Posts with the category “daily-devotional”

Today's reading: Exodus 40:1-38Although God's presence is certainly not limited to any building or structure, from the time the people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt until they settled in the Promised Land and eventually built a permanent Temple, He chose to manifest His presence in the tabernacle. Since the tabernacle was portable, it could always be set up in the midst of the Israeli...  Read More

Take some time today to read back over the devotionals for this week and consider what God has been revealing about Himself. Is there anything you need to do in your life to respond to that revelation?...  Read More

Hopefully you've been keeping up with your reading, but if not use today and tomorrow to catch up....  Read More

Today's Reading: Exodus 34:1-35In obedience to God's command, Moses cuts two new tablets and heads back up Mount Sinai. There God does what He had promised to do for Moses before: He reveals HIs name and He allows Moses to see HIs goodness.Verses 6-7 comprise the most often quoted description of God's character in the Bible. In just two verses God tells Moses that in His goodness, He is both graci...  Read More

Today's Reading: Exodus 24:1-18Moses reads the laws that God has given to him to all the people. And the people all agree that they will obey those commandments. But as we're going to see, it won't take long until they violate the first two commandments while Moses is still up on the mountain.It is easy for us to criticize the Israelites for their disobedience, but because of our sin nature we're ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Exodus 20:1-26God gives Moses the Ten Commandments for His people. These laws were intended to distinguish God's people from the surrounding nations.  The first four commandments deal with how we are to love God and the last six deal with how we are to love others.Much of the world views these commandments as "restrictive" and believe God gave these laws to keep us from enjoying o...  Read More

Today's Reading: Exodus 19:1-25Today we begin a new section in our reading plan. Having redeemed his people, God gives the Law that declares his righteous standards as well as a sacrificial system (based on substitutionary atonement) that provides a means to deal with sin. When God calls Moses to come up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law, He demonstrates His holiness by forbidding the rest of the ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Jude 1:1-25Today, we're not only reading a chapter, but an entire book of the Bible!This book certainly contains some interesting and unusual references to events that just aren't recorded anywhere else in the Bible and we could easily get sidetracked by focusing on them. (And if you're interested in digging into any of those events further I'd be happy to discuss them with you.) ...  Read More

Today Ryan will be finishing up our Exodus sermon series. So it's been great that our Bible reading for the last week or so have complemented that sermon series. Take some time today to reflect on what you've learned from both our sermon series and your reading in this section....  Read More

Hopefully you've been keeping up with your reading, but if not, make sure you catch up today. ...  Read More

Today's reading: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13Paul is writing to the church in Corinth about open, unrepentant sexual sin that is present within the church. He compares that sin to leaven and refers back to the Feast of Unleavened Bread that was closely associated with the Passover Feast. In the same way that homes were to be cleansed of any leaven during that feast, the body of Christ was to be cleansed o...  Read More

Today's reading: Matthew 26:1-75There is a lot going on in this chapter, but we're going to focus on verses 17-29.Jesus observes the Passover with His disciples, just as God had commanded His people when He delivered them from Egypt. But Jesus gave new meaning to two of the central elements in the Passover meal - the bread and the cup.Jesus said that the bread represented His body. That was a pict...  Read More

Today's reading: Matthew 2:1-23The events in this chapter likely take place about two years after Jesus is born. After the visit of the magi, God tells Joseph to take his family to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. This fulfills the prophecy that we saw yesterday in Hosea 11:1:When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.That particular verse both looked back to God call...  Read More

Today's reading: Hosea 11:1-12Set around the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Book of Hosea denounces the worship of gods other than YHWH (the LORD), metaphorically comparing Israel's abandonment of YHWH to a woman being unfaithful to her husband. In this chapter God recalls how He had called His people out of Egypt because of His love for them.God also expressed His disappointment that...  Read More

