Reading: Jeremiah 10-14
“I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23)
Every day I am drawn to follow my own desires. If I follow them, where will they lead? They lead away from God and that’s nowhere that I want to be. Reading the prophecy of Jeremiah was a not so gentle nudge to evaluate the trajectory of my temptation.
Let this reading encourage you to walk His way all day.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 15-19
Today’s reading is Isaiah 31-35.
When John the Baptist asked if Jesus really was the one he had been waiting for, Jesus healed a host of people and then said, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the good news preached to them” (Luke 7:22, ESV). This hardly seems like an answer to us, why couldn’t He just say yes or no? That is, until we read passages like Isaiah 35: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad…Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees…Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy…” (Isaiah 35:1, 3, 5-6, ESV). Can there be any doubt Jesus is the one we have been waiting for? “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness” (Isaiah 35:8, ESV). The highway has been paved, we must walk on it. Where are you walking? Jesus is indeed the way, the truth, and the life. Are you walking with Him?
Tomorrow’s reading is Isaiah 36-40.
Today’s reading is Ecclesiastes 10-12; Song of Solomon 1-2.
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, ESV).
Well, it certainly seems presumptuous to add anything to God’s inspired message about the end of the matter. So, I don’t think I will.
Tomorrow’s reading is Song of Solomon 3-8.
Today’s reading is Ecclesiastes 5-9.
“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:1, ESV).
How awful it would be to worship, praise, lift up, honor, and glorify God only to find out that what you did wasn’t actually worshipping, praising, lifting up, honoring, or glorifying God at all because you hadn’t listened to what God wanted. Worship needs to begin with listening to God. What does He want? What has He asked for? Don’t just say that you are trying to honor God so whatever you come up with is okay. The God Filled are God listeners. Those who run recklessly into any old worship activity may find themselves offering the sacrifices of fools not even realizing that what they are doing is wrong. Guard your steps, listen first, then worship well.
Tomorrow’s reading is Ecclesiastes 10-12, Song of Solomon 1-2.
Today’s reading is Proverbs 1-5.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5, ESV).
It is impossible to be God Filled when I’m Me Filled. And isn’t that the great competition every day of our lives? Will we lean on our understanding or God’s explanation? We must take God’s hand, letting Him lead us. We may not always understand the path, but God’s destination is greater than anything we can accomplish. God’s destination for us is His presence, and that will be worth every path down which He leads us, whether lying down in green pastures beside still waters or walking in the valley of the shadow of death. Trust God, He knows where He is taking us, and He knows the way. Praise the LORD!
Tomorrow’s reading is Proverbs 6-10.
Today’s reading is Psalm 101-105.
In Jesus’ model prayer and comments to follow, He teaches us to place a condition on our prayers for forgiveness. “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12, ESV). The God Filled learn to forgive like God. Psalm 103 provides five commitments that God makes when He forgives, commitments we should be making when we say, “I forgive you.” 1) I will not dwell on this incident. 2) I will not bring this incident up to use it against you. 3) I will not bring this incident up with other people. 4) I will not continue punishing you for this incident. 5) I will not let this incident hinder our relationship. Do you want God to forgive you this way?
Monday’s reading is Psalm 106-110.
P.S. For more on this you can check out the sermon based on this passage preached at the Brownsburg church. Click the link below:
Today’s reading is 1 Chronicles 6-10.
“So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the Son of Jesse” (1 Chronicles 10:13-14, ESV). This is not just a declaration of why Saul lost the kingdom for the sake of telling the history. For the first readers of the Chronicles (the returning Israelites after the Babylonian Captivity, cf. 2 Chronicles 36:22-23), this was an explanation of why they had lost the kingdom in the first place and a warning of what would happen if they broke faith with God again. It is also a warning to the God Filled. Don’t break faith with the LORD: keep His commandments and seek His guidance. The guidance of the God Filled must come from God. Any other guide leads us only to death.
Tomorrow’s reading is 1 Chronicles 11-15.
Today’s reading is Judges 16-20.
In Deuteronomy 12:8, God said, “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes” (ESV). Yet, the last half of Judges shows Israel doing just that. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25, ESV). And there are no sadder or more disturbing stories in all the Bible than found at the end of Judges. Othniel, Gideon, and Jephthah show what happens if we are God Filled, surrendering to Him. Micah, the Levite, and Gibeah show the complete depravity of being me filled as Israelites behaved even worse than the nations they were supplanting. So, here is your choice today. You can choose to pursue God and have victory or choose to pursue your own way and suffer ultimate depravity and defeat. The choice is yours.
We’d love to know what you got out of today’s reading or if some other part of the reading struck you.
Tomorrow’s reading is Judges 21, Ruth 1-4.
Pursue Righteousness 