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May God richly bless you as we read God’s Word together!
GENESIS 22-23:
In yesterday's reading in Genesis, Abraham deceived Abimelech, Isaak was born, and Sarah demanded that Hagar and her son be sent away— which grieved Abraham. (But remember that story, because Paul uses it as a spiritual metaphor in Galatians 4.) Finally, Abimelech visited Abraham, and the two made several formally ratified promises.JOB 12:
Yesterday in Job chapter 11, Zophar said to Job,Job 11:1-2 GNT Will no one answer all this nonsense?
Does talking so much put you in the right?
3 Job, do you think we can't answer you?
That your mocking words will leave us speechless?
4 You claim that what you say is true;
you claim you are pure in the sight of God.
5 How I wish God would answer you!
6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom;
there are things too deep for human knowledge.
God is punishing you less than you deserve.Having accused Job of sin in that way, Zophar then goes on to give this lovely advice:
13 Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God.
14 Put away evil and wrong from your home.
15 Then face the world again, firm and courageous.
16 Then all your troubles will fade from your memory,MARK 8a:
Yesterday in Mark chapter 7, Jesus gave this very significant teaching in verse 15:15 GNT There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.”
And we heard the way that Jesus gave a difficult test to the Gentile woman. And again I say, please don’t just assume that Jesus was unfeeling to that woman. There is treasure to find hidden there under the surface in that enigmatic test!
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Greetings as a fellow recipient of God’s Kindness!
GENESIS 20-21:
In chapter 19 of Genesis we heard what happened to Lot and his daughters after being saved from Sodom. The sons of Lot’s daughters became the ancestors of the Moabite and Ammonite races who were always at war with God’s people.JOB 11:
In Job chapter 10, Job accused God like this:Job 10:13 GNT But now I know that all that time [since birth]
you were secretly planning to harm me.
14 You were watching to see if I would sin,
so that you could refuse to forgive me.
15 As soon as I sin, I'm in trouble with you,
but when I do right, I get no credit.
I am miserable and covered with shame.MARK 7:
Yesterday's reading in Mark 6 was of Jesus feeding 5,000+ and walking on water.I would like to challenge each of my listeners to dig deeper to find a spiritual gem behind Jesus’ seemingly harsh and impolite first answer to the Syro-Phoenician woman. I encourage you to ask what right anyone (and especially any Gentile) would have to come to Jesus and ask for a miracle. With that question in mind, I encourage you to read all of Ephesians chapter 2.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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GENESIS 19:
In yesterday's reading in Genesis, Abram and Sarai received new names and God confirmed and expanded his covenant with Abram (now called Abraham). Circumcision was added as a sign of following the covenant. Angels visited Abraham and Sarah and Abraham bargained with God about saving the few righteous people in Sodom— among whom I am sure Abraham was thinking of Lot.Today we read JOB 10,
where Job continues his response to Bildad. At the end of chapter 9 Job showed mankind's need of a mediator:Job 9:32 NLT “God is not a mortal like me,
so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.
33 If only there were a mediator between us,
someone who could bring us together.
34 The mediator could make God stop beating me,
and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.
35 Then I could speak to him without fear,
but I cannot do that in my own strength.Mankind has now received that mediator in the person of Jesus.
MARK 6b:
In the first part of Mark chapter 6, Jesus sent out the twelve disciples after giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. He also sent them to teach, and to heal. Then we learned about the death of John the Baptist. -
Before we read GENESIS 17-18,
remember that in chapter 15 we heard of God's covenant with Abram and Abram's _fully believing_ God's promises. Then in chapter 16 we read of Abram and Sarai trying to help God fulfill his promises.Chapter 15 verse 6 is a famous verse that is quoted three times in the NT:
GNT translates it this way: 6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.
[The NT translates this verse a bit differently because it is quoted from the Septuagint (the LXX, the ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek, made in the third and second centuries BC). ]
JOB 9:
In chapter 8 of Job, Bildad defended God as always acting with justice and insisted that this meant that there had to be some sin on Job's part or his children's.MARK 6a:
Yesterday In the second half of Mark 5, we heard how Jesus did two amazing miracles— the second one causing a dead girl to live again. -
Today we’ll start out reading GENESIS 15-16.
Yesterday we heard the stories of Abram and Lot separating company, and of Abram rescuing Lot in time of war. Then we heard of the mysterious priest Melchizedek (who we will read about in the NT in Hebrews).Before we read JOB 8,
recall that in the preceding two chapters, Job said some very despairing and angry words, telling God basically to go take a walk and leave him alone. Job again wished for his own death.He said to God,
Job 7:19 GNT Won't you look away long enough
for me to swallow my spit?
20 Are you harmed by my sin, you jailer?
Why use me for your target practice?
Am I so great a burden to you?
21 Can't you ever forgive my sin?
Can't you pardon the wrong I do?MARK 5b:
Today we read the second half of Mark 5. In the first part of the chapter, Jesus cast a host of demons out of a man named Mob or Legion. -
As I hope you have discovered, if you click on a verse in this Bible app, you have six very useful options— including highlighting verses and writing comments. Have you tried making a verse-picture yet? The pictures are easy to make and provide an eye-catching way to share meaningfully with your friends on social media. The backgrounds provided within the app are quite nice, and now you can also upload background images from your own device’s picture gallery. Then you set the size, color, and location of the verse text. The results are often so artistic that your friends will re-share your creations.
Please share your YouVersion verse-pictures with the Daily Bible Reading Podcast Facebook group! The link to this group is found at the top of our site: dailybiblereading.info.
Our Facebook group is now replaced by our forum at http://biblereaders.info.
