April 18, 2023

Luke 15:11-12

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.

Below is an excerpt from Tim Keller’s Prodigal God. Our Community Groups are currently going through it. Grab a copy here to explore this excellent work on God’s truly awesome gospel!

“This younger brother…is asking his father to tear his life apart. And the father does so, for the love of his son. Most of Jesus’ listeners would have never seen a Middle Eastern patriarch respond like this. The father patiently endures a tremendous loss of honor as well as the pain of rejected love. Ordinarily when our love is rejected we get angry, retaliate, and do what we can to diminish our affection for the rejecting person, so we won’t hurt so much. But this father maintains his affection for his son and bears the agony.”

Prodigal God, page 23

Prayer prompt: Lord, You continued to love us when we did all we could to leave You. Help us to really see and understand Your amazing love.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 12:35-59 online, Tap Here.

April 17, 2023

Job 2:11-13

11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Part of the reason we drop the ball with grieving individuals is that we flat don’t know what to say. Whether you have suffered like that person or not, their suffering is still intense and intensely personal. Coming up with something to say feels like letting your kids help with cooking, you just hope they don’t mess it up too much. Here we have some good news: your presence is your best ministry.

Kay Warren, wife of Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren, lost her son to suicide. She said these friends of Job did such a good job until they started speaking. While Jesus has come to undo death, at the tomb of Lazarus He wept with the family. If you know someone who is in a grief, big or small, take it upon yourself not to fix them, but to weep with those who weep. And do so knowing you serve a God who wept with you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for healing me by suffering with me. Teach me to be willing to suffer for others.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 12:1-34 online, Tap Here.

April 15, 2023

Luke 19:4-5

4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

How do we answer the nagging question, “Am I okay?” We try a thousand things to make ourselves pleased or important or beautiful, but after each attempt the question returns. In this story, Jesus felt the press of a huge crowd in Jericho while an immoral, hated, and rather short tax collector climbed a tree to try to see Jesus. When Jesus called to him, the ridiculous sinner felt not only the joy of seeing Jesus, but the much greater joy of acceptance, not from the crowd, but from the Lord. Zacchaeus knew he was okay.

Leaving Jericho, Jesus went to Jerusalem where He was taken by the crowd and nailed to a tree outside the city. Jesus, who alone among men could stand without sin before God’s holy presence was cast out of the city to die a cursed man. Why? He switched places with Zacchaeus. Jesus went from the center of everything to the tree so Zacchaeus could be forgiven and accepted and brought into the presence of God. That cross is for you too. Don’t answer your soul’s nagging question with anything less than the smile of Jesus telling you to come down and eat with Him.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please forgive me for finding significance in any other ridiculous thing. Help me to accept and enjoy Your loving invitation.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 11:1-28 online, Tap Here.

April 14, 2023

Matthew 18:21-22

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

It is nearly impossible to forgive well, if we ever even attempt it. Forgiveness requires me to see the offense in all its grizzly detail, choose to accept the pain of the offense, trust God with the justice, and love the offender again. Apart from a lack of love, we also suffer from a lack of confidence in God to bring about justice. If God may not give me justice, I’ll have to settle my own accounts.

Comparing Jesus’ words in Matthew 18 with Lamech’s words from yesterday in Genesis 4, we see the heart of the matter. Lamech promised to make his own justice because he didn’t trust God. Jesus, who trusted God infinitely, gave His followers the example of infinite forgiveness. Let’s practice everyday with the small offenses so that when the big offense comes we’re ready.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust You to give justice and mercy according to Your infinite wisdom. Teach me to forgive others as I rely on You.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 10:25-41 online, Tap Here.

April 13, 2023

Genesis 4:23-24

23 Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.”

When you read through Genesis, the wonder of the words mixes with confusion and a strong sense of curiosity about what’s not there. God speaks all things into existence like a Father telling a lovely story. But why does He choose to rest? And the passage about the nephilim seems like such a tease. What He has given us must be all the more important for being chosen over all the other things He could have told us. This poem, sung by the descendent of Cain, is as dense with meaning as any other passage in Genesis.

