finished with 90 days

 I am DONE, DONE, DONE!!! I have officially completed reading through the Bible in 90 days, actually doing it in 89 days. Granted I read the last 2 days' readings in one sitting and now it is the middle of night....I just didn't want to put it down. How can you leave off reading a book at the climax? I'll be tired tomorrow, but it was worth it. It helped to have accountability and encouragement each week. I used a 90 day Bible (it had no notes in it, just the Scriptures) and armed with a blue highlighter (no reason for the blue, it was the marker I had on hand), I highlighted any verses that resonated with me. Now when I leaf through this Bible, I can see all the things that stood out to me about God, Jesus, about how I should walk, or was something I wanted to learn more about or study more. This Bible was also in a version I don't normally read, so there were familiar verses that seemed new because it was new wording.

I have a couple books of the Bible that I now plan to drill down on and study more closely. And I plan to start reading the Chronological Bible that I purchased late 2010 and never cracked open. So I have plenty to keep me in the Word.

Genesis & Exodus-B90

In this first week of reading, I raced through all of Genesis and Exodus.  Reading through the Bible in 90 days does feel like a race, a long distance cross-country race.  You can't stop and smell the roses along the way because you have to keep the finish line (the whole Bible in 90 days) in sight.  So why read through it so quickly?  Is there any benefit?  I think there is!  Reading the Bible like a regular book helps me see God's big picture of salvation, redemption and his love.  It's like standing back and looking at a masterpiece of art and seeing the grand sweep of the artist's painting.   The closer you walk to the painting the more detail you see but you no longer are able to see the entire painting. Verse-by-verse study of the Bible is like examining the painting with my nose really close to the picture.  I see the paintbrush strokes and the individual pieces of color that make up the entire painting.  I can learn how to paint for myself by looking at the painting up closer.  Scripture study/reading is similar.  I love to camp out in a book or a chapter of Scripture, examining the detail and learning what God wants me to learn from the passage.  Combining both methods of Scripture reading (a big-picture walk-through the Bible, like the 90 day read, with my normal verse-by verse and chapter-by-chapter camping out of the Bible)  allows me to see God in the big picture of life, as well as his day-to-day love for me. 

Read through the Bible in 90 days!

I must be a glutton for punishment.  I tried reading through the Bible in 90 days beginning in January and got behind almost immediately.  What I DID read in January was amazing, exciting, and difficult.  It is a very fast pace.  So here I am again beginning another try at reading through the Bible in 90 days.  I'm a great starter but a lousy finisher.  One thing I have going for me this time around is that I have a mentor this time who can encourage me, cajole me and give me a swift kick to keep pressing on with the reading.
 
If you're interested in joining me and about 1000 other women, go to Mom's Toolbox and sign up; and then let me know.  We can encourage each other.   I like Mom's Toolbox SOAP idea for this read-through. SOAP is an acrostic that stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer. Here is how Amy at Mom's Toolbox describes it:


"S: Scripture-Write the ONE scripture that I feel God is using to speak to me in today’s reading
O: Observation-What might He be telling me with that scripture?
A: Application-How can I apply it to my life?
P: Prayer-What is my prayer to ask God in helping me to make that application?"


Here's my plan: Fortunately, I own a 90-day Bible. I have a journal that I will use to record my daily SOAP, along with a couple highlighters that I can use to highlight verses that are meaningful to me or are verses that I would like to understand better at a later date. They will be easy to find later if I highlight them as I read. Plus I will check in with my mentor group on Mom's Toolbox every Monday night.


I have a Droid Phone and also added the Bible in 90 days on my phone through YouVersion.com's Reading Plan. So, if I get behind, I can always whip out my phone and catch up with the reading...can't highlight or journal (at least I don't know how to do that on my phone), but I can keep saturating myself with the Scriptures. YAY!


Let the reading begin! And to my mentor group, I look forward to experiencing this grand adventure together as we spend time with God in His Word every day for the next 90 days!

Bible in 90 Days Week 5-Update

Well, I'm throwing in the towel on this attempt to read through the Bible in 90 days.  I just got too far behind and it was feeling stressful rather than helpful to me.  I'm not discouraged and I will try this again later in the year, hopefully with better results.

Bible in 90 days Update-Week 4

I am still running behind on my reading, but I have learned so much.  It's amazing how I can be reading in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and see parallels with what I'm reading or studying in other books of the Bible.  Even though the Bible was written over a period of 1500 years,  it is still totally relevant today.   God's love for people shines through each verse, along with his holiness and his patience with people.  The Isrealites complain and I think to myself, "How could they complain when they have seen firsthand God's deliverance of them from Egypt?   If I were there, I'm sure I wouldn't complain".  Only to realize a couple hours later, I'm complaining about something myself instead of asking God for his help.  

Bible in 90 days Update-Week3

Still forging ahead with the reading....I will post more this evening, but now I need to go to work.  Have a great day

Bible in 90 Days Update

It's day 8 of my Bible in 90 Days read-through with Mom's Toolbox.  And I'm a couple days behind, but I'm still highly motivated.  I was driving in my car today and listening to a CD, and got so excited to recognize that the words to the song (which I had heard many times in the past) came from this past week's reading.  It was a verse that I had highlighted and meditated on for that day's reading.   Here I had listened to the song numerous times, but had never really taken to heart what the words of the song were saying....that is, until this past week. 

Exodus 15:  2, 11-13
"The LORD is my strength and my song;he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you—
majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them.
In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling."

The song was "Who is Like You" on the Glory Revealed album.

The Lord is my strength & my song
He has become my salvation
He is my God and I will praise Him
I will lift Him up


Chorus: Who is like You, majestic in holiness
Awesome in glory, working wonders
Who is like You, majestic in holiness
Awesome in glory, working wonders


In Your unfailing love
You will lead the people that You redeem
And in Your strength, You will guide them
To Your holy place


Who among the gods is like You
Who among the heavens.

Who is like our God? ABSOLUTELY NO ONE and NOTHING. He is incomparable, indescribable, the Only One, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders....and He loves me with an unfailing love.  Thank you, Lord so much.

Read through the Bible in 90 Days-Day 1

I decided to join a group of women over at Mom's Toolbox who have made the commitment to read through the Bible in 90 days.  So now, I've probably have  really bitten off more than I can chew...can you read too much Bible?  I like Mom's Toolbox SOAP idea for this read-through.  SOAP is an acrostic that stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer. Here is how Amy at Mom's Toolbox describes it:

"S: Scripture-Write the ONE scripture that I feel God is using to speak to me in today’s reading
O: Observation-What might He be telling me with that scripture?
A: Application-How can I apply it to my life?
P: Prayer-What is my prayer to ask God in helping me to make that application?"

Here's my plan:  Fortunately, I own a 90-day Bible.  I have a journal that I will use to record my daily SOAP, along with a couple highlighters that I can use to highlight verses that are meaningful to me or are verses that I would like to understand better at a later date.  They will be easy to find later if I highlight them as I read.  Plus I will check in on Mom's Toolbox every Monday night.  I signed up too late to be part of an assigned accountability group, but that sure won't be deter me.

I have a Droid Phone and also added the Bible in 90 days on my phone through YouVersion.com's Reading Plan.   So, if I get behind, I can always whip out my phone and catch up with the reading...can't highlight or journal (at least I don't know how to do that on my phone), but I can keep saturating myself with the Scriptures.  YAY!

Day 1-check