July 26

2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34, Romans 9:25-10:13, Psalm 20:1-9, Proverbs 20:2-3 



Pray: Father, today I ask forgiveness of all the negative and harmful words I have spoken about myself. I do not want to abuse myself in such a way again. Transform my thoughts and let me understand how marvelously You made me. Change my habits so I use my tongue to speak hope and favor upon my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Read: In our Old Testament reading today we read about the reign of Jehoshaphat and the way that he led well by trusting in God and shared the Law with the people of Judah by sending priests to teach them.  In his fear of the Lord, Jehoshaphat was blessed with peace and the opportunity to become a mighty military force. We also see Jehoshaphat put his love of God into action when he seeks the Lord's guidance before entering into a conflict alongside of Ahab. This story is a testament as to the evil forces that lurk around every corner to which God’s people must be wary. It is only through our trust in God that we will be able to differentiate between those who are in tune with God and His Will and those with a spirit of Ahab who are in something for the glory and their own interests.

Edify: Romans 10:13 tells us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” What a joyous text to read. Doesn’t it give you hope for millions of those who have yet to call on the name of the Lord… that all they have to do is believe in their heart and confess with their tongue that Jesus is Lord. The problem is that there are many who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus taught with love and compassion. They may have experienced it in another way but never with the love that Jesus Himself shared. I pray that we would be convicted of this and be willing to step out in faith and share the Good News with all people.

Practice: Find an opportunity to share the love of Christ in a practical way somewhere today. It may be buying a cup of coffee. It may be a phone call. It may be a text message. Find some way to love your neighbor that glorifies God.

July 25

2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14, Romans 9:1-24, Psalm 19:1-14, Proverbs 20:1 

Pray: Lord, Creator of all things, I celebrate Your name today and pray for those who are in need of Your love and grace. Father, reveal to me ways that I can be Your servant here on Earth and live into Your plan for my life. Give me discernment to see You in each moment and the willingness to look for Your beauty in all things. Amen.

Read: Our readings today are a history lesson of the reign of Asa and a review of the Israelites being chosen as God’s people. Asa’s reign is a critical reminder for all of God’s people and can be boiled down to a few words in Chronicles 15:2 that are just as poignant to us today as it was to the Old Testament followers of God. It tells us that, “The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him!” What simple, yet profound truth for all people! 

Edify: Today’s reading struck me with its simply stated, profound truths. I am reminded of how easy it could be to try and live our lives for ourselves and under our own power yet still have the expectation that God will bless our mess. There are so many in our world today who live by this standard, yet Scripture tells us clearly today that if we desire to have God on our side, be eligible to receive a blessing from God, to be in right relationship with God, then we must abide in God and “stay with him”. Too many people, even those in the church, want the blessing but aren’t willing to do the work of remaining in Him.

Practice: Let’s use today to refocus our lives around the One who created us. Spend time today in thanksgiving to the God of Creation and in right living with our neighbor. Maybe today would be a good day to buy a cup of coffee for a coworker who has had a tough time recently or pick up the phone and call someone and tell them that you have been thinking about them and catch up or maybe spend a few extra minutes in prayer today, asking God to pour out His unmerited favor on our community as we pray for and seek revival!

July 24

2 Chronicles 11:1-13:22, Romans 8:26-39, Psalm 18:37-50, Proverbs 19:27-29



Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for another day to worship You. Thank You for the opportunity to let Your light shine through me. May those that I interact with today see You in me and may I be a good steward of the opportunities to share Your love with others. In Your name, Amen.

Read: Today’s passage from Romans is a powerful reminder of how much God loves us. Paul, in this letter to the Romans, painstakingly shares with readers of how adored we are by the God who created us and how there is nothing that can separate us from that love of God. What a wonderful hope-filled message for us today. It is also a reminder that we will face hardships as followers of Christ but that God will always be with us through these times because Christ is the victor over all things. 

Edify: Have you ever found yourself wanting to pray but not knowing what to pray for? Our Scripture in Romans today tells us that the Holy Spirit is there for us in those times. Romans 8:26 tells us that the Holy Spirit is there for us in our weakness and prays for us with groanings that words cannot express which helps to guide us in our own prayers. As we read further we hear some of the most satisfying and uplifting news that we could possibly read and hear… if God is for us, then who can be against us (Romans 8:31).

Practice: Allow the Holy Spirit to help guide your prayers. Take a few minutes in silent meditation and allow the Holy Spirit to speak on your behalf through groanings to God. Those groanings will help to inform you as to the way that God desires us to pray. Let your prayers today be God-centered instead of being centered on your desires and needs.

July 23

2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19, Romans 8:9-25, Psalm 18:16-36, Proverbs 19:26



Pray: One of my favorite books is Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. This book was inspired by David’s Psalm today where he prays to the Lord, “For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.” The Lord is in the transformation business and will swoop down into the midst of our troubles and set us up on a high place with a new kind of strength, what a beautiful image.

Read: Solomon created a kingdom like no one else, the greatness and vastness was unmatched. There were no wars, no pestilence, and no problems and yet the people complained. What was their complaint? The folly of Solomon’s son Rehoboam was that he taxed and worked the people even more harshly than his father. The problem was internal. Often times despite the many problems we face our biggest enemy is ourselves. This is a valuable lesson we can learn from the people of Israel.

Edify: I read once that the greatest theme throughout the scriptures is that of adoption. Paul speaks of this in Romans today as he shares that we did not receive a spirit of bondage but a spirit of adoption and we cry “Abba, Father”. The spirit of God cries with our spirit that we are children of God. I have a friend who is adopted and he jokingly shares that my parents were stuck with me when I was born but his parents got to pick him out! We, as Gentiles in the same way, were “picked out” by God in our adoption as sons and daughters. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood sought after by God. But Paul goes on to say that it is not only us who are bought and made new but even the earth itself will be changed and the curse on it will be lifted. All that is evil and wrong with this world will one day be made into a new creation just like we are made new.

