Daily Help for Bible-Reading Men and Their Families
(students of Jesus Christ)
For First-Time Bible Readers: Forty Days and Nights to Faith
For Everyone Else: There’s more than enough of the word of God in each daily portion below to feed the whole family all day long. Don’t overeat; just eat until you’re full, and then go work it off so you don’t just get fat. Always eat the “Basics,” and let the “Extras” be extra. If I ever miss setting this table, you can always find the ingredients to lay it yourself in the Bible Reader’s Toolkit.
***
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
New Year’s Eve
Psalm 25:15 My eyes are continually toward the LORD…
(Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus…)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- 1st Reading: John 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year. We close out the year with the most theologically-important chapter in the four Gospels – if not the entire Bible.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year. We close out the year with the most historically-important passage in the Epistles – if not the entire Bible.)
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Malachi 3-4 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. We close out the year with the last two chapters of Malachi, of the Minor Prophets, of the Prophets, and of the Old Testament.)
- The Apostles (NT):
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Revelation 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. – This is the last sentence of Revelation, of the New Testament, and of the Bible – and, as such, it is quite fitting. Moreover, combine it with the first verse of the Bible and see how well the two of them collectively encapsulate the entire Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Revelation 22:21 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: It’s a Salvation of the Soul – Not of Circumstances (1:01)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Homelessness hit a record high in the US this year (Source: CNN, December 27, 2024). The homeless crisis is a consequence of the breakdown of America’s families, which is a consequence of America forsaking its historical commitment to the importance of the family as defined in the Bible. These people living in the streets have either forsaken their families, or else their families have forsaken them. Either way, abandonment of the divinely-designed nuclear family is at the root of this dysfunction. Current public attitudes and policies are only going to produce more of this misery. A revival of righteousness in Jesus Christ is the only thing that can save us.
- Housekeeping Note: Yesterday in this space, I described how the condensed Old Testament one-year reading plan (“3rd reading”) was being revised for 2025 into a “History and Psalms” plan. I also made a slight change to the Gospels reading plan (“1st reading”) for 2025, allocating the last nine days to the beginning and ending of Luke so there’d be less flipping around. For those who like to print the BRP for the entire year rather than look to Daily Help for the day’s readings, I have updated the link for printing.
***
Monday, December 30, 2024
Zechariah 9:1 …the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD…
(2 Chronicles 20:12 “…our eyes are on You.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- 1st Reading: Luke 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.) (Over the previous three days, we re-read the Sermon on the Mount – Matt 5, 6, 7; today we read Luke’s encapsulation of much of that teaching.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 John 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Malachi 1-2 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. About 18 days out of 365 we read two OT chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
- The Apostles (NT):
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Revelation 3:19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.’ – Too many people think Jesus is a nice guy who wants nothing more than to help them achieve their goals in life.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the God of Gods – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Salvation of God Is in Christ (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Retail theft surges 93% since before COVID-19 pandemic (Source: Fox Business, December 18, 2024). If and when revival comes, we will see reversals of statistics like these. Apart from revival, things will only continue in this downward direction, and with increasing velocity.
- Housekeeping Note: This past year has been our first time with a one-year condensed Old Testament reading and I learned something from the experience. In developing the plan, I had focused primarily on trying to include all the history, minimizing duplications. This took up a little over three-fourths of the year. I filled in the remainder of the year with sample chapters from most of the remaining books. As we have gone through the last quarter, reading the sample chapters has felt like a lot of jumping around and it seemed difficult for readers to grasp the prophetic books in this way. Therefore, I’m going to modify this plan for 2025, by replacing the sample chapters with the book of Psalms. So, the condensed OT going forward will be “History plus Psalms.” When we complete the history in the last quarter, we’ll then finish the year by reading the Psalms in sequence. We’ll read from one to three of them each day, trying to keep the total length of the reading from varying too much from one day to the next. This is a challenge because, while the average length of an individual psalm is about half the length of an average Bible chapter, their individual variation in size can be great – from as short as two verses in Psalm 117 to as many as 176 verses in Psalm 119. Therefore, be prepared for more variation than usual in the time it takes to read the designated psalm(s). The alternative was to group them in such a way as to reduce this variation, but that would have required reading them out of sequence. (For those who print the list for the year in advance, I have not yet updated the link. I should have it done on or before January 1.)
***
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction,
but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
(The soul is where we are happy or sad, peaceful or agitated, forgiven or guilty.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.) (We’re working through the Sermon on the Mount – Matt 5, 6, 7 – because we have a few days left in the calendar that we’re filling in after having completed the Gospels four times this year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 John 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Zechariah 13-14 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Zechariah 9-10 yesterday to Zechariah 13-14 today. Also, be aware that about 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
- The Apostles (NT):
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Malachi 4:2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings…” – Malachi was here prophesying of the One who would come and say to us, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5).
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Hebrews 4:14-16 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Salvation Is from the Christians and Jews (John 4:22) (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Even though too few Americans are concerned about our national debt, astute observers around the world know better than to ignore this problem. Consider just the title of this recent article from Britain: “Why US borrowing could soon eclipse Greece and Italy as world drowns in debt: America now owes more money than the value of its economy – which should worry us all.” Our national debt in 2000 was $5 trillion; today it is $36 trillion. And it is now growing at a rate of $1 trillion every 100 days. Herb Stein was the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He famously said, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” The longer debt keeps increasing like this, the bigger will be the bust. A Titanic actually can sink. – Luke 17:26-29 “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.”
***
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Psalm 137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
(This is how important walking in the spirit ought to be for us.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.) (We’re working through the Sermon on the Mount – Matt 5, 6, 7 – because we have a few days left in the calendar that we’re filling in after having completed the Gospels four times this year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 John 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Zechariah 9-10 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Haggai 1-2 yesterday to Zechariah 9-10 today. Also, be aware that about 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
- The Apostles (NT):
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Revelation 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. – The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead dramatically and emphatically confirmed that God had indeed been speaking through Jewish prophets for centuries when they spoke of a messiah who was coming.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Lord of Lords – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: “Clinging to Guns and Religion” (1:01)
- Weekly Video: Everyone Is Going to Heaven: 6) Judgment (14:45)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): I don’t know exactly when things in America started going wrong, spiritually speaking – but it had to have been before my lifetime, because they’ve been going the wrong direction for as long as I can remember and I am 73. (I’m not saying every single year has gone the wrong direction; there’ve been some good years here and there, but the overall spiritual direction has been downhill.) Therefore, if you long for America to return to the way she was, make sure you pick some time before the 1950’s – because that decade and every one since then will just bring us right back to where we are now. It’s how we got here.
***
Friday, December 27, 2024
Jeremiah 23:24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the LORD.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
(Why do we act as if we’re hidden from heaven’s view?)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.) (We’re jumping from Matthew 2 to Matthew 5 today because we have a few days left in the calendar that we’re filling in after having completed the Gospels four times this year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 John 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Haggai 1-2 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Zephaniah 1-2 yesterday to Haggai 1-2 today. Also, be aware that about 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
- The Apostles (NT):
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Revelation 2:4-5 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place–unless you repent.’ – How hard does a person’s heart have to be to turn down an appeal like this from a Lord like Jesus (not that there’s anyone fully “like Jesus”)…especially when His words are printed in red ink to remind us of the blood He shed just so He could have a close relationship with every single one of us?
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Romans 8:5-8 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: What Will Your Kids Say? (1:01)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): You will know the identity of both men depicted in the short videos linked below. One is the current president of the US and the other is the current president of Russia. However, assume for a moment that you don’t know their identities and have to guess which man presides over America and which man presides over Russia based solely on what each is saying. The subject that both men are addressing is transgenderism, but their views are incompatible. And my point is not to focus on the men as individuals, but to focus on them as the official representatives to the world of their respective countries. Notice the common sense that one president speaks, and notice the insanity that is coming out of the mouth of the other.
- President A
- President B
- I know that some of you will say, “But, Mike, the recent election gave us a president-elect who thinks differently on this subject so we no longer need to be concerned.” Let me remind you that the losing political party in that election – who put forth a presidential candidate who believes the exact same thing as the incumbent believes about this subject – received 48.4% of the votes compared to 49.9% for the winner. In other words, you’re living in a country where half the voters do not think madness is disqualifying for the office of president! How bright a future can such a country have?
***
Thursday, December 26, 2024
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight…
(The “in Your sight” part is critically important!)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Zephaniah 1-2 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Habakkuk 1-2 yesterday to Zephaniah 1-2 today. And about 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. – This is the kingdom of God that has come.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the King of Kings – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Who Is a Man of God? (0:49)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): The mood of the country has improved since the presidential election, but we have a lot more repenting left to do if we think we’re going to avert the disasters our nation’s been headed toward for a long time.