Today's reading: Psalm 136:1-26 Each verse in this Psalm ends with "for His steadfast love endures forever". The Hebrew word translated "steadfast love" is "hesed". Hesed is not merely an emotion or feeling but involves action on behalf of someone who is in need. Hesed describes a sense of love and loyalty that inspires merciful and compassionate behavior toward another person. It is the same word...  Read More

I'm looking forward to seeing you in worship this morning. In person is always best, but if you can't make it, join us online. Remember we'll be hearing from Mark Cary, one of the missionaries we support, this morning. And then we'll have a church picnic.Take some time today to reflect on what you've been reading this week and how you need to respond to what you've learned....  Read More

We always leave Saturdays and Sundays open so that anyone who has gotten behind on the reading can catch up. But if you're up to date that certainly doesn't mean you can't read the Bible today. Or maybe you can spend some extra time in prayer today. Ask God to help you apply what you've been reading this week....  Read More

This Psalm is both heartbreaking and a great encouragement.It is heartbreaking because we see how the people of Israel consistently rebelled against God even after they had personally witnessed His power at work in their midst. I am reminded here of the words from the prophet Jeremiah:The heart is deceitful above all things,    and desperately sick;    who can understand it?(Jeremiah 17:9 ESV)So a...  Read More

Moses and the people sing a song that celebrates how God had freed them from slavery in Egypt. But only three days later the people grumbled against Moses because the water they found was bitter.It's easy to find fault with the Israelites here. But if we're not careful, we can do essentially the same thing. We can come to church on Sunday and sing praises to God and then turn around a few days lat...  Read More

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God initiates two different observances for the Israelites:The Feast of Unleavened Bread - this feast was to be held in close association with the Passover Feast. In fact, those two feasts are so closely related that they are treated as one feast in both the Old and New Testament. Passover was a feast that began at twilight on the 14th day of the month of Nisan. The Feast of Unleavened Bread began...  Read More

The Exodus from Egypt was such an important event in the life of Israel that God tells Moses that from that point forward the beginning of the Jewish year would be determined based on it. Before the tenth plague in which the firstborn of all the Egyptians were struck dead by God, He instituted the Passover. The firstborn of the Israelites were spared by an act of faith - the placing of the blood o...  Read More

As you reflect on God's call to Moses, ask God to reveal anything that He is calling you to do - maybe something that you've either ignored in the past or that you've just decided you don't want to do. Will you be obedient to what God reveals?...  Read More

Saturdays are always a great time to get caught up on any of your Bible reading if you got behind this week. It's also a great time to look back over the week and reflect on what you've learned about God that will help you know Him better....  Read More

Today's reading: Exodus 3:1-22Today we embark on a new section of our reading plan - the Exodus from Egypt. Hopefully the passages we'll be reading for the next few days will be familiar since we've been covering them in our current sermon series. The exodus from captivity in Egypt is the central redemptive work in the Old Testament. All Old Testament theology flows from it and it is an important ...  Read More

Today's reading: Matthew 22:1-46Once again we're only going to focus on a small part of this chapter, although I encourage you to read the entire passage.In verse 32, Jesus claims that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the patriarchs we have been reading about. But then Jesus adds these words:He is not God of the dead, but of the living.This is a very important statement because with t...  Read More

Today's reading: Hebrews 11:1-40One of the great benefits of preparing these devotionals is that I get to read and meditate on these passages twice - once when I'm preparing the devotional and again on the day that I read the passage as part of the reading plan.  Today the writer of Hebrews takes us through a long list of those who demonstrated their faith in God, including a lot of the patriarchs...  Read More

Today's reading: Galatians 4:1-31The entire chapter is great, but I'm going to focus on Paul's discussion of Hagar and Sarah in verses 21-31. Once again Paul points out that the promise God made to Abraham wasn't carried down through all of his sons, but only through Isaac. Paul uses the example of Hagar, Abraham's slave and Sarah, his wife, to demonstrate that our righteousness does not come from...  Read More

