Reading New Testament and Psalms in Six Months in 2025
Here we are in 2025 and we are steadfast on abiding in Jesus this year! Here at Crossroads we are learning to abide better by engaging in His Word and letting it shape us as a community of people walking with Him. We want to embody John 15.1-9.
We are beginning by reading the New Testament during the first six months of the year. For those so inclined, there is an option to add the Psalms to your reading plan. This might sound like a big deal, but reading the New Testament in six months will only take about 8-10 minutes of your day! If you add the Psalms just double that amount.
The point isn’t really how much we read in six months, it’s more important that we are learning to ABIDE with Jesus. He in us and us in Him just as He is in the Father and Father is in Him. That is how we get to the point of hearing Him well and seeing Him around us so that we can follow his leading. We read the Bible because that is a primary way the Holy Spirit speaks to us. We learn who Jesus is. We begin to understand His ways, the ways of the Father, and learn the voice of the Holy Spirit. Without engaging in His Word, we are simply manufacturing our own ideas about what God is doing and saying. And that’s only abiding in ourselves . . . not Jesus.
I pray you are joining us this year as we learn to abide! Follow along each day. Share what’s happening! Take on the challenges that are posted and let us know how it’s going in the comments under each week’s reading plan. Text the word READ to 833-210-7705 and let me know how you are engaging or if you want to be a part of a small group or Zoom call. We want to help you connect with the Body of believers as you learn to abide.
I am confident God will bless you and our gatherings with His Presence, direction, and all manner of fruit of the Spirit in great abundance as we abide in Him.
Let’s Begin Reading!
It all begins with an idea.
The most important thing anyone can do before reading the Bible is to pray for the Holy Spirit to help you understand, listen, and act on what He is saying to you. If you are not sure how to do that, here is a simple prayer to get you started:
Lord God, Thank you for the words that I am about to read. Holy Spirit, I trust that you are indeed my teacher and my counselor, so would you teach and counsel me as I read today? My mind and heart are open to understanding and I am ready to learn to abide. I pray in the name of Jesus, amen.
I have nothing but confidence that God will answer this prayer because there is nothing more that He wants than to abide in you and you in Him! He wants to talk to someone who is listening! Get ready to hear as you begin the first day of reading.
Week Six
For the second time, we are walking the final journey with Jesus and the disciples towards Jerusalem. The disciples are amazed at Jesus’ determination to go to the very place where he is predicting his death sentence. The others who follow are not as close to Jesus and may not have been fully aware of what He had been saying, feel a sense of dread and fear (Mark 10:32). But Jesus isn’t done teaching, healing, casting out demons, rebuking the legalistic, or raising the dead! He presses on with tremendous purpose and destiny. I hope those words are in your list about what the gospels are revealing about who God is.
No, I didn’t forget that I asked you to make two lists. Did you forget? One list is characteristics of God and the other is who you are in Jesus. By now, you may find a great deal of repetition and that might have caused you to stop. Let me encourage you to take another look.
Sometime this week, create a table on a sheet of paper with a column for every letter in the alphabet. Under each letter, write words that describe God’s character that begin with that letter. For example, “A” could have the words, able, attentive, affectionate, abundant. See if you can think of one or more words for every letter in the alphabet.
THEN do another list the same way for who you are in Jesus. Have a separate column for each letter of the alphabet.
What are the similarities? What are the differences?
Consider how you could you use these lists as prayer prompts each day. One letter a day for 26 days to praise God! It could look like this: “Lord God, you are so able to help me with ________. I thank you for your affection and attention. You have been so generous and your love is so abundant in my life. Like David, my cup truly overflows with your goodness and lovingkindness.” See? It’s not very hard.
These lists are not simply academic. They are meant to help us grow in our journey with Jesus. How else might you be able to use these lists? How could the second list help you remember who you are in Jesus? Can you also pray through that list?
I love hearing from you! Write a comment below sometime this week or reach me, Melissa, directly at mrightmire@crnaz.com . Below are the readings for week 6!