***
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Christmas Day
Habakkuk 2:4 “…the righteous will live by his faith.”
(And will die by his unbelief.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Habakkuk 1-2 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Nahum 1-2 yesterday to Habakkuk 1-2 today. And about 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Rev 17:14 “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” – To re-purpose an adage, people are not against us – they’re against Him…and we’re just standing in their way.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 4:25-26 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Who Are the People of God? (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Promising signs? (I don’t know, but I’m willing to wait and see.)
- Ohio State University football players are leading a religious revival on campus (NPR, December 11, 2024).
- Revival Sweeping Through College Campuses Impacting Tens of Thousands: ‘It’s a Movement’ (CBN News, September 23, 2024).
- College students get baptized in pickup trucks: Jesus is ‘more powerful’ than brokenness (Fox News, April 13, 2024).
***
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Christmas Eve
Isaiah 37:28 “…I know your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in
And your raging against Me…”
(The reason we confess our sins is not that He lacks knowledge of them.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Nahum 1-2 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. About 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Acts 20:35 “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’“ – Never is this more obvious than at Christmas.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the First and Last – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: To Be a Man of God, Be a Man of Christ (0:41)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Book burning in prior ages is the equivalent of content moderation of social media and online data in our age – except that book burning usually took place in a public setting but content moderation is often hidden from the public. This means that authors of books that were burned were better off than we are today because at least those authors were not kept in the dark about what was happening.
***
Monday, December 23, 2024
Jonah 1:3 …Jonah rose up to flee…from the presence of the LORD.
(When we flee from the presence of the Lord, it is to our peril.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Micah 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, / And against the man, My Associate,” / Declares the LORD of hosts. / “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; / And I will turn My hand against the little ones.” – When Jesus is absent, those present are scattered. “But in what sense is Jesus ever absent?” When He’s absent from our minds, our thoughts are scattered…and we are lost sheep.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 3:16-18 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Biggest Lie Against the New Testament (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): What I wrote in this space yesterday about people foolishly thinking they can make the world a better place by changing the definitions of words also applies to their futile attempts to make things better by inventing new words to replace words that are working just fine.
***
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Psalm 24:6 This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face…
(May we become that kind of generation before its too late!)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Micah 5-6 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. About 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 2 John 1:9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. – Why do trinitarians say you must believe them to have the Father and the Son when the apostle John says right here that if you have Christ you have the Father and the Son?
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Beginning and the End – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Biggest Lie Against the Old Testament (0:50)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Why do people think they can make the world a better place by changing the definitions of words?
***
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Psalm 141:8 For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord…
(Are they?)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Micah 3-4 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. About 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 21:15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” – Men, do you love Jesus more than your wives and children? He says to you, “Tend My lambs.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Matthew 11:28-30 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: My Testimony (0:57)
- Weekly Video: Everyone Is Going to Heaven: 5) Hell (14:47)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Some things never change: Young Americans have increased their net worth, but not their happiness per Axios.
***
Friday, December 20, 2024
Ps 89:15 …they walk in the light of Your countenance.
(Are we making Him smile?)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Micah 1-2 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Obadiah 1 yesterday to Micah 1-2 today. And about 18 days out of 365 we read two chapters in a day to fit the optimal content into this condensed OT plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” – What the apostles were able to witness in the flesh, the prophets were able to foresee in advance – centuries in advance!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Alpha and Omega – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Modern American Devotion to the Ancient Christian God (1:01)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): These articles, both on “mirror cells”, are reminders that science is dangerous to the degree that it is ungoverned by godly morals. In other words, secular science is dangerous science.
- “A ‘Second Tree of Life’ Could Wreak Havoc, Scientists Warn: Research on so-called mirror cells, which defy fundamental properties of living organisms, should be prohibited as too dangerous, biologists said” – New York Times, December 12, 2024
- “Scientists Horrified by “Mirror Life” That Could Wipe Out Biology As We Know It” – Yahoo News, December 24, 2024
***
Thursday, December 19, 2024
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches;
he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit,
for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
(God has given us agency, not autonomy.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Obadiah 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 John 4:21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. – The apostle John could write that sentence because he heard Jesus say: “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Jeremiah 31:31-34 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Ministry of a Grandparent (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Poll finds nearly half of teens are online almost constantly.
***
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
(The Lord is seated in heaven, but present throughout creation; we just need to incorporate that fact into our thought lives.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Amos 8-9 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Joel 2 yesterday to Amos 8-9 today. And about 18 days out of 365 we read two OT chapters to fit the most into this condensed plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 18:36-37 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” – Pontius Pilate was a seasoned and brutal ruler…but he had never before…or after…encountered a subject who spoke like this.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as Jehovah – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Messiah – the Secret Weapon of God (1:01)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: 2 Corinthians 13:7 Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. – Men, it’s more important that our children do what is right than that we should have a good reputation among men. Let us pray accordingly.
***
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
(There’s no place to hide.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Joel 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Hosea 14 yesterday to Joel 2 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Zechariah 11:12 I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. – Six centuries ahead of time, God had the prophet Zechariah foreshadow the payoff for Judas’s betrayal of Jesus. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of such pointers to Jesus the Messiah embedded throughout the Old Testament.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Isaiah 9:1-2 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: What Does It Mean to Be a Man of God? (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Even Elton John says legalizing marijuana is ‘one of the greatest mistakes of all time’!
***
Monday, December 16, 2024
John 12:46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”
(John 3:19 “…men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Hosea 14 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Hosea 1-2 yesterday to Hosea 14 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. – Therefore, if I find myself afraid, it is an opportunity to grow in love.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as Yahweh – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Calling Men to Be Men of God (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): In this space yesterday, I mentioned the rise of gambling in America. Further to that point, a recent edition of The Economist, a magazine favored by global elites, shouted its approval with an article titled: “America’s gambling boom should be celebrated, not feared: The gambling frenzy is mostly about people being free to enjoy themselves.” The opening paragraph continues the theme: “A craze for betting is sweeping over America. This year Americans are on track to wager nearly $150bn on sports, having bet a paltry $7bn in 2018. Another $80bn is being wagered in online casinos; in the few weeks when election gambling was legal before the presidential vote, hundreds of millions of dollars were placed on the outcome. Even physical casinos are spreading. Soon the island of Manhattan could have its own casino towering over Times Square.” The rest of the article sits behind a paywall, but you get the idea. The once-Protestant nation is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize.
***
Sunday, December 15, 2024
2 Chronicles 7:14 …seek My face and turn from their wicked ways…
(God forbid we should seek His face and NOT turn from our wicked ways!)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Hosea 1 and 2 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan weeks ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. And about 18 days out of 365 we read two OT chapters to fit the most into this condensed plan.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – Only when we realize we are dead men walking can we begin to appreciate what Jesus is saying here.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Psalm 119 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Master or Mascot? (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Why Online Gambling Is The Next Opioid Crisis (15 minute video). If you don’t have time for the video, just know that the headline, if anything, understates the problem. While 23 states have now legalized recreational marijuana, 35 states have legalized some form of gambling. The corruption of America is deep, wide, and ongoing. Repentance is the only cure.
***
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Psalm 27:8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
my heart said to You,
“Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”
(His “face” implies His thoughtful attention.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Daniel 12 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Daniel 7 yesterday to Daniel 12 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! / Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! / Behold, your king is coming to you; / He is just and endowed with salvation, / Humble, and mounted on a donkey, / Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. – When this prophecy was fulfilled, only a remnant of the nation “shouted in triumph”…and they alone were saved from the destruction that came on the nation that rejected His reign and killed Him. Know, therefore, that this King will save you and yours even if America keeps rejecting Him.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ is the “I Am” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: I Cannot Gainsay the New Testament (0:59)
- Weekly Video: Everyone Is Going to Heaven: 4) New Heavens and New Earth (15:05)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: Luke 22:40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” – Better to avoid temptation than to assume you’ll always be successful in resisting it.
***
Friday, December 13, 2024
John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
(We either reflect His light or we deny it; there is no middle ground.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Daniel 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ezekiel 37 yesterday to Daniel 7 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 John 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. – The things the apostles say complement and reinforce each other, as in this case where the apostle Paul almost seems as if he’s speaking of what the apostle John just said – as if Paul is concerned that we won’t take John’s simple words as deeply to heart as we should: 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Psalm 110 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The NT Is Leftovers (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: Luke 21:36 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
***
Thursday, December 12, 2024
John 1:4 …the life was the Light of men.
(Still is.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ezekiel 37 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ezekiel 33 yesterday to Ezekiel 37 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” – If we crave to be loved by people, our walk with Christ is crippled from the start.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is “He Who Is and Who Was and Who Is to Come” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The NT is irrefutable evidence that… (0:09)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: Luke 19:45-46 Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” – While we’re on this earth, we’re either constantly thanking God for the things He’s given us or else constantly stealing from Him.