As we turn to Genesis 13-14, let me remind you
that in yesterday's reading we heard about God scattering people by confusing their languages. It’s important to remember that the city they were building is called Babylon. Then we traced the ancestry of Abram, who descended from Seth's line. Then we read about the call of Abram and what happened when they were staying in Egypt because of a famine. In that episode, Abram doesn’t sound like a model husband.JOB 7:
Today in Job 7 we hear the second chapter of Job’s response to Eliphaz. In chapter 6 Job said,10 GNT If I knew he [God] would [kill me], I would leap for joy,
no matter how great my pain.
I know that God is holy;
I have never opposed what he commands.And he also complained:
14 In trouble like this I need loyal friends—
whether I've forsaken God or not.
15 But you, my friends, you deceive me like streams
that go dry when no rain comes.And his three friends are only warming up to what they will say. In desperation Job says,
24 All right, teach me; tell me my faults.
I will be quiet and listen to you.
25 Honest words are convincing,
but you are talking nonsense.MARK 5a:
Yesterday we completed the one and only ‘parable chapter’ of Mark’s Gospel. Following the parable of the mustard seed, the disciples and Jesus took off to the other side of the lake. Jesus slept soundly in the boat while a storm was raging on the lake, and then he calmed the storm. -
GENESIS 11-12:
Yesterday in Genesis 9-10, we heard the story of Noah's drunkenness and his curse on Canaan because of it (which really wasn't very fair since it was his father Ham who actually caused the offense to Noah while he was drunk, and because Ham also had other sons). After that, however, we heard about Noah's descendants.JOB 6:
In chapter 5 of Job, Eliphaz continued to imply that Job had sinned:Job 5:6 NLT Evil does not grow in the soil,
nor does trouble grow out of the ground.
7 No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves,
as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.Eliphaz’ main point in that chapter was that Job would be forgiven and blessed if he repented, as he said in v. 17-18:
17 Happy is the person whom God corrects!
Do not resent it when he rebukes you.
18 God bandages the wounds he makes;
his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.There is truth in what Eliphaz says, and a similar statement to verse
17 is found in James 1.MARK 4b:
Chapter 4 is the parable chapter of Mark, and today we read the second half. The Parable about the Different Kinds of Soil is in all three synoptic Gospels— which are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. That parable holds deep meaning that one never really grows out of. Each time you hear it, new facets come to light, and every believer should meditate on what kind of soil they are most like at the present time.
This is a good place to note this: Rhetorical questions were often used by Jesus to start a new topic in his teaching, and at the end of chapter 4, he used two rhetorical questions to give a mild rebuke to the disciples. In many of the world’s languages, people don’t use rhetorical questions for starting a new topic, but most languages seem to use questions for rebuking.
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In the YouVersion devotional notes for this episode and at the bottom of these program notes in the listening app, you can read about the difference between literal and meaning-based translations. So I think it is a good time, at the beginning of this podcast to say a few words about the two translations I have used in the podcasts. First of all, I agree with what the translators of the NIV said in the Preface to the NIV. They said, “There is no such thing as a perfect translation.” That includes the GNT as well as even the more famous and popular NIV.
The whole purpose of these podcasts is to promote the reading, understanding, and fully believing of God’s Word. Literal translations will include passages that are impossible for modern listeners to assimilate in audio form. So I want to read a version that my listeners can understand even if they are driving to work, or even if they are children like my grandkids. The GNT is a wonderful translation of God’s Word, and I think every English speaking believer should read it at least once in their lives. If you have heard people say bad things about it, that is likely because it caused controversy when it was first introduced and when people were not used to using more than one Bible. If the GNT were released today, there would be no controversy. The NLT is my favorite Bible translation. Its predecessor was the Living Bible, which it cannot be called a faithful translation, but is a paraphrase. The NLT was created with a big team of scholars and is a very reliable meaning-based translation.
Because of my Bible translation experience, there are things that I want to tweak in any translation. Listeners to the podcasts from 2014-16 have not accused me so far of making controversial changes or of being doctrinally biased. The little tweaks I make to the GNT/NLT are intended to help listeners understand the meaning contained in the Biblical source languages, and they are documented at the bottom of the episode notes.
GENESIS 9-10:
In chapter 8 the flood receded. After everyone came out of the boat, Noah made a sacrifice.JOB 5:
In chapter 4 Eliphaz implied that Job’s guilt was the reason he was being punished:
“Stop and think! Do the innocent die?
When have the upright been destroyed?
8 NLT My experience shows that those who plant trouble
and cultivate evil will harvest the same.MARK 4a:
In chapter 3 we have seen that opposition to Jesus was mounting from the Jewish religious leaders. They were already plotting to kill him and saying he performed miracles by the power of Satan.I want to comment briefly about the sin of blaspheming or reviling the Holy Spirit that we heard about at the end of chapter 3. Some people worry about whether they have done this and committed the unforgivable sin. Note the context here. The experts in the Law were saying the Jesus was working by the power of _Satan_. But Jesus was working by the power of the _Holy Spirit_. A person in a frame of mind like those Law experts will never repent. So Jesus was warning the Pharisees because they were mighty close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit by what they were saying about Jesus. I want you to know this: If you worry about whether in some past time you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, then you haven’t! If you are the kind of person who feels sorrow for sins already committed and are ready to repent of sin, then you have never blasphemed the Holy Spirit, nor are you likely to ever do so.
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Choose a good Bible version for your reading this year!
I recommend that you choose a good _meaning-based_ translation for your Bible reading this year, not one of the _literal_ versions. I recommend that you use a literal version whenever you have time for in-depth study, but not for your daily devotional reading. Here’s the difference:
The advantage of a literal translation is that it gives you a word-for-word view into the _form_ of the original. The disadvantage of literal translations is that they cannot give you the _meaning_ in clear and natural English.
