January 3

Genesis 5:1-7:24, Matthew 3:7-4:11, Psalm 3:1-8, Proverbs 1:10-19 

Pray: Today we come to grips with both humanity’s capacity to do evil and wicked things and God’s greater capacity to redeem and save. So, let's pray that as we read Scripture we will not too easily dismiss seeing ourselves in the text. Perhaps there is a part of our story which will resonate with the wrongdoing of humanity and the Lord’s desire to spare us. Fill us O Lord, with the Holy Spirit to experience You fresh and new.

Read: Today’s reading is challenging from Genesis to Proverbs for we come to grips with the depths of human depravity. God destroyed the world. But, as we read the story of Noah, and Jesus and the Pharisees we should see encouragement, not discouragement. God found a way to redeem us, not destroy us. Look for your story in the midst of this greater story.

Edify: Perhaps the hardest verses for many are found in both chapters 5 and 6 of Genesis

1. “When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself” Genesis 5:1b and...
2. “So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.” Genesis 6:6 

However, there was one man named Noah, who found favor with God through his obedience. John the Baptist emphasizes obedience in his comments to the Pharisees, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” We then find Jesus modeling obedience to the Father by submitting Himself to baptism. One possible takeaway today is to never underestimate the importance of simple obedience to God. Disciples are not made in a day, but disciples are made daily. Your obedience gives you favor with God. Remember the words of the Father when Jesus was obedient to baptism, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Perhaps you need to hear today the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved daughter/son who brings me great joy.” Or, the verse from the Psalmist, “I lay down and slept...for the Lord was watching over me.” Psalm 3:5 

Practice: Simply practice obedience. Love God and love your neighbors today. Do the next right thing you know the Lord would have you to do. Pray for who you will invite to church this next weekend. Then take a step of faith and invite them.

January 2

Genesis 3:1-4:26,, Matthew 2:13-3:6, Psalm 2:1-12, Proverbs 1:7-9

Pray: This is your time with God. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a message of hope and encouragement today. Lord, let me have eyes to see and a heart to understand.

Read:   Genesis 3:1-4:26, Matthew 2:13-3:6, Psalm 2:1-12, Proverbs 1:7-9

Edify: Today is the story of God’s finest creation, a relationship which God initiated. The beautiful part of this story of God creating humankind in His image is God didn’t need us. He still does not need us. Yet, God chose to create humanity and gave us free will. Free to love Him, free to obey Him, free to follow His loving instructions which lead to life or free to disobey which results in chaos, brokenness and hurt for us and those around us. Remember that this story begins with God creating us and loving us. It ends with God displaying this love in its purest form, for when Adam and Eve sin we find God pursuing them. God is a missionary seeking God who pursues us even when we have rebelled and done wrong. John Wesley once wrote, “we would not know the depths of which God would go to express His love if the fall had not occurred.” Matthew’s Gospel speaks of both an evil King Herod who seeks to destroy anything which threatens his kingdom and a Savior who has come to transform the evil of this world and turn it upside down. Jesus has come to save us from our sin so what was lost in the sin of the Garden of Eden can be restored in the person of Jesus Christ.

Practice: Write down what this story means to you and how you might practice gratitude today. God loves you even on your worst day. How can you love God today by loving others more intentionally around you? Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to practice your takeaway and to intentionally love others more.

January 1

Genesis 1:1-2:25, Matthew 1:1-2:12, Psalm 1:1-6, Proverbs 1:1-6



PREP: 

Pray before you read. 

Read Scripture as if reading a letter from God.

Edify: Look for edifying words or principles in the Scripture for your life.

Practice: What is the one takeaway you can practice or put to use in your life? 

Pray: “God open my eyes to see, my ears to hear the sounds of Your voice, and help me empty myself of me so Your Holy Spirit can now fill me with truth and Your very presence.”

Read: Genesis 1:1 through 2:25, Matthew 1:1 through 2:12, Psalm 1:1-6, Proverbs 1:1-6

Edify: 1) The writer of Genesis begins with a declaration: “In the beginning God…” This is not a hypothesis on the possible existence of a higher being. The writer begins with a statement of faith, as if he was there. In the beginning God created something out of nothing. God brought order out of chaos. 2) The Bible opens with Good News - God created the world and God created humankind in His image. We had a relationship with God that was not yet tainted with sin, fear and shame. Today is a day of new beginnings. 3) Matthew’s Gospel is no different as he also begins with a declaration of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and here is the genealogy to back it up along with prophecy to back it up. The Messiah is to come from King David’s line and no less born in Bethlehem, the City of David.

Practice: The Gospel of Jesus Christ begins with Good News. God came upon the universe which was void and without form. God created something beautiful out of a mess and brought order out of chaos. This is good news for you and me. God meets us right where we are in our chaos, our pain, our upside down world and can do a work of beauty in your life and in the lives of those around us. Today, I am determined to see the redemptive work of God in my life and the lives of others. Today is a new day if I partner with a God who can bring order out of chaos and fulfill His redemptive work in me through Jesus the Messiah.  Who can I encourage today? Today begins a New Year. Who can I share the Good News with today about a God who brings beauty out of our chaos? 

December 31

Malachi 3:1-4:6, Revelation 22:1-21, Psalm 150:1-6, Proverbs 31:25-31



Pray: Father, I trust You for my salvation but there have been times I have not trusted You with my finances. Help me to move from being cursed to being blessed by tithing.

