Friday, March 31, 2023

FRIDAY 31ST MARCH, 2023-REST ASSURED IN GOD

Rest Assured in God

Bible in a Year:

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Researchers in Fujian, China, wanted to help intensive care unit (ICU) patients sleep more soundly. They measured the effects of sleep aids on test subjects in a simulated ICU environment, complete with bright, hospital-grade lighting and audio recordings of machines beeping and nurses talking. Their research showed that tools like sleep masks and ear plugs improved their subjects’ rest. But they acknowledged that for truly sick patients in a real ICU, peaceful sleep would still be hard to come by.

When our world is troubled, how can we find rest? The Bible’s clear: there’s peace for those who trust in God, regardless of their circumstances. The prophet Isaiah wrote about a future time when the ancient Israelites would be restored after hardship. They would live securely in their city, because they knew that God made it safe (Isaiah 26:1). They would trust that He was actively working in the world around them to bring good—“He humbles those who dwell on high,” raising up the oppressed, and bringing justice (vv. 5–6). They would know that “the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal,” and they could trust Him forever (v. 4).

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast,” wrote Isaiah, “because they trust in you” (v. 3). God can provide peace and rest for us today as well. We can rest in the assurance of His love and power, no matter what’s going on around us.

By: Karen Pimpo

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 26:1–6(NIV)

Insight

Isaiah ministered to the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the reigns of King Ahaz (Isaiah 7–35) and his son Hezekiah (chs. 36–39), during which time Judah’s perennial enemies—Israel, Syria (Aram), Egypt, and Assyria, persistently attacked her (see 2 Chronicles 26–32). Ahaz was one of Judah’s worst kings, whereas Hezekiah was a godly king committed to reforming his kingdom. Isaiah challenged Ahaz and Hezekiah to look to God for deliverance. Ahaz refused to trust God (Isaiah 7:10–17; see 2 Chronicles 28). But Hezekiah did (Isaiah 37:14–21; see 2 Chronicles 32:1–23). Isaiah 26 is a song of trust, promising and celebrating God’s victory, salvation, restoration, safety, and “perfect peace” (v. 3; shalom, meaning peace, safety, prosperity, well-being, wholeness) for those who humble themselves and honor Him. God’s people can “trust in the Lord forever” because our God “the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (v. 4).

By: K. T. Sim

Reflect & Pray

What threatens to overwhelm you today? How can you remind yourself of God’s power and love?

Dear God, I trust You and choose to rest assured in Your love today.

For further study, read God Is Love.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

THURSDAY 30TH MARCH, 2023-TO DO OR NOT TO DO

March 30

To Do or Not to Do

Bible in a Year:

I do not do the good I want to do, . . . I keep on doing [evil].

Romans 7:19

Today's Scripture & Insight:

When I was a kid, a decommissioned World War II tank was put on display in a park near my home. Multiple signs warned of the danger of climbing on the vehicle, but a couple of my friends immediately scrambled up. Some of us were a bit reluctant, but eventually we did the same. One boy refused, pointing to the posted signs. Another jumped down quickly as an adult approached. The temptation to have fun outweighed our desire to follow rules.

There’s a heart of childish rebellion lurking within all of us. We don’t like being told what to do or not to do. Yet we read in James that when we know what is right and don’t do it—it is sin (4:17). In Romans, the apostle Paul wrote: “I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” (7:19–20).

As believers in Jesus, we may puzzle over our struggle with sin. But too often we depend solely on our own strength to do what’s right. One day, when this life is over, we’ll be truly dead to sinful impulses. Until then, however, we can rely on the power of the One whose death and resurrection won the victory over sin.

By: Cindy Hess Kasper

Today's Scripture

Romans 7:15–20(NIV)

Insight

Romans 7:14–25 has been a source of much debate in scholarship. Many have believed it describes Paul’s ongoing struggle with sin because it speaks in the present tense and uses the first person (“I”). However, it’s difficult to reconcile Romans 7’s description of being a “slave to sin” (v. 14) with the state of freedom from sin’s bondage described as a gift of the Spirit to all believers in chapters 6 and 8 (6:17–18; 8:1–2). Today, many scholars believe that Romans 7’s vivid description of doing “what I do not want to do” (v. 16) wasn’t describing Paul’s then-current personal struggle. Instead, he may have been using a literary technique of speaking in the present tense to dramatize the futility of seeking salvation through the law (8:3). It’s through the power of Christ’s Spirit that believers can experience freedom, life, and peace (vv. 1–3, 6, 10).

By: Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

What sins are the biggest struggle for you? How can you rely more on God’s power to overcome their stronghold?