The advantage of a meaning-based translation is that it gives you the _meaning_ of the text in clear, natural English. The disadvantage of the meaning-based translation is that they cannot show you the word-for-word _form_ of the original text.
We need both kinds of translations! Use both kinds when you are doing an in-depth study. But for devotional reading, my top choices are the New Living Translation and the Good News Bible. These meaning-based translations will help you be successful in reading the Bible in a year because the text is so much easier to understand. Both have good scholarly backing and are reliable.
I don’t recommend using a paraphrase like The Message. The popular NIV is halfway between literal and meaning-based. (This means that you cannot immediately know if a verse is translated literally or more freely based on meaning.) One of the most popular literal translations these days is the English Standard Version. My advice is to NOT use the ESV for your devotional reading unless you have time for reading the notes in your study Bible.
GNT Translation notes:
Genesis 10:2 [These were the sons of Japheth: //The sons of Japheth—] Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras[. The people groups who were their descendants bear their names.//— were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.]
[And similar changes were made to aid my reading in the rest of the chapter. I found I just couldn’t read the text clearly the way it was.]
5 they were the ancestors of the people who live along the coast and on the islands. [They//These] are the descendants of Japheth, living in their different tribes and countries, each group speaking its own language.
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Mark 4:8 But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants sprouted, grew, and bore grain: some [stalks] had thirty grains, others sixty, and others one hundred.”12 so that [— just as God said through Isaiah],
‘They may look and look,
yet not see; …24 [Jesus/He] also said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear! …
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GENESIS 7-8:
In Genesis 5, we heard the overview of the descendants of Adam and Eve up to Noah. In chapter 6, Noah was further introduced. Also the reason for the flood was explained.JOB 4:
In chapter 3 Job cursed the day he was born and expressed his deep misery.Remember that in the speeches of Job’s three friends we will see a mixture of truth and error. In particular, we should not follow Eliphaz’s example in today’s chapter. The Bible tells us repeatedly that we are not to trust or listen to communication from spirits. We will read the second chapter of Eliphaz’ response tomorrow.
MARK 3:
In Mark 2, Jesus shocked his listeners by first forgiving a paralyzed man’s sins before actually healing the man’s body. And in three other events in chapter 2 we can see the beginnings of the conflict between Jesus and the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees.———————
Be curious! When you find something in the Bible that brings up a question, there usually are good answers. Check out the Shovels page at http://dailybiblereading.info.
I invite you to share the treasures you find, and your questions with the Digging Deeper Daily online community. See the Sharing Together page at dailybiblereading.info.
GNT Translation notes:
Job 4:17 “Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God
or be pure before his Creator? [Of course not!]
19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay [like you],
a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?====
Mrk. 3:19 and Judas [the man from Cariot//Iscariot], who betrayed Jesus.
22 Some teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem were saying, “He has Beelzebul in him! It is the chief of the demons who gives him the power to drive [demons//them] out.”
27 “No one can break into a strong man's house [like Satan’s dominion] and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.
[Many times the rhetorical questions of Jesus can be misunderstood, and in many languages it is better to translate them as statements, as I have done here:]
33 Jesus answered, “[I’ll tell you who my mother is. And I will show you who my brothers are!//Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?]”
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GENESIS 5-6:
In chapter 3 of Genesis, the Lord gave his judgment against the serpent. God talked about the woman’s offspring (which is a collective singular noun) when speaking to the serpent, and said, “her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's[c] heel.” This is the very first prophecy looking forward to a Messiah and Redeemer who will crush Satan’s head. Just before that, there is another picture worth noting: God provided clothes for the man and woman made from animal skins. This is the first hint of the sacrificial system that prefigures Christ.JOB 3:
Today we read Job’s first speech. In the Bible— and especially in Job and the Psalms, we find out that God thoroughly understands and takes into account the fact that humans suffer. This is shown in the fact that such deep expressions of suffering are found in God’s Word— right from the earliest writings.MARK 2:
Yesterday in the second half of Mark 1, we read of Jesus miraculously healing people in Capernaum, and his refusing to stay only there. He preached and cast out demons all over the region of Galilee. The healing of the man with leprosy is notable because of the exchange between Jesus and that man, and also the results of the man’s not following Jesus’ instructions.———————
How can you get more out of your Bible reading this year? My top advice is to SLOW DOWN! The readings in this plan take around 20 minutes if read aloud. If you read silently, you might finish in only 10 minutes. But if you skim through like that, you won’t retain very much! I suggest these two ways to slow down:
Read out loud to yourself. Read expressively. When you find that your first attempt didn’t quite have the right intonation, go back and read the sentence again. Take time to think about— and pray about, what you have just read. Read along while listening to the Daily Bible Reading Podcast. This will definitely slow you down. And one extra advantage is that each podcast ends with a short prayer that is aimed at helping you apply what you have just read.The landing page at http://dailybiblereading.info gives various ways to conveniently listen to the podcasts using any kind of smart device.
GNT Translation notes:
Job 3:19 Everyone is there (in the world of the dead), the famous and the unknown, and slaves at last are free.====
Mrk. 2:5 Seeing how much [they believed in him (or, that Jesus could heal the man)//faith they had], Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” [I will make this modification frequently and will explain it soon in the translation notes.]
15 Later on Jesus was having a meal in Levi's house.[a] [Many tax collectors and other outcasts were//A large number of tax collectors and other outcasts was] following Jesus, and many of them joined him and his disciples at the table.
18 On one occasion the followers of John the Baptist and the Pharisees were fasting. … [This makes it sound like they were friends and doing this together. So in Indonesia we translated like this: 18 On one occasion the followers of John the Baptist were fasting, and the Pharisees were fasting also.]
