asleep because you're feeding your mind with the things that you should focus on.

A Bit About Serena

My major in college was mathematics, so I enjoy Numbers. Ha, ha - some dry humor there. My family and I like to study genealogy. I also play the piano and the tuba and I dabble with a few other instruments. I enjoying reading and love all things audio. My husband and I have traveled quite a bit. He likes to keep track of the countries where we have traveled.

Staying Connected

Web site - SevenStreamsMethod.com

Follow and Like us on Facebook and Twitter - @7streamsmethod

We are listener supported - visit the Donate page.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I look forward to this voyage that we're taking together. Imagine that you are boarding a ship as you climb aboard. The cool thing about this is that there's no limit to the number of people we can take aboard. The ship automatically "grows"! Make sure to invite a friend to join you on this journey. It's always good to have a shipmate who is a good buddy. If you've never gone to the Bible before or if you've gone through the Bible many times, the Seven Streams is a whole new way to experience the Scripture. Time to go hoist the anchor and set sail.

Download

The Seven Streams Method was created to take us through seven divisions of Scripture by reading one portion from each stream for each day of the week.

Read, read, read your Book gently down the streams... Transcript

 Welcome one and all to the Seven Streams Method. This method is a unique way to go through the Bible in a year and thank you for joining me on this journey. I am Serena Travis and I will share a little bit about myself and also about this method before we launch into our year of reading through the Bible together.

And then he thought,  "What if each day of the week I was listening to a different section of Scripture?"

Creation of The 7 Streams

So the Seven Streams Method is something that was created by my husband, Drake Travis, and he has gone through the Bible many times over. And there's been some years where he's gone through the Bible multiple times and I know that he finds great comfort in going through the Bible. One of the things that he realized as he was spending time listening to the Bible is that he preferred to listen to one section of the Bible per day as opposed to going into the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. He would rather spend that one day listening to one section of Scripture. And then he thought,  "What if each day of the week I was listening to a different section of Scripture?" He knew from seminary study that there are natural divisions of types of books in the Bible.

Let's talk about the Bible in the first place. The Bible is not just a book. As some of you may know, it a library. It's a library of historical books, there's a songbook, there are letters. It's a grouping of different types of writing. Some of it is prose, some of it is poetry, and some of it seems a bit cryptic and some of it genealogical so it's more kind of dry material I guess you could say. There's exciting stories and there's kind of a how to section in Leviticus in there of how we're supposed to live. Over all there's this vast array and it's written over many years with different writers. It's very interesting and so much more than a book. And now we are going through the 66 books of the Bible library and we will do that over the course of the year.

The 7 Streams are these: The World, The Nation, Wisdom, Prophetic, Exile, Christ and The Church. Each week we will read from one section of each of those streams. Now The World covers Genesis to Deuteronomy and we're going to spread out over the course of the year. The Nation is Joshua to Esther. Wisdom is Job to Song of Solomon. Prophetic is Isaiah to Ezekiel and the Exile is Daniel to Malachi - those are the Minor Prophets. And then Christ is the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then there's The Church stream which is Acts to Revelation. So with a division like this some of the days will have somewhat short readings while other days we will be rowing a bit more. We'll have to get out another set of oars and we're going to be in it for the long haul. The average time is fairly close to 30 minutes. Over the course of the week, we're going to experience a cross-section of the Bible through the Streams and will find a thread for that week. I'll share the thread through the Streams after the commentary on The Church Stream at the end of our Bible week.

Translations

Each week I will use a different translation of the Bible and by doing that we're going to experience some translations which are more word for word and other translations which are more thought.

Names

One of the most asked questions about reading through the Bible is how to handle all the names. First of all, you'll notice that names can change depending on the translation. Second, I've adopted a more Hebrew pronunciation of the names even though they are Anglicized. You may have heard a different pronunciation depending on when and where you grew up. Third, Drake and I have been in biblical studies for years. Drake went to Seminary so we have been immersed in Bible speak.

So anyway I'm excited about this journey together. You may be taking part in this journey at different times of the day and I find some times that it's even helpful to listen to the Bible as I'm going to sleep. So if that's your plan, I'm totally fine with that. I will not be offended if you fall asleep while I'm reading in fact I would be flattered. It's a wonderful thing to fill your mind with the scriptures as you're falling asleep because you're feeding your mind with the things that you should focus on.

