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May 1, 2025 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
3 Plays6 minutes ago
Thank you for joining me as we learn about the connection between Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot (pronounced shav-oo-oat) and Pentecost. As part of understanding and observing the festivals that God has appointed for us to observe, we count the Omer (pronounced oh-mare) today and then have our daily Bible reading session!
Here is the link for a downloadable devotional if you would like to count the Omer for yourself. It has been put out by the Messianic Jewish Congregation Shoresh David in Florida: https://www.shoreshdavid.org/download/counting-the-omer-booklet/
Today's reading will cover 1 Kings Chapters 15,16, 22; 2 Chronicles 16, 17; Joshua Chapter 6, and 1 Kings Chapter 16. Today we will read about a succession of bad kings in Israel and some bad decisions made by the kings of Judah, specifically a deal King Asa made with Aram in an effort to protect the land of Judah against Israel instead of relying on God to protect the nation. We will also see that King Asa did not ask God to heal him when he became sick and as a result he died from his illness. Yesterday we read that God told King Asa that as long as he was faithful to seek God and stay with God he would find God and God would be with him. Today we see King Asa forgetting about that and God sending the prophet Hanani to remind King Asa of where his faithfulness should be placed. In our discussion for daily application we will talk about the importance of relying on God vs relying on ourselves or others for our protection and provision. As long as we seek God, we will find Him. As long as we are with God, He will be with us! Today we are challenged to examine our lives to see where we are relying on ourselves or others rather than God for our daily provision and protection and take steps to correct these areas of misplaced faith.
If you would like to join me LIVE for the daily reading you can register to attend on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/schedule
Registration for the live event is a tiered pricing event, so you are not required to pay to attend, only if you feel led. If you feel led to support this event with either a paid live registration or a monthly membership then I will give back to YOU by sending you a printed copy of the monthly calendar on sugar cane paper along with a set of stickers for the month to keep track of your daily commitment to read the Bible with me every day.
Monthly memberships to support this event can be purchased on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/offering_packages
Please note, while this FREE online event is a family friendly event and the Bible we are using is suitable for ages 7 and up, you must be 18 or older to support this event by purchasing any monthly membership or by registering for the live event, whether registration for the live event is done with or without supporting the event with a paid registration.
If you enjoyed today's reading and feel like God has lit YOUR light today, please click the LIGHT button (it looks like a HEART or LIKE button) and consider subscribing to or following my channel, if you have not done so already.
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 Omer Counting
00:00:02
Speaker
Hey there, everybody. Welcome to our daily Bible reading. You are with Robin at In the Family Way Coaching. I am so glad you are here with me today, whether you are following along on your favorite podcasting app or whether you're watching the video.
00:00:18
Speaker
We are going through the Bible this year using the Day by Day Kids Bible, which is written by Karen Henley. And we are also going to be doing our counting of the Omer. I almost forgot to mention that.
00:00:30
Speaker
If you are following along with your daily calendar, go ahead and get that out. We are now in the month of May and we're going to keep track of our daily commitment. So get that sticker out or however you are following along because you're about to hear the Bible today.
00:00:45
Speaker
For those of you looking for your downloadable calendar, I will have that posted by the time this is by the time you see this episode up. So you will have your calendar ready for printing as well at home.
Daily Devotionals and Their Significance
00:01:00
Speaker
We are going through the daily counting of the Omer and we are ah on day 18 already. So let's go ahead and get started with that.
00:01:13
Speaker
If you would like to join with me in counting of the Omer, just go ahead and repeat after me. It's as simple as that.
00:01:22
Speaker
Blessed are you, o Lord our God, King of the Universe. who has set us apart by your commandments and has commanded us to count the Omer.
00:01:40
Speaker
Today is the fourth day of the third week and day 18. I have counted the Omer.
00:01:53
Speaker
Thank you for counting the Omer with me. i will, of course, have that download link available in case anybody is just finding this link, and this ah this event rather, and is interested in their own daily devotional for counting the Omer.
