Twenty-One

Welcome

Twenty-one is a reading plan we created with the hope that it will help you connect with God and prepare your heart for Easter. We’re glad you’ve opted to join us on this journey and look forward to celebrating Easter with you!

Text BEACHSIDE21 to 97000 to receive these readings straight to your mobile device every morning.

Day 14

As a follower of Jesus in the 21st century, I love it when I read about the disciples messing things up. It makes me feel so much better. There they were, face to face with Jesus, and they still didn’t get it. 

You may be familiar with the story of Jesus feeding 4,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He actually did this twice, once with 4,000 and another time with 5,000. 

One occasion is recorded in Mark 8 . . . 

Can you imagine having been one of the disciples passing out the baskets that just kept filling up? I like to picture their shock and surprise as this miracle unfolded. Maybe Matthew yelled over to Bartholomew, “Yo, Bart! My basket is blowing up over here! It’s just like . . . renewing itself! It’s not running out—at all. Like ever! This is so sick!” 

I think if I saw that happen and Jesus was my good friend, I would never worry again. If he can make food just multiply out of nowhere, then surely he has whatever we need, right? 

But then just a few hours later, we find the disciples in a boat headed somewhere together worried about dinner. Check this out: 

“The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. ‘Be careful,’ Jesus warned them. ‘Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.’ They discussed this with one another and said, ‘It is because we have no bread.’

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?’

’Twelve,’ they replied.’And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?’ They answered, ‘Seven.’ He said to them, ‘Do you still not understand?’”

— MARK 8:14–21

Isn’t it crazy that they still didn’t understand?

Somehow, even in his presence, having watched the miracles over and over again, they still didn’t get it. His closest followers didn’t get it.

We often don’t get it.

The point?
If you have a hard time understanding, you are in good company. It’s not uncommon. 

He chose those guys in the boat.
He knew they would struggle to understand.
He was patient with them and he used them in mighty ways.
He will be patient with you. 

Do you still not understand? 

Hang in there. Keep listening. Stay close to him.
The disciples eventually got it. You will too. 

Welcome

Twenty-one is a reading plan we created with the hope that it will help you connect with God and prepare your heart for Easter. We’re glad you’ve opted to join us on this journey and look forward to celebrating Easter with you!

Text BEACHSIDE21 to 97000 to receive these readings straight to your mobile device every morning.

Day 13

You know the golden rule, don’t you?
“Do unto others what they deserve because of the way they acted the other day.”
Is that right?
Or is it, “Do unto others what they did to me?”
No, that’s not it, but that does sound familiar . . . or feel familiar.

I wonder what rule that is?

Is that the platinum rule? Or the silver rule? Or the angry red rule?
It must be some kind of rule, because as a rule, it’s how we respond much of the time. 

I know the golden rule. You know it. You didn’t have trouble completing the statement, “Do unto others ‘what you would have them do to you.’” 

It’s a simple ethic. It makes sense because we all know how we would like to be treated. When we mess up, we want patience and forgiveness. When we make a wrong turn, we want people to understand that we’re only human. When we say the wrong thing or lose our cool, we hope people will recognize that everybody has a bad moment once in a while. And since we know how WE want to be treated, it makes sense that if we just applied that to OTHERS, we would treat one another appropriately.  

Jesus actually spoke about this following his teaching on prayer. He said that if a child asked a parent for bread, the parent wouldn’t give him a stone. And if the child asked for a fish, his dad wouldn’t give him a snake.

His point was that if parents know what their children need and would easily provide it, it follows that God knows and can provide even more. God knows what we need and he will do it. And if he acts that way, then we can follow his lead. 

Whatever we know other people need, we can provide. In fact, it’s what the whole law that God had given was about. Just treat people the way you want to be treated and you will be following everything he asks. This is the whole verse found in Matthew:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ”

— MATTHEW 7:12

The golden rule is just a summary of everything God wants and what he wants is written on our hearts.

We want to be loved. So love.
We want to be forgiven. So forgive.
We want to be heard. So listen.
We want to be encouraged. So encourage.

It’s all right there on our hearts, in our minds.
If we just do to others what we want done to us, we will be doing ALL that God intends and we’ll be acting like God himself. 

You can change the world. And it’s simple. It’s just not easy.
Go golden-rule your world today!