***
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
John 1:4 In Him was life…
(Whoever finds Jesus, finds life.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ezekiel 33 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ezekiel 18 yesterday to Ezekiel 33 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Zechariah 6:12 “Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.” – The prophet Zechariah lived in the late 7th, early 6th centuries. This prophecy of his refers to, of course, Jesus…who, as the Branch, became a vine with branches of His own: John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches…” (This transition is fulfillment of John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “…as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Psalm 68:20 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The NT is either the truth or else it’s a pack of lies! (0:52)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Here is a video version (1 min, 43 seconds) of the news I mentioned in this space yesterday about this year’s increase in Bible sales.
***
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying,“I am the Light of the world…”
(John 7:46 The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ezekiel 18 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ezekiel 2 and 3 yesterday to Ezekiel 18 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 John 2:17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. – Notice how similarly John and Peter think: 1 Peter 4:2 …live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Lord of Hosts – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Viewing the NT from a Strictly Human Point of View (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Sales of Bibles Are Booming, Fueled by First-Time Buyers and New Versions (The original article appeared in the Wall Street Journal but sits behind their paywall, but this linked article will give you the gist of the original.) We can hope that it’s first-time buyers that are the primary cause of the increased sales.
***
Monday, December 9, 2024
Acts 26:18 “…open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God…”
(Jesus Christ came to give us reason to lift our spiritual eyelids from the closed position.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ezekiel 2+3 – written / audio + audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:17 “This I command you, that you love one another.” – “Slow down, coach, you’re going too fast!” (What wide receiver Max McGee said in response to Coach Vince Lombardi’s first point in a refresher course in football basics, which was to hold up a football in front of the team and say, “Gentlemen, this is a football!”)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Revelation 19:13 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Reading the NT as the Word of Men about a Man (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: Revelation 5:8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. – Our prayers count for something.
***
Sunday, December 8, 2024
John 1:9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
(He’s not light for some of us – He’s light for all of us.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ezekiel 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Lamentations 1 yesterday to Ezekiel 1 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Zechariah 3:8 ‘Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you–indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.’ – Jesus is the branch who became a tree and made us His branches.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Creator – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The New Testament Was/Wasn’t Written for Us (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: Luke 23:34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”… (If He could pray this way on a cross, we can pray this way anytime anywhere.)
***
Saturday, December 7, 2024
1 Peter 2:9 …proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light;
(“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen:
not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
– C.S. Lewis)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Lamentations 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Jeremiah 31 yesterday to Lamentations 1 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – That’s unlimited mulligans!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Hebrews 2:9-10 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Less Is More? (1:01)
- Weekly Video: Everyone Is Going to Heaven: 3) Sheol/Hades (15:06)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Muhammad overtakes Noah as most popular boy’s name (in England and Wales) per the BBC.
***
Friday, December 6, 2024
Mark 11:22 And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.”
(It made sense when Jesus said this as a man;
it makes even more sense now that we know He is God.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 31 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Jeremiah 23 yesterday to Jeremiah 31 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” – In other words, we are His enemies if we do not do what He commands us.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Visitation of God – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Love and Marriage (0:48)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): “In the 1990s, weed was illegal nationally and in every state…Three decades later, it’s legal for recreational adult use in nearly half of the 50 states.” (Source: How weed won over America – per Vox)
***
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Hebrews 11:6 …without faith it is impossible to please Him…
(I’ve wasted way too much of my life trying to please Him some other way.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 23 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Jeremiah 18 yesterday to Jeremiah 23 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, as for the proud one, / His soul is not right within him; / But the righteous will live by his faith. – Faith is humble.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Life Is a Learning Curve (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Mark Noll, perhaps the most heralded historian of Christianity in America, wrote the book In the Beginning Was the Word: The Bible in American Public Life, 1492-1783. He also wrote America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911. I wrote him an email asking if and when he was going to write a third volume that would cover the time from 1912 to the present. He responded, “No, there will not be a Vol. III. It strikes me that the way that the Bible was involved in many dimensions of public life up to the early 20th century–while of course being important for personal and corporate religious life–simply has not been the case since then.” Alas, this answer itself speaks volumes…and is itself a sign of the times. It is a time to grieve and pray.
***
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still fleshly.
For since there is jealousy and strife among you,
are you not fleshly,
and are you not walking like mere men?
(We must decide whether or not Paul’s indictment of the believers in Corinth applies to us as well…and act accordingly.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 18 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 2 Peter 3:18 …grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. – These are Simon Peter’s last words before leaving this earthly life.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Scepter – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Liars and Lying (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Abortion devalues human life at its beginning; euthanasia devalues it at the end. Both abortion and euthanasia proceed from a spirit of murder. That’s why a society that normalizes and then legalizes one of these practices will always in due time normalize and then legalize the other. Consider that what our mother country is in the process of doing is headed our way. (“British lawmakers give initial support to assisted dying bill” – Reuters)
***
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist…
(Ever since the Second Coming, there is no being outside of Jesus;
but there is being dull to His presence.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 17 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Jeremiah 13 yesterday to Jeremiah 17 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” – If you’ve given your life, what’s left to give?
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Romans 6:8-11 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Let Us Turn Back to Jesus Christ and the Bible (0:54)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): “The legitimation of same-sex marriage and transgenderism are fundamental markers of a post-Christian society.” – Rod Dreher
***
Monday, December 2, 2024
John 11:25 Jesus said…“I am the resurrection and the life…”
(He is…life itself!)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 13 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Jeremiah 10 yesterday to Jeremiah 13 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; / And what does the LORD require of you / But to do justice, to love kindness, / And to walk humbly with your God? – He has not only told us, He has shown us! He showed us when He came down from heaven to become a human being and keep His own commandments.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as Our Sabbath – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Let Christ Be the Cornerstone of Consciousness (0:42)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): We Americans think of America as she was, but most of the world today thinks of America as she is. A nation is like a person: that is, there is no standing still before the Lord; there is only drawing closer to Him or falling farther away. You can’t control the nation, but you can control yourself…but only with His help. With that help, stay on the path of drawing closer to Christ every day.
***
Sunday, December 1, 2024
2 Kings 20:3 “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth
and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.”…
(If we say this to Him, we sure don’t want Him thinking, “Actually, I don’t remember that.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Jeremiah 7 yesterday to Jeremiah 10 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. – Peter was not speaking theoretically.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Acts 17:16-18 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Make Room for God (0:51)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and 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, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (I used to pray this prayer for America, but I continue to pray it for Americans.)
***
Saturday, November 30, 2024
Luke 18:42 “…your faith has made you well.”
(Our level of conviction about unseen things can affect our physical well-being!)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Jeremiah 1 yesterday to Jeremiah 7 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” – That’s a pretty tall order! But entirely within reason.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Reigning One – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Teacher Is Here and Is Calling for You (John 11:28) (0:59)
- Weekly Video: Everyone Is Going to Heaven: 2) Heaven (14:45)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: 1 Timothy 2:8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.
***
Friday, November 29, 2024
Luke 18:8 “…when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
(He didn’t find much of it back then; how much is He finding now…specifically, at your house and mine?)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Jeremiah 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Micah 5:4 And He will arise and shepherd His flock / In the strength of the LORD, / In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. / And they will remain, / Because at that time He will be great / To the ends of the earth. – Because Jesus was the focus on this prophecy, He would one day say: John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 3:36 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Support Your Local Priesthood (1:01)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Ever since November 6, every YouTube video referencing the election has this statement plastered at the head of its written description: “AP has called the race.” Funny, but I don’t recall AP being mentioned in the US Constitution. Nevertheless, this is apparently the definitive word on the subject. This is yet another sign, among many, that we live in a post-constitutional republic governed by rules that are established and enforced by undemocratic institutions. Let us seek the Lord more than ever because we’re going to need Him more than ever.
***
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Thanksgiving Day
Luke 16:15 “…that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”
(The greatest tragedy of Pete Rose’s life wasn’t that he bet on baseball but that he sought membership in the wrong hall of fame.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 66 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 Peter 4:2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. – In other words: 2 Corinthians 5:15 …He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Ointment – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Suffering and Glory (0:56)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): No matter how good we may feel about American political events in the last two weeks, and we should feel good about them, we must not let that feeling blind us to the reality that God’s righteousness has even less sway over American society today than it did five years ago. I say this because being anti-abortion was a politically competitive position to take in 2020; it is not now. Let that sink in…and pray accordingly.