In just a line or two, we have the crystal clear picture of the curse of pride. Like Cain who became murderous by God’s criticism of his sacrifice or the men of Babel who desired to make a name for themselves that God could never wipe away, Lamech declares his own glory. We can either drink the humility of being God’s creation, which we are, or choke on our own fake glory. Ask God to show you today the places you follow Lamech instead of Christ.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to see myself as You see me, that I may be humbled and blessed.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 10:1-24 online, Tap Here.

April 12, 2023

Psalm 23:6

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

In just 6 verses we have about the most beautiful and visual description of God’s care for us ever expressed. Imagine the ancient worship of a god like Moloch who demanded your infants be cast into his terrible mouth, or the South American gods who demanded priests kill young women to appease their wrath. Then look on this God, who sees our sin, dies for it Himself, then continues to care for us with the knowing, loving, and gentle hands of a Shepherd.

Even in horribly difficult times in a dark and dangerous world, the psalmist can say that goodness and mercy are right behind him, chasing him forward to the presence of the Lord forever. God’s love and mercy, seen as grand as the ocean in the cross and as small as a kiss in the thousand daily blessings He bestows, lead us on. And one day, we will sit at His feet, perfectly whole and His forever.

Prayer prompt: Lord, there is no command to follow after thinking through such a blessing. Help me to rest in and wonder at Your love.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 9:37-62 online, Tap Here.

April 11, 2023

Jeremiah 31:12

12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.

We don’t really know what it’s like to have the grain, oil, and wine truly be seasonal. Our grocery stores are full and our products are year round, and we’ve never had our year’s worth of food stolen by raiding tribes. We do resonate with that word languish though. We know what it is to have bread, strong drink, and medicine yet not be satisfied.

God’s presence brings to this people not merely the stuff needed for a good life, but the power to enjoy it. The verse starts with a song and ends with this picture of the people like a watered garden. They are singing with joy like the trumpet bell of a lily, or the shy grace of a rose. Spend today seeking the Lord and walking in His paths with your eyes firmly on this good reward.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust You to bring me Home. How can I bring others to You today?

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 9:1-36 online, Tap Here.

April 10, 2023

Genesis 12:14

13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”

Abraham asked his wife to pretend to be his sister so he could give her to the Egyptians rather than have to fight to protect her. This is the very next story we get after Abraham’s grand display of faith in God’s promise to watch out for him. We do some strange things when we’re scared. How does Abraham go from such amazing faith to such pitiful cowardice?

Generally, we won’t be tempted to sell our wives as siblings to avoid getting murdered. But we are tempted, everyday, to trust our solutions, even horrible ones rather than God and His ways. When you’re scared God won’t be good you seek sin for pleasure. When you’re scared God won’t be true, you trust the world for wisdom. Remember God’s faithfulness so you can trust Him, especially when you’re scared.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to remember Your goodness all the time.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 8:22-56 online, Tap Here.

April 8, 2023

Genesis 12:1

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 

It is one thing to agree with the statement, “I depend on God for everything in my life.” It is an entirely different thing to actually step out in obedience, without the extra assurances we rely on like bank accounts and family ties. Even men and women who take the gospel to foreign nations have sending organizations, language schools, and detailed maps before they go. What would it take to actually pick up and leave, without even a destination in mind?

Once we recognize that every breath comes from the Lord, every sunrise, every heartbeat, trust comes more easily. Abraham had for evidence of God’s faithfulness 20,000 breaths per day for 75 years. Each of those days had a sunrise and a sunset as God continued to guide the earth around the sun. Sin breeds fear in us. We don’t trust because we’re not trustworthy, so we have a hard time believing God will be. When we open our eyes to His faithfulness, our obedience can begin to flow.

Prayer prompt: Lord, You have taught me to trust You from my first breath. Help me to step out in trust today.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 7:31-50 online, Tap Here.

