February 8, 2025

Romans 5:5

5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

What’s going to get you through the day today? Each morning starts another day of drudgery and difficulty that can leave us dreading the alarm. What we need is a little hope. A little hope for morning coffee can get you out of bed, a big hope in a big God can take you anywhere. Christian hope is a powerful thing. Hope is not just a vague optimism that good things can happen, but the conviction that good things will happen to me.

Why are we convinced? Because we can look at the lengths God has gone to to pour His love into our hearts. He gave us His Spirit after giving us His Son. For the believer, the good can’t be oversold either. God’s goodness goes well beyond what we could ever ask or imagine.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for being so good, my Hope in You can overcome anything.

February 7, 2025

Luke 18:41-43

41 "What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me recover my sight." 42 And Jesus said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well." 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Jesus didn’t just come to destroy Rome, He came to destroy death. When people needed to eat, Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people full to bursting and gave them Himself as the bread of life. When the blind man asked for sight, he opened His eyes and his sight was filled with the face of God. When we say God is good, I don’t think we understand just how good He is.

God hasn’t just promised Heaven, He’s shown you Heaven in 1,000 ways in Scripture. Your hope for today rises or falls on your trust in God’s goodness. Your obedience when it’s hard hinges on God being better than temptation. He has a treasure trove of joy ready for you. Open your eyes on His face.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to turn my eyes upon Jesus.

February 6, 2025

Genesis 3:1

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

The Lord told Adam and Eve the truth. If they ate of the tree He commanded them not to, they would die. If that’s true, why was it so hard to obey? Why is it so hard for us to obey any of the hundreds of true words God has spoken since? He’s not just in charge, He is right: eating the fruit leads to death.

Temptation creates a false world that has all the look of a paradise. The serpent asked Eve to imagine all the blessing of the garden with the addition of the wisdom of God Himself. The thought so gripped Eve that she reached out for greater life and ate death. The lies of temptation always look delicious and always give death. It is in Jesus that we get forgiveness and a love can entice us back to the delights of the Lord.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please overwhelm my temptations with Your joy.

February 5 ,2025

Genesis 2:16-17

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

It’s really important to understand what’s going on here. God isn’t making a careless or cruel punishment for a small, understandable blunder. Adam and Eve have been given everything needed for a perfect life if they will depend on God, but will they?

Our first parents could leave God’s way and head out on their own. But that crime would inevitably lead to death because a branch can’t leave the tree and expect to go on living. We need God for life and joy so walking away from Him must lead to death. It’s like trying to breathe without air or eat anything but food. Go to God today to see His face and find what you need for life.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I come to You to find joy in the only place joy can really be found. Teach me to go to You for life!

February 4, 2025

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. 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.

February 3, 2025

Job 2:11a,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, …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.

What do you say to a grieving person? 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.

One prominent pastor’s wife lost her son to suicide. She said these friends of Job did such a good job until they started speaking. If you know someone who is experiencing grief, big or small, weep with those who weep. And do so knowing you serve a God who, like Christ with Lazarus’ family, wept with you.

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

February 1, 2025

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. 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. Teach me to forgive others as I rely on You.

January 31, 2025

Genesis 4:23-24

23 Lamech said to his wives:...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.”

In 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 Genesis doesn’t tell us everything. What He has given us must be all the more important for being chosen. 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 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.

January 30, 2025

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, help me to rest in and wonder at Your love.

January 29, 2025

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 year round. We do understand 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 His 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?

January 28, 2025

Genesis 12:13

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.

January 27, 2025

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.

We may think we trust God, but to actually step out in obedience like Abraham did would be hard. 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?

Sin breeds fear in us. We don’t trust because we’re not trustworthy. We have a hard time believing God can be trusted. Once we recognize that every breath comes from the Lord, every sunrise, every heartbeat, trust comes more easily. Abraham had enjoyed 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. 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.

January 25, 2025

Romans 11:34

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

Kids ask why a lot. The scriptures tell us not to exasperate our children, and I assume telling them reasons for my commands can help them obey. It’s a good policy, until you can’t explain why and they still have to obey. That’s when they just need to trust that you know more than they do. God has to experience this so much more than even the best parent.

When Paul praises God’s wisdom in the verse above, he has just been thinking about something he can’t understand. Paul starts Romans 9 with anguish over the way his people, the Jews, have largely rejected Jesus. He ends chapter 11 with this exquisite statement of praise for a God so much higher and wiser than us. 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.

January 24, 2025

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!

Should politicians be like us or above us? A man of the people, just like the average Joe, or above the people, truly the best candidate for the job? What we need in a leader is both. It’s the same with God. 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.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us Jesus is both. “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. He is also 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.

January 23, 2025

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.

January 22, 2025

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.

January 21, 2025

Psalm 86:11-13

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. 13 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 the separate pieces of your heart together. Wonderfully, His love connects your heart to His forever. Spend time this morning giving thanks for your God and His love.

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

January 20, 2025

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 in the pain until You bring me home.

January 18, 2025

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 through 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 do 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, teach me to follow You into a life without fear!

January 17, 2025

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.