00:02:08
Speaker
It is very short, as you see, and there's just a real quick reading. There's always just a one Bible verse and then a thought for the day. And that's that. But it really helps us stay on track and on focus for this 50 days that we are counting out from the day after Passover to the last day of the harvest, which is called Shavuot.
Personal Insights on Biblical Observance
00:02:32
Speaker
And we may think of these as being ah Jewish holidays, but these are actually things that God has commanded us to keep for forever. And I have never encountered these in all of my years of attending a Christian church.
00:02:46
Speaker
So I have begun attending a Messianic Jewish congregation where they teach how Christ has fulfilled these things, but that we are still ah commanded to observe them in remembrance so that we can remember the connection that God brings between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
00:03:07
Speaker
These are very important times for us to remember.
00:03:13
Speaker
So if you are following along in your own section, we are on May 1st, if you have your own copy of the Day by Day Kids Bible. Otherwise, I'm going to be reading it to you, which is great.
00:03:25
Speaker
And today's reading takes place in 1 Kings chapters 15 through 16. and 22, chapter Kings,
00:03:37
Speaker
and second chronicle sixteen and seventeen as well as joshua chapter six So if you are rather new to this event, this Bible has been written chronologically and it's in storybook form.
00:03:54
Speaker
And it's so that we can hear the big story from start to finish, Genesis through Revelation, in one continuous story. The books of the Bible are not compiled chronologically and sometimes events are recorded in more than one book.
00:04:10
Speaker
So it can be a little confusing when you're reading as to what happened when and as to whether this has ah already been written about and you're reading it again or if this is happening again because sometimes as we know also ah people have the same name.
00:04:25
Speaker
So it can be confusing about who you're reading about and when. And it doesn't do us much good to read the Bible if we don't understand it So this event is meant to cover the entire Bible in just one year without repeating any of the stories and is giving it to us in a very easy to understand storybook form.
00:04:47
Speaker
And as if you've been with us for a while, then you can testify to the fact that this is not just for kids.
Narratives of Kings and Prophets
00:04:53
Speaker
This is a great version of the Bible that is very easy to understand and every single day we will have daily application as to how today's reading can be used in your life.
00:05:05
Speaker
So if you know of somebody who would be interested in following along with us, share this event with them. Talk about it. Let them know. The goal is to spread the word about reading God's word.
00:05:17
Speaker
It's not simply to gain attention for the event itself. I don't care about this for me. My goal is to help you have more faith in our God and to learn to obey him more so that you can deepen your relationship with him.
00:05:32
Speaker
And we do that by first reading His Word. And I want us to understand it. So we will see how God has daily application in every single story that we read every single day. And I love that.
00:05:47
Speaker
That is one of the things that really made me passionate that God put on my heart of why I wanted to do this event.
00:05:56
Speaker
So here we go. Our first ah section is entitled Making a Deal. Now King Basha of Israel started fights with Judah.
00:06:07
Speaker
He began building a fort at Ramah. Then people couldn't go in or out of Judah. There was some silver and gold left in the worship house, and there was some left in the palace.
00:06:19
Speaker
So King Isah gave it to some leaders, and they took it to the king of another land. It was the land of Aram. Let's make a deal, they told the king of Aram.
00:06:32
Speaker
We're giving you this silver and gold. Forget your deal with Basha in Israel. Then he will stop fighting us. So the king of Aram made a deal with King Isa of Judah and then the army of Aram went to fight Israel.
00:06:48
Speaker
They took many of the towns in Israel. King Basha heard about it and he stopped building the fort at Ramah. He and his army left. Then King Isau told everyone to take Ramah apart.
00:07:03
Speaker
And they took away the stones and they took away the wood. And they used them to build walls around two other towns.
00:07:12
Speaker
Now a prophet came to King Isau in Judah and the prophet's name was Hanani. He said, you did not trust God. Instead, you trusted the king of Aram.
