Daily Bible Reading

Double click on the verses to read the verses online. In the new window, click on the speaker icon to listen to the verses.

Old Testament: Genesis 34:1 - 35:29

New Testament Matthew 12:46 - 13:17

Psalms/Proverbs Psalm 10:1-11

Based on NIV Seasons of Reflections

Messages referring to the Bible Reading:

LEARNING TO LEAD
THE MYSTERY OF HISTORY
The Heart Is the Matter
The mixed reaction to the King’s message
WHERE IS GOD?

Play Silent Night

How to Read the Bible Book by Book
Gordon D. Fee, Douglas Stuart; Price: $11.04(35% off)
Customer Review: This book provides specific guidance for reading each book of the Bible by providing an introduction and summary of each book. This title also tries to tie together the big picture and how each book fits ... [Buy from Amazon]

Adrift

In 1982 Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat when it struck something and sank. He was out of the shipping lanes and floating in a life raft, alone. His supplies were few. His chances were small. Yet when three fishermen found him seventy-six days later (the longest anyone has survived a shipwreck on a life raft alone), he was alive -- much skinnier than he was when he started, but alive.

His account of how he survived is fascinating. His ingenuity -- how he managed to catch fish, how he fixed his solar still (evaporates sea water to make fresh) -- is very interesting.

But the thing that caught my eye was how he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost, when there seemed no point in continuing the struggle, when he was suffering greatly, when his life raft was punctured and after more than a week struggling with his weak body to fix it, it was still leaking air and wearing him out to keep pumping it up. He was starved. He was desperately dehydrated. He was thoroughly exhausted. Giving up would have seemed the only sane option.

When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in or go mad. Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find the guts to carry on in spite of overwhelming odds.

"I tell myself I can handle it," wrote Callahan in his narrative. "Compared to what others have been through, I'm fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up fortitude...."

I wrote that down after I read it. It struck me as something important. And I've told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed far off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time I've said it, I have always come back to my senses.

The truth is, our circumstances are only bad compared to something better. But others have been through much worse. I've read enough history to know you and I are lucky to be where we are, when we are, no matter how bad it seems to us compared to our fantasies. It's a sane thought and worth thinking.

So here, coming to us from the extreme edge of survival, are words that can give us strength. Whatever you're going through, tell yourself you can handle it. Compared to what others have been through, you're fortunate. Tell this to yourself over and over, and it will help you get through the rough spots with a little more fortitude.

by: Adam Khan,
from Self-Help Stuff That Works, published by: "YouMe Works" 1999
ISBN-10: 0962465674
ISBN-13: 978-0962465673

Play Amazing Grace

Precious Memories
by Alan Jackson; Price: $9.76 (49% off)
Customer Review: A few decades ago nearly every country singer had at least one--often more--gospel albums in their catalog. Today, aside from gospel veteran Amy Grant, who balances the sacred and secular, and Randy Travis, that concept has long faded. For Alan Jackson, however, treating the musical past as present has been a way of life, as it is with these 15 tim... [read more]

Categories: daily-thoughts positive perspective attitude motivation

If I Knew Tomorrow, Today!

If I knew it would be the last time
that I'd see you walk out the door,
I would hug and then I'd kiss you
and call you back for more.

But surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to fix it up alright.

There'll always be another day
to say our "I love you",
And certainly, another chance
to say, "Is there something I can do?"

But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to let you know right now
I'm really glad we met.

If Tomorrow is not promised
to young or old alike,
Then Today may be the last chance
I can come to see you on my bike.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it now today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you might regret the day
that you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or kiss
and you were just too busy
to grant someone, what they wished.

So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
that you love them very much and
you'll always hold them dear.

Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"Please forgive me," "thank you," or "it's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.

Author Unknown

Play Amazing Grace

Precious Memories
by Alan Jackson; Price: $9.76 (49% off)
Customer Review: A few decades ago nearly every country singer had at least one--often more--gospel albums in their catalog. Today, aside from gospel veteran Amy Grant, who balances the sacred and secular, and Randy Travis, that concept has long faded. For Alan Jackson, however, treating the musical past as present has been a way of life, as it is with these 15 tim... [read more]