Read: Through the prophet Malachi God said to His people, “Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you. (Mal. 3:7) Then Malachi goes on to say, “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!” The response of Israel was what do you mean and when have we ever cheated God? Malachi responds to Israel saying, “You have cheated God of the tithes and offerings due to him." And because you have done that, you are under a curse. Israel is then told to bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be enough food in God’s temple. 

Edify: Can you imagine being cursed and having the United States cursed as well by God Himself? But that is exactly what happened to Israel. Israel found themselves outside the blessing and protection of God. But God does offer a blessing. If Israel tithes, God said He would open the windows and pour out a blessing so great they wouldn’t have enough room to take it in. God through the prophet goes on to say that crops would be abundant, insects would not harm them, and disease would not destroy them. God also promises that their grape harvest would be great and that all nations would call them blessed. 

Practice: The passage in Malachi beginning in Chapter 3 with verse 10 says, “Put me to the test!" This is the only place in scripture where man is encouraged to test God. The tithe is the first 10% of your earnings. Are you willing to put God to the test? Are you willing to see if God will bless 90% enough to go further than 100% used to go? Are you tired of having 100% cursed? Start the new year blessed….TITHE!

December 30

Malachi 1:1-2-17, Revelation 21:1-27, Psalm 149:1-9, Proverbs 31:10-24



Pray: Lord, You restore and You reconcile broken people to a holy God. Please open my heart to reconciliation. Help me to claim it for myself and accept that it is Your desire and will for all men…no matter how broken.

Read: The Apostle John sees the city of God, the New Jerusalem, descending from heaven to earth in chapter 21 of Revelation. Heaven has come to earth. God is dwelling amongst His people. It is interesting that heaven, sometimes called paradise, started on earth. God would spend time with Adam and Eve each day and the place they lived was called the Garden of Eden or paradise. The next time we hear of paradise is when Jesus spoke to the thief on the cross promising that the thief would be with Jesus in paradise that very day. We know from the scriptures that Jesus first descended into the lower parts of the earth and preached before ascending into heaven. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus we see a further description of paradise in the lower parts of the earth as being divided into two chambers…paradise and hell. Lazarus, the poor man, was in paradise. The rich man was in hell. There was a great gulf between the two chambers. Later we see paradise up in what we call the heavens when Paul was caught up there. Finally we see paradise descending to earth…full circle you might say.

Edify: We are created in God’s image. Although we fell and chose our own way God still desires to live with us and have us reign with Him. He desires reconciliation and restoration so much so that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sinfulness and to make possible reconciliation and restoration.

Practice: Practice seeing what you can be in Christ and what others can be in Christ rather than focusing on what you are and where you are right now. We are under construction but God sees us as whole. Others are under construction as well. See them as whole. Sometimes that isn’t easy, but it is heaven’s perspective.

December 29

Zechariah 14:1-21,, Revelation 20:1-15,, Psalm 148:1-14,, Proverbs 31:8-9



Pray: Father, show me what I need to know. Revelation was written to seven early New Testament churches and there are lessons to be learned. But there is much more. Unravel the mysteries of what lies ahead so that I can walk wisely before You and recognize false Christs and deceptive doctrines and works. Show me the real Jesus each and every day so that I might reject the counterfeits.

Read: (Revelation 20:4-5) "And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)" Blessed and holy are those that share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him a thousand years.

Edify: The apostle John saw an angel come down from heaven and seize Satan. The angel bound Satan in chains and then threw him into the bottomless pit which was shut and locked for 1000 years. For the next 1000 years Satan could not deceive mankind. But after the 1000 years passes Satan will once again be loosed for a time and deceive two empires setting the stage for one last battle between light and darkness…good and evil. Satan is defeated in this epic battle and thrown into hell to be tormented forever. So, the first resurrection is for those who gave their lives for Christ. This resurrection is limited. And those resurrected will reign with Christ over the nations of the world for 1000 years. Then Satan is released. An epic battle follows. Satan is defeated and cast into hell. Then all who have died and not yet been resurrected are brought to life and stand before God. Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will reign and rule with Him but first their works are judged. Works that stand the test of fire are rewarded. Works that don’t stand this test are not rewarded but neither is the doer punished. But those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, who did not receive Him and His gift for them, will be cast into the Lake of Fire to join Satan in eternal torment.

Practice: A basic doctrine of the faith is repentance from dead works. A dead work can be a very good thing, but at the same time be a thing that God did not tell you to do. Good things don’t stand the test of fire. God things do! Be careful to ask yourself whether what you are doing is a God thing or a good thing.

December 28

Zechariah 12:1-13:9, Revelation 19:1-21, Psalm 147:1-20, Proverbs 31:1-7

Pray: Father, help me to live like it is my last day on Earth even though I am destined to live forever. Help me keep my eyes on eternal things, things that really matter, and help me to be ready to either meet the Lord or have the Lord meet me.

Read: (Zechariah 12:10, 13) "Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me (Jesus) whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. All Israel shall mourn, each clan by itself, and with husbands separate from their wives." Isaiah 44:18 describes Israel as being unable to know or understand because God had shut their eyes and their hearts because they rebelled against His WORD and rejected His Son. But there is coming a day when the blind eyes of Israel will see. God will pour out His spirit on Israel and upon seeing they will grieve over what they have done and rejoice in God’s infinite mercy.

Edify: Psalm 147:2 declares that God is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to Israel. This passage was written hundreds of years before Christ and yet is taking place today, There was no Israel until 1948. And Jerusalem was divided into two cities until 1967. The desert is blossoming and the city is being restored. All in preparation for the great battle of the ages to come.

Practice: Pray for peace, but know there will be no peace until the Prince of Peace is crowned.