Category: Bible

Solid Food is for the Mature – Hebrews 5-6 – 2025 Day 159

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 126; Hebrews 5-6

But solid food is for the mature ​— ​for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

Hebrews 5:14 CSB

I sure enjoy a freshly grilled steak, but there’s no way I would feed it to my one-year-old granddaughter. I remember when that precious little girl was first learning to suck rice cereal off a spoon. Then, she graduated to yogurt and oatmeal. Now she can eat just about anything, but steak? She’s still not ready for it, but it won’t be long if her Pop has anything to say about it.

It takes more than simply time to develop maturity. I’ve met plenty of 50-year-old men that don’t have the maturity of my 26-year-old son. My youngest son is 17 years old. He’s 6’1″ and almost 170 lbs. Fully grown? Maybe. Fully mature? Nope, definitely not. Though he may be ten giant leaps in front of many of his peers, he still has so much to learn. Maturity takes wisdom and learning. Maturity takes testing and trial and error.

Like this passage says, the mature have trained their powers of discernment by constant practice, distinguishing good from evil. How are we doing, sisters? Are we training our children (and ourselves) to be discerning, knowing the Lord and hiding His Word in our hearts? Are we listening to the wisdom of the world or the Word? Are we following our hearts or our Master?

Heavenly Father, we want to be mature. We want to be discerning. We want to love what you love and hate what you hate. We pray for our children to know and love your Word, that they would hide it faithfully in their hearts, and we pray that we would be diligent in teaching and training them. Help us to be godly examples for the next generation, being sober-minded and making the most of every day that we are given. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

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Hallelujah, What a Savior! – Hymns of Grace

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The Sharp Scalpel of the Word – Hebrews 4 – 2025 Day 157

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 124; Hebrews 4

For the word of God is living and active
and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, 
of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, 
but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Hebrews 4:12-13 NASB95

I remember when I had my “jubilee year” physical, and my doctor told me that it was time for my first colonoscopy. Friends, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to be on a liquid diet and tethered to the toilet for 24 hours. I didn’t want to be put under anesthesia, and I most certainly didn’t want to have my bottom examined by strangers. But, it was the right thing to do, because those unseen things inside me needed to be exposed and inspected, so that whatever impurities needed to be removed could be clearly seen.

So, I did it, even though I didn’t want to. And now, looking back, I’m glad I did. Even though it was painful, it was for my good, not for my harm

Friends, do you believe that the Bible you are holding in your hands is the very Word of God, that the God who spoke the world into existence, the One who holds your life and eternity in His Almighty hands, is the very God who breathed out the words of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, as well as Matthew, John, and Hebrews? Do you believe that God’s written Word is as powerful as His spoken Word?

If you do indeed believe that, then take a moment to ponder how that should affect your life.

If God’s spoken word can cause lands and seas to appear, and birds to fly across the sky, then surely His written word can cause the dead to be born again. If God’s spoken word can cause soldiers to fall to the ground (John 18:6), then we ought to trust that God’s written word can convict even the hardest heart and bring them to repentance. If God’s spoken word can change the world, then we should trust that God’s written word can change your heart and life.

Sometimes we’re afraid to go to the doctor because we don’t want to hear the bad news.

Sometimes we refuse to be put under the knife, because we don’t want to go through the inevitable pain that will follow.

Oh, but friends, just like I’d tell you to go to the dermatologist for that suspicious spot on your nose, I’m telling you to get your nose into the Word. You need it. I need it. We need the double-edged sword of the Word.

Like a scalpel in the hands of an expert surgeon, God’s Word can root out the cancerous diseases of pride and selfishness and sin. God’s Word has pierced my heart time after time. Each time it hurts, but each time it’s good.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word. It is indeed living and active. It is life-giving and powerful. It reveals truth to me and it pierces my soul. I pray for my sisters who are afraid, who don’t want to read it, who know that they need heart surgery, but are running away in fear. Please remind them of Your goodness and mercy, that You are the perfect physician and judge who wants for their good and not for their harm. Help us to hunger for You and to find You in Your written Word. May we not perish for lack of knowledge while Your Word sits unopened on the shelf. In the name of Jesus, the Living Word we pray, Amen.