Loving God, please help me to choose to do what’s right. My heart’s desire is to reflect Your perfect character and holy ways.

For further study, read Taking Sin Seriously.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

WEDNESDAY 29TH MARCH, 2023

March 29

God Had Other Plans

Bible in a Year:

Pharaoh’s daughter . . . named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Exodus 2:10

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Their precise ages are unknown. One was found on the steps of a church; the other knew only that she’d been raised by nuns. Born in Poland during World War II, for nearly eighty years neither Halina nor Krystyna knew about each other. Then DNA test results revealed them to be sisters and led to a joyful reunion. It also revealed their Jewish heritage, explaining why they’d been abandoned. Evil people had marked the girls for death simply because of their identity.

Imagining a frightened mother who leaves her threatened children where they might be rescued calls to mind the story of Moses. As a Hebrew baby boy, he was marked for genocide (see Exodus 1:22). His mother strategically placed him in the Nile (2:3), giving him a chance for survival. God had a plan she couldn’t have dreamed of—to rescue His people through Moses.

The story of Moses points us to the story of Jesus. As Pharaoh had sought the murder of Hebrew boys, Herod ordered the slaughter of all the baby boys in Bethlehem (see Matthew 2:13–16).

Behind all such hatred—especially against children—is our enemy the devil. Such violence doesn’t take God by surprise. He had plans for Moses, and He has plans for you and me. And through His Son, Jesus, He’s revealed His biggest plan—to rescue and restore those who once were His enemies.

By: Tim Gustafson

Today's Scripture

Exodus 2:1–10(NIV)

Insight

Similar to the kindness of Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:6) is the compassion of the Hebrew midwives in the previous chapter. Pharaoh had commanded Shiphrah and Puah to kill any baby boys born to the Hebrew women (1:15–16). Were there only two midwives? We don’t know, but these two are singled out for their moral courage. The midwives “feared God” and so defied Pharaoh’s vile command (v. 17). When he confronted them, they lied about it (vv. 18–19). God blessed them for their fear of Him rather than Pharaoh, and for their actions in defense of vulnerable life (v. 21).

By: Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

How do you see God’s plan at work in your life? In what ways has He rescued you?

Heavenly Father, there’s so much evil in the world. Thank You for Your rescue. Help me to trust Your perfect plan.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

TUESDAY 28TH MARCH 2023

March 28

Stress to Peace

Bible in a Year:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Moving ranks as one of the biggest stressors in life. We moved to our current home after I’d lived in my previous one for nearly twenty years. I’d lived alone in that first home for eight years before I got married. Then my husband moved in, along with all his things. Later, we added a child, and that meant even more stuff.

Our moving day to the new house wasn’t without incident. Five minutes before the movers arrived, I was still finishing up a book manuscript. And the new home had several sets of stairs, so it took double the time and twice as many movers as planned.

But I wasn’t feeling stressed out by the events of that day. Then it hit me: I’d spent many hours finishing writing a book—one chock-full with Scripture and biblical concepts. By God’s grace, I’d been poring over the Bible, praying, and writing to meet my deadline. So, I believe the key was my immersion in Scripture and in prayer.

Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). When we pray—and “rejoice in” God (v. 4)—we refocus our mind from the problem to our Provider. We may be asking God to help us deal with a stressor, but we’re also connecting with Him, which can provide a peace “which transcends all understanding” (v. 7).

By: Katara Patton

Today's Scripture

Philippians 4:4–8(NIV)

Insight

Paul was “in chains for Christ” (Philippians 1:13) when he wrote to the Philippians. Because he mentioned the “palace guard” (v. 13) and “Caesar’s household” (4:22), he was probably imprisoned in Rome. Despite being in prison, Paul wrote this “joyful” letter (1:4, 25; 2:2, 29; 4:1), relentlessly encouraging the Philippian believers to “rejoice in the Lord always” (4:4). Some ten years earlier, during his second missionary journey, Paul had brought the gospel to this Roman colony, for which he was persecuted (Acts 16:11–40). Even though he was severely flogged and illegally imprisoned, Paul radiated joy and peace. For during adversity, “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (v. 25). The apostle wrote, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace” (Philippians 4:6–7 nlt).

By: K. T. Sim

Reflect & Pray

What stressful situations do you need God to give you peace in today? How can praying with thanksgiving transform your mind?

Provider and Protector, I give my concerns to You. May Your peace guard my mind and heart.