[In most languages of the world— and really even in English, it is ungrammatical to talk of oneself in the third person using ‘he/his or a title. I will consistently modify most places like this one to show that Jesus was talking about himself. I do this partly because many second-language speakers of English listen to these podcasts, and it also makes the meaning clearer even for native English speakers.]
28 So [I— as the Son of Man, am// the Son of Man is] Lord even of the Sabbath.”
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For more information about the features of this reading plan, please see the ‘ReadMe’ PDF file linked in the header of http://dailygntbiblereading .info.
You will note that I read most Bible names phonetically— rather than the using normal English pronunciation. This means that the letter A will have a consistent sound ‘ah’ and the letter I will be pronounced ‘ee’. This happens to match Indonesian pronunciations and that of many other languages. This also makes the pronunciation more like that of the source languages, Hebrew and Greek.
GENESIS 3-4:
In chapter 2 of Genesis, we saw that Eve was created and introduced to Adam. And the pair at the end of the chapter were “naked and not embarrassed/unashamed.” As I said in yesterday’s introduction, I have seen first-hand in my work in Indonesia that when a people group misunderstands and twists the story in Genesis 1-3, it will have far-reaching consequences for their lives. In the case of the Orya people, twisting the story of the fall caused much suffering and misery among families.JOB 2:
At the close of chapter 1 of Job, Job had lost virtually everything he had, including his possessions, livestock, and children. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”MARK 1b:
Mark does not specifically identify himself as the author, but the church fathers unanimously say that the John Mark mentioned several times in the New Testament was the author. Mark was a companion of Peter, so the eyewitness content in this book is that of Peter.I previously held a view based on internal evidence and made popular in the 20th century that Mark was the first Gospel to be written, with Matthew and Luke using Mark’s record as a resource. But now I think that the testimony of the church fathers is more likely to be true: Matthew and Luke were written before this Gospel, and Mark transcribed what Peter taught about the life of Jesus, either shortly before or after Peter’s martyrdom in Rome— which happened somewhere between 64-67 AD.
If Mark wrote this account in Rome, that would help to explain why he gives background information to some Jewish customs that would have been unknown to his Roman readers, and why he doesn’t include teachings of Jesus which were based on the Jewish Scriptures and religion. Instead he tells us the plain story of Jesus and his miracles, so that the reader finds out who Jesus is.
Yesterday in chapter 1 of Mark, Jesus was baptized by John, called his first disciples, and cast out an evil spirit from a man in a synagogue.
GNT Translation note:
Gen. 3:15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel.”[Verse 15 has several translational difficulties. When you find a place where you would like to understand why translation differ, I recommend looking at Lumina.bible.org and reading the notes to the NET.]
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Congratulations on starting TODAY on a life-transforming journey! The Digging Deeper Daily plan will help you be successful in your commitment to read the whole Bible in a year. The unique order of the readings— together with the brief devotional notes, will help you see the various threads that unify the message of the Old and the New Testaments. I hope these notes will help you remember what you have read the day before, and hint at the deep and incredibly rich treasures in God’s Word. But the most satisfying treasures that you find this year will be the ones you dig to discover for yourself! Check out the ‘Shovels’ page of dailybiblereading.info for tools to help you go deeper in your study. Please also check out our free dedicated listening apps for your smart device by searching for the DailyBibleReading podcast in the app store or play store.
GENESIS 1-2:
The first five books of the Bible are the Jewish Torah, and the Bible refers to them collectively as ‘the Law’. Many other books in the Bible attribute the authorship of these five books to Moses. Genesis is the foundational book of the whole Bible. When we were in our first Bible translation project among the Orya in Papua, Indonesia, I witnessed how getting a little detail of the foundation wrong (such as, how the first sin happened) can wreck the whole building that is being constructed. This book of Genesis tells us what God wants us to know about the beginning of our world, the beginning of sin, mankind’s rebellion against God, and who God and Satan are.JOB 1:
The story of Job is set in the period of the patriarch Abraham, and it takes place in the land of the East. What I did not realize until recently is that signs indicate that this book was written at a later time and almost certainly by an Israelite. By the author writing that Job was “the richest man in the East”, it places the author in the West, in the land of Israel. The author frequently uses the name of ‘Yahweh’, which I think would not have been done in Abraham’s time— which was long before God’s name was revealed to Moses at the burning bush. The author was a highly educated man. All of the book— except the first two chapters, are in exquisite poetry. The author displays an in-depth knowledge of mythology, the constellations, and the current wisdom concerning the world— including the underworld and traits of exotic animals. I might as well say it: The philosophy of this book is worthy of Solomon.Whoever he is, the author displays incredible wisdom. One would expect an ancient book that is didactic in nature to end with a neat answer that sums up the author’s opinion. Or one would expect an ancient author to create a debate where the hero is totally right and the other speakers are clearly wrong. Instead, all the human speakers in the book of Job mix truth and error. It is a mark of inspired wisdom that in the end, the book of Job leaves us still pondering and searching for some answers.
MARK 1a:
Due to the 400 word limit for the YouVersion Devotional Content pages, the introduction to Mark is given on Day 2.GNT Translation notes:
1 This is the Good News about [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ], the Son of God.[The order in Greek here is ‘Jesus Christ’, and sometimes the Greek puts the order the other way around. I will consistently read ‘Christ Jesus’. Here is the reason I do this: Although it has become natural for us to say ‘Jesus Christ’, it is actually against English grammar. ‘Christ’ is a title. And in English, titles (such as president, doctor, or ambassador) always come first. The reason why I point this out is this: I have found people who think that ‘Christ’ is Jesus’ last name. The title ‘Christ’ (from Greek) means exactly the same thing as Messiah (from Hebrew). Both mean ‘anointed one’.