***
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
(Which are you trying to please?)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 65 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Isaiah 60 yesterday to Isaiah 65 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” – Jesus spoke this knowing He was going to die by crucifixion the next day. This is why Paul wrote of Him as the one “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). That’s a joy that endures and outlasts all suffering.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 1:1-5 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Spirit, Soul, and Body (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,
***
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Proverbs 3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
(The more complex life seems, the more we must remind ourselves how simple it really is for us.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 60 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Isaiah 53 yesterday to Isaiah 60 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, / Too little to be among the clans of Judah, / From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. / His goings forth are from long ago, / From the days of eternity.” – Many people will recognize this verse from hearing it read during Christmas season. In Nativity scenes, it is usually quoted from the Gospel of the apostle Matthew, but if it’s read from Micah, you hear even more. We also hear this something more in the Gospel of the apostle John: John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God. That is, the little babe had a life that started long before He was conceived in Mary’s womb.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Burning Bush – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Primacy of the Soul (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let Us Pray: 1 Timothy 2:1-2 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
***
Monday, November 25, 2024
Hosea 5:15 I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.
(Let us not wait as long as the prodigal son did to go back to the Father’s presence.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 53 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Isaiah 42 yesterday to Isaiah 53 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – His first coming, which was in the flesh, revealed Him to be the Son of God; His second coming, which was in the spirit, revealed Him to be God Himself – Father of all. That’s maximal grace!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Matthew 6:1 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Why are people today so afraid of the word “theocracy”? (0:37)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): I have not seen charts on this, but it is my observation that throughout my lifetime, as support for abortion has increased in our country, support for the death penalty has decreased. In other words, as punishment of the innocent has increased, punishment of the guilty has decreased. This is moral insanity and a negative sign about our future as a nation.
***
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Ezekiel 11:5 …’Thus says the LORD, “…I know your thoughts.”
(We speak our prayers aloud to focus our minds – not His.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 42 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Isaiah 40 yesterday to Isaiah 42 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” – It doesn’t sound like He’s holding anything back.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Temple of God – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Sin and Death (0:55)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): At America’s founding, rights were considered to be granted by God, held by citizens, and unalienable. Nowadays, rights are considered to be granted by government, held by anyone to whom the government chooses to grant them, and alienable at the government’s discretion. That’s no small change!
***
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Isaiah 3:8 …their speech and their actions are against the LORD,
To rebel against His glorious presence.
(We “rebel against His presence” when we think and act like He’s not there.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 40 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Isaiah 28 yesterday to Isaiah 40 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Micah 2:13 “The breaker goes up before them; / They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. / So their king goes on before them, / And the LORD at their head.” – The prophet Micah lived roughly 740-670 BC. Here he prophesies of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus broke out of Sheol (Hades) at His resurrection; the dead followed Him out at His Second Coming.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Proverbs 4:18 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Treasure Map Is Not the Treasure (1:00)
- Weekly Video: Everyone Is Going to Heaven: 1) Everyone (14:24)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): We’re no longer operating the country based on the Constitution when we’ve lost the first part of the first amendment: freedom of religion. And indeed we have lost this right because the words “freedom of religion” have come to mean “freedom from religion.” In other words, the phrase has come to mean THE EXACT OPPOSITE of its original meaning! It’s hard to believe, but impossible to deny. One way we can know this is so is that cakebaker Jack Phillips and florist Barronelle Stutzman wouldn’t have been in litigation for years if they had freedom of religion. Thus America’s current adherence to its Constitution is selective…at best.
***
Friday, November 22, 2024
Psalm 44:21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
(What in the world do we think we’re going to keep from God?)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 28 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Isaiah 22 yesterday to Isaiah 28 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: James 4:12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy… – Jesus.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ is the Tabernacle – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The One True Man Is the One True God (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): The first right granted in the US Constitution – more precisely, the Bill of Rights – is not the freedom of speech, but rather the freedom of religion. And what current advocates of free speech are saying about the freedom of speech – that it is the right from which all other rights flow – is even more true of freedom of religion. That is, even the freedom of speech itself flows from the freedom of religion. Therefore, if you strike down the foundation that is freedom of religion, all the other rights in the Bill of Rights fall away.
***
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Why do we EVER think or act like the Lord can’t see us?
(Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 22 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Isaiah 11 yesterday to Isaiah 22 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” – To achieve this state – abiding in Him – all you have to do is live for Him instead of for your self. This is simple, but not easy. What’s easy is living for yourself. It’s easy because it’s what you’ve been doing since the day you were born…without even thinking about it or choosing to do so. It’s called narcissism, and it’s the way we all came into the world. To reverse that course is simple, but hard. Most people, even of those who attempt it, fail to achieve it. But it is within your grasp.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Psalm 117 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: BC or BCE? (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Most Americans who advocate for free speech these days say that it is the first right granted us in the Constitution, specifically in the Bill of Rights, and that it comes first because it is the foundation of all our other rights. But does freedom of speech come first? No. Something else comes before it.
***
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Revelation 2:23 …I am He who searches the minds and hearts…
(That’s Jesus talking.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 11 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Obadiah 1:15 “For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.” – The book of the prophet Obadiah is the shortest of all the books in the Old Testament: one chapter consisting of just 21 verses. But Obadiah packs a wallop in verse 15. God judges us according to the way we have judged others. And, by the way, the day of the Lord is the day in which we live…so beware of how you judge others.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ is the Sunrise – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Why Do They Call This the 21st Century? (0:56)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): I said the day before yesterday that this is an age of mendacity…and indeed it is. Lies abound…so much so that you can save time by assuming that any person who is talking is lying until he proves otherwise. Alas, wishing this weren’t so won’t make it not so.
***
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Psalm 105:4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
(God is willing to show His face – don’t make Him turn away.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. – Secularism is a rejection of this precept.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Samuel 14:14 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Happy Wife, Happy Life (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Yesterday I wrote in this space that we are living in an age of narcissism. What do I mean by that? John Rosemond is a syndicated columnist, public speaker, and author on parenting. Here’s his explanation of how a toddler thinks: “1) What I want, I deserve to have. 2) Because I deserve what I want, the ends justify the means. 3) No one has a right to deny me or stand in my way. 4) The only valid rules are those I make. 5) The rules, even the ones that I make, do not apply to me.” We now live in a society in which a significant percentage of adults still think in this way. That’s what makes it an age of narcissism – which is, simply, love of self. It’s toxic…and it seems to be everywhere. Thus it’s reasonable – and very sad – to say we are living in an age of narcissism.
***
Monday, November 18, 2024
1 Kings 10:8 “…how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually
and hear your wisdom.
(If we stand before Him when no one’s looking, we’ll find the courage to stand before Him when everyone’s looking.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” – What soothing words…especially coming from Him!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Signal – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: XL (1:01)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Ours is an age of narcissism. It is also an age of mendacity. These twin evils are a result of our nation turning its back on Jesus Christ and the Bible. Only by turning back to Him can we give our children and grandchildren a hope.
***
Sunday, November 17, 2024
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(There is a spiritual fountain of youth…and this passage explains how it works.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. – In the 8th century BC, the prophet Isaiah spoke for the Lord, using a description of Israel’s past to foretell something about Messiah’s future. In other words, Hosea 11:1 was fulfilled in Matthew 2:14-15 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Revelation 3:19 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: X (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Why are social media companies free to serve only those they want to serve but florists and cake bakers are not?
***
Saturday, November 16, 2024
2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight–
(This would have been the perfect thing for Adam and Eve to say in response to Satan’s temptation.
We have something those two did not have: documentation of God’s instructions.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. – Given the context, when James writes “the word” he obviously means “the word of God.” For “the word” you can, therefore, substitute “the Bible” or “the red letters” or “Jesus Himself” or “a word you received by the Holy Spirit.” Any of these work because they are all the word of God.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Perfecter – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Visitation (0:58)
- Weekly Video: Psalm 110:1 (14:21)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Why does our government have the power to monitor, censor, and control social media in ways that were never allowed for the telegraph or telephone?
***
Friday, November 15, 2024
Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…
(These are the eyes with which we see the Lord.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” – “If” is such a little word, but it’s always the most important word of any sentence that includes it.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Peter 1:16 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Unbelief Spoils Everything (0:56)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in American History: Andrew Johnson, the man who became president in 1865 when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, once said, “Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let us gather around it and inscribed for our motto: ‘Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever,’ and exclaim, Christ first, our country next.” (Source: America’s God and Country by William J. Federer) Why has so much about devotion to Christ in our nation’s history been kept out of our sight?
***
Thursday, November 14, 2024
“Are you living in an old man’s rubble?”
(Romans 6:6 …our old self was crucified with Him…)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Daniel 12:3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” – Daniel, six centuries before the New Testament books would be written, prophesies of the greatest generation of them all.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Feast – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Prophets Were Sent from Heaven; the Apostles, from Earth…and Heaven! (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Last Friday and Saturday (Nov 8 and 9) in this space, I recommended an important article about the effects of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) industry on the family. If you tried to read it, you know that I telling the truth when I said it was difficult to read. Here is a summary of it by Rod Dreher that is slightly less difficult.