Monday, March 27, 2023

MONDAY 27TH MARCH 2023

Sunday, March 26, 2023

SUNDAY 26TH MARCH 2023

Saturday, March 25, 2023

SATURDAY 25TH MARCH 2023

March 25

The Reboot of Grace

Bible in a Year:

Joshua 19–21 Luke 2:25–52

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22–23

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Lamentations 3:16–33

Over the last several decades, a new word has entered our movie vocabulary: reboot. In cinematic parlance, a reboot takes an old story and jumpstarts it. Some reboots retell a familiar tale, like a superhero story or a fairytale. Other reboots take a lesser-known story and retell it in a new way. But in each case, a reboot is a bit like a do-over. It’s a fresh start, a chance to breathe new life into the old.

There’s another story that involves reboots—the gospel story. In it, Jesus invites us to His offer of forgiveness, as well as abundant and eternal life (John 10:10). And in the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah reminds us that God’s love for us makes every day a “reboot” of sorts: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3:22–23).

God’s grace invites us to embrace each day as a fresh opportunity to experience His faithfulness. Whether we’re struggling with the effects of our own mistakes or going through other hardships, God’s Spirit can breathe forgiveness, new life, and hope into each new day. Every day is a reboot of sorts, an opportunity to follow the lead of the great Director, who is weaving our story into His bigger one.

By: Adam Holz

Today's Scripture:

Lamentations 3:16–33 (NIV)

Insight

The writer of Lamentations is not named, but Jewish tradition identifies the prophet Jeremiah as its author. Consisting of five dirges or funeral laments, Jeremiah gives an emotionally charged eyewitness account of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Babylonians in 586 bc (see 2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 52). Yet amid the devastation and despair, Jeremiah also expressed great hope (Lamentations 3:19–21). God, who judged rightly their covenantal unfaithfulness, remained the God of unfailing love and compassion (vv. 22, 32–33), the God of faithfulness (v. 23), the God of hope (vv. 24–25), and the God of their salvation (v. 26).

By: K. T. Sim

Reflect & Pray

How do you think reflecting upon and remembering God’s faithfulness in the midst of trials changes your perspective on them? How has God’s forgiveness and grace brought a reboot to your life?

Father, thank You that Your grace and forgiveness invite me to start over, fresh, every morning.

Friday, March 24, 2023

FRIDAY 24TH MARCH 2023

Thursday, March 23, 2023

THURSDAY 23RD MARCH 2023

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

WEDNESDAY 22ND MARCH 2023

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

TUESDAY 21ST MARCH 2023

Monday, March 20, 2023

MONDAY 20TH MARCH 2023-CATCHING CONTENTMENT

March 20

Catching Contentment

Bible in a Year:

I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.

Psalm 131:2

Today's Scripture & Insight:

In a psychiatrist’s advice column, he responded to a reader named Brenda, who lamented that her ambitious pursuits had left her discontented. His words were blunt. Humans aren’t designed to be happy, he said, “only to survive and reproduce.” We’re cursed to chase the “teasing and elusive butterfly” of contentment, he added, “not always to capture it.”

I wonder how Brenda felt reading the psychiatrist’s nihilistic words and how different she may have felt had she read Psalm 131 instead. In its words, David gives us a guided reflection on how to find contentment. He begins in a posture of humility, putting his kingly ambitions aside, and while wrestling life’s big questions is important, he puts those aside too (v. 1). Then he quiets his heart before God (v. 2), entrusting the future into His hands (v. 3). The result is beautiful: “like a weaned child with its mother,” he says, “I am content” (v. 2).

In a broken world like ours, contentment will at times feel elusive. In Philippians 4:11–13, the apostle Paul said contentment is something to be learned. But if we believe we’re only designed to “survive and reproduce,” contentment will surely be an uncatchable butterfly. David shows us another way: catching contentment through quietly resting in God’s presence.

By: Sheridan Voysey

Today's Scripture

Psalm 131(NIV)

Insight

Psalms 120–134 are known as the Songs of Ascents, so called because the fifteen psalms in the collection were sung by the ancient people of God as they journeyed up to Jerusalem for the annual feasts. Psalm 131 is among the shorter of these songs. Nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon noted that this psalm “is one of the shortest psalms to read but one of the longest to learn.” What makes it the longest to learn is that it challenges one of the most difficult aspects of our human behavior, our pride. In this psalm we hear the heartfelt prayers of one who’s renounced pride. The psalmist also expresses and encourages humble satisfaction with God by using the universally familiar image of a mother and child. Though weaned, the child’s contentment is found in the mother’s loving presence and not just in her nourishing provision.

By: Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

When do you most feel content? How could you set aside unhurried time to be quietly present with God today?