You will notice that I read many Bible names in a strange way. I read them with a more phonetic pronunciation— which in fact, is more like how the Indonesian language and many others read them. This allows me to be more consistent in my pronunciation, and it also happens to be more like the Hebrew and Greek pronunciations. English pronunciations for some names is quite far from the source language pronunciations. An example from today is the name Isaiah, which I pronounce as ‘Yesayah’.]
6 John wore clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food [included//was] locusts and wild honey.
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Hi there!
I’m so glad you have clicked to listen to this introduction to the Digging Deeper Daily Bible reading plan and podcasts for 2025.
If you want to read the Bible in a great reading plan that will hold your attention and enable you to stay with the program, you are in the right place.
If you want to listen, the complete Bibles I have recorded following my reading plan are the New Living Translation and the Good News Bible.
If you can, do both: listen to the podcast while reading along.
My name is Phil Fields. I’m almost 75 years old and happily married to Gale. We have three children, and five grandkids. In 1983, when our kids were still small, our family went as Bible translators to Papua, Indonesia. We finished a New Testament translation for the Orya people in 2005. Since that time I have been leading an organization which is translating the Bible into the national language of Indonesia. We’re hoping that the entire Bible in the Plain Indonesian Translation will be finished at the end of 2025. Our sponsoring organization is Pioneer Bible Translators.
When I started the Daily Bible Reading Podcast in 2014 the primary audience I had in mind was my grandkids. I wanted to make a set of Bible recordings for them, to leave behind what I would tell each one of them if, and when, they fall into difficult times.
Here’s a list of what I will cover:
Our web addresses How to contact me Podcast release schedule Take a look at the How-to's at our site. Different ways to follow the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan Choose a Bible translation that makes sense for you for daily reading.Please note these web addresses:
For NLT podcasts and How-to information, go to http://ddeeper.today, or http://dailybiblereading.info.
For GNT podcasts and How-to information, go to http://dailygntbiblereading.info.
You can listen to the podcasts at the websites just listed, but it is a better user experience to use a podcast app for listening.
How to contact me:
My favorite way for you to contact me is via the contact button at the top of all my websites.
Podcast release schedule:
Every Sunday, seven podcasts will be released covering the next week of listening. Sometimes an eighth bonus episode will also be released.
How-to's:
If you would like pointers on podcast listening apps, please see the How-to's, linked in the banner of the websites above. A good podcast app
makes it easy to see the episode notes, remembers your place and will automatically queue up your next episode, and lets you speed up my reading to 1.20%.Please also see the How-to pages for detailed information about the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan.
Different ways to follow the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan:
READ in a real-book Bible: To do that, download the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan PDF. See the banner at our website and click on Plan.PDF.OR
Follow the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan using the YouVersion Bible app on your phone or tablet. To find the 3D plan, go to the Plans page, choose Find Plans, and search for the name, Digging Deeper. How about READing and LISTENing?! Open your podcast player and start the introduction to your next episode. While listening to my greeting, you’ll have time to open the YV app to your next day in the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan.When you sign up for a YV reading plan, you are given an option to do the plan privately or share it with your friends. If you share the plan with friends, at the end of each day’s readings, you will be given the opportunity to share something you gleaned from the readings. This is fabulous and a great way to connect with your friends through the Bible app. But since the Digging Deeper Daily plan is for the whole Bible in 365 days, I suggest you share with a select group of close friends, or maybe 1-2 other people, or just do the plan privately.
Choose a Bible translation that makes sense for you and for a year-long reading program. Many churches use literal translations like the ESV. My own church uses that translation. But the ESV is not very well suited for a year-long reading program, especially if this is your first time reading the whole Bible. I strongly recommend the NLT or the GNT for following the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan. Please take my advice as a Bible translator: Using a translation like the NLT or GNT is even more important if you will be listening to your Bible readings while doing something like driving to work. For more information about Bible translations, see the READ heading in the How-To pages.
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Lesson 6
THEME: Buckle up the belt of truth by believing you are ACCEPTED, SECURE, AND SIGNIFICANT.
According to Dr. Neil T. Anderson, nearly all Christians struggle to overcome Satan’s lies in at least one of these three areas:
1) I’m not accepted. No one wants me. God certainly couldn’t want someone like me. Even though I confess sins, I never feel that I am fully forgiven.
2) I’m not secure. I am weak. The evil one is stronger than I am. I'm gonna fall into the trap of sin and never get out.
3) I’m not significant. I never live up to anyone’s expectations, even my own. I am worthless and stupid.
If you are a believer in Christ and believe in what God’s Word says, these are lies. I hope that the outcome of this lesson is that you know which of the three lies is the one you struggle with the most. Then, when you figure out which is your weakness, Anderson’s Freedom In Christ Ministries gives you verses you can memorize to combat the problem. https://www.ficm.org/about-us/who-i-am-in-christ/ Buckle the belt of truth in your area of weakness.
Of course, it seems obvious that the three areas I listed will likely be related to each person’s personal history. Some children are permanently scarred by parents who cannot be pleased, no matter how hard one tries. Parents, after all, come with hang-ups that they have inherited from their parents. Other children suffer long periods wondering if they will have a mother or father tomorrow. In my case, I think my weakness relates to not learning to read in my first three grades of school.
I think that harassing evil spirits possess keen observational powers by which they discover our weaknesses. I think they can tell when their whispered temptations work. So beware! Evil spirits often introduce thoughts into our minds which they pass off as our own thoughts. In other words, they don’t tell you, “You’re worthless.” Instead they pass off the suggestion as if it came from your own mind, by whispering, “I’m worthless.” If you experience insistent negative thoughts about yourself, I urge you to ask God to reveal the source of them.
In my introduction above, I have stated the three weaknesses negatively. When stated positively, as I will start to do now, these three inner-messages are the foundation of your spiritual identity. Let’s go through them one by one in the order given by Anderson.
