Day 251 Isaiah 1:1‐2:22; 2 Corinthians 10:1‐18; Psalm 52:1‐9; Proverbs 22:26‐27 Heartbreaking Soul Shaking Isaiah receives a word from the Lord that immediately connects with the hearts of so many parents: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.” God was speaking about His children Israel but perhaps Isaiah knew…
Day 250 Song of Solomon 5:1-8:14; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Psalm 51:1-19; Proverbs 22:24-25 One Great ROI I will never forget the day I learned the acronym “ROI.” I was in middle school and my father had just taught me the concept of a Return On Investment (ROI). I made a vow to invest all I…
Day 249 Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16; 2 Corinthians 8:16-24; Psalm 50:1-23; Proverbs 22:22-23 The Silence of God “When you did these things and I kept silent… you thought I was exactly you…” (Psalm 50:21). In graduate school, I went through one of the darkest nights of the soul, so dark that at times I just…
Day 248 Ecclesiastes 10:1-12:14; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; Psalm 49:1-20; Proverbs 22:20-21 Is Life Really That Hard? In comparison to those living in third world countries, Americans, even the most impoverished of us, live like kings. It’s easy to get so caught up in the things that we don’t have that we forget all the blessings…
Day 247 Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:18; 2 Corinthians 7:8-16; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbs 22:17-19 Our Great Lord! Psalm 48 was written by the descendants of Korah, who were temple assistants. It is a Psalm that claims the Lord’s blessings and protection over His holy city. The imagery of the great city is likened to the greatness of God…
Day 246 Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:7; Psalm 47:1-9; Proverbs 22:16 The Futility of Selfish Ambition The Preacher of Ecclesiastes turns to a reflection on the futility of human beings’ pursuit of selfish ambition. This pursuit has led to bitter tyranny and oppression (4:1-6). Man’s envy is self consuming: “The fool folds his hands and…
Day 245 Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Psalm 46:1- 11; Proverbs 22:15 Be Still and Know That I am God A mentor of mine often says, “Find the treasure in the difficulty.” This is a statement that is often more difficult to live out than it sounds. How often do we, as Christians, face trials?…
Day 244 Job 40:1- 42:17; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21; Psalm 45:1-17; Proverbs 22:14 New Creation My five-year-old son loves to read books. Each night he picks out three books, and most nights he wants Daddy to read them to him. You could hear a pin drop as I am reading through his books. He is listening…
Day 243 Job 37:1-39:30; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10; Psalm 44:9-26; Proverbs 22:13 Hidden in Plain Sight As Christians, our understanding of God is based on what Jesus said about God and about what God reveals about Himself in Jesus. The Old Testament writers had a different understanding. For them, the designs of God were bound up…
Day 242 Job 34:1-36:33; 2 Corinthians 4:1-12; Psalm 44:1-8; Proverbs 22:10-12 Fail to See Forget what you know, or what you think you know, as none of it matters in the grand scheme of things. This seems to be the underlying theme of today’s readings from Job, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Psalm 44 (re-read…
Day 241 Job 31:1-33:33; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Psalm 43:1-5; Proverbs 22:8-9 Honest Words In these last chapters of the book of Job, we find a tremendous amount of honest and frank conversation. Job honestly defends himself with vigor. Elihu speaks with bold frankness to his elders. All of this frank and honest conversation revolves around…
Day 240 Job 28:1-30:31; 2 Corinthians 2:12-17; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 22:7 Wisdom From On High In the book of Job, chapter 28, we see in the first eleven verses how people search for value by looking down into the earth. There are gold and silver mines as well as mines for precious jewels. In our…
