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.

July 19

1 Chronicles 28:1-29:30, Romans 5:6-21, Psalm 15:1-5, Proverbs 19:18-19



Pray: David pours out his heart in today’s Psalm about who it is that truly fellowships with the Lord. He prays “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.” May this be our prayer today Lord to walk blamelessly and speak truth so that we may truly find intimacy with You.

Read: In our reading in Chronicles today there seems to be a theme of “the heart” that develops as you read of David. First, there is the disappointed heart that hears that because of his great bloodshed David will not be able to build the temple himself. Then we read of Solomon and his loyal heart and willingness to follow through with his father’s preparations and God’s plan for the building of the temple. Lastly, we see the devoted heart as it says in verses 17 and 18 “Fix their heart toward You” in other words, give us a devoted heart to seek after You. Unfortunately, Solomon himself did not keep a devoted heart to the Lord and turned away. This shows us that anyone can be susceptible to this so we must heed His word.

Edify: There is a beautiful truth revealed in our reading in Romans this morning. Jesus died while we were still sinners. This is our hope in the gospel knowing that we don’t have to clean ourselves up and look a certain way when we first come to Christ. We simply come “just as we are” because Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. Our sin debt and God’s wrath were placed on the sinless Jesus. 

Practice: There is a somewhat comical proverb today especially if you have a young son as it reads, “Discipline your son, for there is hope, do not set your heart on putting him to death.” We may not think of putting our kids to death but we do get some practical advice to continue in disciplining our children knowing there is a fruitful outcome.

July 18

1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34, Romans 4:13-5:5, Psalm 14:1-7, Proverbs 19:17 



Pray: The contrast is between the generation of the wicked and the generation of the righteous. The latter group is expressed in our Psalm today of those who seek the Lord and pray for His will to be done. For the former, God is not in their hearts and they have no desire or inclination to pray.

Read: As we read yesterday, each of us have a calling as a part of the body. This is God’s design for building His church and we must give God our best. David himself was a musician, David was probably especially concerned that the music in the temple be the finest available and God gave him skilled musicians. Let us praise Him today with the gift He has given us.

Edify: It is greatly encouraging that Paul reminds us that the result of our being justified by faith is that we have peace with God through Jesus. But then Paul takes it a step further and reminds us that even our tribulations become steps on our journey of faith to become more like Jesus so we ought to rejoice in those too! Much like it says in James “consider it a pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds because the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” It is most often the difficult things of life that draw us ever closer to God. Let us thank God in the valley as well as the hilltop because He is ever at work to draw us closer to Him no matter what the circumstance.

Practice: It is better to be rich in character and poor in wealth, especially when that wealth is earned by deception. Today’s proverb reminds us how important it is that we are careful how we treat the poor because God is concerned about them.

July 17

1 Chronicles 24:1-26:11, Romans 4:1-12, Psalm 13:1-6, Proverbs 19:15-16 



Pray: Four times David asked, “How long?” He had prayed, but God had hidden Himself and not answered. David had examined his heart and knew of no reason why God should abandon him. The longer God waited, the more the enemy would succeed. When you have this same feeling, do what David did and talk to God with an honest and humble heart.

Read: A beautiful and costly temple is a waste of money unless ministry is going on for the good of God’s people and the glory of God. So, before he died, David organized the temple workers and put them under proper leadership. The work of the Lord called for dedicated service from many kinds of people: priests, Levites, musicians, treasurers, gatekeepers, soldiers, etc. This is exciting for me and should be for those of us apart of Christ Church because it means that everyone, and I mean everyone, can find a way to serve in the kingdom.

Edify: Our reading from Romans teaches us about faith. How was Abraham saved? Not by works, but by faith as it also states in Genesis 15. Salvation is not like wages that you earn or works that you can boast about. Abraham was not saved by keeping the law, because the law had not even been given yet. He also wasn’t saved by rituals, his salvation was all by God’s grace. Let us be encouraged today that our salvation does not rely upon us, but by the beautiful grace that He lavishes on us.

Practice: Let us look for those ways that God has uniquely designed us to serve Him today. It is a beautiful thought to think that God has intricately woven us together with different personalities and spiritual gifts that help to build up and further the kingdom of God. What unique way might you help the bride of Christ look more beautiful today?

July 16

1 Chronicles 22:1-23:32, Romans 3:9-31, Psalm 12:1-8, Proverbs 19:13-14



Pray: Jesus, help me see my heart. And help me to see that I cannot and will not obey all the rules. Help me to trust Christ completely and to put my faith in His righteousness and not law keeping.

Read: (Romans 3:19) “Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep the people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.

Edify: Put up a section of wooden fencing by the entrance to your church. Drill a hole in it, head high, about 2 inches in circumference. Watch people enter your church for the Sunday morning service. No one will look through the hole. The following Sunday put a law above the hole. Let the law say, “Do not look through this hole”, Sign your name under the law. Wait and see what happens. Many will look through the hole! Why? The law exposes our nature. At heart we are law breakers. The commandments and rules throughout the O.T. shined a light on the condition of the hearts of God’s people.

Practice: The law reveals our nature. We need to understand that it reveals our need for heart change. We have no excuse. The “hole in the wall” was ignored until the law came. And when the law came the heart was exposed. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.