Jesus said “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;” (John 8:31). He also said several times to abide (which means to linger and remain) in Him and His word in John chapters 14-16. What does it mean to abide in the Word of God? It means that Jesus' words come in and take root in us -- they find a home in us -- and bear the fruit of faith and holiness in our life.

At the beginning of 2009, I encourage you to abide in the Word of God! Do you have a regular practice of reading the Word, memorizing the Word -- abiding in the Word? If not I would like to suggest a daily reading plan to help you begin to abide in the life giving Word of God. Purpose to read through the Word of God in 2009.

But before I go on, let me defuse any source of guilt. All too often I hear of someone who purposed to read through the Bible and gave up because they missed too many days and were burdened with guilt. This is a tactic of the enemy to keep you from the Word of God. This is not meant to be a legalistic means of gaining God's approval! Remember, you already have God's approval because of the work of Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection!!

There are several plans that you can follow to help guide you in your quest to abide in the Word. The plan that I am following this year is to read through the Bible chronologically. This places all the events of biblical history and the Psalms and the prophets in chronological order. I am looking forward this year to tying all the events together throughout Scripture!

You can look at and print several different reading plans by visiting this website. Click here to view the reading plans. I would encourage you to pick a plan, print the one of your choice (click print on the right side of the web site), place the reading plan in your bible and begin to check off the days your have read. If you miss a day or two or a week, either pick up were you left off or just start again on the new date

Rather then burden yourself with a guilt laden task, let yourself become immersed in the life giving Word of God and let it bear the fruit of faith and holiness in your life as you abide in His Word

~Pastor Nathan