The seventh advent devotional in “From Creation to Christ” along with Luke 7. If you don’t have your own copy, you can order your own a Kindle version instantly, while you wait for the paper copy to arrive. I’m really loving this “mash up” of the advent devotional with the daily reading in Luke. I hope you are, too!
How was Joseph able to forgive his brothers after they had perpetrated such great sin against him? I think the answer might be found in Luke 7.
“Then turning toward the woman [Jesus] said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.””
– Luke 7:44-50 ESV
So long as I think my sins aren’t really that bad, it’s hard to forgive other people. But when I recognize how much God has forgiven me, then I’m able to love God and love others.
And if I think that God is mean to allow such terrible things into my life, then I will be bitter toward Him and toward others as well. But if I think that God is the master weaver, creating a masterpiece of my life, then I will humbly accept whatever others do to me and keep praising Him through it all.
Heavenly Father, I know that You are good. I trust You. Help me to love others with the love that You have poured out lavishly on me. Help me to remember how MUCH I have been forgiven, how GREAT my sins are and have been. Help me to be so busy working on getting the log out of my own eye that I don’t have time to fret about the splinter in my brother’s. I love You, Lord. Help me to love You more!
The sixth advent devotional in “From Creation to Christ” along with Luke 6. If you don’t have your own copy, you can order your own a Kindle version instantly, while you wait for the paper copy to arrive.
When we read the story of Jacob dreaming about a ladder set up on earth reaching to heaven, let’s pay careful attention to Genesis 28:13-14, where the Lord repeats the promise He had made to Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather, telling Jacob that, “The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
I was reminded of Galatians 3.
“And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” … Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. … But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
Galatians 3:8, 16, 25-29 ESV
Friends, though there are many children of Abraham, there is only one ladder by which anyone can reach God, that is Abraham’s one offspring, Christ, the Son of God.
Then, turning to Luke 6, I noticed in verses 17 and 18 that “[Jesus] came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.”
According to Got Questions, “Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities north of Israel.” And in Luke 10:13, Jesus compares the cities of Galilee (Chorazin and Bethsaida) with these Gentiles cities, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.” (You can read more about Tyre and Sidon in Matthew 11:20-24, Matthew 15:21-28.)
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) It is by faith in Him that we can come to the Father now and for all eternity. All the nations will be blessed through the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through Messiah Jesus, the Promised, Long-Awaited Seed.
Heavenly Father, I pray that You will use me to bless the nations of the world. Draw all men to Yourself by faith in Jesus Christ, Your Only Begotten Son. Send Your children out to preach the good news in the corners and in the marketplaces, from the rooftops and through the airwaves. Bring the nations in! We want heaven to be filled with every nation, tribe, people, and tongue to the praise of Your glorious name. In the Name of Jesus Christ who is the Only Way to You, Father, we pray. Amen.
The fifth advent devotional in “From Creation to Christ” along with Luke 5. If you don’t have your own copy, you can order your own a Kindle version instantly, while you wait for the paper copy to arrive.
I tried to put myself in Abraham’s place, imagining how it would feel to lay my own son on an altar and prepare to give him up as an offering to God. This was particularly difficult for me to wrap my head around since God would never want a person to kill their own child. If I had such a thought in my mind, I would quickly and immediately dismiss it as clearly not from the Lord. Yet, here’s Abraham, obeying God even to the point of traveling for three days to sacrifice his own son.
It’s much easier for me to imagine my gratitude at God sparing my child. Suddenly, all of my confusion is taken away, the clouds part, and I see God’s glorious goodness in technicolor as a ram appears, caught in a nearby thicket. I understand, now, Father! You are so good! You are the great provider!
Then, we followed our advent reading with Luke 5. Again I tried to imagine myself in the events of the passage. I pictured myself a weary fisherman, having toiled all night without catching a single fish. When a man asks to get into my boat so he could teach the people, I oblige willingly enough, thinking, “Eh, what can it hurt?” But, then, when he tells me to go back out into the water, to keep fishing, to let down my nets again, it’s almost more than I can bear. Yet, I obey Him. And then it happens, I catch an unimaginable number of fish, to the point that my nets are breaking and my boat begins to sink. I’m blown away. How is this possible? Who is this man?