00:07:26
Speaker
Remember the army from Cush? It was a big, strong army, but you trusted God and God helped you win. God looks around the earth, said Hanani.
00:07:41
Speaker
He looks for people who love him with their whole heart and he makes them strong. You were not wise to make a deal with Aram and so now Judah will have to fight.
00:07:54
Speaker
King Isaw got angry at Hanani, and he was so angry he put Hanani into jail.
00:08:01
Speaker
Sometime later, King Isaw got sick. He got a sickness in his feet, and it was very bad. But he didn't ask God to help him. He only asked the doctors.
00:08:14
Speaker
So King Isaw died.
00:08:18
Speaker
The people put Isau's body in a grave in Jerusalem and they made a big fire to show how great he was. Isau's son Jehoshaphat became the next king of Judah.
00:08:31
Speaker
Now he was a good king. He did what was right. He made forts and sent army men to the forts. And God was with King Jehoshaphat.
00:08:42
Speaker
King Jehoshaphat tried to do what God wanted. So God let him control the land. Many people brought him gifts and he became very rich.
00:08:53
Speaker
People talked about how great he was. King Jehoshaphat followed God's ways. He got rid of places for worshiping idols. He sent men to teach in different towns.
00:09:08
Speaker
They took God's book of the law with them. And all the other lands around were afraid of God. So they didn't fight with Judah. And even Israel didn't fight with Judah. Some nations brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, and some brought him silver, some brought him goats and rams.
00:09:26
Speaker
So Jehoshaphat grew more and more powerful. He had a big army too.
00:09:34
Speaker
Our next section is entitled, Trouble in Israel.
00:09:39
Speaker
Now the prophet Hanani had a son named Yehu. He was a prophet too. And God sent Jehu to King Basha in Israel. Jehu told King Basha what God said.
00:09:53
Speaker
I made you leader of my people, but you sinned just like Jeroboam. Jeroboam, you made my people in Israel sin.
00:10:04
Speaker
You made me angry, so I am going to get rid of you and your family. They will be like Jeroboam's family. Dogs will eat the ones who die in the city.
00:10:17
Speaker
Birds will eat the ones who die in the country.
00:10:21
Speaker
And sometime later, King Basha died. And his son Elah became the next king of Israel. There was a leader in Israel named Zimri, and he was in charge of half of the chariots.
00:10:34
Speaker
Zimri made plans to kill Elah. One day, King Elah was at his house, and he was getting drunk. Zimri came into the house and killed King Elah.
00:10:46
Speaker
Then Zimri became the king of Israel. Right away, King Zimri killed all of Basha's family. And that made Jehu's words come true. Basha's family died just like Jeroboam's family.
00:11:01
Speaker
And that's because they had sinned. They had made idols to worship. They had led the people of Israel to sin.
00:11:12
Speaker
Now Israel's army was in its camp and they heard that Zimri had killed King Elah. So they said Omri would be the next king. Now Omri was the leader of the army and they marched to the town where Zimri was and they began fighting against it.
00:11:28
Speaker
Zimri saw that Omri's army had taken over the city. So Zimri went into the palace, he set it on fire and he died in the fire.
00:11:40
Speaker
And it all happened because he had sinned. He had done what was wrong. Then the people of Israel made two groups. One group wanted Tibni to be king and the other group wanted Omri to be king.
00:11:56
Speaker
Omri's group was stronger, so Omri became the king of Israel. King Omri bought a hill and he built a city on the hill.
00:12:07
Speaker
He named the city Samaria. But King Omri was ah bad king. He sinned more than anybody before him.
00:12:20
Speaker
Doing wrong didn't matter to him. King Omri had a son named Ahab. And Ahab married a woman named Jezebel. She was the daughter of the king of another land.
00:12:34
Speaker
And when Omri died, Ahab became the king. And nobody before was quite as bad as Ahab. He did even more terrible, sinful things.
