MONDAY, January 31st
Pray – (1/2 minute)
Read – (3 minutes) “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew? . . . Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (Romans 3:1-2)
Passage: Psalm 147:12-20
Being raised in a Christian family and being taken regularly to church doesn’t make you a Christian or cause God to love you anymore than He loves everybody else. But if you were raised that way, you were blessed. If you are raising your children that way, they are blessed. Week in and week out, those who grew up attending church were hearing the Word of God taught and preached. What a blessing.
Most people in the world have either not heard the Word of God, or have limited access to the Word of God. Many believers in other countries would be amazed at the number of Bibles that we have in our homes and the freedom of worship that we have in the United States. They would not understand how we could take such privilege for granted or how we could prioritize other things above receiving God’s Word. Consider the blessing you have been given and thank God for it.
Apply – (2 minutes)
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Pray – (1 ½ minutes)
TUESDAY, February 1st
Pray – (1/2 minute)
Read – (3 minutes) “What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all!” (Romans 3:3-4a)
Passage: Hebrews 4:1-11
At one time, church sanctuaries across Europe were filled with people coming to hear God’s Word. Today, many of those sanctuaries are museums and many others are nearly empty as less than 10% of the population attend each week. The situation in America is not much better, with attendance averaging less than 30% of the population and declining. The problem is not in the Word of God. The problem is in the will of man. When a person hears the Word, but doesn’t exercise faith, his heart will become hardened. The gospel will start to seem irrelevant to his life and he will either make church attendance a ritual or he will reject it altogether and give his time to something else.
But God wants much better for you. He loves you and has given you His Word to allow you to know Him and to let Him transform you and use you for His purposes. Love Him. Listen to His voice. Let Him lead you in His ways.
Apply – (2 minutes)
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Pray – (1 ½ minutes)
WEDNESDAY, February 2nd
Pray – (1/2 minute)
Read – (3 minutes) “All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:12)
Passage: Psalm 53:1-3
The young man came forward after the service and told the preacher he wanted to be saved. The preacher told him he first needed to admit that he was a sinner and asked him to share some ways he had sinned. The young man said he couldn’t think of any. The preacher told him to guess and said that when he guessed, he got it right!
The good Paul is describing is not a goodness of being ethical or kind or helping out someone in need. It is a goodness that indicates absolute perfection and a motive that always seeks the glory of God. No one is good like that on his or her own. Recognizing that you cannot stand before God on the basis of your own goodness is not negative. It’s positive. It means that you are right where you need to be in order for the Spirit of God to make you what He designed you to be.
Apply – (2 minutes)
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Pray – (1 ½ minutes)
THURSDAY, February 3rd
Pray – (1/2 minute)
Read – (3 minutes) “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:20)
Passage: Galatians 2:15-21
You’re driving on a road going 50 miles per hour. Everything seems good and there’s no problem you can see. Then you see the sign. The speed limit is 40. Now you’ve got a problem. You are breaking the law. So you begin to slow down, but it’s too late. The police officer caught you on radar doing 50. Now you can promise that from then on, you will never speed, but it won’t take away the fact that you did speed and you broke the law.
We may think that our lives are okay, but the fact is, they are not. The Word of God lays out God’s perfect standards and when we look at them, we see that we have failed. We are all sinners. That’s why we need a Savior. That’s why we need Jesus.
Apply – (2 minutes)
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Pray – (1 ½ minutes)
FRIDAY, February 4th
Pray – (1/2 minute)
Read – (3 minutes) “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, . . . This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22)
Passage: John 3:11-18
Absolutely amazing. How else can you really describe it? You don’t become right with God by being religious or by obeying all of “the rules”. You become right with God by simply placing your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You trust that His death on the cross paid the penalty for your sin. You believe he rose from the tomb and you receive Him as your Lord.
You and I were in an impossible and hopeless situation on our own. Eternity was in front of us, but it was an eternity separated from God because of our sin. But God loved you so much that He was willing to come to earth and die for you in order that you might live with Him forever. That kind of love deserves your love in return. That kind of love deserves your devotion. Reflect a moment on the magnitude of God’s love and set your heart to live a devoted life today.
Apply – (2 minutes)
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Pray – (1 ½ minutes)
SATURDAY, February 5th
Pray – (1/2 minute)
Read – (3 minutes) “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. . .” (Romans 3:27a)
Passage: Galatians 6:11-16
A number of years ago I was taken on a tour of the new facilities at one of the largest churches in America. Throughout the tour, the person I was with kept referring to things being either the biggest or one of the biggest things in any church in the country. They had the biggest auditorium. They had the biggest mirror in the foyer. The list went on and on. It was impressive and the boasting was humanly understandable. We like to be part of something big and it’s natural that we should be proud of our school, our church, our city, our state and our country, etc.
But get things in perspective. We are not better than anyone else because of our size or our achievements. We are not loved by God more than others because of the church we belong to or the activities we do. We are love by God . . . period. We are saved by God purely because of His grace poured out through our faith in Jesus Christ. If we are going boast, let us boast in Him, His love, His work on the cross and in the changes He has made in our lives.
Apply – (2 minutes)
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Pray – (1 ½ minutes)
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