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December 15 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
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Happy Hanukkah! If you would like to watch the 2025 Hanukkah service from the Messianic Jewish congregation I attend, you can find that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ5AT87INFU&t=5385s
If you would like to download my FREE calendar for keeping track of your commitment to read the Bible every day, you can find that on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/pages/read-the-bible-in-1-year
Monthly memberships to support this event can be purchased on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/offering_packages
Today we will continue reading the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 11:1, 3-14, 16-40.
In today's reading we will read and discuss faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We will read about many examples of faithful people from the Bible and talk about what having faith looks like in our lives today.
If you enjoyed today's reading and feel like God has lit YOUR light please click the LIGHT button (it looks like a thumbs up or a heart) and consider subscribing to or following my channel, if you have not done so already done so.
If you know someone who might be interested in reading the Bible with me this year please SHARE today's reading with them! It's never too late to join in! Let's help this event grow and together we can spread the word about reading God's Word!
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Transcript
Introduction and Daily Reading
00:00:03
Speaker
Hello everybody! Welcome to the Daily Reading for December 15th. My name is Robin. I'm with In the Family Way Coaching and together we are here for this Daily Reading from the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
00:00:18
Speaker
Today is also the second day of Hanukkah as you can tell by my menorah and we have it lit for the second night. I have not had the opportunity to get my recordings done early in the day or even early in the evening. So it is close to midnight for me. And so I i hope that you had a very good second day of Hanukkah if you are choosing to celebrate here in 2025.
00:00:44
Speaker
In following years, I don't know what day Hanukkah will be, but ah but in this year, tonight is the second light.
Correcting Calendar Mistakes
00:00:55
Speaker
If you are following along on your bookmarking commitment calendar, it's time to get that out and get your sticker ready.
00:01:03
Speaker
Get that picture ready, your sticker ready, rather. And ah get ready to cross off that day because we're about to hear the Bible today. I did notice yesterday as we were coming up close to the 15th that if you are using the calendar, it looks like I typoed and I didn't realize it until yesterday on the 14th that I had two 15s. So if you have printed the calendar, kindly just take your pen and mark it a little so that it looks more like a six.
00:01:36
Speaker
Sorry about that. I must have been in the too big of a hurry there. I made sure I had all the 1 through 31. But I guess I typoed and typed the 15 twice instead of the 16.
00:01:49
Speaker
Well, we are
Exploring Faith in Hebrews 11
00:01:50
Speaker
going to be picking up in Hebrews today, chapter 11. And this is a great chapter. I really enjoyed it today. Today, we are going to be reading about faith.
00:02:03
Speaker
We touched on faith yesterday, and we're talking about that. And we've talked about faith all throughout the year this year. And we have mentioned many a time that it is impossible to please God without it.
00:02:15
Speaker
And today we are going to be reading of the verse where we take that from, from whoever authored the book of Hebrews. They made sure we knew that it is impossible to please God without faith.
00:02:28
Speaker
So today we are going to be looking at what exactly is faith? I know we've talked about it before that it means to trust. If you have faith in someone, you have trust in them, that you believe what they said they were going to do because they are trustworthy. They are faithful.
00:02:48
Speaker
We are going to be looking at what a life of faith looks like. And then we will be talking about some examples of how it it works out in everyday life.
00:03:08
Speaker
as I will be providing some of my own personal life examples as to what faith looks like in my life. God is always giving me opportunities to practice what we are learning about, that's for sure. i just can't say that enough.
00:03:28
Speaker
So yesterday we left off where the author has told us, he quotes Habakkuk. He says, it won't be long. Habakkuk says it this way. He is coming.
00:03:40
Speaker
He won't stay away. My people who do what's right will live by what they believe, which is
Stories of Faith from the Bible
00:03:48
Speaker
faith. In our big Bible, it uses the word faith.
00:03:51
Speaker
If they turn away, I won't be happy with them. We are not people who turn away, the author of Hebrews tells us. We believe and we are saved.
00:04:07
Speaker
Picking up in today's reading, Now, faith is being sure of what you hope for. It's being sure of things that you don't see.
00:04:19
Speaker
We have faith. So we understand that God made the world and all of space. He told it to happen, and it happened.
00:04:32
Speaker
we He made things that we see out of things that we don't see. And while the author of Hebrews told us this, we now know that this is absolutely a thousand percent true because now we have the ability to see some of those invisible things that God gave us and used to make those things that we see.
