May 5, 2021

Genesis 25:29-34

29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

It is possible to make any deal. If someone is desperate enough or foolish enough, you can even sell your birthright for a bowl of lentil soup. It’s worth taking a minute to think about that. Before we are too hard on Esau, what will you give up for small, perishable pleasures? 

In Jesus, we are adopted into God’s family and have the pleasure of His presence, the joy of working hard for a cause that won’t perish, and the community of His people. What does it take for you to turn your back on all that and go your own way? A little money? A little lust? A little pride? Try to find the soup you keep selling it all for and ask someone to pray with you about it.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please show me some of the places I sell you out for small pleasures. 

Daily Reading: Leviticus 27, Psalm 117, 1 Kings 13 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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May 4, 2021

John 1:4

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

In any buddy movie, if they are ever laid out at a pool or beach, inevitably one will look at the other, drop his sunglasses down his nose, and say, “This is the life.” When you go to those places, you can feel the same thing for about 45 minutes. Then you need to find a bathroom, or the sun is too hot, or the sand starts to itch, or more likely, the children need 5,000 things. 

In Jesus, we are promised both life and light. When Jesus gives life, He gives it to the full. Not just continuing existence, the bible teaches that everyone will exist forever. He wants to give you life, help you really start living, sort of like that tired phrase. He wants to show you what life really is, what you were made for. And He isn’t a guide like the hotel employee who shows you to your room then, hopefully, leaves. That life is in Him. Are you looking to Jesus and your relationship to Him to find your life?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please show me the real life that can only be found in you.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 25, Psalm 115, 1 Kings 11 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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May 3, 2021

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I can’t imagine how someone could achieve the goal of praying without ceasing. It seems like prayer would get in the way of the million other things you need to think about in a day. And yet, here is the command: pray without ceasing. What do we do with a burden like that?

Reading the whole sentence is helpful here. Right before we are commanded to pray all the time, we are told to rejoice always and to give thanks in all circumstances. It is somehow possible to experience God’s presence in such a way that you rejoice and give thanks always. We know God is in control of everything from the horrible to the sublime. As we speak to Him, we can look up and see Him in all His grandeur and know, by Jesus, that we can rejoice. Why not speak to Him without ceasing? Wouldn’t you want that all the time?

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to think, all day today, about what I am thankful for so I will rejoice always!

Daily Reading: Leviticus 24, Psalm 114, 1 Kings 10 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 30, 2021

2 Timothy 1:12b

… I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

There are two things to see and feel in this verse. Start with the fear of losing what has been entrusted to you. The first things that come to mind are our kids, spouse, job, house, stuff, and cars. Of course we feel the fear of losing those things. But this verse is focused on Paul’s ministry. He fears that the people he is leading to Jesus will fall away or that the Kingdom work he’s done won’t last.

Then comes the relief: God is big enough to guard what He gives us until He brings us home. What are the things you’ve done for the Kingdom? It can feel like a house of cards that keeps falling. Why not just quit? Spend time this morning resolving to go all out for the Kingdom because you can trust God to protect what He entrusts.

Prayer prompt: Lord, let me focus on your strength and trust you to guard what you have entrusted to me.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 21, Psalm 111, 1 Kings 7 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 29, 2021

Genesis 1:1

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

What is standing against you today? Is there some big dream you had for your life, some amazing vision of a better world that you were going to make a reality? That kind of thing gets squeezed out of us pretty early. We fail at small things and never seem to attempt the big ones. As soon as school is out and you step into the real world horrible things like debt, ineffectiveness, and apathy drain motivation. It seems like the world is only fine with us moving in one direction: a slow slide toward feebleness. 

But that’s a lie. This world is broken, no doubt, and there are people who want you to quit working for the Kingdom. That’s when you have to remember, this world isn’t their’s. This world is God’s. He made it, He owns it, He rules it. Start today by knowing, deep down, that this is God’s world. Working with Him and for His glory is always worth it. Commit to hope today.