00:12:44
Speaker
And his wife Jezebel got him to sin even more.
00:12:50
Speaker
King Ahab worshiped idols. He began to worship the fake god called Baal. He built a worship house for Baal. He set up an altar for Baal.
00:13:02
Speaker
He did many things that made God angry. He did more bad things than any king before him.
00:13:12
Speaker
during this time, a man built the city of Jericho back up. And this happened when Ahab was king. Long ago, God had talked to Joshua about Jericho.
00:13:24
Speaker
God had told him what would happen to anyone who built Jericho again. It happened just as God had said. The man's oldest son died when he started building it.
00:13:36
Speaker
And then his youngest
Reflections on Trusting God Over Worldly Matters
00:13:37
Speaker
son died when he put the gates in. And that is exactly what God had said would happen.
00:13:45
Speaker
And that's the end of our reading today.
00:13:50
Speaker
Wow. These nations are having difficulties. Very much. lot of difficulties. They are just sinning and sinning and sinning. And it all started when the kingdom was torn apart because Solomon had failed to continue to worship God with his whole heart.
00:14:14
Speaker
And he said that the kingdom would now be split into two kingdoms because he had allowed his wives, his many, many wives to lead him astray.
00:14:25
Speaker
And he had allowed and built other places of worship.
00:14:30
Speaker
This all started because of Solomon, when the kingdom was torn into two.
00:14:38
Speaker
When we sin, we can lead others to sin down the way, and we won't know it. We have to be careful of what we do because people will continue to follow along in the sins that we commit they will follow along in the good that we do.
00:14:56
Speaker
So that's part of our daily application is to look how far sin traveled because of one man allowing things to happen in the country. If Solomon had not sinned, God would not have torn the country into two then.
00:15:11
Speaker
We don't know what would have happened otherwise down the road, but it would not have happened from Solomon. And now there are two nations that are not going to be united again for a very long time.
00:15:23
Speaker
And every time we hear about one of these kings of Israel, they are sending more and more and more and more and more than the last one. Each one is worse than the last one.
00:15:36
Speaker
Now in Judah, we had King Isau, and we saw yesterday that he trusted in God. And God told him that when you trust in me, I will be with you.
00:15:47
Speaker
And when you do not trust in me, I will leave you. You would think that that would be enough to keep him faithful with God. But he didn't. He created other places to worship and he didn't, or rather he create he did not trust God when he was concerned about Israel building the fort at Ramah so that people couldn't go in or out of Judah.
00:16:15
Speaker
So he was now putting his faith in his own self in a deal that he made with Aram.
00:16:23
Speaker
This is our big application. How many times do we look at our own lives and think that we need to take steps in order to protect ourselves instead of trusting in God?
00:16:35
Speaker
When we deliberately put our trust in God and ask Him to be our shield, ask Him to be our protector, and trust in Him, He has told us over and over that He is faithful and He will be with us.
00:16:49
Speaker
When we seek Him, we will find Him. And as long as we are with Him, He will be with us. And God is so faithful to come back to us each and every time we step away and then come back again.
00:17:03
Speaker
But let's try to make those times of stepping away less and not at all, if possible. We need to always trust in God to take care of us and not to put our trust in our own understandings, but in all ways, lean on Him.
00:17:19
Speaker
And so God sent a prophet, Hanani, to King Isa. And ah King Isa didn't like the message that he sent. And then he put Hanani into jail. That was a very bad thing.
00:17:34
Speaker
they had nothing but trouble after that. There are opportunities in our lives where we may be putting our trust into our workplaces, like our management,
00:17:48
Speaker
and to to be in charge of our well-being. When we look to other people for our well-being, I'll give you an example. So ah recently, have been more faithful to take the Sabbath off because it is commanded and I had not been ah doing that.
00:18:09
Speaker
I've been working both Saturdays and a lot of Sundays ah because it gives me something that allows me to have priority scheduling of my and my work time.