00:05:01
Speaker
Going on in our reading, Abel, you remember Abel? He was the first son Cain and Abel were the first children to Adam and Eve.
00:05:14
Speaker
We read about them a very long time ago, way back on, I think, around January 2nd or so. but Abel had faith, so he gave God a better gift than Cain did.
00:05:27
Speaker
and God said that this made Abel right with him. Abel's faith still teaches us today, even though Abel is dead.
00:05:38
Speaker
Enoch had faith. God took him from the earth. Enoch did not have to die. And that's because God was so happy with the way he lived that no one can make God happy without having faith.
00:05:57
Speaker
Enoch is my favorite. I love the fact that Enoch got taken up into heaven because his faith was so great. It says that Enoch walked faithfully with God after he had one of his sons.
00:06:11
Speaker
I can't remember his name. I've been trying to think of it today. But after he had that child, he walked faithfully with God for a lot of years. I can't remember the number of years it gives us either. And then he was taken up.
00:06:24
Speaker
He was no more.
00:06:27
Speaker
People who come to God have to believe in two things. First, they must believe that God really lives. Then, they must believe that God brings good to people who look for him.
00:06:46
Speaker
Noah had faith, and God told him what was coming. So Noah built an ark to save his family. Abraham had faith. God chose a place for him to live and told him to move there.
00:06:59
Speaker
And Abraham obeyed God. He didn't know where God was leading him, but he went to the promised land and he lived in a tent there. Isaac and Jacob lived in tents too.
00:07:12
Speaker
They got the same promise that Abraham got. Abraham was looking ahead.
00:07:21
Speaker
Abraham knew that he would live in this city that was, oops, I'm sorry, I misread that. Abraham's spirit saw a city built by God, and Abraham knew he would live in it someday.
00:07:36
Speaker
Abraham had faith. He was too old to have children, and Sarah was too old too. But God gave them a child. So Abraham became a father and it was all because Abraham believed God's promise.
Applying Faith to Modern Life
00:07:56
Speaker
Then a whole nation was started and Abraham's son had two sons. So his family grew to have as many people as the stars in the sky.
00:08:10
Speaker
And there were as many people as sand on the beach. These people believed God all their lives. They were still believers when they died.
00:08:22
Speaker
They didn't get to see, they didn't get all that God promised. They just knew that it was coming. And they said that they were strangers here on earth. People who say that mean that they are looking for a different land.
00:08:37
Speaker
They are looking for a better land. It's a heavenly land. And God is glad that they call him their God. And he has made a city ready for them.
00:08:53
Speaker
God tested Abraham's faith. God asked him to give Isaac as a gift on the altar. Abraham had gotten Isaac by God's promise. But he was going to give him back to God.
00:09:07
Speaker
And Isaac was his only son. God had said that your family will come from Isaac. And then God asked for Isaac as a gift.
00:09:19
Speaker
Our big Bible tells us that this was, offer he was to sacrifice Isaac on the altar.
00:09:29
Speaker
Abraham believed that God could bring Isaac back to life. And in a way, God did. Isaac had faith.
00:09:40
Speaker
When he was old, he prayed a special prayer for his sons, Jacob and Esau. He prayed for good things to come to them. Jacob had faith.
00:09:53
Speaker
When he was old, he prayed a special prayer for his grandsons. They were Joseph's sons. And he prayed for good things for them. And he worshipped God before he died.
00:10:07
Speaker
Joseph had faith. So before he died, he told God's people about leaving Egypt. He said, take my bones with you when you go.
00:10:19
Speaker
Moses's mother and father had faith. After Moses was born, they hid him for three months. They could see he was special and they were not afraid of the mean king's law.
00:10:34
Speaker
Moses had faith. He grew up in the palace, but he would not let himself be in the king's family. He chose to be one of God's people, and that got him in trouble.
00:10:48
Speaker
Moses could have enjoyed sin for a little while, but he knew that it was better to be treated badly for God. It was better than all the riches in Egypt.
00:11:00
Speaker
Moses was looking for good things from God. Moses had faith. So he left Egypt, and he was not afraid of the angry king.
00:11:12
Speaker
He kept on believing no matter what. And in his heart, he saw God.
00:11:20
Speaker
Moses had faith, so he obeyed God by having blood put around the doors. And that way, the first sons of each Jewish family would live.
