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December 19 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 finish reading the Books of 2 John with Chapter 1:1-2, 4-13 and 3 John.
Today we will read and discuss the importance of continuing to always love, because as we grow closer to the time when Jesus returns Jesus warned us that the love of most will grow cold. We also read and discuss the importance of continuing to do good and be the light in the world, being different from the world, which is dark. We will put together the pieces of what we have been learning this year with encouragement and reminders of God's message to us this year about love and obedience, knowing that we have Jesus with us always. We simply need to use the tools available to us to win over the world, win over darkness, win over sin, win over death, while shining brightly with God's love for each other and all the world.
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
Greetings and Blessings
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello everybody! May grace, mercy, and shalom be with you from God the Father and from Messiah Jesus, the Father's Son, in truth and love.
Daily Reading Introduction
00:00:17
Speaker
Today is December 19th and we are here for our daily reading through the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
Hanukkah Acknowledgment
00:00:25
Speaker
Today is also the sixth day of Hanukkah.
00:00:29
Speaker
We have our six candles lit. One, two, Three, four, five, six. So thank you for joining me for both Hanukkah and for the daily reading out of the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
Using Commitment Tools
00:00:44
Speaker
If you are following along on your bookmarking commitment calendar, it's time to take that out. It's time to get that sticker ready because we are ready to cross off our days and read the Bible today.
00:00:58
Speaker
Look at that. Oh, we are almost done with the year. We have only, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 more days of the year.
00:01:10
Speaker
This is the last 12 days. We are in the home stretch.
Nervousness About Revelation
00:01:14
Speaker
I am a little bit nervous to start the book of Revelation. but So please pray for me that my eyes and ears would be open and that I would make God the most important one in my day to make sure that there is plenty of time for hearing and listening for him to tell me what to speak about.
00:01:32
Speaker
I am a little bit nervous about getting into the book of Revelation. It is a big book. It's not huge in terms of size, but it is weighty and meaty.
Discussion of 2 John and 3 John
00:01:44
Speaker
Well, thank you for being here with me. We are going to be finishing with the books of John with 2 John and 3 John. They are both just quick one chapter books and we're going to read both of them today.
00:01:58
Speaker
The second book of John is, and if you're following along Forrest in your reading, you may notice that and at the top of our reading, it says that John wrote two more short letters. One was to a lady and the other was to his friend Gaius.
00:02:15
Speaker
The lady that is being referred to in this, that's not entirely accurate um in our day by day kids Bible, because the lady that is being referred to is a sister church.
00:02:27
Speaker
So as John begins this lady this this book, he says to the lady who was chosen and to her children, we as the church are the bride of Jesus. So John is comparing, is is making ah a word comparison to the bride being a woman and calling the woman a lady.
00:02:48
Speaker
And later on, ah when he when he concludes that letter, he says, your sister's children say to tell you hello.
00:03:00
Speaker
So he is referring to where he is, is a sister church. And we are familiar with that as well. In today's society, we say, oh this is our sister church. If there is more than one of a certain church, we say that this is our sister church.
00:03:16
Speaker
So it it is a very common conception. It was started way back then. So I just wanted to be sure that we had clear understanding and the letter was not written to one particular lady, but to the community being referred to as the lady and her children, be meaning the church and the people who were members or or attendees of that congregation.
Imitating Jesus
00:03:42
Speaker
So let's go ahead and begin. We are going to be reading about ah the caught a oh, my word escapes me. Encouragement to keep doing what is good, to be imitators of those who imitate Jesus.
00:04:02
Speaker
to do what's right and to also be someone that others can imitate and do what is right as well. So that we are always perpetuating the cycle of being a good example, just as Jesus is our good shepherd and we are all imitating him. And since we cannot physically see him We can read about him, but we need to be imitators of him so that others can see and learn from us and to learn to be right, to do what is right, to do what is good, not to be examples of how to do things wrong in the world. We have plenty of those examples from all around us every
Chosen by God
00:04:44
Speaker
day.
00:04:44
Speaker
So in a world where we are called to be different, We need to stand out as light and shine with Jesus's glory so that we can show others his light and point others toward him because he is the way, the truth, and the life.