Prayer prompt: Lord, give me the faith to see you behind, above, and beyond my enemies.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 20, Psalm 110, 1 Kings 6 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 28, 2021

Philippians 1:6

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

As soon as something godly starts to happen in your life, watch out. If you’re like me, a little increase in discipline or patience, even love, is often followed by a big flop. Maybe you finally see some growth in love and share about Jesus with a coworker. It feels like you’re walking on air as you sing praise to God! Then you get home and start yelling at your kids. How are we supposed to grow when it seems like failure and sin are constantly with us?

Remember who is right beside us helping us. The God who spoke and saw worlds jump into existence has promised that He will finish what He started. Life is littered with projects begun and abandoned, but not for God. Dunked in grace, covered in love, forgiven because of Jesus, we will keep walking and He will bring His good work in us to completion.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I will keep walking because I know you will finish what you start.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 19, Psalm 109, 1 Kings 5 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 27, 2021

1 John 4:18

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Is fear a good thing or a bad thing? Like pain or anxiety, God has given us fear as a natural reaction to something we should watch out for. While we don’t want to feel fear, it would be far worse if we didn’t have the capacity. Driving, skiing, and buffets are all much safer with a healthy sense of fear.

In this verse, we see how fear and love interact. Think of God’s love, the love that came down to earth, then went down to death, to bring us from death up to His presence. While it is wisdom to feel God’s holiness and grandeur as beyond our understanding, His love should stop us from feeling a fear to approach Him every minute of everyday. Enjoy His perfect love today!

Prayer prompt: Lord, bring me into the bliss of trembling at your majesty and still walking with confidence into your presence.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 18, Psalm 108, 1 Kings 4 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 26, 2021

2 Corinthians 9:8

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

I often think about the room in Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka Factory that is made completely from the most delicious sweets. If you think too long, it gets a little gross. I’m sure you would get sticky and the sweets would get dusty or dirty or people sweat on them. But if you just let it exist as an ideal, it’s magical and attractive. Why doesn’t an all powerful God give us goodies like that? 

Each word in this verse should go off like a bomb, shaking that question to pieces. Grace from God will abound, pour out, roll over like a wave, so that being totally sufficient, having everything you need, at all times, you can really get to work. Not only has He, the Supreme God, rolled all our needs to dust under His overwhelming provision, He’s also given us a wonderful task and purpose! What more could we want?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please make me always dependent on and expectant of Your abounding Grace!

Daily Reading: Leviticus 17, Psalm 107, 1 Kings 3 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 23, 2021

Joshua 1:6-7

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

Is Christianity a manly religion? I think it may have entered into some people’s heads to regard the faith as something women teach to children. Some see it as a nursery rhyme to instruct good boys and girls on the benefits of cleanliness or obedience. Such rhymes are helpful, but set down when we get old enough to become our own people.

But of course not. Our faith has conquered nations and the hearts of people small and great. Our faith is one that slays dragons and upends unjust social systems. Your faith will compel you to walk endless distances and climb mountains to the clouds in order to remake the world in the way God wants it. Are you ready to be strong and courageous?

Prayer prompt: Lord, suit me up with courage and strength to work for Your Kingdom today.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 14, Psalm 104, 2 Samuel 24 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 22, 2021

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I will never cease to be amazed by this sentence in Scripture. In my sin, I really don’t want to totally forgive people, at least not all the way. If the offense is pretty small, I can forgive. If the offense is a little more intense, I can forgive but try to guilt the person into better behavior. If the offense is huge, I hurt them in the worst way a proud person can: I banish them from my company. By God’s grace, that hasn’t always been the case, but it is my temptation.

Our sin against God isn’t just big, it’s gigantic. Not only does He offer to forgive us, He will cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. He doesn’t forgive only to condemn us to earning back His favor. He doesn’t forgive then walk away to distance Himself as far from us as possible. He forgives the repentant sinner and then gets to work cleaning us up. This Advent season, take the time to be amazed by Your God’s forgiveness.

Prayer prompt: Lord, Your forgiveness is crowned with an overwhelming love I could never deserve. Thank You!

