October 4

Jeremiah 2:31-4:18, Colossians 1:1-17, Psalm 76:1-12, Proverbs 24:21-22

Pray: Father, continue to show me Jesus that I might get to know You. Help me to see what Your saints can be rather than lament what they are not. Give me “eternal eyeglasses”.

Read: Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. For through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, and rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

Edify: Jesus said of Himself, "If you have seen me you have seen my Father." Jesus existed before the creation was created. He participated in making the creation. Jesus also created things seen and things unseen. Then Paul shares that there are unseen thrones, kingdoms, and rulers. But all things, seen and unseen, are held together by Him. Mankind thinks of creation from the beginning in Genesis to the end in Revelation. But God writes about creation from the end towards the beginning. Jesus was crucified just over 2000 years ago. But the scriptures say He was crucified before the foundation of the world was laid.

You may have received Christ in the last few years but your name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. Our perspective is “time” related. God’s perspective is “eternal”.

Practice: Practice wearing “God glasses”. See people through His eyes and the eyes of eternity. It will change how you think about others and how you treat them. See them as “finished” and not “under construction”. We see our own children that way. Them as forever young. Rather, we envision them as having full and complete lives with families of their own. But looking at a newborn baby one might wonder how the vision for the future is possible. But it is the reality we operate in. From the day that little bundle of joy is born we prepare them for adulthood. We need to see possibilities and spiritual adulthood even in the newest of Christians.

October 3

Jeremiah 1:1-2:30, Philippians 4:1-23, Psalm 75:1-10, Proverbs 24:17-20



Pray: Lord, help me to bring every thought captive and obedient to Your WORD. Make me aware when I am slipping into worry and remind me to pray.

Read: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything you can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) Worry consumes the time you could be praying. So when you start to worry start to pray. This is fundamental. It is walking with God 101. And when you tell God what you need and thank Him for supplying all your needs according to His riches there is a peace that comes over you that allows both right thinking and right acting.

Edify: Fix your thoughts Paul declares. This means two things. First…focus your thoughts. Be fixated on what God says. Second…repair and realign thoughts that don’t line up with God’s word. In other words, fix them. Take each thought captive. Make your thoughts line up with God’s word by voicing what the WORD declares and by letting go of what rhyme, reason, or emotion is shouting inside your head. Think about what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Think about putting thoughts that line up with God’s word into practice. Right thinking leads to right living. Wrong thinking leads to confusion and destruction.

Practice: Listen to the news on television. Practice correcting statements that are not pure, not lovely, and not true to God’s word. (Get ready to be busy.) Learning to speak the truth in love takes time. Being able to convince gainsayers (those who oppose the Gospel as well as themselves) takes even more time. Study God’s word to show yourself approved as a workman that needs not be ashamed. Commit yourself to living out the Gospel. Be quick to praise and slow to criticize. In time, you will be asked to help others in their thinking and living.

October 2

Isaiah 66:1-24, Philippians 3:5-21, Psalm 74:1-23, Proverbs 24:15-16



Pray: Lord, help me to keep my eyes on the prize. Help me to run the race with patience but also help me to run the race with focus. Remind me that You are perfecting me. Help me understand the road I’m on.

Read: (Philippians 3:10) Paul declared, “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” Paul first met Jesus on the road to Damascus. It was quite an experience. He was knocked off his camel, struck blind, and spoken to by the Lord Himself. From that day Paul never backed off his full throttle, pedal to the metal, commitment to know Christ. Have you backed off? Have I? Are we committed, are we in pursuit, is the road to perfection ever before us?

Edify: Have you ever asked yourself, “What does God want from me?” All of us that no longer look to what we have done but rather look to what He has done as our righteousness are on the road to perfection. We are “under construction”. We are “works in progress.” Paul declared in Philippians 3:12 that he had not already achieved these things or that he had not reached perfection. But he pressed on to possess that perfection.

Practice: As Paul joined himself to Christ and Christ’s sufferings, he focused on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Don’t let your past enslave you. Don’t let the past imprison your future. Every new day is a chance to receive forgiveness and to reaffirm your desire for God to continue to work in your life. Proverbs 24:16 says the godly may trip seven times, but they get up again. Get up again!

October 1

Isaiah 62:6-65:25, Philippians 2:19-3:3, Psalm 73:1-28, Proverbs 24:13-14

Pray: Isaiah speaks to our need to raise the level of our prayer life and be more intentional to pray for God’s intervention, “O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.” We are to pray continually for our Lord’s mighty hand to move in powerful ways. Lift up the needs of your heart, lift up our community to God now so that God will help reveal to us how we can make a difference.

Read: “Lord You are our Redeemer from ages past…”. What a powerful word for us to meditate upon today. We can call upon God for mercy and pardon believing that God’s gracious love will still be available for us if we truly turn from our selfish ways to God’s redeeming ways. 

Edify: Have you ever feared that you would become a “nobody”? You are not alone if you have, for most Americans have feared that they would live most of their life and not be remembered as a “somebody”. Paul tells us about someone, who could have been forgotten if Paul had not remembered him, "Epaphroditus” who was willing to sacrifice his very life for Paul’s health. Epaphroditus became very ill caring for Paul, so Paul lifts him up as someone who has cared for him sacrificially and willing to do whatever it takes to bring him to healing. Sacrifice is the essence of Christ-like behavior.