Today's reading: Romans 9:1-33Paul reminds us that not all descendants of Abraham are God's children. While Abraham had other sons, the promise that God made to Abraham to make him into a great nation who would bless the entire world was carried on only through Isaac, and  not Abraham's other sons. That was no because of anything that Isaac did, but instead completely a result of God's sovereignty...  Read More

Take some time to reflect on the reading you've been doing in this section. Think about how God was faithful to carry out the promises He had made to Abraham even when His people were disobedient. Be encouraged to know that God can still use you to carry out His purposes regardless of your past....  Read More

If you need to, use today and tomorrow to catch up on your reading. Even if you're several days, or even a week behind, don't let that discourage you. Don't give up!...  Read More

Today's reading: Acts 7:1-60When Stephen is arrested in the synagogue and accused of blasphemy for preaching the gospel, he makes his defense by explaining how Jesus is the fulfillment of the same Scriptures his accusers are attempting to use against him. As he is empowered by the Holy Spirit, Stephen gives an incredible testimony about Jesus in which he goes all the way back to the promise that G...  Read More

Today's reading: 1 Chronicles 2:1-551 and 2 Chronicles tell the story of Israel and Judah, starting with Adam and ending with the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon (538 BC). The account begins with a collection of genealogies (1 Chr 1–9) and then shifts to King David (in the remainder of 1 Chronicles) and his descendants (in 2 Chronicles).The genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2 traces the lineage f...  Read More

Today's reading: Psalm 105:1-45The Psalmist gives praise to God for His wondrous works. In particular, he is thankful for God's faithfulness in keeping the promise that He made to Abraham and which He later reaffirmed to Isaac and Jacob.Take some time  today to consider the promises that God has fulfilled in your life and to give Him thanks for that....  Read More

Today's reading: Genesis 49:1-33Jacob blesses his twelve sons before he dies. One interesting thing to note here is that the blessings for Judah and Joseph are much longer than the blessings for the other sons.Jesus comes from the line of Judah and in Jacob's blessing of Judah, there are obvious prophecies that indicate the Messiah is going to descend from him. The most obvious is that in Revelati...  Read More

Today's reading: Genesis 32:1-32These events take place over 20 years after Jacob fled from his home after obtaining the blessing that belonged to Esau. Since Esau had vowed to kill Jacob after Isaac died, it is not surprising that Jacob is afraid to meet Esau. The night before he is to come face to face with Esau, Jacob ends up by himself where he ends up in a wrestling match.It’s not completely ...  Read More

Today's reading: Genesis 27:1-46Jacob once again lives up to his name, which literally means "he grasps by the heal" or "supplanter". He had previously deceived his brother Esau and taken his birthright and now, with the help of his mother, he takes the blessing from his father. As the older son, both the birthright and the blessing should have gone to Esau. However, back in Genesis 25, God had re...  Read More

Today's reading: Genesis 26:1-35Today we begin a new section of our reading plan: The promise continued through the patriarchs. We'll be reading about how God fulfills his promise to Abraham by giving him twelve descendants from which the tribes of Israel emerge.In this chapter, God reaffirms the covenant He had made with Abraham and promises to bless Isaac. But just like Abraham had done earlier,...  Read More

Today's reading: Hebrews 7:1-28The author of Hebrews compares Jesus to Melchizedek, the mysterious priest and king we saw back in Genesis 14. The main idea here is that Jesus is a priest who is more like Melchizedek than the Levitical priests who came after him. This is a complex and somewhat confusing chapter that we covered last year in our study of Hebrews. If you'd like to dig into this deeper...  Read More

Today's reading: James 2:1-26I'm going to focus on the last part of this chapter beginning in verse 14. Although many claim that James is contradicting Paul here, that is certainly not the case. To the Hebrew mindset, belief is always associated closely with action. In fact, we could accurately define "faith" as "belief that results in action".James cites the example to demonstrate that idea. Abra...  Read More