Daily Reading: Leviticus 13, Psalm 103, 2 Samuel 23 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 19, 2021

Zephaniah 3:17

17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

I understand that God loves me, but does He like me? Every Christian starts with grace then quickly moves back to works. In grace we trust that God gives us His love, but with works, we have to earn it. Since I still sin, can I go back to God? Is turning from my sin a good idea if God is going to greet me with frowns and whips?

Look at Zephaniah 3:17. How is it possible that any God would treat His creation like that? God is with you, in your midst. He is mighty to save you. He will rejoice over you with gladness and quiet your excuses and your self-justification with His love. He will show the universe His feelings about you with loud singing. Let each of those phrases land in your heart today. God loves you because He is so so good.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I want to turn from my sin and embrace the love you have for me.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 10, Psalm 100, 2 Samuel 20 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 16, 2021

Psalm 50:1-2

1 The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Lord Byron, a British poet, said the world has two types of people: the boring and the bored. The bored would be the worldly-wise who, having experienced much, are now never surprised or delighted by anything. The boring are the simple folks who see a miracle in even the mundane like the sun rising or a child laughing. I know which I’d rather be, and which the Psalmist is. Which are you?

Are you able to look up at something as common as the sky and worship? There is a lie that being regularly near something makes it less valuable, or at least less exciting. Feel the sun on your face, spilling it’s rays from millions of miles away, and pray again to your God. Commit to the brief time it takes to let each amaze you and sing praise to a God who loves you like that.

Prayer prompt: Lord, wake me up to the wonder of the ordinary.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 7, Psalm 97, 2 Samuel 17 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 15, 2021

Luke 4:18-21

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20 And [Jesus] rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus told us exactly what He came to do: He came to bring good news to those who need it. If you read the part of the Old Testament Jesus quotes from here (Isaiah 61), it tells of the Lord coming to captive, brokenhearted, mourning people covered in ashes and lying in ruins. The Lord picks them up, frees them, cleans them, and fills them with joy. He then has them rebuild the ruined city they were in. What does that mean for us?

Jesus said He fulfilled that prophecy. That meant he was looking at people who were dirty, captive, broken, and sad and He came to make them sing. Jesus has come to make you clean, to forgive you and bring you into the Lord’s favor, where broken things are fixed, captives are released, and joy overflows constantly. Ask Him to forgive you, see your captivity to sin and come to Jesus to be cleaned. He will do it, and you will be free!

Prayer prompt: Lord, make me part of your work to bring people back to you!

Daily Reading: Leviticus 6, Psalm 96, 2 Samuel 16 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 13, 2021

Ephesians 3:17-19

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

When we are promised by Scripture to receive more than we ask or imagine, it can seem hard to believe. We can imagine so much! How can God overcome all the delights, the wild fantasy worlds, we try to imagine for ourselves? In these verses, we begin to find out.

God’s love is so intense, He has to strengthen us to endure it. He can’t tell us how great His love for us is because our experiences to this point just aren’t big enough to create the categories. How can He describe the depth of oceans to people who have only stomped parking lot puddles? How can He make you feel the heat of the sun when you have only seen birthday candles? Pray the magnificent prayer of Ephesians that God would make you strong enough to see just how big His love is.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please strengthen me to comprehend a little more of Your amazing love.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 4, Psalm 94, 2 Samuel 14 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 12, 2021

Luke 8:49-50

49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.”

What do you do when you’re afraid? A specific fear can be stomped out, like a spider. If it can be addressed quickly, great, but most of the fears that we deal with go deeper. Most of our fears are less defined and more persistent. How do we deal with that nagging, constant fear that what we most want or love will go away?

The man Jesus was speaking to in these verses just lost his only daughter. Yet, when he was sure that what he most loved was gone, Jesus told him not to fear. Jesus assures the man that there is still a solution, a grand solution, to the most awful of problems. Address your fear by looking up to the one who defeated even death.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I hate being afraid. Teach me to believe.

Daily Reading: Leviticus 3, Psalm 93, 2 Samuel 13 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 8, 2021

In Tim Keller’s new book, Hope in Times of Fear, readers get a long look at how the Resurrection changes our lives. God has come to turn us upside down, even in ways we don’t really think we need.