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Your Words are Wonderful (Psalm 119) – Sovereign Grace Music

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Encouragement and Exhortation – Hebrews 3 – 2025 Day 156

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 123, Hebrews 3

Depending on what translation you’re using, Hebrews 3:13 might say that we need to encourage or exhort one another every day, that none of us would be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. This English word for “encourage” or “exhort” is the Greek word “parakaleo,” a verb that literally means to call near or to call to one’s side.

http://www.BlueLetterBible.com

I love this idea of encouragement or exhortation literally meaning to call near or to call to one’s side. It’s not standing behind you, pushing you forward, commanding you to get going. It’s calling you up to walk with me.

Come on, friend. Come with me.
Walk this journey with me.
Hold my hand. Let’s walk together.
God is with us. He will give us the strength that we need. Jesus has walked this road before and given us an example. We can persevere by His grace and His Spirit at work in us.

This is your call to persevere. It’s easy to drift downstream, but it takes effort to fight against the current. If we want to go upstream, we have to put our paddles in the water and do the work.

But we are not called to row alone. Let’s get in the boat together. When we both put our hands to the oars and pull together side by side, we can go farther and accomplish more than we ever could on our own.

  • Who in your life needs some encouragement?
  • Who can you parakaleo – call to your side – today?
  • In what area of your life is God calling you to persevere?

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the gift of encouragement we have in Your Holy Spirit. He is our paraclete, our helper and advocate. We are not alone. You are always with us. I pray for each of my sisters and brothers who are feeling lonely, who feel like they are rowing all by themselves in the middle of a vast ocean. Lord, help them to remember that You are with them, and that there is a vast army of believers surrounding them, rowing alongside them. Please place your lonesome children into a body of believers who can parakaleo them, rowing with them and encouraging them to keep going until the final finish line, until the moment they hear Your voice saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the name of Jesus Christ, our advocate, we pray. Amen.

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When Christ our Life Appears – Sovereign Grace Music

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With Unveiled Face: Exodus 34 – 2025 Day 135

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 105; Exodus 34

“When Moses came down
from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain,
Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”

Exodus 34:29 ESV

His face was shining, not because he had just married the woman of his dreams, or because he was holding his newborn son, or because he’d successfully led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, but because he had literally been in God’s presence.

I know that my face will not physically radiate light from my time with the Lord … but how I wish for my countenance to radiate the joy, peace, and hope that comes from having communed with Him that day. It reminds me of 1 Peter 3:3-4, “Do not let your adorning be external–the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear– but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”

And 2 Corinthians 3:7-18,

“Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 ESV

Heavenly Father, May my face radiate Your glory. May my countenance reflect the joy that fills my heart. Let Your glory flow into me and out of me, that people would see YOU when they look at me. May they see my good deeds and give glory to You, my Father in Heaven. To the glory of Your Name we pray. Amen.

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery – Keith and Kristyn Getty

Making Disciples of All Nations – Matthew 28 – 2025 Day 112

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 81, Matthew 28

The ending of Matthew’s very thorough account of Jesus’s life and ministry feels so sudden. After reading twenty-seven lengthy chapters, Matthew 28 contains only twenty verses, summarizing the resurrection of Christ, Jesus’s appearance to the Mary’s, the bribing of the Roman guards by the Jewish leaders, and some of Jesus’s final words to His disciples,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

So, as we wrap up four weeks spent studying the words of Matthew, let these be my concluding words to you.

Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. He can do it. Nothing is impossible for Him. You can trust Him. Therefore, you can go with confidence, under His authority, by the power of His Holy Spirit, and make disciples of all nations. He wants to use you. You don’t need to be a ordained minister to share the good news. You don’t need a seminary degree to tell people how to trust in Christ. His Spirit and His Word are all you need. He wants you to share the good news with those who have never heard. But don’t stop there – teach them to observe all that He has commanded in His word. Being a disciple is so much more than just being a fan.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. If you’d like to join me in international ministry, leave a comment or send me a message. I’d love to help you get plugged in! Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, What a blessing it is to be a laborer in the harvest! I am so thankful for Your Holy Spirit who lives in me and gives me wisdom. I pray that Your Spirit would guide me to those who are hungering to hear the good news and those who need to be discipled to obey Your commands. In the powerful Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord we pray, Amen.

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Scripture Memory and Scripture Application – Matthew 7 – 2025 Day 92

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 60; Matthew 7

My oldest two children (ages 10 and 7) and I initially memorized all 29 verses of Matthew 7 almost 20 years ago. Thankfully, I’ve used the Bible Memory app since then to review the verses I memorized, otherwise I fear that I wouldn’t remember it anymore. I hope you’ll check it out! Here’s a link to learn more or download it. Here’s a link to a video I made about how to use it. And here’s a link to my Teach What Is Good Bible Memory group You can join for free for some encouragement and accountability — don’t we all need that!

There is so much wisdom in all of Matthew 7, but today what I was especially thinking about the connection between verses 21-23 and 24-27.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’'”

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24-27 ESV

Don’t miss that word “then” in verse 24.

This reminded me of some other passages I’ve hidden in my heart.

But be doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James 1:22 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have,
and if I deliver up my body to be burned,
but have not love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV

This is what differentiates students from disciples: Students listen, students study, students memorize, but disciples put into practice the words of their teacher, modeling their own lives after their master’s.

Let’s be faithful to store up God’s Word in our heart
(like Psalm 119:11 says),
but let’s be just as faithful to put it into practice!

Heavenly Father, we don’t want to merely listen to your Word, thus deceiving ourselves. We want to do what it says. Help us to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, modeling our lives after His, loving and serving others, doing good to them and forgiving them, as Jesus Christ perfectly modeled for us. And help us to be faithful disciple-makers, telling others the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ, and teaching them all that You have commanded us, remembering that You are always with us even to the end of the age! In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

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Bible Memory App – 1 Corinthians 13
How to use the Bible Memory app
I Have Hidden Your Word – Steve Green

Christ is Enough – Matthew 6 – 2025 Day 91

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 59, Matthew 6

Bear with me, please, as I silently ponder aloud some thoughts from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

  • Is Jesus enough for me?
  • Can I be satisfied in Him? Or do I have to manipulate others with anger or bitterness or unforgiveness?
  • Can I be satisfied in Him? Or do I need to lust after that person or that thing or that circumstance, thinking that is the key to my joy?
  • Can I be satisfied in Him? Or do I need the praise and accolades of man? Do I need good health and good food, nice clothes and nice friends to be happy?

I can just hear the Father whispering to me, “O, Kim, you of little faith. I am enough for you. Trust Me. Look at those birds making their little nests and pulling worms from the ground. Look at those flowers poking out from the dirt. I am taking care of them and I’m taking care of you. Fear not for I am with you. I am enough. You, seek Me. You, trust Me. You, pursue Me. I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll take care of you.”

Heavenly Father, You are enough. You are more than enough. You are a good, good Father who always keeps His promises. Increase my faith, Lord. Help me to seek first YOUR kingdom, rather than my own. Help me to seek to store up treasures in heaven, rather than here on earth. Give me eternal vision and help me to trust You in the little and big things. In the all-powerful name of my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

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Enough – Elias Dummer

Blessed? – Matthew 5 – 2025 Day 90

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 58, Matthew 5

Today, I hope you’ll read something I wrote a few years ago titled, “Blessed are the meek.”

Lord Jesus, I pray that we would humble ourselves before You, recognizing our utter poverty and need, and acknowledging Your perfect strength and goodness. It is indeed good to be afflicted, that we might know You and Your power in our suffering. Hard indeed is the path to blessing, but oh how good it is to know You! In the good and gracious name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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I’m so Blessed!