April 7, 2023

Romans 11:34

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

I don’t understand why. The scriptures tell us not to exasperate our children, and I assume telling them a reason for every command I give them somehow helps with that. It’s a good policy, until you can’t explain why and they still have to obey. That’s when you just need them to trust that you know more than they do. 

When Paul praises God as so wise that no one can be His counselor, he has just been thinking about something he can’t understand. Paul starts Romans 9 with a wish that he could trade his salvation for that of his people, the Jews. He ends chapter 11 with this exquisite statement of praise for a God so much higher than the thoughts of men. Without understanding, and even through tears, Paul can trust the wisdom of God. Ask yourself seriously if you trust God even when it doesn’t make sense.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to look at the good You brought from the scandal of the cross that I might trust You with my much smaller worries.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 7:1-30 online, Tap Here.

April 6, 2023

Romans 11:33

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

There’s a question in the political world about the way a candidate should be presented. Should he or she be a man of the people, just like the average Joe, or above the people, truly the best candidate for the job? Many folks seem to want a God who is just like them, judging others the way we judge and forgiving us the way we want to be forgiven. While we want a God who knows what it is like to be us, we need a God who can handle the incredible task of running the Universe.

In Jesus, we have both. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” He knows what it’s like to be you. Yet, as Paul declares in Romans 11:33, He is beyond our understanding in every way. God has the wisdom to bring about His good ends no matter what comes. Trust in His unsearchable wisdom.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust Your inscrutable ways, no matter what it seems like from here.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 6:27-49 online, Tap Here.

April 5, 2023

1 John 4:19

19 We love because he first loved us.

Where does love come from? It’s a good question if you’re the Grinch, or like me, and your heart is too small. Looking at your kids and having to clean the same messes, or at your spouse and having to bear up under the same pains takes love. If we don’t have it we get ground down, easily angered, and confused by the pain. So where does it come from?

All love comes back to one source. The fruit all comes back to a single tree. If we are to know love that doesn’t end, love that grows and deepens, it all comes from Him. From God we learn that love never fails, that love is self-less, that love can make something ugly into something lovely. Maybe it’s better to think of it the other way, from love we learn that God is good. Go to God today to experience true love.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me love by showing me Your love.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 6:1-26 online, Tap Here.

April 4, 2023

Song of Solomon 8:6

6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave.

In Viktor E. Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he retells his experiences as a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps. As a psychologist, he analyzed the inner life that made it possible for some physically weaker men to out live physically stronger ones. He shared his own experience of looking up from his torture to remember the love of his wife. In that moment, love transcended the living hell he was enduring, and he saw something heavenly, leading him to quote the verse above.

Knowing God is not about being a more pleasant person. We aren’t playing with children’s concepts or small niceties. When you know love, and come to know the Source of all Love, you find something infinitely stronger than death. Set that love above everything else in your heart and on your life for all to see.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I choose to make Your love, stronger than death, my life’s joy and purpose.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 5:17-39 online, Tap Here.

April 3, 2023

Psalm 86:11-13 

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Look at the way the Psalm writer prays. He asks God to teach him, then to unite his heart. Do you understand the feeling of both wanting and not wanting God? It’s a cruel place to be because you’re never happy with any decision you make; part of you is always disappointed. How do we get a united heart?

Gratitude unites the heart. Whatever else is corrupting his affections, this guy feels a whole-hearted thankfulness to the God who delivered him from death. God’s steadfast love blazes with enough heat to weld your heart to His forever. Spend time this morning giving thanks for this God and His love.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for loving me even when you can see my wayward heart.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 5:1-16 online, Tap Here.

April 1, 2023

Psalm 119:54

54 Your statutes have been my songs

    in the house of my sojourning.

Hear the words of Origen, a pastor born in 186AD and know that our Lord has been faithful to suffering Saints from Christ’s time to today:

“Understand, then, if you can, what the pilgrimages [sojourning] of the soul are, especially when it laments with groaning and grief that it has been on pilgrimage so long. We understand these pilgrimages only dully and darkly so long as the pilgrimage still lasts. But when the soul has returned to its rest, that is, to the homeland of paradise, it will be taught more truly and will understand more truly the meaning of what the pilgrimage was. He is right. On this side of heaven we walk by faith and don’t have all the answers we would like. But there is reason to believe that you will find certain hopes fulfilled even on this side of paradise.”