But, wait, what’s this? How does Simon Peter respond?
“But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.””
Luke 5:8 ESV
Heavenly Father, How good You are! Your mercies are so great and so glorious! And oh how sinful am I! Who am I, Lord, that You would spare my life and not strike me dead in an instant? Who am I, Lord, that You would invite me into your presence, to sit at Your feet, to read Your Word, to be taught by You? Father, You have done so much for me. You have blessed me so, so much. You have filled my nets to their breaking point. You have filled my boats to the point they would sink with Your mercies. My cup indeed overflows. You have brought me to sit an Your banqueting table. You have invited me to the eternal wedding supper of the Lamb. You have provided for Yourself the offering, the spotless Lamb to die in my own place. You have given Your own Son. For me, not a righteous woman, but a sinful one. You have so clearly demonstrated Your love for me in that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. Thank You, Lord. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior, I pray. Amen.
During the Advent season, I’ll be reading from both my daily Advent devotional in“From Creation to Christ” along with our 2-year Bible Reading plan, so that I read Genesis 1 along with Luke 1. Tomorrow is the last day that the Kindle e-book version is available on Amazon FREE. Merry Christmas! Hurry and get your copy today and share it with your friends!
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. … So Abram went, as the LORD had told him.”
– Genesis 12:1, 4a ESV
“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.”
– Luke 4:1-2 ESV
My husband and I are about to celebrate our thirty-first wedding anniversary. Many of those years have been hard, friends, and sometimes I’ve questioned what God is up to. Why did He put the two of us together?
In the first five years of homeschooling, I often second guessed whether God had really called me to this because it was an uphill battle day after day. Now, with my homeschooling days behind me, I can look back and see God’s hand with me every step of the way. I know that God carried me and walked with me, even though the path was often twisty and rocky.
Our culture has sold us the lie that if we obey God, then everything will be smooth sailing. Don’t believe it. It wasn’t smooth sailing for Noah or Abram. It wasn’t smooth sailing for John the Baptizer or Jesus Christ or His disciples. Don’t be surprised when it’s not smooth sailing for you.
My job isn’t to question and argue and second-guess, to help God figure out where I ought to turn. My job is to follow where God leads and stay on the path that He has set before me. My job is to trust and obey.
Heavenly Father, You know all the answers. You know what path is best. You are almighty. You are all-knowing. And You are good. Help me to trust You and to stay on that straight and narrow path. Help me to go where You lead me. Help me to follow You rather than trying to get out front. Help me to go where You send me. Help me to trust and obey. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my faithful Shepherd I pray. Amen.
During the Advent season, I’ll be reading from both my daily Advent devotional in “From Creation to Christ” along with our 2-year Bible Reading plan, so that I read excerpts from Genesis 6-9 along with Luke 3. The Kindle e-book version is FREE now through Thursday, December 4, 2025, 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. Merry Christmas! Hurry and get your copy today and share it with your friends!
Though we don’t know what exactly Noah said to those living around him, 2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah, “a herald of righteousness.”
Though we don’t know exactly how Noah was treated by those who saw him building an ark in a desert, Hebrews 11:7 says that, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
We know more about John. We know that John “went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 3:3 ESV) We know that John had fiery words to say to his Jewish brothers who came to be baptized by him.
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Luke 3:7b-9 ESV
I was reminded this morning that John’s father, Zechariah, was a priest, but we see here in Luke 3 that John answered the crowds, even those detested tax collectors and soldiers, who asked, “What shall we do?” Again and again John pointed people to the One who is mightier than him, the one who was yet to come, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, who would gather the wheat into His barn and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.
But Noah’s life and John’s life ended very differently. Noah’s life was spared, while John was locked up in prison (Luke 3:20) and eventually beheaded (Matthew 14:1-12).