00:11:32
Speaker
That was the first Passover before they left Egypt.
00:11:37
Speaker
God's people had faith. So they walked across dry ground at the Red Sea. And when the army of Egypt tried to go across too, the water the seawater flowed back.
00:11:50
Speaker
And the people from Egypt died.
00:11:54
Speaker
God's people had faith. They... The walls around the city of Jericho fell down because of their faith.
00:12:05
Speaker
The people had marched around the walls for seven days. Then there was Rahab. Rahab had faith. So she was not killed with the other people of Jericho.
00:12:18
Speaker
And that's because she welcomed two of God's people into her house. She welcomed them with peace, shalom. And she hid them. What else can I say?
00:12:30
Speaker
i don't have time to tell about all the others. There were Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah. There were David and Samuel and the prophets.
00:12:42
Speaker
They all had faith. And some of them won the kingdoms. Some of them judged right from and from wrong among the people. And some of them went and got what God promised them.
00:12:55
Speaker
And some of them closed lion's mouths. Some put out roaring fires. And some got away from people who were killing others.
00:13:07
Speaker
Some were powerful fighters. Some chased away armies from other lands. Some women saw their families brought back to life again.
00:13:19
Speaker
Some were hurt very badly. And they stayed in jail. They wanted a life that lasts forever. They wanted this more than they wanted to be free.
00:13:32
Speaker
Some were laughed at and some were beaten. Some were tied up in jail and some were hit with stones until they died. Some were sawed in half.
00:13:44
Speaker
Some were killed with swords. Some were very poor. They were only the skin of sheep or goats. They were treated very badly.
00:13:58
Speaker
This world was not good enough for them. They went here and there in the deserts and mountains. They went to caves. They went to holes in the ground.
00:14:10
Speaker
They all had great faith, but none of them got what had been promised. God had something better.
00:14:21
Speaker
He planned to give it to us and to them. And that would finish God's plan.
00:14:31
Speaker
And that is the end of our reading today.
00:14:37
Speaker
We've been reading through the Day by Day Kids Bible this year. And while it does not have every single detail, I believe it has all the stories that are in the Bible. We have read a lot.
00:14:51
Speaker
We are on page 789. and eighty nine We have read about all of these people that the author of Hebrews is telling us about.
00:15:04
Speaker
We have learned lessons of great faith all throughout this year. And here we are now at December 15th, and we are getting a little review there.
00:15:16
Speaker
It is impossible to please God without faith. First, we need to believe that God is real, that he exists. He's not a figment of our imagination.
00:15:29
Speaker
He's not a myth. He is not a crutch for us to lean on. He is the author of life. He created everything around us and us.
00:15:43
Speaker
And we need to believe in that. And if you are here, chances are you do. And so that is the first step to having faith, to please God.
00:15:55
Speaker
The author of Hebrews tells us something else as well. He says the second thing is that they must believe that God brings good to people who look for him.
00:16:08
Speaker
All throughout our reading this year, we have seen example after example after example of how even when things looked supposedly bad, God was always working good into them.
00:16:25
Speaker
God has good things in mind for those who look for him.
00:16:31
Speaker
And we are people who look for him. We've been talking about the fact that God wants a relationship with us. He is our God.
00:16:42
Speaker
He brought us together. He unified us by giving us his spirit within us so that now we, our bodies, are temples of the Holy Spirit of God.
00:16:54
Speaker
It's amazing. And so we have the need, it is absolutely necessary for us to live lives of faith. We have learned this year that we can't just say we have faith.
00:17:09
Speaker
We have to act like it. We have to live like it. We have to show by our lives and by our actions that we have faith, that we trust God, that even though we can't see but what's going to happen,
00:17:28
Speaker
We may not ever see the good that comes. Just like none of the people that were mentioned here today saw all of the good that was going to come. They didn't get to see Jesus.
00:17:40
Speaker
They didn't get to know their salvation until after Jesus came. It's amazing. But they still had all that faith.
00:17:51
Speaker
And we can do that too. Things will be tough. We have day by day problems every day that we have to rely upon God for. But we have Jesus to strengthen us, our high priest who is always interceding for us.
00:18:07
Speaker
We have the Holy Spirit who prays for us when we don't even know what to pray for. And we need to remember that no matter what we are going through, God is here with us.
00:18:19
Speaker
Jesus is here with us. And they are working good into everything that happens.