***
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Remembering that Jesus sees us causes good thoughts to spring up in our souls.
Genesis 16:14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi…
(“Beer-lahai-roi” is Hebrew for “the well of the living one who sees me”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. – This wonderful promise speaks to a lack with which every conscientious parent is all too familiar.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Hebrews 2:1-4– a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Priming the Pump (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): The coarsening of American life since the 1950’s can be demonstrated by the fact that the expression “adult subject matter” when applied to movies or television used to mean subjects that children wouldn’t enjoy or appreciate, but has now come to mean things that even adults shouldn’t be enjoying or appreciating.
***
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
What are you thinking about?
(Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” – This verse brings another to mind: John 7:46 The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Physician – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Practicing Christianity in the Eternal Age (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10; 1 Chr 12:32): Journalist Michael Shellenberger recently said, “Global totalitarianism wasn’t possible before the Internet. Today, information flows through a small number of big corporations that governments can control.” He’s forgetting the tower of Babel, but he’s right about everything else. We cannot afford to forget Babel, however, because it tells us that God is not going to let global totalitarianism stand. However long it might take, we need to be unsurprised when judgment comes. It could be messy.
***
Monday, November 11, 2024
Veterans Day
Let us walk before God today.
(Romans 14:22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God…)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him, and to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” – The prophet Daniel lived in the 6th century BC. When Daniel wrote “…He came up to…” he was prophesying the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and His ascension into heaven 40 days later.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Timothy 3:12 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Pharisees and Sadducees of Today (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Let us pray: Thank you, Lord, for the veterans “who more than self, their country loved, and mercy more than life” (from the first stanza of “America the Beautiful”). Without them, where would we Americans be?
***
Sunday, November 10, 2024
Seek approval from heaven, not from earth.
(Colossians 3:1 …keep seeking the things above, where Christ is…)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Isaiah 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ecclesiastes 12 yesterday to Isaiah 1 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hebrews 13:20-21 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. – Lots to chew on here. One thing: Moses worked on the outward behavior of Israelites, but Jesus works on the inward thought patterns of us all.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Pearl of Great Price – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Patriarchy Is from God but Slavery Is from Man (0:54)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter did a lot for free speech, but it did not and could not end the government censorship that is still being imposed in a wide variety of ways. For example, Christian Realtor Persecuted For ‘Hate Speech’ After Posting Bible Verses On Facebook.
***
Saturday, November 9, 2024
The time to think about invisible realities is now.
(Romans 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ecclesiastes 12 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ecclesiastes 9 yesterday to Ecclesiastes 12 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – It’s an indictment of humanity that all it takes to make you stick out in a crowd is being a practicing student of Jesus.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Romans 15:4 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The King’s Man Must Be about the King’s Business (0:56)
- Weekly Video: The Pivotal Verse of the Pivotal Chapter of the Pivotal Book of the New Testament – Part 5 of 5 (15:09)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): (I’m repeating in this space what I wrote yesterday. If you did not read this article yesterday, please take a look at it today. And don’t be put off if you find it difficult to read. Even if you only understand a fraction of what you read, you’ll be better off knowing more about transhumanism – and this article only deals with part of it. We have to put limits on what technology is doing to our lives.) This linked article is difficult to read, but I view it as one of the most important articles I’ve read in the last year. It’s about the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) industry and what’s going on in this field is, to say the least, sobering. The facts revealed in this essay make it difficult to read, but it’s also written by a lawyer – a very smart one who uses big words. That adds to the difficulty of reading. I was first sensitized to this subject matter a few years ago; and I’m appreciative of this current perspective. I should also tell you in advance that the essay is more deeply spiritual and biblical than it may seem while you’re reading it. And however much you appreciate family, you’ll appreciate it even more after reading it: ”Machine Antihumanism and the Inversion of Family Law by Jeff Shafer”
***
Friday, November 8, 2024
Jesus sees everything.
(Zechariah 4:10 “…the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ecclesiastes 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ecclesiastes 3 yesterday to Ecclesiastes 9 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Ezekiel 37:24 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.” – Ezekiel was one of the priests taken captive in the exile of Jerusalem to Babylon in the 6th century. Thus this messianic prophecy was a real long shot. (David’s name is being invoked in this way because he was a type of the Messiah to come – and God had also said that David would be an ancestor of Messiah just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were designated as ancestors of Messiah.)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ the Rabbi – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Joining Jesus (0:56)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): This linked article is difficult to read, but I view it as one of the most important articles I’ve read in the last year. It’s about the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) industry and what’s going on in this field is, to say the least, troubling. The facts revealed in this essay make it difficult to read, but it’s also written by a lawyer – a very smart one who uses big words. That adds to the difficulty of reading. I was first sensitized to this subject matter a few years ago; and I’m appreciative of this current perspective. I should also tell you in advance that the essay is more deeply spiritual and biblical than it may seem while you’re reading it. And however much you appreciate family, you’ll appreciate it even more after reading it: ”Machine Antihumanism and the Inversion of Family Law by Jeff Shafer”
***
Thursday, November 7, 2024
We’re on trial…and our Father the Judge is watching.
(Jeremiah 29:23 “…I am He who knows and am a witness,” declares the LORD’.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ecclesiastes 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Ecclesiastes 1 yesterday to Ecclesiastes 3 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hebrew 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. – He always was. He always is. And He always will be.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Acts 26:22-23 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Jesus Christ and the Bible (0:55)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): An initial report showed that increased abortion rights prevailed in 9 out of 10 state ballot measures. The final accounting indicates it wasn’t quite that bad: 7 out of 10. However, even where abortion didn’t prevail, it still showed itself a politically strong issue. For example, votes for more abortion rights in Florida were 57.1% of ballots cast, but the measure failed because Florida law required 60% approval. Election 2024: Here’s how states voted on abortion rights
***
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Somebody’s watching!
(Jeremiah 16:17 “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Ecclesiastes 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” – Take it to heart.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ, the High Priest – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Jesus Is All of God (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): What’s quoted below comes from Helen Keller (1880-1968). I can’t say that I understand exactly what she’s driving at, but the quote does help demonstrate that references to the Bible in public discourse were not as uncommon in America’s past as they are in America’s present. (Source: America’s God and Country by William J. Federer)
“Just as all things upon earth represent and image forth all the realities of another world, so the Bible is one mighty representative of the whole spiritual life of humanity.”
***
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
In one sense, there is no such thing as “a forgotten man.”
(Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Proverbs 31 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Ezekiel 34:23 “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.” – No wonder Jesus said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life…” (John 6:54)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 7:37-39 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Jesus Made Difficult Statements (0:54)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) spoke the following words in a speech he gave a couple of years before he witnessed the battle of Fort McHenry in Baltimore – the experience that inspired him to write the words to our national anthem. (Source: America’s God and Country by William J. Federer)
“The patriot who feels himself in the service of God , who acknowledges Him in all his ways, has the promise of Almighty direction, and will find His word in his greatest darkness, ‘a lantern to his feet and a lamp unto his paths.’ He will therefore seek to establish for his country in the eyes of the world, such a character as shall make her not unworthy of the name of a Christian nation…”
***
Monday, November 4, 2024
Our eyes are on You, Lord Jesus!
(2 Chronicles 20:12 “…our eyes are on You.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Proverbs 30 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Proverbs 10 yesterday to Proverbs 30 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – The “great…cloud of witnesses” refers to all the heroes of faith Paul had cataloged in the previous chapter of this letter – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, and so on. They are in the stands and we are on the field. They had their time; this is our time. Let’s give them something to cheer about!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the First Fruits – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Accusations Against Jesus (0:54)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): I asked Google “Was the birth control pill supposed to eliminate unwanted pregnancies?” Here’s the answer their AI gave me: “Yes, the birth control pill was specifically designed and intended to eliminate unwanted pregnancies…, allowing women greater control over their reproductive health and family planning.” Hmm. So all this demand for abortion rights is not really about allowing women greater control over their reproductive health” because the pill already gave them that. It’s about guaranteeing women the benefits of the pill without having to take it.
***
Sunday, November 3, 2024
When you fix the eyes of your heart on Jesus, don’t doubt what you’re seeing.
(Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Proverbs 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Proverbs 8 yesterday to Proverbs 10 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 13:13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.” – Jesus doesn’t just tell us what to do (lord); He explains why and how we should do it (teacher).
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Luke 10:38-42 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Indeed, Has God Said…? (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Our government is telling the rest of the world that these are the things modern America stands for. If you were a citizen of a foreign nation, would you respect what America has become? What kind of future can such a nation have, given that God judges the nations?
***
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Be sure to open your eyes today…so that you can fix them on Someone.
(Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus…)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Proverbs 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Proverbs 3 yesterday to Proverbs 8 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Jeremiah 33:15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. – Six centuries in advance, God made this announcement that He was going to be opening a branch office on earth (Jesus of Nazareth).
