20-20 Blog

Scripture Focus:

Proverbs 10:22 God’s blessing makes life rich;
nothing we do can improve on God.

Proverbs 11: 28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

Proverbs 12:2 A good person basks in the delight of God

Observation:

There were so many good Proverbs that it was hard to pick one! I love the emphasis on focusing on God rather than things.

Application:

Life is short. Eternity is long. Does it make sense to focus so hard on the things of this world that are temporary and give God the leftovers of my life?

Prayer:

Father God, I want my life to be a tree of life, not a stump. Only you are the source of a flourishing life.

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Scripture Focus:

Romans 3:25–26; 27–28 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.

What we’ve learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.

Observation:

Jesus’ sacrifice—his death on the cross—clears us of blame before God. That’s good news! But it doesn’t stop there. “He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.” We do this by letting God lead us rather than deciding ourselves what God would like. When we follow God’s leading, we’ll be in harmony with God AND with other people.

Application:

This sounds like a Utopian world! A place where I am totally in step with God and with others, in harmonious communion with God and others. That is a place I long to be. Jesus makes that possible, but how do I walk in that every day?

Perhaps I should start by thanking God first thing in the morning for letting me into his inner circle, his family, his community. Then I could acknowledge God’s leadership and ask him what he’s up to today and how I can become a part of his great work for this very day!

Prayer:

Father God, I’m listening to your Spirit, wanting to follow your leading at any given moment, whether in small or great things.

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Scripture Focus:

Psalm 139:15–16
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

Observation:

These words that tell about God’s intimate knowledge of me can be either comforting or terrifying. Perhaps a bit of both! God knows all the good, the bad, and the ugly about me. There’s nothing hidden from his sight.

But mostly these words are comforting. God cares about me enough to pay attention to me, to be interested in me, to lay out my life before me—prepare every day from the moment of conception, maybe even before.

Application:

I don’t have to fear the future. It’s been planned by God. He already knows what’s going to happen, so nothing is a surprise to him. And I can rest in the knowledge that my days are in God’s hands.

Prayer:

Thank you, beloved Father, for your tender loving care for me. I’m so touched by your love today!

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Scripture Focus:

Ezekiel 16:8 “When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD.

Observation:

I love how God uses the picture of marriage to show his love for his people and how we should love him back. In this case, it’s an unequal marriage. We come to naked and needy, and he covers our nakedness and enters into a covenant with us.

The verses that follow tell how God lavished his favor and riches on his beloved, but she trusted in her own beauty and played the harlot.

Application:

God has done so much for me! May I be like a good and faithful wife to him, all the days of my life. I believe God wants intimacy with each of his children, for he is our husband.

Prayer:

Father God, thank you for loving me when I was poor and needy. Thank you for lavishing your goodness upon me.

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Scripture Focus:

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Observation:

God wants us to have fellowship (relationship) with him, and Christians are to have fellowship with one another. When you’re in fellowship, you’re an insider, a member of the club, accepted. You spend time with your “group.” You get to know them. You enjoy the same things.

Application:

If God made me to be in relationship with him and with my fellow believers, then I must take the time to be involved. A club member who never attends isn’t in fellowship.

I feel like I’m the absent club member when it comes to relationships with fellow believers. I meet daily with God in the Word, but there is still room for improvement there, too.

How I manage my time seems to be a recurring theme with me.

Prayer:

Father God, help me to make the right decisions about how I spend my time—in fellowship, or on the fringes?

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