TUESDAY, 30TH APRIL, 2019-IN WHAT WAYS HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED GOD'S TRANSFORMING GRACE?

‎April‎ ‎30

Of Saints and Sinners

Bible in a Year:

1 Kings 8–9; Luke 21:1–19

The third time [Jesus] said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” . . . [Peter] said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

John 21:17

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Today's Scripture & Insight:

Luke 22:54-62

Before she followed in the footsteps of John the Baptist by living in the desert, Mary of Egypt (c. ad 344–421) spent her youth pursuing illicit pleasures and seducing men. At the height of her sordid career, she journeyed to Jerusalem in an attempt to corrupt pilgrims. Instead, she experienced deep conviction of her sins and thereafter lived a life of repentance and solitude in the wilderness. Mary’s radical transformation illustrates the magnitude of God’s grace and the restoring power of the cross.

The disciple Peter denied Jesus three times. Only hours before the denials, Peter had declared his willingness to die for Jesus (Luke 22:33), so the realization of his failure was a crushing blow (vv. 61–62). After Jesus’s death and resurrection, Peter was fishing with some of the disciples when Jesus appeared to them. Jesus gave Peter a chance to declare his love for Him three times—one for each of his denials (John 21:1–3). Then, with each declaration, Jesus charged Peter to care for His people (vv. 15–17). The result of this stunning display of grace was that Peter played a key role in building the church and ultimately gave his life for Christ.

A biography of any one of us could begin with a litany of our failures and defeats. But God’s grace always allows for a different ending. By His grace, He redeems and transforms us.

By Remi Oyedele

Reflect & Pray

In what ways have you experienced God’s transforming grace? How can you express His grace toward others?

God’s grace transforms us from sinners to saints.

MONDAY, 29TH APRIL, 2019-WHAT STRUGGLES ARE YOU GOING THROUGH? I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT GOD IS WITH YOU

‎April‎ ‎29

Understanding Life’s Trials

Bible in a Year:

1 Kings 6–7; Luke 20:27–47

To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.

Job 12:13

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Today's Scripture & Insight:

Job 12:13-25

My friend’s father received the dreaded diagnosis: cancer. Yet, during the chemo treatment process, he became a believer in Jesus and his disease eventually went into remission. He was cancer free for a wonderful eighteen months, but it returned—worse than before. He and his wife faced the reality of the returned cancer with concern and questions but also with a faithful trust in God because of how He saw them through the first time.

We won’t always understand why we’re going through trials. This was certainly the case for Job, who faced horrendous and unexplainable suffering and loss. Yet despite his many questions, in Job 12 he declares that God is mighty: “What he tears down cannot be rebuilt” (v. 14) and “to him belong strength and insight” (v. 16). “He makes nations great, and destroys them” (v. 23). Throughout this extensive list, Job doesn’t mention God’s motives or why He allows pain and suffering. Job doesn’t have the answers. But still despite everything, he confidently says, “to God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his” (v. 13).

We may not understand why God allows certain struggles in our lives, but like my friend’s parents, we can put our trust in Him. The Lord loves us and has us in His hands (v. 10; 1 Peter 5:7). Wisdom, power, and understanding are His!

By Julie Schwab

Reflect & Pray

What struggle are you going through? How does it help to know that God is with you?

Lord, help me to trust You, even when I don’t understand what You’re doing. Thank You that You hold me in Your loving hands.

SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL, 2019-WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM GOD'S CALLING OF MOSES?

‎April‎ ‎28

God’s Retirement Plan

Bible in a Year:

1 Kings 3–5; Luke 20:1–26

The angel of the Lord appeared to [Moses] in flames of fire from within a bush.

Exodus 3:2

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Today's Scripture & Insight:

Exodus 3:1-10

Archaeologist Dr. Warwick Rodwell was preparing to retire when he made an extraordinary discovery at Lichfield Cathedral in England. As builders carefully excavated part of the floor of the church to make way for a retractable base, they discovered a sculpture of the archangel Gabriel, thought to be 1,200 years old. Dr. Rodwell’s retirement plans were put on hold as his find launched him into an exciting and busy new season.

Moses was eighty years old when he made a fiery discovery that would forever alter his life. Though the adopted son of an Egyptian princess, he never forgot his Hebrew lineage and raged at the injustice he witnessed against his kinsmen (Exodus 2:11–12). When Pharaoh learned that Moses had killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, he planned to have him killed, forcing Moses to flee to Midian, where he settled (vv. 13–15).

Forty years later, when he was eighty, Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock when “the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up” (3:2). In that moment, God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery (vv. 3–22).

At this moment in your life, what might God be calling you to do for His greater purpose? What new plans has He placed in your path?

By Ruth O’Reilly-Smith

Reflect & Pray

What do you learn from Moses and his calling from God? Why is it vital to be open to something new He’s doing in your life?