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Seer – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: If You Can’t Acknowledge Jesus as a Man, How…as God? (0:52)
- Weekly Video: The Pivotal Verse of the Pivotal Chapter of the Pivotal Book of the New Testament – Part 4 of 5 (14:36)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): The miracles Jesus did were called “signs” in the Gospel of John because they were signs of the times – the times of the greatest human being who ever lived. Thus did God intend to call the attention of every succeeding human generation to the utterly unique life He lived.
***
Friday, November 1, 2024
Why do we think and act like the Lord’s not watching?
(Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight,
but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Proverbs 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Proverbs 1 yesterday to Proverbs 3 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. – God wants to be trusted. Is He asking too much?
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:17-19 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: These Truths Are Biblically and Logically Evident (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): George Washington (1732-1799), 1st president of the United States, said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” Well, at least now we know why we’re not being rightly governed.
***
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Reformation Day
The Longhorns have the eyes of Texas upon them,
but we’re being watched by eyes much greater than that!
(2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD
move to and fro throughout the earth
that He may strongly support
those whose heart is completely His…”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Proverbs 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 139 yesterday to Proverbs 1 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 13:8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” – Jesus is not here just to tell us what to do; He’s also here to forgive us and clean us up when we don’t.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is our Refuge – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: We Know God through Christ, and Christ through History (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Happy Reformation Day! Let us honor the memory of our ancestors in the faith – including Martin Luther and other leaders of the Reformation – who paid a heavy price that we might be able to have a copy of the Bible in our homes and read it for ourselves.
***
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Walking in the spirit is acknowledging reality.
(Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him…)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 139 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 131 yesterday to Psalm 139 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, – The prophet Jeremiah lived from around 650 to 570 BC. In this verse, he speaks for the Lord about what His visitation to the earth as Jesus of Nazareth in the 1st century AD would achieve – a new covenant with His people which would benefit all mankind for all time!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Psalm 2 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Can God Get Prophecy Right but Not History? (0:53)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Halloween (October 31) is not only much better known by modern Americans than Reformation Day (October 31), it is being more aggressively promoted than Reformation Day. For example, consider this article: The most ‘Halloween-obsessed’ states in the country, according to a new ranking. By contrast, I’m not aware of any modern Americans who are “obsessed” about Reformation Day. (Present company excluded.)
***
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
There should be One above all others that you are trying to please.
(Genesis 17:1 …”…Walk before Me, and be blameless.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 131 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 119 yesterday to Psalm 131 today.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. – This verse primarily speaks of the conviction we have that Jesus of Nazareth is the resurrected and ascended Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world…as the first lines of the next chapter in Hebrews make clear.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Exodus – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Jesus Has Left Us All That He Had (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): It says something about America’s spiritual history that October 31 was known as Reformation Day in the 17th-century, but is known as Halloween in the 21st. It is also telling that the former is associated with day while the latter is associated with night. That’s what Jesus means by “signs of the times” – physical realities we can behold that “say something” about current spiritual realities – that is, that are “telling” us what is going on behind the scenes in the spiritual dimension.
***
Monday, October 28, 2024
Behold Jesus with the eyes of faith…and you’ll find the power to not sin in the moment.
(John 1:29 …”Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 119:145-176 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. Because Psalm 119 is important and long, I’m breaking it up into smaller portions for our daily reading.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” – Everyone is going to heaven. Resistance may work for a while…but ultimately it’s futile.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Psalm 1 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Son of God Is My God (0:53)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Here are a couple of responses Google gave me relevant to Reformation Day (October 31)…and the other holiday that is celebrated on that same date. (Of course, Google can’t always be counted on to tell the truth, but this is one of those cases where they see no downside for themselves in being truthful.)
- Query: Was Halloween celebrated in colonial America? AI Response: No, Halloween was not celebrated in colonial America…Puritans in New England did not celebrate Halloween because they believed it had pagan roots…Halloween became popular in the United States in the 19th century, thanks to Irish and Scottish immigrants who brought their own traditions with them…
- Query: Was Reformation Day celebrated in colonial America? AI Response: Yes, the Protestant Reformation indirectly influenced the early settlement of colonial America, and Reformation Day has been celebrated intermittently since the late 16th century…The Protestant Reformation created social, religious, and geopolitical forces that led English colonists, migrants, and explorers to North America…Reformation Day is celebrated on October 31 to commemorate the day Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517…
***
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Thomas thought “seeing is believing,” but the Bible teaches “believing is seeing.”
(Hebrews 11:27 By faith…seeing Him who is unseen.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 119:113-144 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. Because Psalm 119 is important and long, I’m breaking it up into smaller portions for our daily reading.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Jeremiah 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.” – Jeremiah prophesies Jesus – the king of the kingdom of God. He reigns to this day – and will reign forevermore!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as “the Child” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Heir (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Further to the point of Reformation Day (October 31), many authorities tried to censor the writings of Reformation preachers like Martin Luther. But not to much avail because the people were so hungry for truth. I wrote yesterday that the current level of censorship on the Internet and social media was “for sure not going to stay the same” – that it would either increase or decrease in the near term. This is because the status quo is considered untenable by both sides. Those being censored are speaking out more and more about that censorship, while those who are censoring think they have not been censoring enough. In the short term, one side or the other is going to prevail – and that will lead to escalation of the tension…until America either reverts to free speech and its First Amendment rights, or else fully embraces the concepts of hate speech, misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation which, of course, suppress free speech. How hungry for truth are people today? We are about to find out. You can have free speech without the truth, but you can’t have the truth without free speech.
***
Saturday, October 26, 2024
May you be like the prodigal son today!
(Luke 15:32 “…was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found’.”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 119:81-112 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. Because Psalm 119 is important and long, we’re breaking it up into smaller portions for our daily reading.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. – Don’t shrink back – be a valiant man! Like David, run straight at the giant and take him down!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Revelation 2:4-5 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Greatest Generation of All (0:58)
- Weekly Video: The Pivotal Verse of the Pivotal Chapter of the Pivotal Book of the New Testament – Part 3 of 5 (14:39)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Further to the point of Reformation Day (October 31), it was the invention of the printing press in the 15th century that allowed the Reformation to ignite so explosively in the 16th century. And it was again the printing press – largely through pamphlets – that paved the way for, and sustained, the American Revolution. In the 21st-century we have the internet and social media – which is like the printing press on steroids. However, these modern communication channels are currently being throttled by government forces both in America and abroad when it comes to the cause of righteousness. In other words, lots of censorship. It remains to be seen whether that censorship is going to increase or decrease in the near term. It is for sure not going to stay the same. (I’ll explain tomorrow why I say this.) In the long term, know for certain that the word of Christ and His righteous cause will be heard…one way or another.
***
Friday, October 25, 2024
We can live to sin or live to serve – there is no other option.
(Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 119:49-80 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. Because Psalm 119 is important and long, we’re breaking it up into smaller portions for our daily reading.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” – I do.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Ark of Noah – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Son of God Is Our God (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Further to the point of Reformation Day (October 31), England responded to the Reformation by nationalizing the Roman Catholic Church within its borders and renaming it the Church of England. When England established 13 colonies in North America, slightly over half of them had their own established church, and all 13 had some form of state-supported religion (Source: ProCon Britannica.org), but America’s founders agreed that there was to be no established church for the nation as a whole. That way, Protestants could avoid fighting with each other and, instead live according to what they all had in common: Jesus Christ and the Bible. Clearly, it was freedom of religion the first Americans were seeking, not freedom from religion. The full tide of secularism we now see in 21st-century America, including an increasing militancy against religion, is something the founders never saw coming.
***
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Why should we go back to living as if we have not been born again?
(1 Peter 1:23 for you have been born again…)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 119:17-48 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. Because Psalm 119 is important and long, we’re breaking it up into smaller portions for our daily reading.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. – Jeremiah knew what was coming because he knew who was coming.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Peter 3:1-2 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Jesus Christ Is God 2.0 (0:57)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Further to the point of Reformation Day (October 31), I want to make a finer point about the Protestant Reformation’s long-term disintegration of the organized church into home “churches.” It’s not that families disagree about what they believe as denominations did…and do. It’s about returning creation to first principles. That is, in the beginning God established family – not the church. If ancient Israel was a temporary institution, how much more the ancient church was to be a temporary institution. I’m not saying that Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the other 16th-century reformers knew where the spirit of the Protestant Reformation would eventually lead – but we can surely see that end today. Hard as it may be to believe at times, Christ came to give us a chance to make the family home like Eden. On this cursed earth, we can’t achieve that permanently – no more than we as individuals will ever achieve Jesus’ sustained level of righteousness. But both in the case of the individual and the family, daily shooting for the goal will make us better than we were.
