3-Day Bible Reading Plan: “There is No Good Apart from God”
The first question we are covering in this series is, “Is deciding my own truth good for me?” This question is connected to popular cultural slogans like, “Be true to yourself,” “Find your own truth,” “Do what you feel is right in your heart,” “Follow your heart,” and “What is right for me may not be right for you.” At their core, these slogans revolve around the idea of self-determined morality, meaning I decide what is true for me, and living in line with that truth will bring about the most good. This is a great question to start our series with because how we answer this question will affect how we answer all the other questions. So, what answer does the Bible give to the question, “Is deciding my own truth good for me?” - Pastor Paul Crandell, 6/2/24
Day 1
Featured Verse:
Genesis 3:1-3 - The Serpent Deceived Eve
Cross References:
Genesis 3:13 - “The Serpent Deceived Me and I Ate”
Matthew 4:3 - “Command These Stones to Become Bread”
Matthew 26:41 - “The Spirit is Willing but the Flesh is Weak”
Reflection:
Why does Satan tempt us with food? With pride? With greed?
When Christ was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He correctly quoted and applied Scripture to resist. What does this teach us about the nature of temptation and the Word of God?
How does “watching and praying” help to thwart temptation?
“Satan will first draw you to sit with the drunkard, and then to sip with the drunkard, and then at last to be drunk with the drunkard. He will first draw you to be unclean in your thoughts, and then to be unclean in your looks, and then to be unclean in your words, and at last to be unclean in your practices.” - Thomas Brooks
Day 2
Featured Verse:
Romans 1:18-31 - God Gave Them Up to a Debased Mind
Cross References:
Psalm 14:1 - “The Fool Says in His Heart, ‘There is No God.’”
2 Timothy 3:7-8 - “Men Corrupted in Mind and Disqualified Regarding the Faith”
Hebrews 6:4-6 - “It is Impossible…to Restore Them Again to Repentance”
Reflection:
Rebellion against the Word of God is itself its own judgment. To those who live in willful sin and shun repentance, God gives them over to their own debased mind. Why is this passive judgment of God even more dangerous than “fire and brimstone”?
To the one who embraces sin, it is easier to say, “There is no God” than it is to face their own depravity, humble themselves, and repent. Even Paul says they became fools. Yet Romans 1:21 says all men know God. Why won’t they honor Him?
Apostates are those who once seemingly “embraced the faith,” then fell away. They were not true believers, as 1 John 2:19 says they went out from us because they are not of us, else they would have continued with us. Unbelievers can sometimes be indifferent to faith, but apostates become scoffers. Why do you think that is?
“There are so many people trying to diagnose the human situation; and they come to the conclusion that man is sick, man is unhappy, man is the victim of circumstances. They believe therefore that his primary need is to have these things dealt with, that he must be delivered from them. But I suggest that that is too superficial a diagnosis of the condition of man, and that man’s real trouble is that he is a rebel against God and consequently under the wrath of God.” - D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Day 3
Featured Verse:
Philippians 3:8-9 - Count All Things as Loss
Cross References:
Luke 13:24 - “Strive to Enter in the Narrow Door”
Matthew 19:29 - “Everyone Who Has Left it All for My Sake Will Inherit…Eternal Life”
Luke 12:34 - “Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be Also”
Reflection:
Christ tells us to strive to enter the narrow door. He speaks of the door to Heaven. Many will seek to enter and not be able. Where, then, can one find this door? What is it? How does one “strive” to enter into it?
No one coasts their way into Heaven. Christianity is a line in the sand against the system of the world. Many are martyred for their faith, and many must leave all they’ve ever known behind for the sake of Christ. Ours is a costly faith, and even our Lord told us to count the cost before following Him. What have you had to sacrifice for your faith?
It is clear from Paul’s words in Philippians 3:8-9 that he treasured Christ high above any paltry treasure of this world. Our hearts naturally gravitate toward what we treasure most. If we treasure this world, we will shun God, but if we treasure God, we will shun the world. What can you do to renew your mind and seek God as your heart’s treasure?
“When I see that he loved me, and gave himself for me, it is not enough to know this fact: I want to know him, the glorious person who does and is all this. I want to know the man who thus gave himself for me. I want to behold the Lamb once slain for me. I want to rest upon the bosom which covers the heart which was pierced with the spear.” - Charles Spurgeon