00:18:29
Speaker
So a life of faith, what does it look like? It means choosing not to try to fix things ourselves because we are waiting for God.
Personal Stories of Faith
00:18:42
Speaker
I am still waiting for this insurance claim for the vehicle my husband was driving in. when it got hit by somebody who was driving on the other side of the road.
00:18:57
Speaker
And I am still waiting for the insurance company to pay for the vehicle because it's totaled out. And we had to be given an offer for less than the value because the person who owns the insurance policy who committed the damage, they they don't have enough money in the policy to pay for all of the things that they damaged.
00:19:20
Speaker
And the way that the policy settlement is written is that unless everybody agrees that we can't get paid out, the other option is that we could take him to court and sue him for it.
00:19:36
Speaker
But my husband and I decided that it was better to show forgiveness of debt and to go ahead and accept a lesser settlement.
00:19:47
Speaker
But we are still waiting. It's been a month since we signed the agreement. And ah I am so tired of waiting. My husband is tired of waiting.
00:19:59
Speaker
And God is reminding me that his timing is perfect. Well, we would like to have that settlement right now or more more likely three or four, five months ago now, let's see, since July.
00:20:16
Speaker
That's been five months now that this happened. They have up to two years. Oh, I'm praying it doesn't last that long. The person whose insurance policy it is, they have the ability to sign an agreement saying that they will settle with those of us who have already signed the agreement, even though it has not been all the parties.
00:20:38
Speaker
And it's to their advantage to do that. But nobody is responding. It's not like it's coming out of their pocket. ah they They've already had their car paid for.
00:20:51
Speaker
but we are just waiting. And oh, we are having to trust God and be patient. And it is hard. But God is reminding me that when this is settled, it will be in his time. he is still in control.
00:21:08
Speaker
So we have faith. And we are just waiting for this to occur. So that's one example of what it looks like to have faith, to know that we are waiting for God because we have made the decision that we want to show forgiveness of sin and forgiveness of debt.
00:21:28
Speaker
Jesus gave us the example that if there was a king who forgave a debt to a couple of different people who owed them money, who owed the king money,
00:21:40
Speaker
And then one of them went out and had somebody who owed them money, who was forgiven of all their debt. And it was a pretty good size sum. And then they went out and and were very mean to the person who owed them a small sum of money.
00:21:55
Speaker
And that person asked for more time to pay. And they said no. And they sent them to debtor's prison until they could pay off all of it. And the king heard about that.
00:22:08
Speaker
And he said that that was terrible. And so he threw him into jail. So he had to pay off his debt. And Jesus has forgiven me of so many things.
00:22:22
Speaker
and So I want to show forgiveness of debt and to show Jesus's love in in our forgiveness by by doing that.
00:22:33
Speaker
now It is hard. i don't mind doing it. It's just that we would like for it to be done now. And we're just impatient. My husband wants to rescind and, and just say, you know what? The guy's not interested in settling.
00:22:49
Speaker
So let's just take him to court for it. And I just, I keep feeling like we're supposed to wait and obey God and wait on his timing. And so that's what we are doing.
00:23:02
Speaker
And so that's what it looks like on a day-to-day basis. And so I just wanted to share that with you. I know I've shared ah that event in the past, and that's my example for my most recent example for how We are having to wait because it's on my mind a lot.
00:23:19
Speaker
God has been reminding it of me, reminding me of it quite frequently and just reminding me it's okay, just be patient. It's okay, just be patient. And so as after I read today's ah reading, once again, I was like, well, Lord, I think that that's a pretty good example.
00:23:37
Speaker
You definitely have that on my mind today. Another example of faith is that I hear God telling me, not with physical words, but we commune and with our spirit.
00:23:49
Speaker
And God always brings me in my workplace to talk to people. And so i I have that faith that wherever I am today in my work, that there is somebody I am supposed to talk to.
00:24:05
Speaker
And then I will hear God telling me, talk to that person. Now, I have three or four people around me. So i there are several people and and I tend to be recirculated around to the same people. And so, for instance, today i was next to somebody different.
00:24:20
Speaker
And i will often start up a conversation with, um have I told you that I have a podcast? And they'll say no. Or they might say, I heard something about that. What was it you do again? And then we'll start talking about the fact that I have a Bible reading podcast. And that's my conversation starter to find out if if they have any interest in reading or hearing the Bible.