00:05:08
Speaker
to the lady who was chosen and to her children. Remember, we are chosen by God. He chose us to be his children. He said that there are a people who are not my people, who will now be called my people. And that is us Gentiles.
00:05:26
Speaker
John says, I love you all because of the truth. Everyone who knows the truth loves you. And that's because the truth lives in us.
00:05:38
Speaker
It will always be with us.
00:05:44
Speaker
I'm very glad that some of your children follow God's truth. They are doing just what the Father told us to do. You are a dear lady.
00:05:55
Speaker
Remember, it's not a physical woman. It's referring to the church. And I am not writing anything new to you. I am writing something we have known from the start.
00:06:07
Speaker
We should love each other. i know we talked yesterday as well about the fact that this message is really being pounded into us. It is important. From the very beginning, God has taught us to love one another, to love him and to love one another. We can't overstate it.
00:06:29
Speaker
We might feel like it's being pounded into us, but that's because we need to hear it all
Importance of Love
00:06:34
Speaker
the time. Jesus told us that as the as the last days come, the love of most will grow cold.
00:06:44
Speaker
In a world where love is growing colder, it becomes even more important that we love ourselves. That will stand out.
00:06:55
Speaker
it's It will be harder as time goes on and as we get closer to the time when Jesus returns. Because the love of most, not just some, but most people will grow cold. So we have to stand firm to be loving to everybody, not just to those who are believers, but to everybody in the world. We need to be the light all the time, more than ever, as we get closer and closer to God's chosen judgment day, which nobody knows the day of.
00:07:31
Speaker
And what does that love look like? Here is what love is. It is obeying what God tells us. You heard it from the beginning.
00:07:41
Speaker
His rule is that we love. Many people who lie are in the world, and they say that Jesus has not come as a man. Any person like this is against Jesus.
00:07:56
Speaker
So watch out and don't lose what you worked for. Be careful to get the good things that God has planned for you. Some people don't wait for God and they don't keep following God and Jesus' teachings.
00:08:11
Speaker
So they don't have God with them. But what about people who keep following Jesus? God the Father and Jesus, his Son, are with them.
00:08:25
Speaker
Remember, Jesus told us, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Even during the times that will be fulfilled in Revelation, that Jesus will always be with us. He will always be with us in our spirit.
Love Conquers All
00:08:43
Speaker
We are one with him.
00:08:46
Speaker
It might be hard to love when the world has grown cold and the love of most will have grown cold. But we need to stand firm knowing that Jesus is with us. And because he is with us, we learned yesterday that we win.
00:09:02
Speaker
We can win over the world. We do win over the world. We win over sinful behavior. We win over hate. Love conquers all.
00:09:16
Speaker
It conquers fear. Love conquers death. Love wins. So choose to be on the winning side.
00:09:26
Speaker
Let's say somebody comes to you and does not teach this. then do not let that person stay at your house. Don't even welcome that kind of person because if you do, you are helping with that person's sinful work.
00:09:45
Speaker
John says, i have a lot to say to you, but I don't want to write it. I want to come see you in person. I want to talk with you in person. And then both of us can be full of joy.
00:09:58
Speaker
Your sister's children say to tell you hello.
Unity in God's Body
00:10:02
Speaker
from the leader.
00:10:06
Speaker
John is the leader.
00:10:10
Speaker
Now we're in John chapter, john third John rather, not John chapter three, third John. This particular letter was written to a friend of John whose name is Gaius.
00:10:22
Speaker
To Gaius, my dear friend, I truly love you. and I am praying that you will enjoy good health and then your body will do well just like your soul is doing well.
00:10:38
Speaker
Some of God's people came and told me about you. They said that you keep following God's truth. What makes me happier than anything?
00:10:49
Speaker
It's hearing that people I have taught keep obeying God. You keep helping God's people from other places.
00:11:00
Speaker
You do it even though you don't know them. They have told us how you have shown your love. Keep treating God's people like God wants you to.
00:11:12
Speaker
Help people who are traveling so they can keep going. They began this trip because they believe in Jesus. People who do not believe in God have not helped them.
00:11:26
Speaker
Our big Bible says that they did not accept help from pagans. So it's written a little bit differently in our big Bible. So we need to welcome them.