Practice: The proverb today addresses our relationship with our parents. I think often times when we get older we think that we are no longer commanded to honor our parents. The commandment has no expiration date, we are simply commanded to honor them. If your parents are still living think of a way that you can honor them today.

July 22

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10, Romans 7:14-8:8, Psalm 18:1-15, Proverbs 19:24-25 



Pray: In the reading from 2 Chronicles today God responds to the prayer of Solomon by saying in verse 14 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” What a beautiful promise from the mouth of God. Lord, may we be humble, may we pray, seeking your face and turning from our sin today seeking your forgiveness for ourselves and our country.

Read: First, we read of a cloud coming down as the temple furnishings were complete and now in chapter seven of 2 Chronicles we read that a fire came down and consumed the sacrifices and offerings that were offered to God. But what is equally significant is the response of the people, it says “When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying 'For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.'” True worshipers worship God in a humble way and see a greater display of His glory because of it.

Edify: Romans 8 is said to be one of the greatest chapters in the entire Bible. After Paul confronts the dualistic nature of our life of sin and life in the Spirit he begins chapter 8 by saying, “Therefore”. You might say, because of all of that we have previously read, remember this, YOU ARE NOT CONDEMNED! The definition of the word condemned in the dictionary is "to express complete disapproval of, typically in public; censure, or to be put to death." We are no longer publicly ashamed. We are not stuck in our guilt. For what the law could not do in that it was weak in the flesh, GOD DID! How did He do it? How did He make us who are sinful no longer ashamed of this cold, hard truth, by sending His son down to earth to be like us and put an end to the reign of sin and then Paul says what was condemned was not us, but sin itself as it was nailed to the cross for the glory of God!

Practice: I was recently discussing with a friend that one of the hardest things in the Christian walk is to receive correction. Proverbs tells us “reprove a man of understanding and he will gain knowledge.” Today let us look for an opportunity to listen to instruction from someone else and really hear them and try and make the necessary changes.

July 21

2 Chronicles 4:1-6:11, Romans 7:1-13, Psalm 17:1-15, Proverbs 19:22-23 



Pray: David prays in our Psalm today, “I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love.” I love the way David prays specifically. I think I am often guilty of not praying specifically enough. I believe God wants to hear in detail what it is that we need and even how we seek to praise God. David asks for a wondrous display of God’s love. Let us pray for this along with David today.

Read: There is a beautiful account in 2 Chronicles today of the final touches that Solomon added to the temple. The very last thing that entered into the temple was the Ark of the Covenant, the symbolic presence of God. Inside of the ark was the law. As the ark was placed in the most holy place it says that the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. Wouldn’t it be an amazing scene on a Sunday morning as we all gathered into the Lord’s house if there was a thick cloud that came down giving us a physical symbol of God’s presence. What emotion would it evoke in you, fear, awe, joy?

Edify: It is interesting in Romans 7 that we see an image of marriage as it relates to the law. Our first marriage was to the law. The law of marriage is binding until the death of one of the partners. Death is the end of the law and so for us as New Testament Christians we know that our new marriage is with Jesus. We are “free” so to speak from the bondage of the law and brought into a new covenant because of Jesus and His sacrifice to free us from the bondage of rule keeping.

Practice: Think of your own marriage today. Do you seek to please your spouse because you are under an obligation to do so? Or do you have a different kind of marriage, a beautiful picture of the gospel in which we are not “bound” to anything but because of the great love that we have for Christ and because of what He first did for us we seek to serve and love? This is the ideal picture of marriage. Let us not live with our partner seeking what we can get out of it, but let us love selflessly as Jesus did for us.

July 20

2 Chronicles 1:1-3:17, Romans 6:1-23, Psalm 16:1-11,Proverbs 19:20-21

Pray: The prayer today from David has a very humble tone to it that I think we can learn from, he says in verse two “ I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” This prayer reminds me of what James says later in the New Testament when he says, “every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” I pray Lord that we can remember today that every good thing in our life comes from You and You alone.

Read: The reading today in 2 Chronicles is a famous passage that shows us the value of wisdom. God appears to Solomon and says, “Ask what I shall give you.” If God were to appear to you and ask you for anything what would be your response? Solomon doesn’t ask for wealth or status, or the life of another or even his own life to be longer, he asks for wisdom. What is interesting is that when Solomon asks for wisdom from God all of the other things were added to him as well. This is a reminder to us that our first priority should be to know the Lord and He will sustain us and give us all that we need.

Edify: Paul encourages us to remember the reality of our fight with sin in Romans. Paul refers to our sin nature as “our old self” and he goes on to say that when Jesus was crucified it was as if our old self was also nailed to the cross. Putting our sin nature to death is a daily process and if we are like Christ in crucifying our old nature then we are also like Jesus in His resurrection. We don’t have to live like slaves to sin because Jesus set us free; He broke the chains of our sin. Imagine a slave wanting to run back into slavery and put his shackles back on once he has been set free! This is the imagery that Paul wants us to see as we consider falling into sin once we have been made a new creation with Christ.

Practice: Let us consider the ways today that we can gain wisdom. It is foolish to continue to do the same old things expecting different results. It may be that God is calling us to try something new in regards to our relationship with Him. Maybe it’s a new book, a new way to serve or a different attitude towards someone in your life. Try something new for Jesus today that takes you outside of your comfort zone.