Psalm: 44 Meditation Acts: At this point Paul is in what amounts to home confinement. He will enjoy this status for the next two years. Not wanting to squander the time left to him, Paul invites the leaders of the local synagogues to dispute with him concerning this Jesus of Nazareth. While he may not …
Category: Daily Reading Guides
Saturday, July 31
Psalm: 33 Meditation Matthew: Jesus is now before Pilate who asks Him: “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” (v. 11) Pilate will unwillingly abet the chief priest and elders in their diabolical plan, for it is clear Pilate is reluctant to execute Jesus. Still the crowds, at the behest …
Friday, July 30
Psalm: 37 Meditation Joshua: The land of Canaan was not a unified entity but rather a collection of what might be called city-states; each city with its own king. Gibeon was one such city-state. Israel’s reputation had preceded it even to the point of Moses’ dictate that Israel shall have all the land. The Gibeonites, …
Thursday, July 29
Psalm: 71 Meditation Romans: Edifying. Paul is exhorting these Romans to encourage each other by building up or edifying one another. Paul also knows his audience for he makes several citations from the Old Covenant which speak of the place the Gentiles have among the people of God. All of this is “in order that …
Wednesday, July 28
Psalm: 59 Meditation Matthew: The drama begins. Jesus is trotted off to the high priest’s house (in the middle of the night) for the kangaroo court these people have be salivating over for several years. Alas, no false witnesses could agree. Then, finally two false witnesses show up with at least the same story. The …
Tuesday, July 27
Psalms: 53, 54 Meditation Joshua: The LORD had promised that the city of Ai would be defeated. Earlier (in chapter 7) the spies Joshua had sent out reported that Ai and Bethel would not need nearly as many men as had the conquest of Jericho. Turns out the spies were wrong, and the Israelites turned …
Monday, July 26
Psalms: 58, 65 Meditation Romans: So, love fulfills the Law. I don’t think enough can be said about the overwhelming importance love plays in the history of salvation. It starts in the garden of Eden, (and even long before) and comes to its apex in Revelation when all things are restored. Remember the words of …
Sunday, July 25
Psalms: 40, 52 Meditation Mark: Consider a couple of things: 1) the faith of those who carried/accompanied this unfortunate man, and 2) how ugly legalism looks up close or even in the heart. “When Jesus saw their faith…” (v.5) I see nothing here referring to the faith status of the paralytic but of those who …
Saturday, July 24
Psalm: 32 Meditation Joshua: Here we see the LORD’s strategy to bring down Jericho. Simple enough. 7 priests shall blow the rams’ horns while the other priests lugged the Ark of the Covenant around the city – once each day for 6 days. Notice all the “7s” in this passage. I think the only other …
Friday, July 23
Psalm: 38 Meditation Romans: Love If you want to know how to “do” love, Paul outlines it here in rather simple terms. One of the admonitions is to “associate with the lowly.” (v. 16) Just yesterday we read how Jesus was associating with a leper just before His last Passover, jeopardizing His own “cleanness” to …