“Before we become Christians, most of us also think of ourselves as sincere seekers after the truth. We feel like we’re pretty good people. But most Christians, like Paul, look back on their lives and see that they had never really been sincere seekers after truth at all. They had wanted a truth and a God that fit their desire to be in charge of their own lives. And yet God came after them, found them, and graciously helped them see their own blindness and their unwarranted distrust of him. This is what happened to Paul. He thought he knew who God was and who Jesus was, and he got it all wrong.”

Check out Keller’s book to find reasons to believe the Resurrection happened, and a million more reasons to Hope it did.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to see my pride so I can turn and embrace real joy.

Daily Reading: Exodus 39, Psalm 89, 2 Samuel 9 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 7, 2021

Luke 4:18-21

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20 And [Jesus] rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus told us exactly what He came to do: He came to bring good news to those who need it. If you read the part of the Old Testament Jesus quotes from here (Isaiah 61), it tells of the Lord coming to captive, brokenhearted, mourning people covered in ashes and lying in ruins. The Lord picks them up, frees them, cleans them, and fills them with joy. He then has them rebuild the ruined city they were in. What does that mean for us?

Jesus said He fulfilled that prophecy. That meant he was looking at people who were dirty, captive, broken, and sad and He came to make them sing. Jesus has come to make you clean, to forgive you and bring you into the Lord’s favor, where broken things are fixed, captives are released, and joy overflows constantly. Ask Him to forgive you, see your captivity to sin and come to Jesus to be cleaned. He will do it, and you will be free!

Prayer prompt: Lord, make me part of your work to bring people back to you!

Daily Reading: Exodus 38, Psalm 88, 2 Samuel 8 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

Click or tap here to join a Bible Reading Plan to read the Old Testament in a Year

April 6, 2021

Matthew 15:32

32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

Ever gotten cash for Christmas? It’s the kind of gift you might expect from a generous if distant uncle, but not from a spouse or parent. We expect the people who say they love us to know something about us. When you get those kind of gifts, even if they’re less expensive, they mean the world.

God keeps up with the details of your life. Jesus saw how these people were hungry because He looked and cared enough to know. Love does that. Follow Jesus; He knows you enough to give you what you really need.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for knowing me and loving me.

Daily Reading: Exodus 37, Psalm 87, 2 Samuel 7 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 5, 2021

Luke 7:13

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Is God really there? Does He really hear me? I’ve asked that question more than a pastor probably should. God is so high above us, so shrouded in glory and majesty, would He really see us? If He did, would He really care for us?

Jesus, the Lord, Yahweh in the flesh, saw the woman in Nain who had lost her husband and now her only son. He didn’t just know about it or read it in the obituaries, He saw her and felt compassion for her. Then, and this is almost too much to hope, He fixed it. The cross, the grave, and then the empty grave are enough to shut up forever that needling worry. God hears you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, kill all my doubts by turning my eyes to the glorious gospel of Jesus!

Daily Reading: Exodus 36, Psalm 86, 2 Samuel 6 (Click or tap the Verses to read them on your device)

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April 2, 2021

Good Friday is good because of Resurrection Sunday. If Jesus just died for us, that would be loving, but no solution for the greatest problem we have. Since Jesus rose for us, everything is different. It means His message is true, His authority absolute, and His gospel trustworthy. But did He rise?

Roman History Scholar Professor Thomas Arnold, who held the chair of modern history at Oxford said,

“I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.”

And of course, CS Lewis:

“Early in 1926 the hardest boiled of all atheists I ever knew sat in my room on the other side of the fire and remarked that the evidence for the historicity of the Gospels was really surprisingly good. ‘Rum thing,’ he went on. ‘All that stuff of Frazer’s about the Dying God. Rum thing. It almost looks as if it had really happened once.’ To understand the shattering impact of it, you would need to know the man (who has certainly never since shown any interest in Christianity). If he, the cynic of cynics, the toughest of the toughs, were not—as I would still have put it—’safe,’ where could I turn? Was there no escape?”

Quotes from A Ready Defense, a compilation of Josh McDowell’s apologetic works.