Practice: The Psalmist states, “Lord I desire you more than anything on earth.” What a powerful declaration to state the deep yearning in the heart of a worshiper to desire God above all else. Otherwise, we would be guilty of idolatry. I remember a powerful word a successful lay person, Royce, shared with me years ago. His pastor was hinting around about him making a significant donation to their capital campaign. Royce told his pastor, “you don’t have to protect my wallet for me, I am really good at protecting my own wallet. Your job pastor is to challenge me to give sacrificially to God’s great Kingdom work. Challenge me beyond my selfishness to live like I fully trust God with everything.” Let it be so for you and me.

September 30

Isaiah 60:1-62:5, Philippians 1:27-2:18, Psalm 72:1-20, Proverbs 24:11-12



Pray: Both the Psalmist and the writer of Philippians bring us to the essence of the Christian life—humility. Let us begin with a spirit of humility as we pray, “Gracious God, I do not have the answers to life’s greatest questions. In fact, I have enough challenge making wise choices in my own life. I ask for Your wisdom today, as I read Your Word open my eyes to Your revelation, and my ears to hear Your voice in Scripture.”

Read: There is nothing more exciting and meaningful for a parent than to receive their child home from college, or a visit home after a long period of being away. Likewise, Isaiah paints a powerful picture of the sons and daughters of Zion coming home. Foreign persons will come and help build the city for the prosperity will be coming to this place of new growth and renewal. Do you feel God’s favor upon your church? Have you positioned yourself to receive God’s renewal in your life?

Edify: The Old Testament reading today clearly explains who God is and what God wants to do for us in saying, “I am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” God has not only come to save us from our brokenness but to “buy us back”, to redeem us, from our sin and separation from God. This is how valuable you are to God—worth redeeming and paying a price for your salvation.

Practice: Where is your citizenship? Too often we take our citizenship for granted. There is so much freedom to enjoy as a citizen of the USA, and other European countries. Yet, we don’t begin to explore the freedoms we have. We also have incredible freedom as followers of Jesus Christ. We can be free of anger, bitterness, guilt and shame. We can be free of greed, materialism, and idol worship. Yet, we often refuse the freedom we could step into. I have to fight greed everyday. I fight greed by attempting to be generous. Yes, fight greed by being more generous. How will you live into your spiritual and patriotic freedom today?

September 29

Isaiah 57:15-59:21, Philippians 1:1-26, Psalm 71:1-24, Proverbs 24:9-10 



Pray: The Psalmist proclaims, “from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you.” Herein lies the great comfort of our prayers that we truly have a God who first cares and secondly has known us even in our mother’s womb. So when we pray we are not speaking to a stranger, nor are we sending our prayers to someone who will not take them seriously. God listens to every prayer. 

Read: Often we say privately and sometimes publicly, “why has God left me? I feel distant from God.” And, typically we blame the distance on God. We haven’t moved, right? It was God. Isaiah begins by stating the truth in love, “it is your sins that have cut you off from God.” Sin, rebellion, and selfishness put distance between us and God. Repentance closes that gap and causes beautiful reconciliation. Why not move God-ward, instead of away from the One who is life giving?

Edify: We close out our Old Testament reading today with these assuring words, “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back Israel…” Our sin which separated us from God is now redeemed, or paid for, by the Redeemer of Israel. To redeem is to buy back, to pay a price for the restoration of the person or item. Something is only as valuable as the amount you are willing to pay for it. Your life is priceless. We know this because Jesus paid the ultimate price for your redemption. Perhaps this will give you and me a little more gratitude to face the day.

Practice: We don’t like to suffer hardships. None of us wakes up in the morning asking for an opportunity to grow through pain and difficulty. However, crisis and hardships do grow our faith when we push through and find God faithful. Proverbs states, “If you fail under pressure your strength is too small.” Life itself brings about pressure and tension. I used to think that tension was all bad. However, without tension a car could not be propelled down the road. When the tire hits the pavement and the tension of the tire catching on the asphalt causes the car to be propelled—we call this “friction”. Stress, properly applied, can build muscles over time as the stress of the barbell causes the muscle to build. How will you handle stress and tension today? Is it an opportunity for God to grow you in your faith?

September 28

Isaiah 54:1-57:14, Ephesians 6:1-24, Psalm 70:1-5, Proverbs 24:8



Pray: Isaiah’s imagery is strong in suggesting that even though a woman who has never had a child can celebrate, and that we should prepare as if God is already bringing the growth, the prosperity to the people of God. Some may scoff at such a thought but is it not God’s goodness to give to those whom He chooses? A powerful God can do what He wants. What is even more powerful, is that God cares for the least among us and for each of us as He values us as His own creation.

Read: One of the most basic needs is water to replenish our thirst. When the Bible speaks of thirst it often speaks both literally and metaphorically, Our souls also thirst for God. Here are the powerful words in verse 1, “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—

    even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—

    it’s all free!”

There is a desire in the heart of every human for a relationship with God. St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless oh God until they rest in thee.”

Edify: Our scripture today says to “put on the whole armor of God”. We are not fighting against human flesh but there is a spiritual war at hand. The purpose of putting on armor is to “resist the devil” and after the battle to stand firm. If the armor is strong enough then we can resist the devil and not fall. From the breast plate of righteousness to the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God, the preparation is offensive first so the defense will be strong and resistant to the temptations and evil which come our way.

Practice: Paul tells us to “stay persistent in your prayers”. One of the greatest weapons forged is that of prayer. Jesus Himself spoke about the power of releasing demons in a little boy when Jesus said, “Some can only be cast out by prayer”. Prayer is not a substitute for us doing our part, but prayer does call upon God to do His part and unleash His divine power into our lives.