00:11:37
Speaker
And that way we can work together for the truth. Remember that we are all part of God's body with different work to do. This is my part, not written in John.
00:11:49
Speaker
We all are part of the body and we have the same job. The body is supposed to help people to know about God and Jesus. We are furthering God's kingdom.
00:12:03
Speaker
So when we help one another, we are one, we are working together as one unified body. So it's important not to forget that we are here to help one another with our spiritual gifts.
00:12:16
Speaker
We are not here to just help ourselves. God gives us all spiritual gifts so that they can be used to benefit the entire body. Paul taught us about that.
00:12:29
Speaker
We are meant to build one another up with our spiritual gifts. So John is encouraging us to keep doing these things. Keep building one another up. Keep helping one another in the members of the body of Jesus so that we can strengthen the body and build God's kingdom.
Dealing with Troublemakers
00:12:53
Speaker
I wrote to Jesus' followers, but Diotrephus loves to be first. He will not listen to us, so I might come, so that then I will point out what it is he is doing.
00:13:08
Speaker
He is telling other people bad things about us. And that's not all he's doing. He will not welcome God's people from other places.
00:13:19
Speaker
He will not let anyone else welcome them either. And some people want to welcome them. And then if they do, he won't let them be in the church. Do not do the sinful things that others do.
00:13:35
Speaker
Instead, do what is good. People who do what's good are from God. People who sin have not seen God. Now Demetrius is another follower of Jesus.
00:13:50
Speaker
and Everybody says good things about him. He follows the truth. And that makes him look good. We say good things about him too.
00:14:01
Speaker
And you know that what we say is true.
00:14:07
Speaker
I have a lot to say to you, but I don't want to write it. I can come see you soon, and then we will see each other face to face, and we will talk more then. Until then, i pray shalom ala hem, that peace be to you.
00:14:24
Speaker
Your friends here say to tell you hello, and tell each of our friends there hello too. From the leader.
00:14:38
Speaker
John is such a great writer as well. We have so much encouragement from him and so much contrast. It's so good that he gives us examples of what people are doing that are wrong so that we can see that because we know that it is just as relevant today as it was then.
Representing God Well
00:14:57
Speaker
There will be people, even in church, who are causing confusion.
00:15:04
Speaker
Disharmony. They are causing trouble in the church. They discourage people from helping. They can discourage people from welcoming others. And we want to be sure that that is not who we are today either. Just as John warned us about that way back then, And we think that these letters were potentially written to the area of Ephesus, where the Ephesians were, where they were having difficulties with false teachers. And we see that this was a very pervasive issue because we know that Paul wrote about that as well as Peter and John.
00:15:39
Speaker
So if it was being written about clear back then, we can be sure that there are still these problems today. And we need to be aware of these problems today as well.
00:15:51
Speaker
So John encourages us not to do the sinful things that others are doing, but instead to do what is good. And then people who do what's good are visible.
00:16:02
Speaker
It helps us look good. It helps Jesus look good. And as we have read previously as well, it makes God look good. We are representatives of God because we are his children in the same way that we represent our parents. So if you are a child, your parents want you to be good so that people will say good things about them and their parenting.
00:16:27
Speaker
it's It's not good when people say, look at those children. Their parents don't do anything about them. We know that children are disciplined out of love. it's It's not out of...
00:16:39
Speaker
um hate or out of the for the wrong motives a god is our heavenly father and he also disciplines us so we want to be sure that as we receive discipline we remember that it is a form of correction in order to bring us back into alignment because we are meant to represent god and to do so in proper light Those who are not behaving as children of God will not even be able to be recognized as children of God. Or if they are, they will give God a bad name.
00:17:14
Speaker
And we don't want that to happen. We want to be good representatives.
Being Good Examples
00:17:19
Speaker
Jesus is the good shepherd and he showed us how to love. So we need to love like he loves. We need to be good imitators so that when others see us, they don't pick up our bad habits.
00:17:33
Speaker
If you've been around for a while, then you've heard me talk about the fact that When we do something wrong or something we shouldn't do or imitate negative or bad behavior, it's amazing how quickly people will imitate and jump on the bandwagon. And we say misery loves company and birds of a feather flock together.