So I’m asking myself, am I willing to be a herald of righteousness?
Am I willing to preach repentance or am I too afraid of what people will say?
Do I fear the disapproval of man … or of God?
Heavenly Father, make me like John and Noah. Make me a herald of good news. Help me to preach repentance and the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. I know how this story ends. I know that Jesus came, and I know that He is coming again. Help me to live for Your glory, rather than my own. Help me to love my neighbor more than I love my own comfort. Give me Your strength. Give me Your words. Guide me where You want me to go. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior, I pray. Amen.
During the Advent season, I’ll be reading from both my daily Advent devotional in “From Creation to Christ” along with our 2-year Bible Reading plan, so today I read Genesis 3 along with Luke 2. The Kindle e-book version is FREE now through Thursday, December 4, 2025, 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. Merry Christmas! Hurry and get your copy today and share it with your friends!
Today I was struck by comparing Mary with Eve. Mary “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” while Eve listened to the temptations of the serpent and her flesh rather than listening to the truth and kindness of her Creator.
Heavenly Father, make me more like Mary. I want my soul to magnify You, Lord. I want my spirit to rejoice in You, God, my Savior. Thank You, Father for looking upon me in my humble state. You have indeed done great things for me. You lift up the humble, and You humble the mighty. You fill the hungry with good things, and You send the rich away empty.
I want to remember the days with my children, sitting side by side on the couch, reading Your Word together. I want to treasure the life-giving Word that I hold in my hands. Help me to ponder its truths, mully them over in my mind and treasuring them in my heart, that they will come out of my mouth in season and out of season.
I want my thoughts to be Your thoughts and my words to be Your words. May everything that has breath praise You, Lord, for You are worthy to be praised. I am joyful and I adore You. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord, I pray. Amen.
During the Advent season, I’ll be reading from both my daily Advent devotional in “From Creation to Christ” along with our 2-year Bible Reading plan, so that I read Genesis 1 along with Luke 1. The Kindle e-book version is FREE now through Thursday, December 4, 2025, 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. Merry Christmas! Hurry and get your copy today and share it with your friends!
What jumped out at me this time was that God had a plan for everything He made in the six days of creation … and God had a plan in the birth of John and of Jesus. Though both of these firstborn sons were miraculous gifts from God, God sent John to be born to an elderly priest and his barren wife, while God sent Jesus to be born of a young woman not yet married. John was conceived by an earthly father, while Jesus was God’s own begotten Son, born of the Holy Spirit Himself.
As an atheist I struggled to find purpose in my life. I was taught again and again that everything I saw, including myself, had evolved through a series of random events over billions of years. What a lie! And a lie with major consequences.
God had purpose in John being named John (G2491 Ἰωάννης iōannēs) from the Hebrew name (H3110 יוֹחָנָן yôḥānān) which means “Jehovah is a gracious giver” or “Jehovah has graced,” and God had purpose in His Holy Son being named Jesus (G2424 Ἰησοῦς iēsous) from the Hebrew name (H3091 יְהוֹשׁוּעַ yᵊhôšûaʿ) which means “Jehovah is salvation.”
God has purpose for every thing He creates. He designed the water, air, earth, stars, plants, and animals to work together, and He designed John and Jesus, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph, to work together, too. What a privilege it is to be part of God’s kingdom and part of God’s family!
Heavenly Father, Thank You for making me. Thank You for making the trees that stretch high up into the sky, towering over us, and thank You for making ants that crawl along the ground. I pray that You will encourage me to walk by faith and to accomplish the good works that You have created in advance for me to do. I am Your poema, Your workmanship. Thank You, Father, for creating each of my children and grandchildren for a unique purpose. Guide them by Your Word and Your Holy Spirit. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, I pray. Amen.
All Creatures of our God and King – Prayers of the Saints Live
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 119:160-176, 2 Samuel 24.
Today I’m thinking about what worship is.
What does it mean to worship God?
Can we worship the Lord in prison?
Can we worship while we’re stuck at home for a week because of snow and ice and temperatures that refuse to go above freezing?