***
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Live your new life in Christ – not your old one, which was in yourself.
(John 3:7 …’You must be born again.’)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Apostles (NT):
- The Prophets (OT):
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 119:1-16 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. Because Psalm 119 is important and long, we’re breaking it up into smaller portions for our daily reading.)
Extras
- Messianic Verse of the Day: Hebrews 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. – In this verse, Paul is reminding his fellow Jewish believers in Christ that – according to the promises of God in the Old Testament – Jesus the Christ (Messiah) has brought Jews a new and better covenant than the one instituted by Moses. One thing that makes the new covenant better than the old is that the new promises apply to Gentiles as well as Jews, whereas the old covenant applied to Jews only.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Ark of the Covenant – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: God Is Dead – Long Live Christ! (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Further to the point of Reformation Day (October 31), Martin Luther taking his stand on the word of God was only the beginning of the Reformation. When the organized church had split in the 11th century, it split in two – East (the Eastern Orthodox Church) and West (the Roman Catholic Church). But the Protestant Reformation, which came 500 years later in the 16th century, was a splintering that led, not to a third denomination, but to many denominations. Some say the number of these denominations is currently over 30,000. But this is not a bad thing, for the best and ultimate fulfillment of the Protestant Reformation is to continue the splitting until all families homechurch – the father and mother teaching Jesus Christ and the Bible to their children not once a week but every day. This will complete the Reformation and set the stage for an even greater move of God.
***
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Abide in Christ today!
(John 15:4 “Abide in Me, and I in you…”)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 28 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalms 117 and 118 – written / audio and audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 115 yesterday to Psalms 117 and 118 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,” – As a dog knows its owner, so we know the Lord. And as a dog understands its owner, so we understand the Lord. In other words, there’s probably as big a gap between my mind and God’s as between my dog’s mind and mine. But that’s okay with me because I’m just glad my owner is home and willing to teach me to fetch. (I like the treats.)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Hebrews 1:1-2 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: God Is Dead – Long Live God! (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): As for Reformation Day (October 31), 21st-century Evangelicalism claims lineage to the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. But similarities between the two movements are becoming harder and harder to find. For one thing, the Reformers were all about trying to reforming their churches in an attempt to make them more like the ones in the Bible. Evangelicals, on the other hand, look more to business books than to the Bible when they want to improve their churches. I should know because I was an Evangelical pastor. The principles of the Protestant Reformation, if followed closely enough, will lead away from church and to the kingdom of God. I should know because that’s how I got to where I am now – encouraging men to forget church and instead to lead their families with the Bible in their homes.
***
Monday, October 21, 2024
Be alive to God today!
(Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.)
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 27 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 115 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 110 yesterday to Psalm 115 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. – “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Revelation – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Read a Bible You Can Understand (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): As for Reformation Day, which is October 31, one of the chief hallmarks of the Protestant Reformation (16th century) was its emphasis on the Bible. This distinction was on full display for everyone to see because an altar was the chief piece of furniture in Roman Catholic churches while a pulpit was the chief piece of furniture in Protestant churches. Although the printing press was invented in the 15th century and this enabled the Protestant Reformation, Bibles were still not cheap enough for every family to have one at home, and literacy rates were still relatively low. Of course, that would quickly change over the centuries that followed. Certainly today, no one has to go to a church to learn what the Bible says. But if the reformers hadn’t done what they did in the 16th century, we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing in the 21st.
***
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 26 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 110 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Hebrews 5:9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, – This is why it is right to call Jesus both “Lord” (“obey”) and “Savior” (“salvation”). The more we obey, the more salvation we experience.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Philippians 3:14 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Dust Off Your Family Bible (0:56)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): When I was a kid in the 1950’s, Halloween was for kids. In the 1970’s, adults began getting in on it; nowadays, 70% of adults celebrate it in one way or another. Halloween was always a bad idea, but it got worse with adult involvement. My suggestion is to find a way to give your kids candy without selling your soul to the spirit of the age – and teach them about Reformation Day, and why the Protestant Reformation is important to both American history and our current spiritual health. For one thing, the Reformation paved the way for parents to be able to teach their children about Jesus from the Bible in their homes.
***
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 25 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 109 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 103 yesterday to Psalm 109 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” – This is why a man lays down his life for his family – that is, his wife and children.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Most High – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Actualize the Lordship of Christ (0:58)
- Weekly Video: The Pivotal Verse of the Pivotal Chapter of the Pivotal Book of the New Testament – Part 2 of 5 (14:49)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Further to my recent references to Reformation Day (coming up on October 31), what does the Protestant Reformation have to do with the founding of America?
***
Friday, October 18, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 24 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 103 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; – About eight centuries after the prophet Isaiah wrote these words, a man would stand up in Nazareth’s synagogue, read these words from a scroll to the assembled congregation, and then say, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Holy Spirit Is for Holy Living (0:55)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Here’s some historical background on Reformation Day (October 31).(Just because current American society has little interest in the Protestant Reformation’s impact on history doesn’t mean that every single American has to be ignorant of it.)
***
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 23 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 102 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 91 yesterday to Psalm 102 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. – What an invitation! When I was in business, clout was always determined by who would take your call.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Lord of the Harvest – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: A Purpose of the Bible Is to Make Us Sure of the Holy Spirit (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Martin Luther (1483-1546) was not a Lutheran. He was a Roman Catholic priest who was excommunicated in 1521 when he insisted that the Bible had more authority than any human being – himself included. The term “Lutheran” was originally a slur against him and his followers; he himself disliked the term. The central theme of Luther’s preaching was the importance of individual faith in Jesus Christ as declared in the scripture “the righteous will live by faith” (Habak 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 2:20; 3:11; Heb 10:38). I bring this up now because Reformation Day is coming up October 31st – the day designated for commemorating the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and what Martin Luther did to launch it. Unfortunately, our culture has deteriorated to the point that we celebrate something antithetical to the Reformation – and so much so that hardly any of us even thinks of the Reformation on October 31. Yet without the Protestant Reformation, the America we have known could never have been.
***
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 22 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 91 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 89 yesterday to Psalm 91 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 10:9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” – The good Shepherd is more than a shepherd. No one metaphor can convey a complete expression of who He is to us.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Romans 14:17 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Holy Spirit Is Better than Any Other Memory Aid (1:00)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Does America seem more like Jerusalem in the time of David…or more like Sodom in the time of Lot? How then should we live?
***
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 21 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 89 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 85 yesterday to Psalm 89 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Isaiah 55:4 “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.” – This messianic prophecy. Jesus did indeed turn out to be a witness, a leader, and a commander for people – us included, of course.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Lord of All – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Gospel of Jesus Christ Is Worthy of Our Attention! (0:54)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): 1 Chronicles 12:32 Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do… – If we don’t recognize the signs of the times, how will we know what God wants us to do?
***
Monday, October 14, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 20 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Hebrews 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 85 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 82 yesterday to Psalm 85 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. – Therefore, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Acts 3:17-25 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: God Is…and He Is in Christ (0:53)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): Italian Christopher Columbus set his hope on a better trade route to the Indies, but the hope of Spain’s queen was more closely aligned with the greater purpose of God. From the royal commission given to Columbus for his 1492 voyage:
It is hoped that by God’s assistance some of the continents and islands in the ocean will be discovered for the glory of God.
Queen Isabella I of Spain (1451-1504)
***
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 19 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Philemon 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 82 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 78 yesterday to Psalm 82 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 10:7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” – Jesus will expand on this thought a little later in John’s Gospel when He says: John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus was humble…but also honest. No man was ever so humble; neither was any man ever so honest. That’s why people reacted to Him – and still react to Him – in this way: John 7:46 …”Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Breakthrough! – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: God Concealed Himself in Christ That He Might Reveal Himself in Christ (0:53)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Christ in History (since the Bible): When you understand the place Jesus Christ held in the mind of Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), you can better appreciate why there are forces determined to denigrate and even erase the memory of the explorer. From Satan’s point of view, it is simply a means of denigrating or erasing the memory of Jesus Himself.
At a very early age I began to sail upon the ocean. For more than forty years, I have sailed everywhere that people go.
christopher columbus
I prayed to the most merciful Lord about my heart’s great desire and He gave me the spirit and the intelligence for the task: seafaring, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, skill in drafting spherical maps and placing correctly the cities, rivers, mountains and ports. I also studied cosmology, history, chronology and philosophy.
It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me.
(from his book titled book of Prophecies, written about a decade after his first trip to the new world; of course, he was mistaken about the indies, but god had something much bigger in mind than columbus could imagine.)