00:17:55
Speaker
Well, we want the birds of a feather to be flocking together for good. it seems to be so much easier for people to pick up our bad habits. So we need to be sure that just like the leaders of Israel, we are not providing bad examples, but instead are good shepherds, that we are doing good and we are being good examples so that those who see us will be glorifying God and be happy with how we are behaving and want to do that as well.
00:18:28
Speaker
We need to spread good, not negativity or or bad behavior. The world can do that just fine on its own. We instead are called to be different. We are called to be holy because God is holy.
00:18:42
Speaker
So we are imitators of God. And as we know, as we spoke about before we started, it's going to get harder. But just because it is harder does not mean that it is impossible.
00:18:55
Speaker
We are still always on the winning side. Jesus has set us free from sin. So we do not have to give in to sinful behavior. And we have learned this year that Jesus makes us strong. And because he has resisted sin...
00:19:12
Speaker
as a man, he knows how to say no to it. And so when we are having difficulty saying no to sin and giving in into the world and being an imitator of somebody we see around us, we can pray to Jesus.
00:19:27
Speaker
He is our high priest and he will help us to do what is right. He can help us and he does. And I shared my own example in the past week or two when we had that as our daily application where I i tried it out and sure enough, it works. When you are having difficulty and struggling with a particular sinful behavior, pray about it and ask Jesus to make you strong, knowing that he has the ability and will do it.
00:20:01
Speaker
When we pray, as we learned yesterday, when we ask God for what we, if we ask for what God wants for us, God wants for us to win over sin.
00:20:12
Speaker
So if we pray and ask God to help us with that and ask Jesus to help us with that, Jesus hears us. And so we know that he will give us what we asked for.
00:20:25
Speaker
Jesus also taught us that when we pray, to pray as though God has already granted us what we have asked for. And that changes our behavior. When we believe that God has given us and answered us with that success, then we do it. And in the world would call that manifesting it. But that is not what it is.
00:20:48
Speaker
We believe and we have faith. And that is how God works. It is by faith first. We have to first trust God that it is going to happen and then it happens.
Faith, Love, and Trust
00:21:01
Speaker
We don't wait for it to happen and then see it and then believe it. That's not the way it works. Faith is the hope in something we have not yet seen. And all of these work together with love. We can love with faith and trust and hope knowing that we will be successful.
00:21:22
Speaker
It all works together. And that is our big picture this year. That is what we have been meaning to learn all year. Love and that we are able to do it and overcome the sinful behaviors of the world, knowing that if we ask, Jesus will grant us.
00:21:40
Speaker
I love how our big picture comes together as we are reading and learning everything, don't you? Well, thank you very much for joining me today. i hope that you are encouraged and feel that God has lit your light today for our daily reading out of the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley. Today is December 19th, and tomorrow we will be getting the book of Revelation, which we will complete and this year.
00:22:06
Speaker
Oh, so exciting. Well, I have a prayer for us as we
Prayer and Encouragement
00:22:11
Speaker
leave today. i love praying out of the Bible and it is always, they always have such good prayers. So I love using the the prayers that ah the different people in the Bible give us that I may pray over us. So when I opened up this morning, that was the prayer that John opened up with in John, second John. And I thought that was very applicable.
00:22:36
Speaker
So as we leave today, before we go, i just want to encourage you to click your light button, the one that looks like a thumbs up or a heart or a share, a subscribe or a follow so that we can help spread the word about reading God's word.
00:22:52
Speaker
Thank you for helping us to be the light in the world, especially during this Hanukkah time, as we are reminded to be the light in a world full of darkness. Jesus told us that nobody lights a light and puts it under a bowl and hides it.
00:23:08
Speaker
And in the same way that you cannot hide a city that is on a hill, we are meant to shine with Jesus's glory so that others may see him. So I hope that you are clicking your light button so that we can help others be encouraged by hearing the the daily application and the reading for today.
00:23:26
Speaker
So as we go, my loved ones, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health just as it is well with your soul.
00:23:39
Speaker
And I wish you shalom aleichem, peace, God's peace be with you as you go about and be the light in the world. I will see you next time.