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October 27, Sunday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Pursuing Godliness — We read yesterday about the deception and danger of desiring wealth. Paul continued in today’s reading by saying that Timothy (and we) should “flee these things” (v. 11a). In contrast, he immediately followed that with six things we should pursue, one of which is “godliness.” Pursuing is proactive. It is desiring, thinking about, aiming toward, planning for, and working at. Spending time with God every day is one of the things we can be doing in pursuit of godly goals. Godliness is something we can experience now, and it should be a never-ending effort because there is always more. It is also something to be anticipated in supernatural splendor at “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 14), when we will no longer have any temptations to flee.
A Charge to Keep I Have – YouTube
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October 28, Monday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Sinning but Sealed — This passage is filled with pairs of negative and positive contrasts, beginning with putting away falsehood versus speaking the truth (v. 25). In connection with the Holy Spirit, the negative is that we are told, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (v. 30a). We grieve Him by committing sins like those listed just before and after. The closest sins are “corrupting talk,” just before (v. 29), and “bitterness,” just after (v. 31). Here, corrupting talk suggests rotten words we might say about someone else, and bitterness refers to rotten attitudes we have in our hearts that result in those bad words. We would be wise to ask the Holy Spirit to convict us today about the nasty things we think and say about others. The positive side of this pair that involves the Holy Spirit is that we “were sealed” by Him (v. 30b). That is grace. Although we may grieve Him by our sin, He doesn’t break that eternal seal on our salvation. We belong to Him.
I couldn’t find a video for this hymn, but the words fit well with today’s reading.
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October 29, Tuesday———————–ACCOUNTABLILITY TIME!
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Be Filled with the Spirit — Paul began this passage with three contrasts describing “how you walk” as Christians. The third one involves quantity and influence: “…do not get drunk with wine … but be filled with the Spirit” (v. 18). The contrast is both with the substances with which we can be filled (wine or the Spirit) and the relative effects that result. How are we believers to be “filled with the Spirit”? Keeping the same picture, we are to “drink” of Him, opening ourselves up to the truth and power He supplies. He is already present, but He may not always be evident. One way to draw upon Him is suggested here: “making melody to the Lord … [and] giving thanks always … to God the Father” (vv. 19-20). That involves the focused use of one’s mind, heart, and mouth toward God. Here is a song of thanks that I would encourage you to sing aloud with the video:
Thank You, Lord, for Saving My Soul – YouTube
ACCOUNTABILITY TIME! If you are up to date in your reading as of today, please
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October 30, Wednesday————–ACCOUNTABILITY REMINDER
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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The Sword of the Spirit — We are involved in a universal war against “cosmic powers … in the heavenly places” (v. 12). That is a battle we cannot win on our own; we need “the strength of his might … the whole armor of God … and the sword of the Spirit” (vv. 10, 13, 17). As Jesus fought against the tempting attacks of the devil in the wilderness for 40 days by using God’s Word against him, so should we. This demands that we have key verses of Scripture memorized for times of temptation and attack. Find verses that speak about God’s help for certain types of things that tempt you, and then commit them to memory. It is part of our spiritual armor. Let’s equip ourselves for battle, both defensively and offensively.
Onward Christian Soldiers – YouTube
ACCOUNTABILITY REMINDER If you are up to date in your reading as
of today, but did not report yesterday, please click here to leave your
email address or let me know at accbibleread@gmail.com.
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October 31, Thursday—————-ACCOUNTABILITY FINAL DAY
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Praying in the Spirit — The final weapon of spiritual warfare that Paul presented in this section of Ephesians was that of prayer. The expression, “praying … in the Spirit” is used only here and in Jude 1:20 in the NT, although the same concept seems to be in view in Romans 8:27, where “the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Praying in the Spirit includes being led to pray about the kinds of things God wants to provide. We need to be spiritually perceptive when we pray so that we are not praying selfishly but sensitively. I think that praying in the Spirit also includes our emotions. Memorized prayers can easily become superficial, spoken without meaning or paying attention to the words we are saying. Jesus said that it is a hypocrite who “honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mark 7:6). This is one reason that it is good to begin our times of prayer with worship. It focuses our minds and hearts on the awesomeness of God
Soldiers of Christ, Arise – YouTube
ACCOUNTABILITY FINAL DAY! If you have not yet reported for this month,
please let me know your reading status today at accbibleread@gmail.com.
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November 1, Friday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Deliverance by the Spirit — It is difficult to determine from the expression, “the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (v. 19), whether it refers to the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent or Jesus’ Spirit. We have asked the same question before (Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6). In today’s reading, it seems that it is more likely referring to Jesus’ Spirit because Christ is the obvious focus of the paragraph, where He is mentioned 8 times in 12 verses. In either case, “the help of the Spirit” (v. 19) seems to come from the prayers of believers (“…through your prayers”—v. 19a). Most of us haven’t discovered the full extent of the power of believers’ prayers. Jesus told His disciples that “they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Lk. 18:1). Whenever we have a problem, we should pray about it. We should also enlist others to pray about it. There is power in prayer; it brings “the help of the Spirit” (v. 19). Paul’s request for prayer was for his deliverance (v. 19b), probably referring to his release from prison. There was an ultimate deliverance waiting for him, too: “…to depart and be with Christ” (v. 23).
He is Able to Deliver Me – YouTube
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November 2, Saturday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Truth for Godliness — Paul’s purpose as an apostle was to bring the truth of the gospel to the Gentiles, but after they were converted, his purpose was to bring them to the “knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness” (v. 1). Truth for conversion is followed by truth for godliness. The way we grow as Christians is through the “knowledge of the truth,” which is contained in God’s holy Scriptures. Spending concentrated time in God’s Word every day is building godliness into our lives. As we read it, meditate on it, and pray about it, we gradually take on the godly characteristics of Jesus.
I Would Be Like Jesus – YouTube
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