Welcome

Twenty-one is a reading plan we created with the hope that it will help you connect with God and prepare your heart for Easter. We’re glad you’ve opted to join us on this journey and look forward to celebrating Easter with you!

Text BEACHSIDE21 to 97000 to receive these readings straight to your mobile device every morning.

Day 11

Foundation, foundation, foundation.
In real estate, location, location, location is what keeps a property in good standing no matter the economic climate.
In life, it’s foundation.
If you have a good foundation, you can weather any storm of life. 

Jesus said it like this:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

— MATTHEW 7:24–27

He said this as he was wrapping up a sermon about a variety of important topics. He finished by reminding his listeners that a foundation would be built through the wisdom of acting on what he had shared. Anybody can hear. Wise people will act on the truths they hear.

His listeners all knew that sand was not a sturdy choice for building, because it wouldn’t hold when a little wind and rain showed up. Rock was a much better choice. This was not a hard concept. Nobody was blown away by the building lesson in the illustration. Nobody argued that rock was not as good as sand. That was obvious. And yet, to save time, maybe to save money, maybe for the desired views, people still chose not to build on the rock. Just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s what we’ll do. 

We are the same way, right? We have likely all heard that _____________________ won’t make us happy. Fill that in: money, success, accomplishments, dating, sex, cars, houses, notoriety, fame, winning, proving ourselves, etc. 

And yet we kind of think they might, right?

We know not to stake our joy, our happiness, or our lives on things that can be taken away. Still, we have all thought that we would finally be at peace when our bank accounts got to a certain number.

We have all imagined that as soon as we meet our Mr. or Mrs. Right, we will finally be content. We allow our happiness, our contentment, our joy to be tied to something that has no foundational staying power. We rely on things that won’t last to give us lasting joy.

The winds are coming. The rain is going to fall. Don’t let your life fall with it. Choose today to discover the words and wisdom of Jesus and to put them into practice. Doing so will develop the foundation you need to face the inevitable storms that will beat against your life.

Welcome

Twenty-one is a reading plan we created with the hope that it will help you connect with God and prepare your heart for Easter. We’re glad you’ve opted to join us on this journey and look forward to celebrating Easter with you!

Text BEACHSIDE21 to 97000 to receive these readings straight to your mobile device every morning.

Day 9

Here is a word from Matthew, a follower of Jesus, who claimed that Jesus said this: 

“Love your enemies. And pray for those who persecute you”

— Matthew 5:44

That might be the worst verse in the entire Bible, other than the ones that say to do things without complaining. Those stink too. 

But love my enemies?
No way! How can that be the thing to do?

Here is the secret . . .
Hatred always hurts you.
You can point the weapon of hatred at the target of your enemies, but it always misses the mark.
It never takes them out.
Hatred takes out the hater, not the hated.  

Hatred is a terrible weapon.
Love is a much better weapon.
You’ve heard, “Kill ‘em with kindness.”
There is a reason for this. 

When we follow Christ, we do what he did. Following him is just watching his every move and trusting him enough to copy his moves with our lives. And what did he do? He loved his enemies. Who were his enemies? Well . . . all of us. We all choose to disobey and rebel and do what opposes God’s perfection. 

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

 You know that verse. We know what is right and we do the opposite anyway. That makes us enemies of God . . . enemies of Jesus. So what did Jesus do to his enemies? Hate them? Nope. Instead of hating his enemies, he loved them. He died for us and prayed for us. As he was being mocked by men while hanging on the cross, he even prayed a prayer. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” 

Your enemies probably don’t know what they are doing either. But you do. You know that hating them will only hurt you. And why would you let them hurt you as your enemy and then turn around and hurt yourself too? That’s double hurt. Hating our enemies doubles the hurt to us. So don’t do that. Do the unexpected. Love them. 

In so doing, you will tell bitterness and hatred that it has no place in your life. It does not get to grow in you.  

I’m sure you’re right.
I’m sure your haters are wrong.
I’m sure you have every reason to hate that person.
They hurt you.
They were wrong.
They were evil.
They deserve the worst.
But you don’t. You deserve the best. 
So love your enemies to keep hatred from bouncing back in your direction. 

So do it. We dare you. Pray for someone today who feels like an enemy. See what happens in you.