A Bit About Serena

My major in college was mathematics, so I enjoy Numbers. Ha, ha - some dry humor there. My family and I like to study genealogy. I also play the piano and the tuba and I dabble with a few other instruments. I enjoying reading and love all things audio. My husband and I have traveled quite a bit. He likes to keep track of the countries where we have traveled.

Staying Connected

Web site - SevenStreamsMethod.com

Follow and Like us on Facebook and Twitter - @7streamsmethod

We are listener supported - visit the Donate page.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I look forward to this voyage that we're taking together. Imagine that you are boarding a ship as you climb aboard. The cool thing about this is that there's no limit to the number of people we can take aboard. The ship automatically "grows"! Make sure to invite a friend to join you on this journey. It's always good to have a shipmate who is a good buddy.  If you've never gone to the Bible before or if you've gone through the Bible many times, the Seven Streams is a whole new way to experience the Scripture. Time to go hoist the anchor and set sail.

I John 5 - Revelation 1 We are covering I John 5, II John, III John, Jude and Revelation 1 in The Message. 7streamsmethod.com | @serenatravis | Donate Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Jesus, thank you for your care for us that comes through in comforting letters of encouragement, instruction, warnings and pastoral inspiration. May we rise to the calling, the blessing, the deeds, and 'the rest' that you have planned for us. Amen. I John 5 - The issue in this chapter is that you know for certain.  The word "know" doesn't surface in today's translation but it is a chapter of confidence from what you know about our God and Savior, our relationships, our destiny, future and eternity.  The core is that we know we have eternal life. We know that our prayers are heard by God. We know that God has us for we are His children and chosen ones; we are His own.  And we can believe our God who never lies. And in typical fashion with the rest of John's writing we need to love others and keep God's commands. Part of loving others, btw! is to exhort them to get away from/out of/and refrain from sin.  E.g. we are each others' business, and helping fellow believers along in this way is part of our Christian experience. 2 John - is written to a beloved congregation. The "dear lady" doesn't show up in the translation we read today, but that has been fhis familiar greeting through history. Was she a "school marm" type that all were endeared to? Was John referring to them as another thread of precious affection in the wedding gown of the church that was spreading across the continent? Memo: We, His followers, are the Briiiide of Christ...  The alternate suggestions may be inconsequential. The paramount reminder is certainly a theme of John's - that they love each other.  This is John's "chorus" since leaning on Jesus during the Last Supper. The people in this congregation (it may well have been a house church in Ephesus) they love in truth, know the truth, live in it, have God's traits because of truth, and they walk in truth.  John also warned them, in their loving nature, to be alert to roving false teachers who are spreading lies that Jesus was never really here as a human-God-incarnate. These "anti-Christers" are to be labeled as such and 'blocked at the door'! Don't let them in or let them teach. They are "cancer" and should be dealt with like cancer.  John said as much in I John 2 - for 12 verses of that chapter. 3 John - John's welcome to Gaius sounds like the meeting up of old friends who, upon arrival, come bearing hugs, and gifts, and well wishes. Paul had trained a number of good men to be pastors and they had launched into ministry. Their hospitality ministry was thriving and a golden testimony in the Holy Spirit.  John continued the oversight of these ministries and leaders. And it's quite apparent that a certain man;  "Diotrephes" (another Pastor in Gaius' region-but a malcontent) was a man who needed to feel he was  "top Dachsund at the wiener-dog race." John gives him a talking to and advises others how to handle it.  Hey, pastoral care is not all cheery. John will tell them more in person when he arrives. And note that when John refers to himself as "the Elder", it's quite the label.  By this time, he is the only surviving member of the original 12 Apostles. It's a well-deserved term. Jude - this is another of Jesus' brothers who was Joseph's blood son and born to Mary. He was one of the 12 Apostles.  His original intent was to write a nice treatise about salvation. But that was abruptly eclipsed by the urgent need to address the issue of roving trouble makers who were scuttling around the Roman Empire and doing their devilish best to lead people of Church into pagan living.  Their insidious method was to teach cultic behavior and encourage people to do so AND remain in the church that they are in. Leviticus talks fo mixing things that shouldn't be mixed.  Remember rat poison is 99.99% good food. Only 1/10,000th of it is poison. It is the mixing them together that ushers in the danger.  These trolling gremlins are trying to illicitly sexualize the congregations. History teaches that doing this systematically blurs the drive and focus of any cultural movement and vulnerably steers them into darkened aimlessness. These tramps that Jude is exposing want this for the churches.  They are truly groomed for this task by the devil himself. They won't follow God, they deny Christ, they are moral "hyenas" (how's that!?), pigs who have snuck in, selfish, fruitless men. They complain, scoff, criticize, brag and are only in church to tear it apart. They work for the Devil. And darkest judgment awaits these people who probably won't even realize how bad they are and how bad their treatment is going to be.          But YOU, saints in the fold, keep to your doctrine and fellowship, for God is with you. Amen. Revelation is God revealing what is to come. Just as God told us how our world began in Genesis, He tells us where things are headed in Revelation. He doesn't leave us groping in the dark, wondering, sifting through pagan mysteries and man-made ideas which fill the heads of lost people. Revelation is the finale~, the triumph of Christ, the new heaven and new earth.  