Dear God, I rest in You, the deepest well of my truest contentment.

Sunday, March 19, 2023

SUNDAY 19TH MARCH 2023

March 19

Brother Saul

Bible in a Year:

Placing his hands on Saul, [Ananias] said, “Brother Saul, the Lord . . . has sent me.”

Acts 9:17

Today's Scripture & Insight:

“Lord, please send me anywhere but there.” That was my prayer as a teenager before embarking on a year as a foreign exchange student. I didn’t know where I would be going, but I knew where I didn’t want to go. I didn’t speak that country’s language, and my mind was filled with prejudices against its customs and people. So I asked God to send me elsewhere.

But God in His infinite wisdom sent me precisely where I asked not to go. I’m so glad He did! Forty years later, I still have dear friends in that land. When I got married, my best man Stefan came from there. When he got married, I flew there to return the favor. And we’re planning another visit soon.

Beautiful things happen when God causes a change of heart! Such a transformation is illustrated by just two words: “Brother Saul” (Acts 9:17).

Those words were from Ananias, a believer God called to heal Saul’s sight immediately after his conversion (vv. 10–12). Ananias resisted at first because of Saul’s violent past, praying: “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people” (v. 13).

But Ananias was obedient and went. And because he had a change of heart, Ananias gained a new brother in faith, Saul became known as Paul, and the good news of Jesus spread with power. True change is always possible through Him!

By: James Banks

Today's Scripture:

Acts 9:10–19 (NIV)

Insight

In Acts 9:1–30, Luke tells of Paul’s dramatic conversion—how the persecutor of the church (8:3) became the propagator of the gospel of Jesus. Paul had the opportunity to retell his conversion testimony in Acts 22:1–21 and 26:1–29. He also made references to his conversion in his letters: 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8–10; Galatians 1:13–24; Philippians 3:4–7; 1 Timothy 1:12–16. Of Ananias (his name means “God is merciful”), Luke says he was a disciple of Jesus (Acts 9:10). Paul describes him as “a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus” (22:12 nlt).

By: K. T. Sim

Reflect & Pray

How have you sensed God calling you to have a change of heart? How can you encourage a new believer today?

Jesus, thank You for changing my heart with Your love. Help me to extend it to others.

Saturday, March 18, 2023

SATURDAY 18TH MARCH 2023

March 18

Weeding Out Sins

Bible in a Year:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.

1 John 1:9

Today's Scripture & Insight:

When I noticed a sprig budding next to the garden hose by our porch, I ignored the seemingly harmless eyesore. How could a little weed possibly hurt our lawn? But as the weeks passed, that nuisance grew to be the size of a small bush and began taking over our yard. Its stray stalks arched over a portion of our walkway and sprouted up in other areas. Admitting its destructive existence, I asked my husband to help me dig out the wild weeds by the roots and then protect our yard with weed killer.

When we ignore or deny its presence, sin can invade our lives like unwanted overgrowth and darken our personal space. Our sinless God has no darkness in Him . . . at all. As His children, we’re equipped and charged to face sins head-on so we can “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). Through confession and repentance, we experience forgiveness and freedom from sin (vv. 8–10) because we have a great advocate—Jesus (2:1). He willingly paid the ultimate price for our sins—His lifeblood—and “not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (v. 2).

When our sin is brought to our attention by God, we can choose denial, avoidance, or deflection of responsibility. But when we confess and repent, He weeds out sins that harm our relationships with Him and others.

By: Xochitl Dixon

Today's Scripture:

1 John 1:5–2:2 (NIV)

Insight

The apostle John reminds us that “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and encourages us to walk in fellowship with Him (vv. 6–7). Elsewhere, Paul reminds us that we “are not in darkness” but are “children of the light” (1 Thessalonians 5:4–5). In 1 John, the apostle challenges us to “not sin” (2:1). But because we’re still not perfected, we do continue to sin (1:8). John assures us that when we confess and repent, God will “forgive us our sins” (v. 9). Our “advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (2:1), “through the shedding of his blood” (Romans 3:25), is “the atoning sacrifice [propitiation] for our sins” (1 John 2:2; see 4:10). The NIV Zondervan Study Bible describes “atoning sacrifice” as what Jesus did on the cross in “removing guilt and purifying sinners (expiation) and appeasing God’s anger toward sinners (propitiation).”

By: K. T. Sim

Reflect & Pray

How does knowing your sins are offenses against God change your view about repentance? What sins have taken root and need to be weeded out of your life?

Loving Father, please uproot the sins from my life so I can grow closer to You and others.