Origen, Homily XXVII on Numbers, sec. 4, CWS, 250; cited in Thomas Oden, Classical Pastoral Care, Crisis Ministries, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 6.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to trust You even in the sojourning You allow until you bring me home.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 4:1-30 online, Tap Here.

March 31, 2023

Psalm 81:11-16

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;

    Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,

    to follow their own counsels.

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me,

    that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 I would soon subdue their enemies

    and turn my hand against their foes.

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him,

    and their fate would last forever.

16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Take some time today to work though these verses slowly and answer some questions.

Am I listening to God’s voice by submitting to His way for me to live? Or am I stubborn and following my own ideas?

What anxieties or fears to I have? Would they still be part of my life if I trusted God to handle them? 

What would the blessings of God look like? Where are desert places in my life that He could bring life to? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust you to bring honey out of rocks. Teach me to follow You into a life without fear!

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 3 online, Tap Here.

March 30, 2023

Romans 15:14

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Where do you go for help? We need to have our in-case-of-emergency plans ready to go. We know 911 and where the nearest Emergency Rooms are. I hope you have walked with your family through exit strategies if a fire flares up. But where do we go for the everyday pains and worries that add up to a miserable life?

Many people are tempted to wait until things are really bad and find a counselor, but Paul points you somewhere surprising. The other Christians in your church have the Bible, the Spirit of God, and God’s commands to care for one another. We are able to instruct one another. Invest in relationships in your church this year with the intention to have someone to lean on and be there for someone else to lean on you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, prepare me to be someone my church can lean on and teach me to look to my brothers and sisters for help.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 2 online, Tap Here.

March 29, 2023

Exodus 28:11-12

11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance.

Who could forget their kids? I’ve forgotten to grab their water bottles or forks for dinner, and one time left one in a car for 15 minutes, but I’ve never had to be reminded they exist. Yet many Christians think God has forgotten them. How can you know that He remembers you, that He thinks of you?

Aaron, the first priest of the tribe of Levi, was given a fancy outfit. It was beautiful, and it was incredibly meaningful. On the shoulders, God told Moses to place onyx stones set in gold and engrave the names of the tribes on the stones. Of course the engraving wasn’t a reminder for God, but a reminder for Israel. His love for them, His thoughts of them, are set in stone. What will you do with a love that will never go away?

Prayer prompt: Lord, if Your love never fades, why do I look for love in other places? Help turn my heart always to You.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 1:57-80 online, Tap Here.

March 28, 2023

Hebrews 13:20-21

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

God is going to make something pleasing in His sight through your hands. It’s entirely possible that you are an amazing craftsman, but probable that you’re not. It’s a good thing the passage starts by reminding us that God brought a live Jesus from a dead body. Only a God like that could make something beautiful through us.  

But surely these verses aren’t referring to art at all. Jesus laid down His life as the Good Shepherd even shedding His blood to bring people to God. Our work must be in bringing our heart and the hearts of those around us to the Lord. Truly that will be pleasing in His sight.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please make through me more people who see and know Your love.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 1:26-56 online, Tap Here.

March 27, 2023

James 3:4-5

4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

If you had to pick, what is one pattern in your life that is foundational to everything else? What one thing is so influential James could call it the rudder to your ship or the bit in your mouth? It isn’t the way you use your money, or even your time. It seems crazy to think, but God considers your speech, both to yourself and others, the steering wheel to your whole world.

Resolve to tell yourself the truth. Spend time every day this year reminding yourself of what's true. How much of a course correction would take place if everyday began with remembering God rather than just beginning the scramble to thrive?

Prayer prompt: Lord, change me by teaching me to tell the truth.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here, to read Luke 1:1-25 online, Tap Here.