A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth just as it is in Heaven. Not just to get to Heaven.
To finish the Bible in one year, Read Leviticus 23,24, & Romans 8 : 28-39
Old Testament Reading for today Leviticus 21,22,
Leviticus 23
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, The appointed feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed feasts, are these. 3 Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD’s passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. 8 But you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD seven days; on the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.” 9 And the LORD said to Moses, 10 “Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest; 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, that you may find acceptance; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 And the cereal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, to be offered by fire to the LORD, a pleasing odor; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15 “And you shall count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, 16 counting fifty days to the morrow after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the LORD. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one young bull, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their cereal offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD. 19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And you shall make proclamation on the same day; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work: it is a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22 “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” 23 And the LORD said to Moses, 24 “Say to the people of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.” 26 And the LORD said to Moses, 27 “On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the LORD. 28 And you shall do no work on this same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whoever is not afflicted on this same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no work: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves; on the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your sabbath.” 33 And the LORD said to Moses, 34 “Say to the people of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the LORD. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. 36 Seven days you shall present offerings by fire to the LORD; on the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work. 37 “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD offerings by fire, burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day; 38 besides the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your votive offerings, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. 39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD seven days in the year; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days; all that are native in Israel shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” 44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.
Leviticus 24
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations. 4 He shall keep the lamps in order upon the lampstand of pure gold before the LORD continually. 5 “And you shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 And you shall set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the table of pure gold. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense with each row, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion to be offered by fire to the LORD. 8 Every sabbath day Aaron shall set it in order before the LORD continually on behalf of the people of Israel as a covenant for ever. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the offerings by fire to the LORD, a perpetual due.” 10 Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel quarreled in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. And they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be declared to them. 13 And the LORD said to Moses, 14 “Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And say to the people of Israel, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. 17 He who kills a man shall be put to death. 18 He who kills a beast shall make it good, life for life. 19 When a man causes a disfigurement in his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has disfigured a man, he shall be disfigured. 21 He who kills a beast shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have one law for the sojourner and for the native; for I am the LORD your God.” 23 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
New Testament Read or today is Romans 8 :28-39
28 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; 34 who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I Decided to include Romans 8 :28-39 in today’s reading from the Message bible. It helps me to understand it a little more.
28 That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
29 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.
30 After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
31 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose?
32 If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?
33 And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen?
34 Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us – who was raised to life for us! – is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.
35 Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
36 They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
37 None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us.
38 I’m absolutely convinced that nothing – nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow,
39 high or low, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
The Message Bible – Eugene H. Peterson – In Contemporary Language Read today’s verses in this bible on line, if you like.
Listen to today’s Bible readings
The Catholic Daily Reading and homily, Listen, or Read it Here:
James 2:14-24, 26
14What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?15If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food,16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?17So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.18But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder.20Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works,23and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
Psalms 112:1-6
1Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!2His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.3Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures for ever.4Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous.5It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.6For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever.
First Reading
James 2:14-24, 26
14What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?15If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food,16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?17So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.18But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder.20Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works,23and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 112:1-6
1Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!2His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.3Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures for ever.4Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous.5It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.6For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever.
Gospel
Mark 8:34–9:1
834And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.35For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.36For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?37For what can a man give in return for his life?38For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”91And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Additional Study Materials
Previous Daily Bible Study Blogs
Book of Leviticus Summary, Outline Book of Romans Summary, Outline (we are studying these books presently)
Audio Drama: Old Testament New Testament Each book is read in its entirety. You can listen to the bible, one book at a time in contemporary English.
Dr. Myles Munroe
I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights
Catholic Daily Reflections
Sermons Rosary Prayers Catholic Answers
Catholic Answers 2021-11-27 – Christ’s Death
Are some prayers more efficacious than others? Dr. Anders debates this and other topics, including in vitro fertilization, praying for the dead and the role of Christ’s saving death in the salvation of people today.
Catholic Answers A long list of questions for Dr. Anders includes the inspiration for the Bible, Catholic teaching on infant baptism, how sin compromises people, freemasonry, renewing baptismal promises and obeying one’s conscience.
Catholic answers 2021-11-15 – Honoring Mary. Learn why Catholics honor Mary, as Dr. Anders answers questions on Our Lady as “full of grace,” the Immaculate Conception and her sinless life. Plus, praying the rosary and the Real Presence of Christ in Communion.
Rosary Mysteries
The following 4 videos are the 4 Mysteries that we pray on certain days of the week. I like these videos, because I can pray it alone, with only the images, or go along with the sound. The images help me to focus on the particular mystery that I am contemplating as I say the Hail Mary on each bead.
Joyful Mysteries
Luminous Mysteries
Sorrowful Mysteries
Glorious Mysteries
Prayers of the Rosary
Links to “How to pray the rosary” Popular Catholic Prayers
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,
He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
(this prayer is optional and may be said after all Glory Be to the Fathers…..)
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of thy mercy.
Console the souls in Purgatory, particularly those most abandoned. Amen
Hail Mary,
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Hail, Holy Queen
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
That we maybe made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Closing Prayer
O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation.
Grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
that we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Fatima Prayer:)
Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – I adore thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference’s whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
Prayer to St. Michael
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Thurzo Gizella Bible Study 
Leave a comment