Does worship only happen when we’re in the presence of other believers on Sunday morning?
Can we worship in dance?
Can we worship while we’re just sitting in church listening to a man preach? Do we?
The word “worship” first appears in the Bible in Genesis 22:5 when Abraham is preparing to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him there to the Lord. “Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.’” The Hebrew word used here for worship שָׁחָה (šāḥâ) literally means to bow down or prostrate oneself.
This same word is used in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:5a ESV “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.”
I think a big part of worship in God’s eyes is coming with an attitude of humble service to God, living for His pleasure and glory rather than our own. I worship God when I bow before Him, serving Him, humbling myself before Him, laying down whatever I’m clinging to as an offering to Him. Whether that offering is a measure of grain or a firstborn lamb or a song of praise, it is a sacrifice given up for His pleasure.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Romans 12:1 ESV
Like Jimmy Needham says, “Worship is more than a song.”
Clear the Stage
Heavenly Father, I want to worship You in thought, word, and deed. I want my life to be a living offering to You. Forgive me for all the times that I have taken Your place, bowing down to my own desires rather than Yours, serving the creature rather than the Creator. You alone are worthy of worship. For Your glory and praise and worship. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 121-160, 2 Samuel 23.
After reading all the yuck of the previous 12 chapters of 2 Samuel, I held my breath reading David’s words in 2 Samuel 23:5.
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?
2 Samuel 23:5 ESV
Then I was reminded of 2 Samuel 7 when God made that everlasting covenant with David,
“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”
2 Samuel 7:12-16 ESV
And then I was reminded of 2 Samuel 12 when God swore to bring evil upon David because of his sin.
“Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’”
2 Samuel 12:9-12 ESV
And I was once again reminded that God is a promise keeping God, both in His promises of blessing and His promises of wrath. God did keep His everlasting covenant with the house of David, bringing Jesus, our eternal King of kings, but God also kept His oath that the sword would come upon David’s house and that his wives would be given to his neighbor, as we just read about in chapters 15-16.
So, then I wondered, why do so many professing Christians only talk about God’s steadfast love and refuse to talk about His just anger against our sin?
The reason God’s great mercy is the BEST NEWS EVER is because God’s great wrath is the WORST NEWS EVER.
Friends, if you are not in Christ, then you are still under God’s judgment, and if you are judged by your own deeds, you will be found “guilty as charged” and justly endure God’s eternal condemnation.
Everyone loves John 3:16 ESV — “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” But, let’s not forget about the other verses of John 3,
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:18 ESV
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36 ESV
And what about 1 John 5:11-12? “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life;whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.“
HeavenlyFather, help us to believe and proclaim the full counsel of Your Word, the full gospel of truth, that You are holy and righteous, that You are the judge of even our secret sins, those hidden things that no one else knows about, the thoughts and intentions of the heart as well as our words and deeds. None of us can stand before You by our own merit. We need You, Lord. Cover us with the blood of Jesus and wash us clean. Redeem us and deliver us from sin. In the Holy, Almighty Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 119:81-120, 2 Samuel 22
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 ESV
David trusts in God because he knows His Word. David trusts that God sees him and cares about him, so he puts his faith in Him. David trusts in God because he knows that God is good. I’m reminded of Psalm 9:10, “And those who know your name put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You,” written by David.
The better You know God’s Word, the better you will know God.
The more deeply you know God, the more deeply you will trust Him because you will know His immense and everlasting goodness and power.
As your trust in God grows, then you will seek Him and call upon Him, which reminds me of another Psalm of David. Psalm 34:4, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
As you call upon Him, He will answer you, and then you will praise His Name.
For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
2 Samuel 22:50-51 ESV
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness and mercy towards me. You are the almighty God, the steadfast rock, the refuge for those who seek You. Help me to trust in You, fully and daily. May I not trust in horses and chariots and human wisdom, but in Christ, the solid rock on whom I stand. He is the eternal God and King of kings. It is in His holy name that I pray. Amen.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
Teach What is Good 
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