The Voice

(Archived audio) I read 2 Kings 4 this morning.

Elisha cured a woman’s infertility, raised her dead son to life, solves a ruined stew problem, and fed 100 men with 20 loaves of bread.

For today’s Immerse Reading, I listened to (Week 8, Day 36) of the 8 week Immerse podcast, which should cover 9 chapters for today. John 13-17. (for Week 15, Day 71 of the 16 week plan I am doing with my local church) this mp3 link may still not work

John 13:

Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, then predicts His own betrayal. Jesus tells his disciples that He will be going and they can’t come with Him. Peter says he is willing to die for Jesus, but Jesus tells Peter that he will deny that he even knows Jesus three times that night.

John 14:

Jesus explains that He and the Father are interchangeable, and that knowing and seeing Him is the same as knowing and seeing the Father. To love God is to obey Him. He will send the Holy Spirit after He leaves.

John 15:

Jesus teaches that He is the vine and the disciples are the branches. They will produce fruit according to whose they are. The Holy Spirit will come and they are commanded to love each other as Jesus has loved them. They are no longer slaves, but friends. The disciples will be hated too, as Jesus was hated first. They are to testify about what they have seen and heard.

John 16:

Jesus tells His disciples that there will be people who want to kill them, and will believe they are doing a holy service to God by executing them. He teaches them using figures of speech, and tells them that soon He will speak plainly about these things to them. They say that they now believe, but He tells them that actually they will soon be scattered and leave Him alone.

John 17:

Jesus prays to God the Father for the disciples. He also prays for those others who believe God beyond those specific men who were disciples at that time. He prays for unity in the believers, and the love of the Father to also be in them.

Today I read 2 Kings 1:

A King fell and was recovering in his bed from his injuries, so he sent for prophets of Baal to find out whether or not he would recover, but God spoke to Elijah to intercept and answer the Kings request for a prophet to say that the king would never recover, he would die in that bed. The king sent a military troop to forcibly command Elijah to come and present himself to the king three separate times, but only the third group came with fear and respect for God’s power, which was used to call fire from heaven to incinerate the first two companies of men who came for Elijah. God told Ejijah that he should go with the third group and spare their lives. The king was told by Elijah that he should not have requested the counsel of the prophets of Baal-zebub rather than the LORD, and that he will die in his bed, and then the king died there.

(Archived audio)

16 Week Immerse Audio (Week 14, Day 69) link May not work yet.

So I listened to the 8 week Podcast (Week 7, Day 35) which should cover today (John 7-9) and tomorrow’s readings. (John 10-12)

John 7:

Jesus avoided going to Judea, where His death was being plotted. He went behind them secretly though, and then later taught in the synagogue. The Pharisees got angry at Him.

John 8:

Jesus refuses to condemn an adulteress, and tells her not to sin anymore. Jesus condemns the Pharisees and calls then sons of the devil and admits He is God, so they try to stone him, but He disappears.

John 9:

Jesus heals a blind man and the miracle becomes the topic of heated debate, because Pharisees think that it was sinful of Jesus to heal on the Sabbath, while others think that it proves Jesus is a prophet, or possibly the Messiah. Jesus points out that the Pharisees are in greater error because they are spiritually blind, but claim they can see.

John 10:

Jesus teaches that He is the good shepherd, and the Pharisees try again to stone Him for blasphemy, claiming to be God. Jesus explains that God said to certain leaders of the people that they are gods, so why call it blasphemy for Him to call Himself the son of God? He also points out that they don’t need to believe Him unless He carries out His Father’s work.

John 11:

Jesus resurrected Lazarus and shocked everyone by the miracle. The Pharisees got very serious about arresting Jesus and so He and His disciples stayed in another area for a while. The leaders publicly declared that Jesus was now a wanted man.

John 12:

Jesus came to Bethany and was anointed with expensive perfume. Later He went to Jerusalem and rode on a donkey’s colt while people celebrated His arrival. Lazarus was also there, and many people believed in Jesus because of Lazarus’ resurrection. Jesus clarified publicly that trusting in Him was trusting in God, and that He was going to die. Jesus was troubled because of His impending death, but knew He would defeat the purpose of His whole mission if He asked to be relieved of it, so He asked for God to be glorified, and God the father replied audibly to His public prayer, for the benefit of the public. Many still did not believe in Jesus even after all of that.

Today, while walking to work, I listened to my previously recorded audio of 1 Kings 16 while reading along with

1 Kings 16: Describes the events of Baasha and Elah to Omri and Ahab’s reigns. These Kings did not please God, and suffered under a curse as a result of their idolatry and disobedience.

And for my local church’s Immerse Reading plan,

I listened to and read through

Hebrews 8: Describes how Jesus is a greater high priest with a better sacrifice and also brings a new and superior covenant.

Hebrews 9: Describes the temple, and explains what the elements point to, why they are there, what they represent, and why they could not be more than temporary and a placeholder for the full solution to humankind’s problem of sin.

Hebrews 10: Explains that the old way of animal sacrificing repeated itself without end, reminding people of their sin over and over again, but could not remove sin entirely. The new sacrifice of Jesus’s blood is perfect and covers sin once and for all, and allows us to boldly approach the most holy place with confidence. Those who reject this sacrifice of Jesus, deliberately and continually sinning, and regarding it as common and unholy have no more sacrifices available, and will be subject to God’s judgement.

This morning I read in Romans 13 that we are to respect the authorities, pay our taxes, love our neighbors, and live ready for Christ’s Return. (Legacy audio) the Immerse reading for today (Week 11, Day 55) included Matthew 13:53-15:39. Jesus said that prophet is without honor in his own hometown. He fed a large crowd of people, walked on water, and taught many about the things of God. He healed the demon possessed daughter of a Gentile woman after she persisted in her request in faith, after first being referred to as a dog, and then as a dear woman.

I read Romans 12. I previously recorded it too (Audio). Be willing to bend to achieve harmony, glorify God and meet the needs of even our enemies. Today I read Matthew 11-13:52 as part of the Immerse audio for today. (Week 11, Day 54) Jesus told the crowds parables, and explained them to his disciples. He also healed on the sabbath day, which angered the Pharisees.

I read 1 Kings 6 this morning. Solomon builds the temple for seven years, much of it overlaid with gold, to specific measurements. (Previously recorded audio). I also listened to the Immerse reading for the day (Week 10, day 49) in 2 Peter 1-3, I read that there were false teachers that were misleading people into sin and corruption, even by twisting some of Paul’s comments in his letters.

Today I read 1 Kings 5. Solomon started building the LORD’s temple. I also listened to Immerse audio (Week 10, Day 48) which covers 1 Peter 2:11-5:14.

I read 1 Kings 4 this morning. Solomon was prosperous, wise, and had great understanding about many things. I listened to the Immerse audio (Week 10, Day 47) also, which included 1 Peter 1-2:10.

I read 1 Kings 3 today. Solomon asked for wisdom and discernment from God, and it was given to him, as well as riches and power. I also recorded audio for this chapter previously. I listened to Immerse day 46 today, which includes Mark chapters 14-16. Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, and was seen by and interacted with others.

I read 1 Kings 2 this morning. Here is the audio I recorded previously. David made a few last requests of Solomon before he died. Solomon had his older brother killed because of an inappropriate request he made of him through his mom, Bathsheba. I listened to Immerse audio day 45, which includes the full chapters of Mark 11-13. Jesus describes the events that will precede His return.