October 21, 2023

Psalm 63:1

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

What creates desire? There is a natural set of desires at birth like desires for food, drink, air, and affection. Those desires increase as we age. We have preferences in our foods, have felt thirst on hot day, and develop love relationships that deepen and expand. But how do we account for a desire for God like the verse above? Not only does he have a desire for God, but his desire is like the man dying in the desert crying out for water. 

I don’t feel that way toward God, but I want to. He is more satisfying than food, more sustaining than water, and shows me a love much richer than even the love of my spouse. The answer is to drink deeply of that love. Tasting ice cream made me want ice cream so much more. We need to feast on His love and feel our desires wake up. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to feast on Your goodness as I think of Your salvation and Your love.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of 1 Thessalonians 1, Tap Here.

October 20, 2023

Psalm 43:3

3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!

From the beginning of the beginning, we had an assault on truth. When the serpent came to tempt the woman, he began with “Did God actually say…”. Even so many generations later, we still live in a world where truth is not merely contested but twisted, hidden, and bewilderingly difficult to find. Can you blame Satan? Why move onto another strategy when it worked so well the first time?

Pray for God to dispel the darkness by sending out His light and truth. As oppressive as darkness can be, a little light will send it reeling. In fact, the darker the night, the further a little light will go. God’s light will drive away dark and lead you to His house. In Jesus, that house will not only be bright, but open and ready for you to enter in.

Prayer prompt: Lord, send Your light and Your truth to bring me to Your Holy Hill!

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Colossians 4, Tap Here.

October 19, 2023

1 Timothy 1:1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 

All the protection and the provision offered by Christ the King is freely given. He desires that all men come to a knowledge of the truth and if we confess and believe, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We don’t live in that victory, fearless and joyful, because of our small faith. We don’t believe Him, and since we don’t trust Him, we don’t bask in the security and satisfaction of His Reign. How do we fix this?

Obedience doesn’t earn His protection, He gives protection freely. But obedience does reinforce our belief that all this is true. If He really is a King He can command us like He commanded Paul. If He really is the King of  Kings, you’d be a fool to disobey Him. Every time you choose His way and submit to His will, you underline again that Jesus sits on His throne. How can you take a new step of obedience today?

Prayer prompt: Lord, convict me of my casual and sometimes flagrant disobedience so that I can obey and believe.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Colossians 3, Tap Here.

October 18, 2023

Psalm 51:12

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Do you feel frustrated with how much you fail God? One hymn says, “Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” We are prone to leave God, we can feel that urge to desert Him creeping in all the time. We need to have something to hold us close. What can pull us to Him even when a big part of us wants to slink away?

In this verse we have two incredible restraints: Joy and God Himself. Salvation dumps Joy on your head. His presence dunks you in Joy. Doing things His way is slathered in Joy. Come to Him for the Joy set before you! You can also ask Him to uphold you with a willing spirit. God give me a spirit that wants to cling to You all my days! What Father wouldn’t want to answer that prayer?

Prayer prompt: Lord, uphold me with a willing spirit. Please, give me joy to continue to motivate my obedience.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Colossians 2, Tap Here.

October 17, 2023

Psalm 51:7

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Some people need to have their sin against God shown to them. There are some modern day Pharisees who look at their life and feel pretty proud. But some people have some stuff in their past that haunt every other thought. Many people in our world fall into drug use to simply numb the conscience that won’t stop remembering. Like Lady Macbeth, they just can’t get the spots out.

God can make you whiter than snow. The washing, the cleansing, and the penance hasn’t worked for you because you can’t get it out. There is one who can. It will take the blood of Jesus to do it, but He loves you so much, He has given exactly that. If He washes you, you will be whiter than snow. Won’t you come to Him today?

Prayer prompt: Lord, I need You to make me clean. Heal me and I will rejoice in You!

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Colossians 2, Tap Here.

October 16, 2023

Psalm 86:11

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

Who is in charge of you? Who gets to decide what you do with your life? If the answer is you, take a minute to ask how that’s working out. Most people make their own life decisions, and as a result are drowning in anxiety and pride. If you think that’s an overstatement, take a break for a week or two from all the things that distract you from anxiety and fear. Eat only your caloric need, turn off the tv, and unplug from social media. See what rises to the surface. 

When you’re done with that experiment, plead with God to lead your life. The Psalmist did. He asked that God would teach him the path. Then, very perceptively, he asked for God to bring his whole heart together around that one desire, for God to be in charge. Let’s pray the same way.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I want to live Your way, not mine. Please, unite my heart behind that one desire.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Philippians 4, Tap Here.

October 14, 2023

Psalm 65:3

3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.

The Psalms teach us to look up to the throne room of God and shout praise to the Lord. There are two big reasons praising God may be hard for you. One is ignorance. It is impossible to praise a God you don’t know. Praise really has to come from the heart. I can’t call a song beautiful if I’ve never heard it, or call a burger juicy if I haven’t had a bite. 