***
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 18 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Titus 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 78 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 72 yesterday to Psalm 78 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Isaiah 53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. – This is the concluding verse of Isaiah 53 – the Old Testament chapter written in the 8th century BC that reads like a video of Jesus’ death for us on the cross. As someone who would know, the apostle John who was an eyewitness to that crucifixion put it in his 1st century AD Gospel: These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. (John 12:41)
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 17:20 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Glorious Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ Is the Best-Kept Secret in the World (0:46)
- Weekly Video: The Pivotal Verse of the Pivotal Chapter of the Pivotal Book of the New Testament – Part 1 of 5 (13:34)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Here’s another indication that the prophet Isaiah experienced times like ours: Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
***
Friday, October 11, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 17 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Titus 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 72 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 69 yesterday to Psalm 72 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. – Sometimes the Bible uses “the word of God” in its plain and simple sense; other times, it is a title of Jesus – that is, the phrase refers to Jesus as the embodiment or personification of the word of God (as in John 1:1). And then there are occasions where both senses of the term apply.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Altar – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Get Right with God by Getting Right with the Lord Jesus Christ (0:56)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): The prophet Isaiah didn’t have an iPhone but he experienced times like ours: Isaiah 3:12 O My people! Their oppressors are children, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths.
***
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 16 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Titus 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 69 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 9:5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” – Now that He is back in heaven, it is we who follow Him who are that light in the world. This is because we see by faith His light in heaven and that light reflects off of us to the world as reflectors embedded in a highway reflect back the automobile headlights that shine upon them. They cannot see Him for they do not have faith, but they cannot fail to see us because we are right there before their eyes. For Jesus says to His disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14). When we die, our lights also will be extinguished in the world’s eyes – but if we have effectively lit our children with faith in Christ, their lights will continue to bear witness to Him.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Luke 17:20-21 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Family Is the Church, and the Man Is the Pastor (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): It’s a sign of the moral insanity of our times when people care more about the potential extinction of an animal species than they do about a declining human birth rate.
***
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 15 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 68 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 51 yesterday to Psalm 68 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Isaiah 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. – What Isaiah prophesied, Jesus fulfilled: Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as God’s Right Hand Man – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Hey, Man, Where Is Your Family? (1:01)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): A study released this week by George Barna indicates that there are millions upon millions of Americans who call themselves Christians and regularly attend church who probably won’t vote on November 5. What are these people thinking? Not much that has to do with Christ and His concerns. Charlie Kirk has seen the same report and is outraged. There was a time when religion and politics could be kept separate, but no longer. Undeniably, moral issues are on the ballot – deeply moral issues (abortion, sexualization of children, and more). In fact, if abortion is considered the main issue by most voters, experts agree the Democrats would win decisively because that issue drives their voters to the polls more than any other – unless these self-described Christians identified by Barna and exhorted by Kirk were to trouble themselves to stand up for what’s right, in which case the Republicans would win the largest presidential landslide by far in modern American history. Alas, the former is more likely than the latter. For when the unrighteous can be motivated to vote for unrighteousness more easily than the righteous can be motivated to vote for righteousness…then maybe the righteous aren’t really righteous.
***
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 14 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 51 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 45 yesterday to Psalm 51 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Hebrews 4:2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. – The union must be ongoing.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:1-2 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: God Revealed Himself to the World by Clothing Himself with Christ (0:51)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): In 2 Timothy 3:1-4, Paul warns Timothy that “in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” As it was in the last days of ancient Israel, so it is in the last days of modern America. It’s not the end of the world, but things are going to be rough. Cling to Jesus Christ and the Bible; He’ll get you and yours through it.
***
Monday, October 7, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 13 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 45 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 41 yesterday to Psalm 45 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” – “A lunatic, a liar, or Lord?”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Healer – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Why Did Jesus Delay Going to Lazarus? (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): The most recent addition to the US Supreme Court was a woman who was nominated by the president, in part, because, he said, she was a woman…but who herself said at her confirmation hearing that she could not define what a woman was because she was not a biologist. (That was not a one-off; it was a sign of the times…as in Romans 1:22 which reads, “Professing to be wise, they became fools.”)
***
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 12 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 41 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Isaiah 53:10 But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. – Isaiah is here giving us one of those prophetic riddles – like Ps 118:22 where the rejected stone becomes the corner stone. In Is 53:10 the riddle how a crushed one put to grief could see see his offspring and prosper. The answer to both riddles is Messiah’s crucifixion and resurrection.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Genesis 12:1-3 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: What Is Your Primary Point of Reference? (0:59)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Beware of people who invent or redefine words in order to achieve political or religious goals. In Mark 7:1-13, Jesus points out that the Pharisees did this when they used the unbiblical word “Corban” as a way for people to get around the 5th commandment (“Honor your father and your mother”). Modern society is producing way more of these words than the Pharisees did: disinformation, mal-information, diversity, equity, inclusion, hate speech, gender. When Jesus wanted to explain something, He did not create new words – He used words people already knew.
***
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 11 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 40 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 37 yesterday to Psalm 40 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Hebrews 3:12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. – It can happen to any of us. Be on guard! If your faith falls, pick it back up!
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Bread of the Presence – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Your Conscience and God’s Conscience (0:57)
- Weekly Video: Israel and the Church – Ancient and Modern (15:09)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): By eliminating God from consideration, secularism in effect makes human beings the supreme beings. And we wonder why things are going so poorly and people are thinking so strangely.
***
Friday, October 4, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 37 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 35 yesterday to Psalm 37 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” – Why are people today more concerned about the current effects of past physical slavery than the current effects of current spiritual slavery?
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Genesis 11:5 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Conscience and the Word of God (0:60)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): As American society has transitioned from Christianity to secularism, it has replaced its taboos against blasphemy with taboos against “hate speech.” Of course, logic would lead us to consider blasphemy as “hate speech toward God,” but no one thinks of “hate speech” in that way because the thrust of secularism is the elimination of God.
***
Thursday, October 3, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 35 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Isaiah 53:9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. – Roughly eight centuries after Isaiah wrote these words, Jesus of Nazareth would be crucified between two criminals (Matt 27:38), while afterward his dead body would be claimed and buried on the property of a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea. How did Isaiah know?
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Zaphenath-paneah” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: The Limitations of Conscience (0:58)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): 7 signs of cultural suicide from falling Rome. (The article doesn’t mention the Bible, but the Bible affirms the importance of history and exhorts us to learn from it.)
***
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 34 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 31 yesterday to Psalm 34 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: Hebrews 2:3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?… – Good question, don’t you think? The Lord gave Noah the blueprints for the ark…but Noah and his family had to build it and get in it.
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is limited.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 1:13-16 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Calibrating the Conscience (0:45)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): If everyone is going to heaven, why on earth should rape call for the death penalty? According to that logic, there should be no punishment for any crime – and that would obviously be a stupendously stupid idea. Rape deserves the death penalty because rape is a cruel and unusual crime and therefore an earthly society needs to do all within its power to reduce the incidence of it. As to what forms God’s judgment of rapists might take once they get to heaven, we can trust Him that He has wisdom and powers far beyond anything we can envision. For a broader answer to this question, see If Everyone Is Going to Heaven, Why Obey God?
***
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Basics
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: Psalm 31 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament – focused primarily on its history – once a year. Having completed the historical narrative portion of this Bible reading plan a week ago, we’re spending the remainder of the year reading through a representative sampling of the OT’s books of wisdom and prophecy. This is why, for example, we jumped from Psalm 25 yesterday to Psalm 31 today.)
Extras
- Verse of the Day: John 8:31-32 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” – Big “If.”
- A Timed Psalter – A tool to help you or your family read a whole psalm when time is short.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ is the Beloved Son – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Daily Video Minute: Educating the Conscience (0:50)
- Overflow – These are short notes that come from my own Bible reading, contemplation, and prayer that don’t easily fit into one of my other categories.
- Signs of the Times (Matt 16:1-4; Eccl 1:9-10): Throughout most of American history, at least some states have treated rape as a capital crime. This changed in 1977 when the US Supreme Court ruled in Coker v Georgia that the death penalty for rape was ruled, according to Google AI, “unconstitutional because it’s disproportionate to the crime and violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.” Google AI goes on to opine that “The death penalty for rape is a vestige of an ancient, patriarchal system that viewed women as the property of men” and thus it was “regressive for women’s rights.” How is allowing rapists to continue walking the earth beneficial to women? Feminism is a lie because it claims to benefit women when it actually makes the world a more dangerous place for them. Some people will claim that the death penalty is not a deterrent to rapists, but it certainly deters those rapists who experience it. There should be no such thing as a repeat offender when it comes to the crime of rape.
***
Previous Editions:
—Daily Help 2024 – Q3
—Daily Help 2024 – Q2
—Daily Help 2024 – Q1
—Daily Help 2023 – Aug 23 through Dec 31
—Author’s Journal 2023 – Jan 1 through Aug 22
—Author’s Journal 2022
—Author’s Journal 2021
The Duty of a Man 