=====Say to yourself: I am ACCEPTED by Christ=====
If you believe in Jesus and simply come to him, the Bible tells you, “You are accepted by him.”
John 1:12 is the first verse Anderson gives as an antidote to this problem:
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.For many verses given as antidotes to this problem, I find myself arguing if I can fulfill the conditions. The verse just quoted has easy conditions. Do I believe in Jesus? Yes. Have I asked Him to come into my life? Yes. I have accepted Him, and that means He accepts me! The verse says, “to all” who do those two things, “he gave the right …” So I’m not left out! He gives to all who believe and accept Him “the right to become children of God.” The next verse goes on to say that those same people become reborn.
I will depart from Anderson’s list to give some of my favorites:
Mat. 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”If you fit the description, notice the word ‘all’.
I find many such verses in John’s writings. In Rev. 21:6 Jesus—from his position sitting on the throne with God — says,
“To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.”Then in chapter 22:17,
“The Spirit and the bride (that is the whole assembly of redeemed people) say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.”Similarly, in John 7:38, Jesus promises,
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”For your convenience, in the episode notes, I list the verses that Anderson gives that help you to claim that YOU are ACCEPTED by God:
I am accepted…
John 1:12 I am God’s child.
John 15:15 As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 I have been justified.
1 Corinthians 6:17 I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ’s body.
Ephesians 1:3-8 I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.
Colossians 1:13-14 I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.
Colossians 2:9-10 I am complete in Christ.
Hebrews 4:14-16 I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.
=====Say to yourself: I am SECURE=====
I love how Romans 8 gives us a wonderful logical progression to tell us that we are secure.
We are one with Christ, or as the NLT translates it, we belong to Christ. This means no one can condemn us. Those in that position will find the life-giving Spirit working in them. Other than transforming our lives, the Spirit is a guarantee that we are God's sons. Again God's Word uses the word ‘all’:Romans 8:14 NLT
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Even though, to be gender sensitive, some translations use ‘children’ here, I think it is good for women to also consider that they become— spiritually speaking— ‘sons’. (Men have a similar difficulty in accepting that they are part of the ‘bride of Christ’.) The precious thing here is that these verses say that we ALL are given the legal status of ‘sonship’, which according to Roman law, could not be changed. (Rom. 8:15) Having this legal position of sonship means that no one and no spiritual power can separate us from the love of God and of Christ. Romans 8 is the most emphatic statement about our security that you will find in Scripture!Once again, in the episode notes I give the nine verses Anderson lists:
I am secure!
Romans 8:1-2 I am free from condemnation.
Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.
Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.=====Say to yourself: I am SIGNIFICANT=====
It is actually a short logical step from our believing that we are Accepted and Secure to believing that we are SIGNIFICANT in God’s eyes. For instance, if you are one with Christ, it is like you are part of his body. Let's say a little toe. Well just think: No one wants to lose a toe! Every little part of our body is significant to us, especially if it becomes hurt.
I suspect that Satan's lackies whisper to people that believing yourself to be significant to God is prideful. But it is not being prideful to tell the truth about yourself. Base your significance on the amazing things God's Word says about you, then your significance will not be prideful.
It can be helpful to notice the times when the Holy Spirit gives you a nudge.
Do you feel it natural to call God your Father (Abba) when you pray?— as Romans 8 talks about. Have you ever felt the nudge to pray for someone? Has a verse of Scripture ever sort of ‘jumped off the page’? Did that ever cause you to repent or take some action? In a conversation, have you ever suddenly felt that you should say something to help someone. Has anything ever happened to you that might be leading you to exercise a spiritual gift? (Gifts like teaching, counseling, encouraging, being generous, etc.)These things can be reassuring, we must not totally rely on such experiences, to encourage us about our significance. Please also realize that having a packed schedule of all kinds of church volunteering will never bring a true assurance of your significance.
Consider these eye-opening verses assembled by Dr. Neil Anderson:
I am significant…
This is the link to the display of “Who I am in Christ” at the Freedomn In Christ Ministries website: https://www.ficm.org/about-us/who-i-am-in-christ/
John 15:5 I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.
John 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
1 Corinthians 3:16 I am God’s temple.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
Ephesians 2:6 I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.
Ephesians 2:10 I am God’s workmanship.
Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.So, the identity we possess in Christ means that we are ACCEPTED, SECURE, AND SIGNIFICANT. And I think it is revealing how this relates to our spiritual armor, as found in Ephesians 6. The seven items of our armor are seven facets of every believer's identity.
There is a PDF file attached to this episode that documents what the figures of speech mean for each item of our spiritual armor: Armor Handout: Understanding how to wear our spiritual armor
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yyi6NShxL3bmz_-SMMsomuBauK0Y754A/view?usp=drive_link
14a belt of truth — significant
14b breastplate of righteousness — accepted
15 shoes — accepted, secure, and significant
16 shield of faith — secure
17a helmet of salvation — accepted
17b sword of the spirit — secure
18 cell phone of prayer — accepted and significant
[Improved from lesson 4:]
How to pray to make sure you are wearing your spiritual armor:
Lord God, give me strength to stand firm. Help me to wear— and be aware— of all the spiritual armor You have given to me, so that I can stand against Satan and his forces:
Please remind me that I am already wearing the breastplate of righteousness, because Jesus died and was raised to life, and He has given me right standing in your sight. Help me to keep on the boots of the Gospel of peace, not only being ready to share the good news about Christ, but also anchoring my life in the truth of the Gospel. May I always wear the belt of truth, believing in everything you say about me in the Bible, and therefore never letting go of my shield, which is fully believing that you will shield me when I experience Satan's temptations and be with me in all my trials. May I always have the helmet of salvation, because I know You have saved me. Help me to study the Word of God, so that it is a ready resource that the Holy Spirit will use (like a scalpel) to operate on me, as well as prompting me to lovingly share Your truth with others. And help me to never forget that the Holy Spirit gives me an instant connection to You in prayer. -
As I finish this podcast series, I am really thankful for this year-long experience. If you are one of the faithful ones who have listened through a year’s worth of daily podcasts— and no matter whether this has taken longer than a year, I say Way to go! I sincerely hope these podcasts have been a blessing for you— as they have been for me. I hope that nothing that I have said has caused you to stumble or decreased your desire to study God’s Word. I started this project in the hope that my four grandchildren would— in some future year, listen to this series of recordings. Now we have five grandchildren. If you are Luke Fields, Laura Fields, Ava Baughn, Joel Baughn, or Devan Baughn, know that Grampa loves you and that I desired to share spiritual treasures with you. I am proud of you and wish that we could have shared these readings in person. I urge you to stay centered upon God’s Word. And to ALL of you in the family of Christ Jesus our Savior, I send warm greetings and love. May the Lord bless you as you continue your journey with Him!
