Use today to catch up on your reading if you got behind this week and/or to reflect on what you've been reading. Consider whether your generosity is appropriate in light of what God has done for you....  Read More

Use today to catch up on your reading if you got behind this week and/or to reflect on what you've been reading. Think about how God has blessed you so that you can be a blessing to others....  Read More

Today's Reading: Genesis 14:1-24This morning I'm going to focus on the section that begins in verse 17. Here we are introduced to this mysterious figure named Melchizedek, who is both a king and a priest of the God Most high. He appears in the Bible only here and in two other places -in a Messianic Psalm in Psalm 110:4 and in the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews, we learn that Melchizedek is a "type" o...  Read More

Today's Reading: Genesis 12:1-20Today we move into the third section of this year's reading plan - God's covenant promise to Abraham. This covenant is foundational to God's plan to save HIs people from their sins.The first thing to note is that God initiates His plan. He doesn't wait for Abram to come to Him - He goes to Abram. God promises to make Abram into a great nation that He will bless. But...  Read More

Today's Reading: 2 Peter 3:1-18While it is true that the godless often prosper in this world, there is a coming judgment in which God is going to destroy this world as we know it - this time not with a flood, but with fire. While I'm sure a lot of us would like to see God do that right now, God is patient, not desiring that any should perish. But that day is certainly coming and it will be horribl...  Read More

Today's reading: Romans 8:1-39When we put our faith in Jesus, it doesn't mean that we will no longer sin. God doesn't remove our sin nature at that point. But what He does do is to give us the Holy Spirit, who dwells permanently in the life of each disciple of Jesus. And the Holy Spirit does make it possible for us to no longer be slaves to sin. If we will follow His leading in our lives and live ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Romans 5:1-21Paul reinforces the idea of our sin nature here by pointing out that sin and death came into the world through one man - Adam. But the good news is that the solution for our sin also came into the world through one man - Jesus. And God didn't wait to send His Son into the world until we were deserving. While we were still sinners and enemies of God, Jesus came to this...  Read More

Use today to catch up on your reading if you got behind this week and/or to reflect on what you've been reading. Is there any sin in your life that might become a lifestyle if you don't confess it and repent? If so, make sure you do that today....  Read More

Use today to catch up on your reading if you got behind this week and/or to reflect on what you've been reading. Think about your own sin nature and thank God that Jesus makes it possible for you to not be judged because of that sin....  Read More

Today's reading: Romans 1:1-32Here we see the devastating impact of sin. For those who fail to follow David's example that we looked at yesterday in Psalm 51 and confess their sin and repent, we see that they face God's wrath. While part of that wrath is future judgment in a place of eternal torment, there is also a present aspect of God's wrath.Three times in this passage Paul writes that "God ga...  Read More

Today's reading: Psalm 51:1-19Other than Psalm 23, this may be David's best known Psalm, which he writes after his sin with Bathsheba is exposed by Nathan the prophet. In this short devotional, we can't possibly develop all the important principles we find here, but here are a few of the key ones:All sin is sin against God (v.4). Even when our sin seems to only harm other people, it causes God to ...  Read More

Today's reading: Genesis 9:1-29God gives Noah the very same command he had earlier given to Adam and Eve - Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. But because of the impact of sin, there are some significant differences between the world Adam and Eve faced and the one that Noah and hid family face. The animals will no longer live in harmony with man and with each other and have now become foo...  Read More