February 6, 2025 Mark 13 NIV, Ps 35:14–28 NIV
February 7, 2025 Mark 14:1–42 NIV, Ps 36 NIV
February 8, 2025 Mark 14:43–15:20 NIV, Ps 37:title–12 NIV
February 9, 2025 Mark 15:21–16:20 NIV, Ps 37:13–40 NIV
February 10, 2025 Luke 1:1–38 NIV, Ps 38:title–8 NIV
February 11, 2025 Luke 1:39–80 NIV, Ps 38:9–22 NIV
February 12, 2025 Luke 2 NIV, Ps 39 NIV
Week Five
By now you have read enough of the Gospel of Mark to know the writing style is completely different than that of Matthew’s. Because much of it is written in short action packed vignette type scenes, some scholars think this gospel may have been used to act out in plays. Imagine what it would be like to watch these scenes being acted out on an ancient stage in a whole other culture and time. It might be easier to see our lives in the text if we can visualize a scene.
Another important factor about this gospel is the number of times the Greek word euthys is used, 42 to be exact — more than any other gospel or anywhere else in the New Testament. In the NIV, the word is translated as “immediately” 41 of those times. Although the first time it is used in Mark 1:3 it translated “straight.” Do you remember the verse? “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight (immediate) paths for him’.”
There is so much sense of immediacy in Mark’s gospel. As you read this week, consider that sense of urgency and ask the Holy Spirit to give you insight into what was behind that when it was written. Then ask, ‘where should I have a sense of urgency and immediacy?’. Are there things I haven’t seen that the Lord is doing RIGHT NOW? Immediately? Straight away? How can I join Him? Where am I in today’s great story of the best news ever?
You can reach me at mrightmire@crnaz.com
January 30, 2025 Mark 6 NIV, Ps 30:title–31:9 NIV
January 31, 2025 Mark 7 NIV, Ps 31:10–24 NIV
February 1, 2025 Mark 8:1–9:1 NIV, Ps 32 NIV
February 2, 2025 Mark 9:2–50 NIV, Ps 33 NIV
February 3, 2025 Mark 10 NIV, Ps 34 NIV
February 4, 2025 Mark 11 NIV, Ps 35:title–4 NIV
February 5, 2025 Mark 12 NIV, Ps 35:5–13 NIV
Week Four
How’s it going with the two lists? Have you thought about it? Last week I asked you to start two lists. The first list is what you’re learning about the character of God. The second list is about your identity in Christ. What do you learn about God and yourself through reading the Bible? Is one list easier than the other? Most of us can easily pick out character traits of God, but it is far more difficult for us to listen to what he has to say about who we are because of him.
I’m going to keep talking about these two lists because they’re so important in learning to abide in Christ. We must know who God is, but equally important is knowing who we are in him. This week I challenge you to find 15 to 20 minutes to sit with God in quiet. Take a sheet of paper or your electronic device and write out this question: “What does the Spirit of God say about me?” And then pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what he has to say about you. Maybe spend a few minutes reading the word before you pray. But be sure to stop and listen. And then write what you hear. Don’t question what your heart tells you. Don’t be afraid about what you hear. It’s only Jesus, the Spirit of the living God. He is compassionate and caring. He will never dishonor you. He will not shame you, and he will not condemn you and he is not holding anything against you. If you begin to hear things that sound like shame, guilt, or condemnation, you know that is not of God. Stop writing and rebuke those evil thoughts and center your heart on Jesus again. If you need help understanding the way Jesus will talk to you, read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Everything he says will fit into that criteria.
Let me know how this goes. I’d love to hear from you. I am praying that God will give you great revelation about who you personally are in him and it will strengthen your faith and your ability to abide. You can reach me at mrightmire@crnaz.com
January 23, 2025 Matt 26:57–27:26 NIV, Ps 23 NIV
January 24, 2025 Matt 27:27–28:20 NIV, Ps 24 NIV