Ignorance keeps millions around the globe from their praises, but it is the second reason that keeps a Christian silent. Sin keeps your tongue tied and your heart cold. How can you stand before that God knowing your own rebellion stinks so badly? Iniquities prevail against our praises. Or they would, but God is so great, He has turned even our sin into reason for praise. He has atoned for your sins. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, forgive me for my sins and fill me up with the praises due to a God who forgives.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Philippians 2, Tap Here.

October 13, 2023

Revelation 5:13

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

There is such a thing as a perfect swing. I’ve never had it, but I’ve gotten close. When every joint, muscle, angle, and piece of equipment align and the ball just sings. It’s a transcendent moment. You spend the rest of the round or game just wishing they could all be like that.

There will be a time when everything that has breath will line up in one perfect motion of praise. Right now, everything is working against each other and against the Father. When redemption happens, you begin to work for the Kingdom, well … sometimes. But there will be a day when every leader, beggar, whale, hummingbird, tree, mountain, guppie, and angel will line up in a perfect gong strike of praise that will never end. Look forward to that moment and let its perfect satisfaction shine on your face even now.

Prayer prompt: Lord, let me glory in the future moment of all things put right, trusting that You’ve got this.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Philippians 1, Tap Here.

October 12, 2023

Psalm 150:1

1 Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! 

Look up. See the expanse of sky with the breathtaking clouds or terrifying storm fronts. Look beyond the sky to space with incomprehensible distances and stars that can bake us with their rays even from millions of miles away. God isn’t in either of these vast landscapes, and it’s because neither are big enough for Him.

The Psalmist is praising God and calling for everyone else to too. He sees something of God’s magnitude, not because He understands how big God is, but because He sees how big God must be to sit above the mighty heavens. To have such a sanctuary He must be truly awesome. He must be worthy of praise from everything that has breath on this tiny marble of a world. Praise the Lord!

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to think of You every time I look up and have those thoughts explode with praise!

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Ephesians 6, Tap Here.

October 11, 2023

Psalm 150:1-2

1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary;
 praise him in his mighty heavens!
 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

There is a heartbeat in the Psalms, and in all of Scripture. There is a rhythm that goes beyond the meter of the poetry or the beauty of the words. All the stories and proverbs, prophecy and teaching have a single driving theme: Praise the Lord. The question is, do you Praise the Lord?

You can give thanks with a cursory humility at meals or attend services with a nod to cultural norms. You can even be a very disciplined reader of scripture and teacher of people. But the question remains, do you praise the Lord? Does your heart sing with the Psalmist in an almost frantic praise in reaction to that beatific sight? If not, don’t live another minute without seeking His face. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, show me Your glory in Scripture, in Jesus, in my life so that I will praise You with Great Praise!

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Ephesians 5, Tap Here.

October 10, 2023

Ephesians 5:15-16

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

If you don’t work on your yard in Utah, you’ll lose it. It will be consumed by weeds which will themselves die out in the heat until all that’s left is wispy yellow stalks and sharp goatheads. But if you water and mow, fertilize and weed, you can have a green, lush, and living carpet for kids and pets alike to roll and romp across. If you don’t work at it, things get worse not better.

Your soul is such a landscape. Things won’t automatically get better. The days are working against you and time is slipping away. What will you do today to walk wisely and make the best use of the time? It is said a man often over-estimates what he can do in a year and underestimates what he can do in 10 years. Take time to invest in wise practices that will bear fruit now and forever.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to steward my time and resources wisely.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Ephesians 4, Tap Here.

October 9, 2023

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.

So often, I feel like a balloon with all the air let out. Exhausted and frustrated, I look at ministry with a wince rather than a smile. In those moments, the prospect of doing more for the Kingdom is terrifying. It seems like the reward of good work is just more work. How can I really turn up the intensity and survive?

Grace, by nature, has to come from the outside. A gift must be given and must be received, not earned or bought. If I am only prepared to attempt what I already have the strength and wisdom to do, I’ll be a pretty useless servant. God is able to give me grace, and to pour it out in abundance. That grace, not my own strength, will make me sufficient for EVERY good work. What mountain has He given you to climb?

Prayer prompt: Lord, point me to the next task while filling me with confidence in Your grace.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Ephesians 3, Tap Here.

October 7, 2023

2 Corinthians 9:7

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

As a preacher, I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have this verse in the Scripture. Imagine it becomes your job to instruct people in the ways of the Bible and find the repeated commands to give and give wildly. You may begin to sweat to think of trying to pry open fingers grasping money with a deadly grip. Yet this verse doesn’t pry the fingers, but delights to offer them something much better than money.

One of the great wonders of Christianity, a crucially unique aspect that sets Christianity apart from a million other thoughts, is the way it works from the inside out. God doesn’t want your money, as though He was a little insoluble at the moment. God loves to see your heart changed so that you give cheerfully. Open up your hand to grasp something greater.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for filling my life with so many opportunities to find so much joy!

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Ephesians 1, Tap Here.

October 6, 2023

2 Corinthians 9:6

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

From the outside, the Christian life can seem like a celebration of the word No. There is an austerity in the Christian walk, a constant refusal of the things our culture enjoys. From the outside it seems like we just enjoy the deprivation, or the superiority of that moral high ground. But is that what we’re really up to? Instead of saying no for the sake of no, the Bible emphasizes sacrifice in order to build something grander, more pleasurable, and more lasting than any small temptation. 