00:18:20
Speaker
So I would get to schedule my own work and ah that gives me control over my life. and And plus I was working on the Sabbath to do it.
00:18:31
Speaker
So I was doing two things wrong, according to what we've been reading lately, right? God said to keep keep the Sabbath holy and remember it. So, ah and my husband really ended up enjoying the time that I took off because he's off Saturdays and Sundays. He works a traditional Monday through Friday job.
00:18:50
Speaker
And so when I started doing that, amazing things started happening. When I decided to take the Sabbath off, um In the last two weeks, my husband has attended service with me and he doesn't normally do that.
00:19:04
Speaker
He didn't attend the in the service itself, but he went to church with me and he waited for me to be done. And then he participated in the event afterwards, which was the the the community eating and the the ah the fellowship afterwards.
00:19:19
Speaker
And he's never done that in all of our 23 years together. He's never wanted to join me even just for that, to wait for me, to spend time with me. But it was of his own decision to do so.
00:19:31
Speaker
And so I'm already seeing blessings from that. So now I've reached the point where I've rolled off of my ah special status, which gives me scheduling priorities.
00:19:45
Speaker
And now I'm not able to schedule my calendar two weeks in advance. And so that what that does is that ah that causes me to rely upon God ah for my schedule, like manna, on a daily basis.
00:19:58
Speaker
And one of the things that encouraged me about that is that during the time when my husband was changing positions within his company, He was off work for several weeks. We didn't know how long it was going to take for his transition to happen from one position to another.
00:20:15
Speaker
And they just didn't have work for him at that time. ah they they they took i mean They took him off of his one position and said, okay, wait for the other one to start. But in the meantime, he just didn't have any work.
00:20:28
Speaker
And so I was like, well, that's interesting. how are we going to pay the bills if he doesn't work? Well, God provided for that. And when I saw God's provision for that, like manna, every day, ah most of the time jobs would come.
00:20:45
Speaker
They would call him and they would send him text messages. There were times when they called him during the day and said, can you get to this position as soon as possible? And if you do, we'll pay you for the whole day, even though you're not there for the whole day.
00:20:59
Speaker
So he did it. And I saw this provision like daily manna from God. And so what that did is that increased my faith in relying upon God in in our life rather than relying on a company or the schedule.
00:21:14
Speaker
Because when I talk to other people who also work for that company, who don't know my husband, ah They did not have that experience. But God has routinely shown us and said in the Bible that he has a distinction between his people and those who are not his people.
00:21:33
Speaker
And so his provision is for people who look to him. and And that was exactly what we did was we put that trust in him, at least I did, ah because he is not a believer, but I am.
00:21:47
Speaker
And God provided for our family on a daily basis. And my husband both had days where he had he was off, so he had extra time to to rest and to be away from a job.
00:21:59
Speaker
But it wasn't sacrificial where it caused a problem financially. And so seeing that how how well God provided for us when when every day was in his hands ah gave me the encouragement to know that I could trust in God with my own schedule.
00:22:17
Speaker
And so that is what I am doing. And ah so for instance, today i only have a half of a day and I was a little bothered by that at first, but there are things that he gives me to do otherwise that are important.
00:22:32
Speaker
And I love that. So he just has other work and and he's giving me rest. And so my shepherd is leading me to green pastures to rest because quite frankly, I've been absolutely exhausted lately.
00:22:46
Speaker
i come home and I'm just exhausted and i I was struggling to get up in the morning and I just felt like I couldn't get enough sleep. I needed rest and my body was sore from the physical activity at work.
00:22:59
Speaker
And he's giving me this rest where I needed it. And I love that. So um that was that's my example, not to brag about me, but to show God's faithfulness.
00:23:14
Speaker
that I had the opportunity. So here's where I'm getting to also ah relying upon God. So in the past, when I did not have a schedule, I would ah ask one of the managers and say, hey, do you need extra help? And then I would come in if they ah what if they felt that they could add me to the schedule.
