February 23

Leviticus 14:1-57, Mark 6:30-56, Psalm 40:1-10, Proverbs 10:11-12



Pray: Lift up your eyes to the One who can lift us up out of the pit of despair. 

Lift up your eyes to the One who can lift us up from drowning in the middle of a storm.

Lift up your cry to the One who hears your cries and takes action.

Lift up your hands to the One who wants to give the bread of eternal life.

Read: As you read, ask God to write His instructions on your heart like David. For it is out of the wellsprings of the heart that the mouth speaks. And it is a good tree that produces good fruit. As you begin with reading Leviticus, ask God to search out and heal or take out any disease or contamination in your heart.

Edify: “The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain...” (Proverbs 10:11a). Are your words giving life to you and to others? We see in the reading today that David is eager to speak out about the good news of God’s justice. David wants to share with anyone who will listen about the faithfulness, power, and unfailing love of God. Are your words pointing to the one who gives life? There is so much power when we actually speak or pray the life-giving words of Scripture to our hearts and to others. Solomon points out that the key motivator of love guides our words towards reconciliation and 1 Peter reaffirms that love covers a multitude of sins. This is demonstrated most clearly in the New Testament reading as Jesus had compassion on the crowds and fed them. He had compassion on those in the boat, so He came to them and used His words to save their lives by calming the storm. Jesus’ words gave life and demonstrated the power of God.

Practice: Ask God to bring a Scripture to mind to share with someone that points to God’s faithfulness, power, and unfailing love. Consider Psalm 40:1-3 as a model to weave in Scripture with your testimony of God demonstrating these qualities in your life.