Paul tells us to sow bountifully, to give and sacrifice heroically, in order to reap an even greater reward. He assures us that the ground is fertile, the rewards are assured. Simply get to work and watch as every effort is observed by the Father and nothing goes to waste. Choose today where you are going to grow and sow for the Kingdom! 

Prayer prompt: Lord, show me where I can take the first step in sowing bountifully.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Galatians 6, Tap Here.

October 5, 2023

Luke 17:15-16

15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

Thankfulness is deceiving. It seems like a small nicety like making your bed or chewing with your mouth closed, but it isn’t small or merely polite. Thankfulness is more like the word praise, or worship. Those words are volcanic, world making or re-making, like in the story above.

In Luke 17, 10 lepers cry out for Jesus and are healed. 9 run to get a clean bill of health from the priests so they can go back to their families, which is very understandable. But one stopped, turned, and gave thanks. Stopping to realize what God had done for him resulted in not only clean skin, but the reward of Jesus Himself. Look at the gifts then look up to the Giver. Practice thankfulness today.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please forgive me for the thousand thousand things I haven’t thanked You for, and help me to look up from the gifts to enjoy the Giver.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Galatians 5, Tap Here.

October 4, 2023

Acts 5:29

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. …”

A very smart guy named Charles Taylor talks about something called a “social imaginary”. The concept is that the society around us deeply affects our thinking whether we realize it or not. It may seem like something you grow out of, and sure, as a teenager you tried a lot more consciously to be cool, but it’s a constant force that sways us all. The question isn’t if society affects your thinking, it’s where and how much it affects you. 

Yet, we must obey God rather than man.  Looking danger in the eye and completely disregarding what the spiritual and political leaders of the day mandated, the Apostles obeyed God rather than man. They were beaten for it, but daily, in both public and private venues, they took their knocks to make the Kingdom go forward. Where in your life is there sin that needs to be strangled or obedience that needs to be performed even though it will be incredibly unpopular?

Prayer prompt: Lord, bend my will to Yours as I swim against the current of human opinion.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Galatians 4, Tap Here.

October 3, 2023

Titus 3:1

1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

My wife still can’t eat really fresh salsa or cake pops. Both those lovely foods were favorites of ours until pregnancy when each was a cause of, shall we say, a refund. Some how, those foods still turn her stomach even though that child is 10 years old. We can get that way with things that hurt us. They become sickening forever after. 

For the Christian, what can be more repellant than rebellion? We watched it hang our Savior on a cross. We hate the memory and, God forbid, the continual presence in our lives. While there are times when we must rebel against some crooked authority, we only do it to submit to God. In the climate we find ourselves in, search your heart to check your appetite for rebellion and be ready for every good work. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to hate rebellion and draw close to You, ready to do the good works You have prepared for us.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Galatians 3, Tap Here.

October 2, 2023

1 Corinthians 9:22b

22 … I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

What would you do to get the gospel to someone who needs it? If you really understood the time involved in a word like forever, the pleasure promised in a word like Heaven, or the horror hidden behind the word Hell, you would crawl across broken glass to speak these words of life. In 1 Corinthians Paul was defending his ministry which included different styles and approaches for different audiences. 

There is no question that we are under Christ’s law and the supremacy of that law. We will never sin to speak the gospel, but there is no pain, deprivation or even humiliation which we should permit ourselves to avoid if another person can hear the words of life. What will you do to reach people unlike yourself? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, push me to give up everything to speak of Your grace and share in the blessings of the gospel. 

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of Galatians 2, Tap Here.

September 30, 2023

Hebrews 12:2

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

You have to get a good, wide base if you want to help me up. At 6’6” and a considerable weight, if you want to lift me, commitment is required. Think then, about what muscle, what determination is necessary to get a sinner like me into God’s presence? If sin is a weight that entangles, I’ve got all the weight of hell itself on me. I have the wrath of God on me. What hope can I have?

Jesus wasn't just a religious leader. He is God’s Son and is seated at God’s right hand. That throne doesn't have the slightest tinge of weakness. From God’s mouth poured worlds and at His glance mountains skitter away like goats. I keep my eyes on the only one who can lift me up. I keep running because of His great might.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I keep my eyes on You.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of 2 Corinthians 13, Tap Here.

September 29, 2023

Hebrews 12:1-2

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith. If asked to climb Everest and shown the path, I will politely decline. I’m just not able to do that. If asked to swim the English Channel, sorry, nothing doing as I would fail and then drown. Why then does it seem possible that I can run the race of the Christian life? 

I run because Jesus has made it possible. He is the founder, originator, author of this path that I tread and He has perfected, meaning completed to the last degree and most minute detail, my race. I can run in complete confidence even as I know I am much much too weak. It is the Christian who continues against the odds and because of Jesus, eventually, wins. Keep running with your eyes fixed on Jesus. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the way you saved me so I will trust that you still love me.

Bible Reading for today: Overview Video Tap Here. To read the daily reading of 2 Corinthians 12, Tap Here.