Day 30: Rule of Scripture Tuesday And Jesus said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!” ~Mark 7:9 Every generation faces the danger of supplementing Scripture with religious traditions and personal opinions that contradict God’s Word. We may even give more weight to our ideas than to God’s. And in doing so, we claim greater wisdom and authority than God Himself. The simple (but very challenging) solution is to examine our traditions and opinions regularly and to submit our lives to the rule of Scripture over...
Day 29: Gospel-centeredness Monday For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. ~Romans 8:3 Your salvation through faith in the Gospel is an overwhelming display of God’s power. Through the Gospel, Jesus acquits you of sin’s condemnation. Through the Gospel, Jesus liberates you from sin’s control. Through the Gospel, Jesus secures for you a future in God’s...
Day 28: Worship Sunday Theme of Praise: God has accepted us by free grace; therefore, we reject legalistic performance and condemnation in favor of a culture of repentance, faith, and grateful submission. God saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ~Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9 Read over these verses a few times....
Day 27: Love for the City Saturday The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ~John 4:9-10 Jesus was a master at turning ordinary conversations into spiritual conversations and pointing people to their deepest need of salvation in...
Day 26: Engagement Friday Jesus found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ~John 1:43, 45-46 When Philip encountered the life-changing person of Jesus, he instinctively ran off to invite others to come and meet Him. Even though his brother scoffed at him and brushed him off, he persisted:...
Day 25: Continuing Transformation Thursday Not that I have already obtained this [resurrection] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 3:12-14 If you really understood the treasure that you have in Jesus Christ, you would gladly give up everything in order to follow him. Every other prize, every other...
Day 24: Authentic Community Wednesday Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ~John 15:4-5 Two profound truths emerge through Jesus’ imagery of the vine and the branches. The first is our grafting into the life of Jesus. The second is our grafting into the lives...
Day 23: Rule of Scripture Tuesday This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. ~Joshua 1:8 Many of us have memorized hundreds of lines from songs, TV shows, and movies. Random events in our lives inevitably trigger some quote or jingle. God intends that his Word be in our minds and on our tongues in that same way. The more we know the Word, the more we see the...
Day 22: Gospel-centeredness Monday For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. ~1 Peter 1:3 Christ’s resurrection is the source of our hope. Because Jesus is alive, having conquered sin and death, we are able to rejoice...
Day 21: Worship Sunday Theme of Praise: God is unconditionally loving and undeservedly kind; therefore, we strive to be a culture of patience, forgiveness, generosity, compassion, and enthusiastic welcome. God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8 Read the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32. Read over these verses a few times. Meditate on the words. Now, in your own words, what are the writers saying? Use these verses as a framework for offering a prayer of thanksgiving to God, focusing on...