00:24:47
Speaker
And that's how I find out when the people are my brothers or my sisters, is that it gives me that that little step in the door, that little foot in the door. but And today i was ah ah was thinking, you know, with the person that was on the other side, I was like, Lord, I don't know what to talk about again. What is it you want me to talk about? And ah finally, towards the end, um you told me ah I needed to be talking to the person on my right.
00:25:13
Speaker
And I cannot remember that person's name, but I know them. I'm just so bad with names. It's terrible. And I know who they are. We talk all the time, but I'm just too embarrassed to say, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I've forgotten your name. So sometimes I try to read name badges. ah But today I opened up with that line and they said, no, I didn't know you did a podcast. What's it about?
00:25:35
Speaker
And then and then i told him it was a Bible reading podcast. And yeah he said, so you're Christian? And I said, ah yes. Are you a believer as well? And he said, absolutely. i used to attend the Rock Church. and And then he told me about his experiences there and how and like that and and so he said i gotta go now my shift is over but uh we'll connect again later and and then i felt bad because i hadn't opened up the conversation sooner and but god's timing i didn't hear him telling me earlier i don't know if i was distracted or if he just didn't tell me earlier ah But I did hear it eventually. And ah every day God tells me to talk to people. And so I start talking to people and I'm just I've known these people for three years.
00:26:25
Speaker
A lot of them. And none of these things that we are talking about when we talk about faith or or having a belief in God. Faith in God, ah it's it's never come up in the past.
00:26:39
Speaker
I had no idea that these people were my spiritual family. I just had no idea. And i am just having a lot of experiences like that where God is telling me to talk to people. And then I do. And then I'm just like, wow.
00:26:56
Speaker
So that is how my my faith in my life looks on a daily basis. So I wanted to use that as an encouragement to you too, to listen to God's Holy Spirit when he is telling you to talk to somebody.
Incorporating Faith into Daily Life
00:27:10
Speaker
Because you might just be really shocked to find out what that the person you are talking to is a believer. And it's so a unifying thing.
00:27:21
Speaker
And then you can encourage one another and it it changes the attitude. Not that I had a bad attitude or anything or that they had disagreement with me or anything, but it changes it from one of camaraderie to one of family.
00:27:36
Speaker
And that's a deeper feeling than just being a coworker with someone. one And I love having that deeper connection with people, knowing that they are my my spiritual brothers and sisters and we are united in spirit.
00:27:53
Speaker
it's It's really amazing. So I want to encourage you to also incorporate God into your daily life, and at work, and out and about in your day, everywhere.
00:28:06
Speaker
And that that is how faith looks. every day, just trusting in God to take you in your day to people and to put people in your path so that you can be the light in the world because we reignite each other like the shamash in the center here.
00:28:26
Speaker
We light each other up. Our spirits brighten when we realize that the person we are talking to is also a believer. It draws us closer.
00:28:38
Speaker
like the way these candles are close to one another and they are lit just like that. So I hope that you are encouraged to act out your faith, to live your faith and to continue to have patience. If you need to have patience in something that's going on, to trust God's perfect timing.
00:28:59
Speaker
We know that in the people we read about in the Bible, they were not perfect. They didn't do everything exactly right. we But we need to be able to see that we are not exactly right either.
Learning from Biblical Examples of Faith
00:29:12
Speaker
We're not perfect.
00:29:13
Speaker
But we need to be able to see ourselves in the same situations that they experienced when they were scared and they tried to fix their own problems. When they had doubt and they put trust in things that they shouldn't have, like other countries, other armies, instead of relying upon God.
00:29:32
Speaker
We see examples of failure to have faith this year, as well as examples of how it looks to have faith this year. So we have great learning examples this year. What not to do, what to do, how to do it, how not to do it.
00:29:53
Speaker
And so I want us to think about that and remember that when we have difficult times, they are encouraging. Remember somebody in the Bible that matches the situation that you are going through.
00:30:04
Speaker
That's what we've been doing this year is seeing ourselves and giving examples of when these things would occur in our lives.
Conclusion and Prayer
00:30:13
Speaker
So thank you for joining me today for our daily reading out of the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
00:30:20
Speaker
I hope that you will join me again for tomorrow's reading as we pick up and continue in the book of Hebrews and learn more about faith. And wherever you are between now and it when you have time to get around to watching or listening our next reading, I pray that you are living out a life of faith with God and with those around you.
00:30:42
Speaker
Have a blessed, wonderful day until we meet again.