Today's Reading Justice is part of God's character and a command for his people to live out. We see this thread throughout the Bible as God's people are called to do justice (Micah 6:8), to not only pray but participate in God's work on earth as it is in heaven (Mathew 5) and to live out God's kingdom ethics including justice in the here and now. Yet we see from today's reading that a desire to make broken things whole (justice) can be done in a way that honors God or in  Read More

Today's Reading As a youth pastor, I am always trying to get our young people to think through how they can engage their friends in conversation about Jesus. One of the things I encourage them to say to their friends is, "I don't know what to do with Jesus. Have you ever taken a good look at this guy?" He has to be God. There are no other explanations. When we come to Matthew 16, the disciples have been with Jesus for a long time and it is time for Jesus to tak  Read More

Today's Reading God's ways are not the ways of the world. In the days of Genesis, the firstborn son received double the inheritance and all of the notoriety. Yet in God's economy this is not the way it works. So often in Scripture we see where God raises up and blesses those that the world might ignore. In our reading today in Genesis, we see this principle happen twice. First, Jacob blesses Ephraim more than Manasseh despite Ephraim being the younger. This may not seem like a b  Read More

Today's Reading The only reason that we are able to know God is because he has revealed himself to us. Psalm 19 provides us with the two ways in which God has made himself known. Verses 1-6 describe what is called general revelation, that which every person can understand about God through his creation. When we notice a palm tree, stare at the waves, let sand fall through our hands or observe the birds in the sky we can understand something about God. Yet God did not solely give us abstract  Read More

Today's Reading The busyness of life can often cause us to miss what God is doing around us. Notice in our reading today from Mathew how intentional Jesus is to spend time in silence and solitude. These are two of the great spiritual disciplines of Christianity which are easily neglected today. We find ourselves unable to put our smartphone down or to disconnect from social media, yet there is so much value in just being quiet. In Matthew 14:13 Jesus is trying to spend time alone with his F  Read More

Today's Reading One of the themes which we have already encountered and will face again is that of humility vs pride. We have seen the evidence of this in Joseph's interaction with his brothers and we see it in Psalm 18:27. Notice what the psalmist says, "You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty." This idea is quoted by both James and Peter in the New Testament. They both strike upon the centrality of humility. This speaks to God's kingdom being   Read More

Today's Reading Few things are more difficult to face than rejection--whether it comes from an adult child, a parent, a spouse, a friend with whom you've made yourself vulnerable, a co-worker, an employer, a teacher, or someone you've dated. "Our reading today includes the first of three days in Psalm 18." This psalm is written by David--an expert in rejection. "As a young man David experiences a meteoric rise in popularity after his victory over Goliath. He is made  Read More

Today's Reading Joseph is someone who obeyed God, acknowledges him even in the midst of hardship and yet was sold into slavery, imprisoned, treated unjustly, lied against and forgotten. Even with these outcomes Joseph chooses to continue to follow God. He is responsible for obedience but is not responsible for outcomes. The same principle is seen in the parable which Jesus tells in Matthew 13. He proclaims that his followers are responsible for sharing the message "about the kingdom"  Read More

Today's Reading As we read through the Bible sometimes we come to verses that make us scratch our heads in bewilderment. Matthew 12:31 may be one of those verses. We may find ourselves confused by the fact that there is one sin which cannot be forgiven and then worry that we have somehow committed this sin. The sin mentioned here is that of speaking "against the Holy Spirit." The key when we come to a verse that doesn't seem to make sense is to look at the broader context   Read More

Today's Reading Notice how our reading today in Genesis begins. It starts with God commanding Jacob to praise him. Many times our emotions drive our desire to praise God or to pull away from doing so. The character of God, not our emotions should not be the driving force in praise.  Who God is, should be the reason why we praise. When we wake in the morning, we should begin with praise. As we go to work, we should praise. As we experience the joys or hardships of work, we should praise.  Read More

Today's Reading "He who has ears, let him hear." This is a call from Jesus for people to listen to his message. Some people didn't understand what he was saying, others didn't want to understand but for those who would consider his words and move from hearing to understanding their lives would be radically altered. Jesus' audience had preconceived notions of what the Messiah should be like and Jesus didn't match it. Some may have had preconceived notions   Read More

Today's Reading Our Old Testament reading today begins with deceit and lies. Jacob is trying to sneak away from Laban (who has unfairly kept Jacob hard at work to profit himself rather than Jacob and his family), Rachel steals from her father and then lies about it, not to mention she steals household gods that we can assume she worships. We see failure after failure but God is at work in spite of these things and towards the end of our reading we can see that Jacob finally acknowledges thi  Read More