Day 49 Leviticus 6:1‐7:27; Mark 3:7‐30; Psalm 37:1‐11; Proverbs 10:3‐4 God’s Time… In today’s Psalm, we find much of ourselves embedded in these words as we have only to look around us in any and every direction to find numerous examples of others who seem to “have it all,” while we as Christians, face what…
Day 48 Leviticus 4:1‐5:19; Mark 2:13‐3:6; Psalm 36:1‐12; Proverbs 10:1‐2 New Again! In preparation for Easter Day, many Christians celebrate the 40 days before as a time of fasting called Lent. When asked in his Sunday school class what he was going to give up for Lent, one small boy said, “I’m giving up liver….
Day 47 Leviticus 1:1‐3:17; Mark 1:29‐2:12; Psalm 35:17‐28; Proverbs 9:13‐18 You Want Me to Do WHAT with that Goat? Burnt offerings? Seriously? And why all the detailed instructions? Frankly, I doubt that the Lord was particularly concerned with the details of the sacrifices called for in Leviticus. What has always been important, however, is that…
Day 46 Exodus 39:1-40:38; Mark 1:1-28; Psalm 35:1-16; Proverbs 9:11-12 Mark – The Gospel of Action and Deliverance It is sometimes asked, “Why do we need four tellings of the Gospel story in the Bible?” It is also said that the four gospels are One Story revealed in four dimensions. Among those dimensions, Mark offers…
Day 45 Exodus 37:1‐38:31; Matthew 28:1‐20; Psalm 34:11‐22; Proverbs 9:9‐10 A Day of Reflection At this point we have reached 45 Days in the Word. What an accomplishment! As you read today’s Scripture passages, we encourage you to write down something that you draw from the passages. There is no right or wrong way to…
Day 44 Exodus 35:10‐36:38; Matthew 27:32‐66; Psalm 34:1‐10; Proverbs 9:7‐8 Mocker or Wise Man “Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.” – Proverbs 9:8 Unfortunately, here is a verse from Proverbs that stings. It is so very easy to throw a retort at someone who criticizes….
Day 43 Exodus 34:1-35:9; Matthew 27:15-31; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 9:1-6 Commandments Written on the Heart Today’s passage from Exodus is rich and full and mysterious, and will pay back all the effort we expend on it. (We don’t need to understand it all today! We will return!) Moses goes up the mountain to commune with…
Day 42 Exodus 32:1‐33:23; Matthew 26:69‐27:14; Psalm 33:1‐11; Proverbs 8:33‐36 God in a Box I read a book many years ago (Sorry, can’t remember the name of it…) that talked about how so many of us try to put God in a box. We imagine God to be of the size and shape we need….
Day 41 Exodus 30:11‐31:18; Matthew 26:47‐68; Psalm 32:1‐11; Proverbs 8:27‐32 A Kiss, a Fist, and a Sword Today’s reading from Matthew covers the time from Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in Gethsemane to His abuse at the hands of Jewish leaders at the High Priest’s residence. When the crowd showed up, Jesus was betrayed with a…
Day 40 Exodus 29:1‐30:10; Matthew 26:14‐46; Psalm 31:19‐24; Proverbs 8:14‐26 Betrayed! It is difficult to imagine the level of betrayal Jesus experienced from Judas. In today’s reading from Matthew, a few short words tell us the gravity of his betrayal. Only Matthew tells us the price for betrayal – the infamous thirty pieces of silver….
Day 39 Exodus 28:1-43; Matthew 25:31-26:13; Psalm 31:9-18; Proverbs 8:12-13 Revealed. Waiting. Preparing. “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40b Since, the first manifestation of Christ’s divine nature to the three kings who paid Him homage at…
Day 38 Exodus 26:1-27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 8:1-11 Keep Reading! At this point in Exodus, the temptation is always to skip it. Skip all these specific directions about how to make the tabernacle. Keep reading. Try to picture what it might have looked like to make even one component of this structure. If…
