Day 96 Deuteronomy 29:1‐30:20; Luke 11:37‐12:7; Psalm 78:1‐31; Proverbs 12:19‐20 Beautiful Idols The idea of law in the Near East was not unique to the Hebrews. Law collections existed 500 years before Moses. The Pentateuch expresses a variation of these traditions called a suzerainty treaty. A suzerain covenant was granted by a powerful and independent…
Day 95 Deuteronomy 28:1‐68; Luke 11:14‐36; Psalm 77:1‐20; Proverbs 12:18 Think Before You Speak “Rash Words (ouch) are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise man brings (ahhh) healing” (Proverbs 12:18). Remember the phrase “open mouth insert foot”? Guilty! Once harsh words are said, you can’t take them back, you can only live…
Day 94 Deuteronomy 26:1‐27:26; Luke 10:38‐11:13; Psalm 76:1‐12; Proverbs 12:15‐17 Laws of the Heart In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses writes the words “…follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.” It certainly is one thing to follow the laws of the Lord and quite another…
Day 93 Deuteronomy 23:1‐25:19; Luke 10:13‐37; Psalm 75:1‐10; Proverbs 12:12‐14 You Shall Not Muzzle an Ox When… Tucked in a bunch of miscellaneous laws is a curious command forbidding the muzzling of an ox. At first, it’s as if Moses is checking to see if his audience is still paying attention, “Refrain from running, dunking,…
Day 92 Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11 He Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Jesus knew His purpose for coming to earth and was determined to carry out the Father’s will. His…
Day 91 Deuteronomy 18:1‐20:20; Luke 9:28‐50; Psalm 73:1‐28; Proverbs 12:10 God Is in the Day-to-Day Details Everyday life is full of everyday struggles, obstacles, issues, and trials. In the journey of faith, Almighty God seeks to redeem the details of life and reveal Himself in the midst of the ordinary, making it extraordinary. In these…
Day 90 Deuteronomy 16:1‐17:20; Luke 9:7‐27; Psalm 72:1‐20; Proverbs 12:8‐9 Reverence and Obedience Today’s reading from Deuteronomy leaves no doubt concerning the expectations God had for His children. Though they had fallen, He presided over their restoration with meticulous care for fear that they would lose their way because of ignorance and spiritual blindness. We…
Day 89 Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23; Luke 8:40-9:6; Psalm 71:1-24; Proverbs 12:5-7 Jesus Gives Healing and Life In our Luke passage today, we read of two major events in the ministry of Jesus: the healing of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and the raising from the dead of a twelve-year-old girl. Through each…
Day 88 Deuteronomy 11:1‐12:32; Luke 8:22‐39; Psalm 70:1‐5; Proverbs 12:4 Where Is Your Faith? Jesus asks the disciples, “Where is your faith?” after they wake Him up because they are afraid their boat was going to capsize in the storm. There is their faith, Jesus! They knew if they woke you up all would be…
Day 87 Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22; Luke 8:4-21; Psalm 69:19-36; Proverbs 12:2-3 Ears That Hear Our Old Testament reading continues today with Moses rehearsing some scenes of Israel’s recent past – some scenes that, most likely, they would rather forget. Don’t we all have such scenes in our lives? But, thankfully, in addition to the mistakes in…
Day 86 Deuteronomy 7:1‐8:20; Luke 7:36‐8:3; Psalm 69:1‐18; Proverbs 12:1 Your Perspective or God’s? You’re giving a dinner party. A streetwalker enters the room uninvited and kneels behind one of your guests—letting down her hair, caressing and kissing his feet, crying softly all the while. The code of your religion, which you hold dear, is…
Day 85 Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25; Luke 7:11-35; Psalm 68:19-35; Proverbs 11:29-31 Life in Christ Is Never Dull! Jesus compared the generation of Pharisees and scribes to a then-popular children’s song: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ –Luke 7: This song invites the hearer…