Whether you believe in God or not, whether you find the story of Jesus to be authentic or bogus, you have probably tossed up some prayers. If you grew up in church, you may have been taught TO pray and HOW TO pray and been told that you SHOULD pray. But here you are . . . an adult, a busy adult, a competent adult, and prayer may have slipped off your radar. It didn’t work the way you hoped. It was the first thing to go when the kids came along. It was never a regular part of your life. You wonder if it makes a difference. You struggle with prayer. And yet . . . 

You miss it.
You wonder about it.
You feel a desire to be better at it.
You are new to faith in Jesus and you want to connect with him.
You suspect prayer belongs somewhere in your schedule.

So let’s do it. Don’t wait. Lean into those suspicions. 
Here are three simple but important ways to get better at praying.

Pick a spot.
Make it your spot for talking with God. Jesus made a habit of this.  

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

— Luke 5:16

So go get lonely with God in your spot. Withdraw from distractions. Start with a few minutes. Let five become eight.  Let eight become ten. Let ten become twelve, and so on. Find your spot. Withdraw from everything else.

Start your prayer time by reading a Psalm. 
A preacher once said, “The Psalms are in the middle of the Bible because they are the heartbeat of God.” That’s probably a man-made sentiment, but the Psalms seem to describe the heart of God so well. They are raw and honest writings about who God is and our heart’s longing to know him. By spending some time reading a Psalm or two, you can prepare your heart for time with him.

Get really good at short prayers.
Greg Stier, the founder of Dare 2 Share, a ministry that encourages teenagers to share their faith in Jesus, points out the prayer of Elijah on Mt. Carmel as he seeks to demonstrate to the people that the God of Israel is the real deal. This is his prayer: 

“Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

— 1 Kings 18:36–37

This prayer of just 60 words followed hours and hours of prayer by the prophets of Baal. For over six hours, 450 of them had each prayed—2,700 hours of prayer—to no avail. But just one short prayer, an honest cry from a faithful heart, brought down consuming fire from heaven.  

Greg’s point? The volume, intensity, and length of our prayers are nothing compared to the focus, authenticity, and depth of our faith. Pray short or pray long, but pray with belief that God cares, hears, and listens to your voice.

Take a minute or two, find a great spot, pick up a Psalm, and talk to God about what’s on your heart right now. 

Welcome

Twenty-one is a reading plan we created with the hope that it will help you connect with God and prepare your heart for Easter. We’re glad you’ve opted to join us on this journey and look forward to celebrating Easter with you!

Text BEACHSIDE21 to 97000 to receive these readings straight to your mobile device every morning.

Day 6

We have all seen the sandwich board street preacher yelling at passersby shouting that Jesus hates our sin and that our sin is sending us all to hell unless we repent.  

I’m not sure I agree with their approach.
What about their message?
Does God hate our sin?  

Believe it or not, they are right. God does hate our sin.
He just doesn’t hate US.

Their approach gives you the feeling that our sin is making God mad and disgusted with us personally.
But the truth is, he hates our sin BECAUSE he loves us so much.
In his book The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith describes those street preachers’ message as halfway there.  

God does hate our sin, but only because it destroys the people he loves. 

This is simple to see in the story of the woman caught in adultery recorded by John in his letter to the church. 

In John 8, we enter the story as it’s unfolding. A woman is brought in front of Jesus.  She has apparently just been caught in the act of adultery. 
This is clearly sinful.
Can you recall some of your clearly sinful moments? Moments you’d like to keep hidden?
Can you imagine being caught in the act and dragged in front of a highly respected religious leader who is going to determine your fate? 

Here she is, perhaps half-dressed, fully embarrassed, and totally ashamed of having been stolen from darkness and brought into the light. 

As you may know, Jesus tells the men that they can throw rocks at her if they have never committed a sinful deed. Slowly they walk away, knowing their own histories.  

 Then Jesus gives her a message as she is about to leave. It’s short and to the point: “Go and leave your life of sin.” Why does he say that? Is it because he can only forgive this one failure? 

Is it because he will hate her if she fails again? His grace was good for one adultery, but not for another? Nope. 
That’s not it at all. 
He tells her to leave her sin because look where it led her? Her sin was crushing her! Her sin was destroying her!
And he hates that because he loves her. So he says, “Go and leave your life of sin” because it’s killing you, girl! 

Simple question: What sin do you need to leave? Not because God hates you for sinning in that way, but because it’s killing you, and he hates that.