MALACHI 4:
As people like Simeon and Anna (Luke 2) waited for the Messiah to come, I am sure that they were thinking of verses like Malachi 3:1:Mal. 3:1 NLT “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
Re-reading ISAIAH 66:
Isaiah ends with blessings and promises that foreshadow Revelation, such as these:Is. 66:12 GNT The Lord says, “I will bring you lasting prosperity; the wealth of the nations will flow to you like a river that never goes dry. …
22 “Just as the new earth and the new heavens will endure by my power, so your descendants and your name will endure.In stark contrast to the promises and blessings, Isaiah also ends with vivid warnings against judgments and punishments that are like those in Revelation. Jesus himself quoted that final verse about the worms and the unquenchable fire. (Mark 9:48) You can take that as Jesus’ stamp of approval on all that Isaiah said!
REVELATION 22:
In chapter 21 we heard the invitation to receive free life-giving water for anyone who is thirsty, and that invitation is repeated in today’s chapter. The culmination of everything promised and the healing of everything sick and broken occur here. God says, “Look, I am making all things new.” There is again symbolism in every aspect of the New Jerusalem— including even the shape of a huge cube. As noted above at the end of Isaiah, in stark contrast to the eternal blessings for God’s people are the vivid ending warnings of eternal judgment in the last two chapters of Revelation.In Rev. 22:8-9, most translations make it sound that John made the same mistake twice— bowing down again to the angel that was showing everything to him. But the Greek in those verse in chapter 22 can be understood to be retelling that event that happened in chapter 19, and I think that makes better sense. The probable reason that John included the story twice was to emphasize that angels should not be worshipped. Let’s beware of such heresy! Because such false teaching keeps on resurfacing and some forms of Gnosticism remain to the present day.
Congratulations on finishing the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan!
GNT Translation notes:
Rev. 22:8 I, John, have heard and seen all these things. And when I finished hearing and seeing them, (as I told you before) I fell down at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things, and I was about to worship him.
14-15 [It makes better sense to me to include verses 14-15 in Jesus’ quote, which means I did not read those verse the way I would if they were John’s narration.] -
MALACHI 3:
In chapters 1-2 yesterday, we heard how skeptical and sassy the Israelites had become. This came out in the way Malachi has the people of Israel talk back to God. The first is like this:Mal. 1:2 NLT “I have always loved you,” says the LORD.
But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”Topics for such exchanges included offering sacrifices that don’t show appropriate honor to God, breaking covenants of marriage through divorce, and not honoring God as the God of justice. Two more sassy exchanges happen in today’s reading.
ISAIAH 66:
I highlight verse 17 from chapter 65, as it foreshadows what we will read in Revelation today and tomorrow:Is. 65:17 NLT “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.And I believe that these moving verses from that same chapter portray the torment of the lake of fire:
Is. 65:13 GNT And so I tell you that those who worship and obey me will have plenty to eat and drink, but you will be hungry and thirsty. They will be happy, but you will be disgraced.
14 They will sing for joy, but you will cry with a broken heart.REVELATION 21:
In chapter 20, we read about the millennium or the thousand year reign of Christ, the defeat and imprisonment of Satan, his brief release following the 1,000 years, and his eventual eternal judgment in the lake of fire. Death and the Grave were also abolished in the lake of fire. -
MALACHI 1-2:
We heard a very difficult conclusion to Zechariah yesterday. Chapter 14 started out with horrendous news for Jerusalem. But the Lord himself steps in:Zec. 14:3 NLT Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past.
4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart …We will see the following from Zech 14 very soon in Revelation:
Zec. 14:5c NLT “Then the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.
6 On that day the sources of light will no longer shine,
7 yet there will be continuous day! …
8 On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean,
flowing continuously in both summer and winter.”We turn now to the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. The name means, “my messenger.” There is debate as to the date of the writing of this post exilic prophet, but generally speaking it is true that there is a 400 year gap between this last Old Testament prophet and New Testament. It could be that Malachi prophesied in Nehemiah’s day. Both Malachi and Nehemiah dealt with priestly laxity (Mal. 1:6; Neh. 13:4-9), neglect of tithes (Mal. 3:7-12; Neh. 13:10-13), and intermarriage between Israelites and foreigners (Mal. 2:10-16; Neh. 13:23-28).”
Re-reading ISAIAH 65:
Note that the chapter starts with a verse that Paul quotes in Romans 10.REVELATION 20:
After the judgment wreaked against Babylon (chapter 18), we heard songs praising God’s justice in chapter 19. Then we saw the appearing of Christ riding on a white horse. Typical of John’s reticence to name deity, Christ is not named, but is beautifully described. Note that even Jesus has a name written on his person which only He understands. And like in John 1:1, Christ’s title is the ‘Word of God’. It is possible that this account of His appearing may not be in chronological order in its position following the destruction of Babylon. Although Christ’s army is mentioned, note how the victory is won by Christ alone. -
ZECHARIAH 14:
Unfortunately, we have not yet seen the fulfillment of this prophecy from the end of Zechariah 12:Zec. 12:10 NLT “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.