He Will Save His People from their Sins – Matthew 1 – 2025 Day 86

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Matthew 1; Psalm 54

The Book of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The first verse is a brief genealogy. Jesus descended from David who descended from Abraham, but then we get a father to son heritage from Abraham all the way to Jesus’s earthly father, Joseph. You might feel tempted to skip this, but I hope you won’t. I want to point out a few things.

  • The genealogy begins with Abraham, not Adam. Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation. Jesus was a Jew.
  • There are several women mentioned in this account, but every one of them has something that tarnishes their reputation. Look up the stories of Tamar (Genesis 38:1-26), Rahab (Joshua 2:1-3 and Joshua 6:17-25), and Ruth (Ruth 1:4).
  • Bathsheba isn’t mentioned by name as the mother of Solomon, but rather is referred to as “the wife of Uriah,” not because of her sin but because of David’s. You can read about the story of Uriah’s death and Solomon’s birth in 2 Samuel 11-12, but 1 Kings 15:5 says “David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”

Matthew didn’t try to hide the thread of sin which is woven through the background of the ancestors of Jesus, son of David. Rather, these words help to prepare the reader for the words of the angel —

Joseph, son of David,
do not fear to take Mary
as your wife,
for that which is conceived
in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son and
you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people
from their sins.

Matthew 1:20-21

Joseph, too, was a son of David, a good man but not a perfect man. God has chosen Mary, a good woman but not a perfect woman to bear His son, a perfect Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. This Son will save His people from their sins.

Joseph and Mary needed saving and so do we. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your only begotten Son to save me from my sins. I am Your child and You are my Father. Thank you for showing us that we don’t have to have a sinless lineage to be children of Your Perfect Son.

Thank You for my earthly father and mother who did their best to raise me right. I pray that You would bless them with everything that they need for life and godliness by the power of Your Holy Spirit  and Your Word.

I pray that You would make me a woman after your own heart, treasuring Your word in my heart that I would not sin against you. In the Holy, Blessed name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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I Serve a Risen Savior

Redeeming Love – Job 25 – 2025 Day 74

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Job 25, Psalm 42

I hope your Bible is open as you’re reading this. If it is, you’ll notice that Job 25 is only six verses long, yet it’s so rich that I just let it take me on rabbit trails rather than continuing to read further in Job. In fact, I pretty much studied just one verse.

How then can man be
in the right before God?

How can he who is born
of woman be pure?

Job 25:4 ESV

I opened my trusty Blue Letter Bible app. If you don’t have it, I would highly encourage you to get it. It is free to download and absolutely chock-full of great tools and resources.

First, I looked at cross-references – there was a list of over a dozen. Read through these and let them sink in.

Cross-referenced verses from Job 25:4

Then I used the interlinear feature to study the words “right” and “pure.”

I noticed that “right” – sadaq – can mean to be just, righteous … or to be made just or declared righteous, while “pure” – zaka – can mean to be clean, pure … or to be made clean and pure. And then I noticed that zaka – “pure” – is also used in Psalm 119:9, so I went there!

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!

Psalm 119:9-12 ESV

Whew! I found so much meat and encouragement by chasing all those rabbit trails from just one verse. Don’t be afraid to do that. You never know where the Lord will lead you.

Let’s pray!

Heavenly Father, thank you for making me pure and making me clean. Such were some of us … such was I, but I have been washed and cleansed in the blood of Jesus.

Lord, I pray that I would keep my ways and my mind pure by keeping them in accordance with Your Word. May I be careful where my feet walk. Help me to think about what I’m thinking about.

Thank You for the purifying, redeeming, cleansing, justifying blood of Jesus Christ, Your only Son and my only Lord and Savior. It is in His name that I pray. Amen.

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Nothing but the Blood of Jesus
Psalm 42 (Loudest Praise) – Shane and Shane