00:23:36
Speaker
But that's still I felt that that was still taking the the situation into my own hands. and saying, well, God, you didn't provide for me a job this morning, so it's my responsibility. I need to go out and be more proactive and get work for myself this morning because you didn't give it to me last night.
00:23:54
Speaker
And so I am trusting in God that if he has me off work, it's for my benefit because God works good into everything. Remember, even if something looks bad, God is working good into it.
00:24:07
Speaker
And so I am trusting him in that. And I am not putting my trust in the managers to potentially adjust my schedule to give me hours that I wouldn't otherwise have. Instead, I'm giving it completely to God.
00:24:20
Speaker
And so that is the situation where King Isau put his trust into his deal with the King of Aram. And so I see that connection, that similarity there.
00:24:32
Speaker
In the same way, um there was a woman, um, at the congregation who is frustrated because she has a well and she also has a water meter on the land and she's never used the water meter but the water company charges a monthly service fee to have the water meter on the property.
00:24:56
Speaker
Now the water meter existed prior to her owning the land. So, and it turns out that according to the contract is that when you purchase to put it in, it's around $30,000 to put one of these water meters in.
00:25:10
Speaker
Even if you never use the water that comes out of it, they charge you a monthly service fee. And that's because that $30,000 pays for the installation. It is not giving you ownership rights to the meter.
00:25:22
Speaker
you are paying for their meter to be on your property. And so she's very frustrated because she doesn't want to pay the monthly service fee, but neither does she want them to remove the meter. And so it is my position that that's like a like a tie.
00:25:40
Speaker
It's like a security blanket. And I'm advising her to ah to have that security, that that umbilical cord cut to cut that because that's like a render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's give to Caesar what is Caesar's if it's their meter then you got to pay them for the usage or for their meter being on your property and if you don't ever and you've never used water from them in 30 years that you've owned that property then let them take the meter out because has God not been faithful to provide all of your water needs for free with the well that you have
00:26:19
Speaker
then why keep it? Allow them to remove their meter so that you don't have to pay them. But it's a security blanket, isn't it? That she wants to keep the meter and and not get rid of it because it costs a lot of money to put one back in.
00:26:37
Speaker
So that's putting your faith that you, what what if you need it? What if something happens and you need it? Okay, okay. So you're paying for that insurance. You either have to say, okay, I'm going to pay for the insurance and I'm okay with that. I choose to pay for the insurance rather than saying, i have to do this.
00:26:54
Speaker
Or you make the decision to say, i put my faith and trust in God to provide for my needs. And it's okay if I let them take it out. So I'm using these as an example, not as a way to put somebody down, but to show that these are the types of situations that occur in our daily lives that show us the times that we need to be aware that you may have something in your life where you can look at and say, oh, I've been putting my faith in this instead of giving this up and saying, I'm going to put my faith in God to take care of it.
00:27:28
Speaker
And that's what God wants. he he wants us to trust in him. He doesn't want us to put our trust in the king of Aram, making a deal. He doesn't want us to have to make a deal with the water company.
00:27:41
Speaker
He doesn't want us to make a deal with our management at work so that they can help us to be provided for. He wants us to make a deal with him. I put my trust in you, and I know that no matter what happens, you will work good into it.
00:27:57
Speaker
And that's our daily application today. So I hope that you have found today thought provoking and ah that God has lit your light today. And if you have, then when you're finished listening or watching, I would ask that you ah follow or subscribe to the channel if you have not done so already, and that you click that light button that we know looks like a heart or a thumbs up.
00:28:22
Speaker
It's really a light. And it's showing the world that we are following God and reading his word because it's only through reading his word that we can learn more about him and the purpose and the will that he has for our lives.
00:28:37
Speaker
So thank you for following along with me. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day and I will be here for everyone again tomorrow.