Today’s Life Journal Reading is from:

Romans 1; Romans 2; Romans 3; Romans 4

Scripture

 ¹ What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁴ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. (Romans 4:1-4, New King James Version)

Observation:

Every notice how hard we try to be “good” but we seem to always fall short? (Ref: Romans 3:20-24 NKJV). We are reminded that we are not saved by “trying to be good”, but first by acknowledging and accepting our Heavenly Father as our Saviour and it is through salvation, where we are saved and forgiven, that we are saved and not by good works.

Our maturity as followers of Christ is a journey that is transformative and for some may happen over night, but for others, it takes time and often, we find ourselves slipping three steps back before finding ourselves two steps forward again.

Our Father understands that we are bound in flesh that has an addiction to sin and that it takes time for us to work through those “bad habits” that keep us bound to the former creations, but it’s also through a desire and will to develop “Holy Habits” that are geniune and from the heart and has been laid on the heart, for us to truly grow.

This isn’t a license to sin, but it is a process of forgiveness, where we’re not alone and so long as we know we are not alone in this and He will see us through, there is the promise of hope in the end where our true reward is in Heaven, not here on Earth.

Application:

I pray and hope I keep this reminder in heart that no one is fully free and that just going to church, reading the bible and saying I’m a Christian, isn’t what going to save me; It’s that true desire and following from the heart, where I open myself up to His transformative change and love and forgiveness that comes with being saved.

I can give all my money to charitys, put on the best show, but if it’s not truly in the heart and I have not truly followed Him by fully accepting Him as my Lord and Saviour and realize, salvation is a free gift without strings attach to all of us.

There is no amount of earthly work we can do that will save us, it’s only from accepting Him and recognizing Him as our one and only Saviour and it is through and only through Him, we are saved; not by anyone or anything.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your mercy and Your grace and I pray and hope that others will recognize You as Lord and Saviour and call You Lord, one day.

Help us remember that it’s not what we do that saves us; it’s You and only You.

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****Purpose of this post****

Gentle Readers, There are days that I will read a verse or passage and just feel pulled to share here, but there are days when I will read something and just feel, I need to spend the day, in personal contemplation of what is being convey and may just post via Twitter, what passages I have read that day and post nothing on here.

That is what bible reading is about; It’s not about having to write something down everyday; There maybe days when you are reading say, Numbers and it’s just lineages, but other days, you may find yourself dealing with a “powerhouse verse” of the moment and have to just go “WOW” and seek God in personal time and prayer to understand what He is sharing.

I will try to post daily, but particularly on weekends, if I’m sick or I’m just completely in awe of what I’m reading or maybe I am trying to understand what I am reading, I may not post here, I may just write in my Life Journal (hardcopy), because I will find myself having to seek His Word and/or the Commentary and just seek in prayer to understand what our Father in Heaven is seeking to reveal.

Either way.

Reading His Word, is about getting to know Him better and developing your Christian growth and maturity. Do what is right and good for you.

If you do use the Life Journal and participate in the daily readings, I would like to hear from you and your perspective on each day’s reading, when I do have a post up, or feel free to comment on a previous “Daily Bible Reading post” or send me a quick email.

Please feel free to join in the linky that I post below, so others too, who uses the Life Journal/or SOAP method to read the bible can participate.

Don’t feel obligate to have to blog about each passage to be read, but if anything, feel free to share those passages that have the most impact on you that day.

There maybe some days that you may read your daily reading and find nothing to jot down in your journal or on your blog and that’s okay, but there maybe other days, that you will find yourself inspire.

This is about you being encouraged to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, and spending each day with Him, You and Him.

It is my prayer and hope that this will be an encouragement to establish a personal daily reading as well.

To find out more about using the S.O.A.P. method, here’s a link to an ehow article and here’s the link to the Life Journal to find out more what it is, and how you can use it for your own daily bible readings. If you don’t want to order the journal or if it’s not available through your local church, another method is simply, buy a journal or notebook or even blog about your life journal readings.

Disclaimer: I am not personally affiliated with the church that the link goes to, but merely share it as a resource of what the Life Journal is, how to order it.

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