(The podcast notes for the previous episode contain a translation note on this verse.)
However, this part has been fulfilled from the beginning of chapter 13:
Zec. 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.
This from Zechariah 13 was referred to by the Lord Jesus in Mark 14:27 in— or on the way to, the garden of Gethsemane:
Zec. 13:7 NLT “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
the man who is my partner,”
says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
“Strike down the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn against the lambs.ISAIAH 65:
In chapter 64, there is a mixture of hope, regretful repentance, and supplication— including these verses:Is. 64:4 NLT For since the world began,
no ear has heard
and no eye has seen a God like you,
who works for those who wait for him!
5 You welcome those who gladly do good,
who follow godly ways.
But you have been very angry with us,
for we are not godly.
We are constant sinners;
how can people like us be saved?
6 We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.REVELATION 19:
In Revelation 18 we heard the chapter of doom against the city of Babylon (or Rome, or the united evil world system based on immoral commerce). If chapter 18 sounded familiar, it is because you were remembering Ezek 27. -
ZECHARIAH 12-13:
Several times I have noted Zechariah and other prophets who use the figure of shepherding a flock— picturing God’s people. In chapter 11, there were puzzling verses where Zechariah evidently performed an outward demonstration involving two staffs. Other prophets did such demonstrations. In this one, evidently Zechariah stood in for the Messiah. The two staffs were named Favor and Union. Our Messiah, Jesus, came to restore us to God’s favor and give us unity as God’s people— no matter from what race. The 30 pieces of silver is spoken of with irony: “this magnificent sum at which they valued me.” Remember this shepherd picture!ISAIAH 64:
Yesterday in chapter 63, we heard the people of Israel ask a whole series of questions about the Lord, like:Is. 63:11b NLT “Where is the one who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd?
And here is another verse:
Is. 63:15 NLT LORD, look down from heaven;
look from your holy, glorious home, and see us.
Where is the passion and the might
you used to show on our behalf?
Where are your mercy and compassion now?The chapter ended with deep pathos:
Is. 63:18 NLT How briefly your holy people possessed your holy place,
and now our enemies have destroyed it.
19 Sometimes it seems as though we never belonged to you,
as though we had never been known as your people.However, don’t forget how the chapter started, with the Lord wearing blood-stained robes from trampling out the grapes (yes, ‘grapes of wrath’)— the nations who oppressed his people. This is a picture of the grape harvest that we saw so recently in Revelation 14. Note that in Isaiah the Lord does the trampling alone. And so we see also in Revelation, the final battle is won by the Lord acting alone.
REVELATION 18:
The part that puzzles me most in chapter 17 is this:
Rev. 17:8 GNT That beast was once alive, but lives no longer; it is about to come up from the abyss and will go off to be destroyed. The people living on earth whose names have not been written before the creation of the world in the book of the living, will all be amazed as they look at the beast. It was once alive; now it no longer lives, but it will reappear.
While that is confusing, the important thing is clear: Satan is the sponsor of the beast.
GNT Translation note:
Zech. 12:10 [NLT “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.//GNT “I will fill the descendants of David and the other people of Jerusalem with the spirit of mercy and the spirit of prayer. They will look at the one whom they stabbed to death, and they will mourn for him like those who mourn for an only child. They will mourn bitterly, like those who have lost their first-born son.]
[The Masoretic Text says ‘me’, but then the undergoer changes to ‘him’ in the next phrase. This unexpected shift in undergoers caused some textual variants, as scribes tried to reconcile the grammatical difficulty. See the note in the NET at Lumina.Bible.org. The NLT translation is more faithful in showing the difficulty. The GNT followed textual variants in order to make the grammar sound right.]
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Rev. 18:18 and cried out as they saw the smoke from the flames that consumed her: [They said,] “There never has been another city like this great city!” -
ZECHARIAH 10-11:
As we have seen before, the Lord loves names and delights to give new names. In Zec. 8 He said,Zec. 8:3 NLT Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.
In Zec. 9 we read the verse Matthew quotes in chapter 21 about Jesus coming riding on the foal of a donkey. The verse is also alluded to in John 12:15. And we heard this verse about the New Jerusalem:
Zec. 9:16 NLT On that day the LORD their God will rescue his people,
just as a shepherd rescues his sheep.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.ISAIAH 63:
In chapter 62 we read promises like what I shared above about the Lord giving names:Is. 62:4 NLT Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City”
or “The Desolate Land.”
Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight”
and “The Bride of God,”
for the LORD delights in you
and will claim you as his bride.And similarly at the end of that chapter:
Is. 62:11b NLT Look, your Savior is coming.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’”
12 They will be called “The Holy People”
and “The People Redeemed by the LORD.”
And Jerusalem will be known as “The Desirable Place”
and “The City No Longer Forsaken.”We will see the fulfillment of all this in the last chapters of Revelation.
REVELATION 17:
In chapter 16 we heard all 7 of the Bowl Judgments. At the time this judgment happens and the bowls are poured out on the earth, it seems that 100% of the people are opposed to God. No one repents when the judgments happen, but instead curse God. And there are preparations for a final battle of Armageddon with God. However God’s voice from the throne says that “It is finished.” This seems to refer to the punishment against Babylon. In John’s day, Babylon was a code word among Christians for the city of Rome— the capital city of the empire, which was built on 7 hills. In our day Babylon pictures the united evil world system supported by immoral commerce. - Visa fler