Know that Christ Jesus is the center of things in this book. It is prophecy as well as practicality. It calls for discussion, listening, searching, and prayer. !John didn't write Revelation to split all the churches! He wrote it to assure them that evil will be vanquished, that paradise lost will be returned, and God's children will be gathered once and for all in glorious manner. Remember to wait until you understand the book better before getting entrenched in opinions. It is interesting that commentaries on Revelation are very few. Biblical scholars (whose vocation is deducing and giving definitive answers) realize that doing this with Revelation is an extremely sketchy task. So most avoid it. We'll touch on this more in the weeks to come; the views, the categories, and the schools of thought that arise from Revelation.   Today, chapter one, is John talking to the church about the things they had seen; what had already taken place. Ch.'s 2-3 was what they were experiencing now. Ch's 4-22 is what will take place from then onward. Revelation is Holy Spirit driven. The number seven appears 16 times. There are seven beatitudes, 27 angel references, spiritual battles, smoke and fire, dragons, demons, signs and wonders.  Our prayer is that you are blessed beyond measure by Revelation this time through it - not confused or frightened - but inspired to press on to know that God that has such great plans for you. Rev. 1 - It is stated that this is a testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessing is promised to those who read this revelation. The book closes with the same promise of blessing for its readers [22:7].  John greets the seven churches and lists them. Their sites can still be visited today east of the Aegean Sea in Western Turkey. John in his visions and in his concern for these congregations is not a railing senile old man "losing it" on his way to hospice. He deeply cares for them in a pastoral way as if they were his own children. The grand memo is summed up in three words: CHRIST IS EVERYTHING.  There is so much that people do not know about Jesus. His wonders, His miracles, His infinite wisdom. What we read of His deeds in the four gospels is a miniscule introduction to what we will know when we all meet Him face to face! John is writing this in 95 A.D. from Patmos, an island where prisoners were sent. Emperor Domitian had just finished torturing and executing 40,000 Christians in Rome for sport and a spectacle. Emperor Trajan would soon assume the same disposition in 98 A.D. John is fortunate to be exiled and free to write this marvelous book. And His vision of Christ is dazzling; overwhelming. This vision is a memo to the churches to put their full trust in Jesus who is all things marvelous. He's been gentle and yet is a battle-suited and ready warrior set to conquer His frantic enemy.  This is all the more reason for the churches to make themselves ready for Christ; abandon all corruption, lukewarm living, disloyalty and such. The Thread Through the Streams The issue that kept coming up was that love is more than just feeling good and roses and such. Love also requires "house-keeping", cleansing, vigilance and removal of things that don't mix with God. Nov. 26 - Deut. 16-20   There were to be judges and officers, fairness and honesty must be adhered to. No sex cults in my country! No witchcraft, nor sorcery. And have cities of refuge so that the land isn't controlled by murderous rage and endless paybacks. Moses also explained very practical issues of management that are sensible and keen to people's needs.  I.e. Israel was not to be a crazy country filled with lunatic citizens. Nov. 27 - Ezra 9 - Neh. 04   Back in Israel, some of the men had taken foreign wives and ... painful as it all was, the wives (raised as pagans) had to go.  Israel couldn't press on as a nation under God until this is dealt with. And Nehemiah had a vision for seeing Jerusalem rebuilt ... but he had to get out of Persia. I.e. As with all of us, if we are going to grow, there are things that need to go. Nov. 28 - Prov. 30-31  .The beginning of Prov. 30 makes it clear that doubt needs to go so you can get anywhere spiritually. Agur also asks that there be no lies, no destitution, no squalid excess for him. King Lemuel's [mother] says, don't waste your life on women (plural) The wisdom is to "stay with your one". And for leaders especially, avoid the booze life.  Also don't become callous to the suffering. ALL those attitudes/tendencies need removing. Nov. 29 - Ezek. 36-38   Dry Bones: that was what's left of Israel's morale. And they best get ready to desert the hopeless, desolation, "whoa is me" mentality.  God is going to put it all back together. And there's no room in this plan for an Eeyore mindset (remember his gloom?!). And the enemies of Israel are going to be ever-decimated. They have to go and Israel has to thrive in order to be a blessing to the whole world. Nov. 30 - Zech 9:1-11:3  The neighbors of Jerusalem, harassing the Hebrews eternally, are going to be put down in a big way when Greece marches through. [Yet they left Jerusalem in tact!] Not only the pesky neighbors needed removal, the illicit leaders within the Hebrew culture; these "shepherds" who were virtually wolves at heart - they needed to be swept out! They were blocking people from understanding the love of God. Dec. 01 - John 13:31 - 16:4   It was Last Supper time, and after the foot-washing, it was time to tell some wonderful things that applied to all of them except Judas. Judas needed to vacate before Jesus could move forward with His faithful Disciples. Now as for you 11 disciples, the jousting for position is done with. Love each other!.As for the Way to God - tell the world to abandon all other spiritual pursuits except Jesus. And as for pruning the excess, counter-productive things in your own lives... just let the Holy Spirit do that in you - that is if you want to remain on "my team".  As for being accepted by the world --> let that go too Dec. 02 - I John 5 - Rev. 1   The Church Stream this week exhorted the people over and again to block/shun/expel all false teachers.  It was intense house cleaning that needed to take place and they [WE!] must remain vigilant about.  You could even call it "steam-cleaning", better yet "power-washing"!  It was a desperately vital task that needed to be executed immediately.  And vigilance against false teachers required eternal safeguards.    