Holy God, be Lord of all my days as I surrender them to You afresh.

SATURDAY, 27TH APRIL,2019-MASTER OF CREATION, WHO ELSE MAKES EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL?

‎April‎ ‎27

Enjoying Beauty

Bible in a Year:

1 Kings 1–2; Luke 19:28–48

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

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Today's Scripture & Insight:

Ecclesiastes 3:9-13

The painting caught my eye like a beacon. Displayed along a long hallway in a big city hospital, its deep pastel hues and Navajo Native American figures were so arresting I stopped to marvel and stare. “Look at that,” I said to my husband, Dan.

He was walking ahead but I hesitated, bypassing other paintings on the wall to gaze only at that one. “Beautiful,” I whispered.

Many things in life are beautiful indeed. Master paintings. Scenic vistas. Inspired crafts. But so is a child’s smile. A friend’s hello. A robin’s blue egg. A seashell’s strong ridges. To relieve the burdens life can bring, “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). In such beauty, Bible scholars explain, we get a glimpse of the perfection of God’s creation—including the glory of His perfect rule to come. 

We can only imagine such perfection, so God grants us a foretaste through life’s beauty. In this way, God “has also set eternity in the human heart” (v. 11). Some days life looks drab and futile. But God mercifully provides moments of beauty to ponder.

The artist of the painting I admired, Gerard Curtis Delano, understood that. “God [gave] me a talent to create beauty,” he once said, “and this is what He wanted me to do.”

Seeing such beauty, how can we respond? We can thank God for eternity to come while pausing to enjoy the glory we already see.

By Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

How do you respond to the beauty God has placed in this world? How does beauty reflect Him?

Father, help me in the moments of this day to see and enjoy the beauty You bring into my life as I also look forward to eternity.

FRIDAY, 26TH APRIL, 2019-GOD'S EYE IS LIKE THE EAGLE TO THE ONE WHO IS COMMITTED TO HIM, SO WHO ELSE DO YOU WANT TO WORSHIP?

‎April‎ ‎26

What God Sees

Bible in a Year:

2 Samuel 23–24; Luke 19:1–27

The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

2 Chronicles 16:9

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Today's Scripture & Insight:

2 Chronicles 16:7-9

Early in the morning, I quietly pad past a family-room window overlooking a wilderness area behind our house. Often, I notice a hawk or owl perched in a tree, keeping watch over the area. One morning I was surprised to find a bald eagle boldly balanced on a high branch, surveying the terrain as if the entire expanse belonged to him. Likely he was watching for “breakfast.” His all-inclusive gaze seemed regal.

In 2 Chronicles 16, Hanani the seer (God’s prophet) informed a king that his actions were under a royal gaze. He told Asa, king of Judah, “You relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God” (v. 7). Then Hanani explained, “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (v. 9). Because of Asa’s misplaced dependence, he would always be at war.

Reading these words, we might get the false sense that God watches our every move so He can pounce on us like a bird of prey. But Hanani’s words focus on the positive. His point is that our God continually watches and waits for us to call on Him when we’re in need.

Like my backyard bald eagle, how might God’s eyes be roaming our world—even now—looking to find faithfulness in you and me? How might He provide the hope and help we need?

By Elisa Morgan

Reflect & Pray

Why is it vital for you to regularly look to God for direction and guidance? How does it encourage you to know that God awaits your calls for help?

O God, may You strengthen our hearts that we might be fully committed to You.

THURSDAY, 25TH APRIL, 2019-Not Like Yesterday

‎April‎ ‎25

Not Like Yesterday

Bible in a Year:

2 Samuel 21–22; Luke 18:24–43

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:3

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Today's Scripture & Insight:

Matthew 4:1-11

When our grandson Jay was a child his parents gave him a new T-shirt for his birthday. He put it on right away and proudly wore it all day.

When he appeared the next morning in the shirt, his dad asked him, “Jay, does that shirt make you happy?”

“Not as much as yesterday,” Jay replied.

That’s the problem with material acquisition: Even the good things of life can’t give us the deep, lasting happiness we so strongly desire. Though we may have many possessions, we may still be unhappy.

The world offers happiness through material accumulation: new clothes, a new automobile, an update to our phone or watch. But no material acquisition can make us as happy as it did yesterday. That’s because we were made for God and nothing less will do.

One day, when Jesus was fasting and faint with hunger, Satan approached Him and tempted Him to satisfy His hunger by creating bread. Jesus countered by quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Jesus didn’t mean that we shouldn’t live only on bread. He’s rather stating a fact: We’re spiritual beings and thus we can’t exist on material goods alone.

True satisfaction is found in God and His riches.

By David H. Roper

Reflect & Pray

Why do material acquisitions not provide long-term happiness? What have you learned from past expectations?

Teach me, God, what it means to live by Your riches today. You possess all I truly need!