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Bible Reading Plan
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Going deeper...to go further

The more rooted we are in God and in His Word, the more fruitful we become in His purposes

Throughout this year we’re encouraging everyone at Kingdom Faith Church to get a Bible, a journal and a pen and to S.O.A.P. your way through the scriptures. Below you’ll see what we’re reading today.

What is S.O.A.P.?

In order to go further in the mission God has given us, He said we need to go deeper in our relationship with Him. As with any tree or plant, the fruit is determined by the health and depth of the root. One way we have been going deeper is by reading and journaling through the Word every day. We’ve called it S.O.A.P.

[S]cripture - Read the Word
[O]bservation - Write down what God is saying/showing you
[A]pplication - How do we apply this in our lives?
[P]rayer - Pray through and over your life

As we read the Word (Scripture), listen to the Holy Spirit (Observation), discover how to apply that to our lives (Application) and pray these things over our lives and those in the Church (Prayer) we’re going deeper in our relationship with God so that we can go further in the mission He’s given us.

Throughout the rest of the year we’ll be continuing our Bible Reading Plan to press deeper into God so that we can go further in His purposes. Get yourself a Bible, a journal and a pen and SOAP your way through the scriptures!

Today we are reading: Joshua 23

1After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, 2summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. 3You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. 4Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you. 6“Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now. 9“The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11So be very careful to love the Lord your God. 12“But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you. 14“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

Scripture quoted by permission. The passage above is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online)


Today we are reading: Hebrews 7

A Priest in the order of Melchizedek1-2So who was this Melchizedek? He was both king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham after he had defeated the kings and blessed him: in response Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.The name Melchizedek means first of all, 'King of Righteousness.' His title, 'King of Salem' means he is 'King of Peace.'3He had no parents, no forbears; there was no point at which he began life, or a moment in time when his life ended. In other words, like God's Son, he remains an eternal priest.4Abraham recognised his greatness by giving him a tenth of all the plunder he had taken.5Under the law that was given later, Levi's descendants, the priestly tribe, were to collect a tenth from the people, their brethren from the other tribes, all of whom were descendants of Abraham.6However, Melchizedek predated the tribe of Levi; he was not of natural priestly descent. And yet he was given a tenth by Abraham and then blessed Abraham as the one who had received God's promises.7It is obvious the lesser person is blessed by the one who is greater.8The descendants of Levi are men who will die, yet they receive the tenth allotted to them. Melchizedek is declared to be eternal and was the first to be given the tenth.9-10You could even say that when Melchi­zedek met Abraham, Levi was still in his loins; and so in a sense even Levi honoured Melchizedek through Abraham, by giving him the tenth.What do we learn from this? That the priesthood of Melchizedek was far superior to that of Levi.11If it was possible for the levitical priesthood to be perfect (and remember that the law given to the people recognised this priesthood had descended from Aaron), why was it necessary for another Priest to come, One not like Aaron, but in the lineage of Melchizedek?12A change of priesthood implies there is to be a change of law.13Melchizedek is of an altogether different priestly tribe from which no-one has ever served at the altar of the temple, as the Levites do.14Jesus Christ, our Lord, was descended from the tribe of Judah, and Moses makes no mention of there being any priests from that tribe.15-16It is clear, then, that if another priest appears, One that is like Melchizedek, His Priesthood is not based on the regulations of the law, but on the fact that He ministers in the power of an eternal, indestructible life!17This is why it is said: "You are an eternal Priest in the lineage of Melchizedek."The new and better way18So the previous regulations of the law are put to one side because, by comparison, they are weak and useless.19It is certain that nothing was ever made perfect by the law! Now something far better has replaced it, by which we have a much better hope for the future, and by which it has now been made possible for us to draw really close to God Himself.20And this new and better way was established by the promises He gave under solemn oath. No oath was sworn by God in establish­ing the levitical priesthood under the law.21When God swears a promise on His own honour, His Word cannot be changed, and God said of His Son: "The Lord has taken an oath and will never change His mind; 'You are an eternal Priest!'"22He refers, of course, to the Priesthood of Jesus, who guarantees that we are part of a better covenant. We are able to enjoy a closer relationship with God than was possible under the law, the old covenant with its former human priesthood.23Over the centuries there were numerous priests because, of course, they had a natural life-span and could not continue to officiate once they had died!24-25By contrast, because Jesus lives eternally, He has a permanent Priesthood by which He is able to save completely all those who come to God through faith in Him. He lives continually to intercede on their behalf through His blood shed for them.26Such a wonderful and eternal High Priest is able, therefore, to meet every need we could ever have. For He is holy, blameless, pure, totally different in nature from sinners, and is now exalted and reigning in heaven.27He does not have to keep offering sacrifices day after day for His own sins and those of the people, like those other priests. He was without sin and offered the one perfect sacrifice of Himself for the sins of all mankind; a sacrifice that needs never to be repeated.28The law could only appoint weak men as high priests; but by His solemn promise God appointed His own Son as High Priest, and He is eternally perfect. So the weakness of the law is now superseded by the perfection of Christ!

Scripture quoted by permission. The passage above is taken from THE TRUTH VERSION. Copyright © 2009 by Colin Urquhart. All rights reserved worldwide. (The Truth New Testament)