John 13:31-16:4 We are in the Christ Stream reading from The Message. 7streamsmethod.com | @serenatravis | Donate Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Jesus, you are such a dear Savior, comforter, friend, instructor. Your love is overwhelming, we can but be inspired to live all our days for you. Amen.

13:31-38 - With Judas now gone Jesus can make the statements He needs to make, now that the group had been cleansed of its traitor.  They must love one another. It was now time for Jesus to proceed alone into a baptism that most of them would follow into within a generation or two.  He would die alone on a hillside while being mocked. Jesus knew what was coming in the next 18 hours. And notice that He says He will be glorified at this point, not crucified.  The disciples' hearts were still telling themselves, "say it isn't so..."

14 - all of this chapter was spoken to the 11 remaining disciples while they were still at the Communion Table of the Last Supper. This was in an Upper Room in the SW corner of the city of Jerusalem.  It is the most heart-warming material in the whole Bible. God/Jesus promised them that there was a wondrous celestial reward waiting for them, for certain, at the end of this pilgrimage. And Jesus' words were true because Jesus is the Truth. Their understanding of Jesus meant an understanding of God the Father. The Holy Spirit was coming to them to walk them through everything, to teach, and strengthen, and guide them all the way as they lived out their Calling. They will have peace. They need not fear anything. They must be loving; filled with love, and obedient to God. These two matters are verification of each other: to love is to obey - to obey is to love [and vice versa!] 
15 - They had left the Upper Room and Jesus kept talking to them all the way to Gethsemane [ch's 15,16,17].The main points here are that we, his followers, are like branches of a main vine.  We are pruned so that we can be productive. We must be like pruned vines that are productive, not the prunings that are gathered and burned. "Abide" in Me means to stay attached/connected. The Message version this week says "stay joined with Me" (Jesus). This means to stay in God's love. Your joy will be the proof that you know God's love. You're being elevated to where I Am/Jesus is. Realize how special/chosen you are. And know this about the world: they don't know God, thus they hate Jesus, and they are going to hate you. That is simply the succession.  Just decide to be o.k. with it. 16:1-4 - Jesus told them about being hated by worldly souls so that the disciples were fairly warned.  And the disciples were violently hated. It's sobering that they all died from such cruel, criminal treatment and all of them were so completely loving to the end - even to their executors.  To be so hated and to be so loving at the same time. Perhaps this can inspire us all to do better with unpleasant people.