Author Archives: kathryn

Day 6: Relentless help

Genesis 15-17; Matthew 5:27-48

Key Verses

Genesis 15:5-6
And [the Lord] brought [Abraham] outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Matthew 5:44-45
“But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.'”

God made a promise to Abraham, and Abraham lived in the tension between faith and doubt – between belief and unbelief. Just listen to the narrative…

  • Abraham questioned how God would give him descendants since he had no children. (Gen. 15:3)
  • God promised that Abraham would have a son and his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. (Gen 15:5)
  • Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:6)
  • Abraham waited for God to fulfill his promise of a son. He got impatient and slept with his wife’s servant, Hagar, and Hagar bore him a son. (Gen 16:2-4)
  • God reappeared to Abraham and reaffirmed his promise of a son from his wife, Sarah. He restated his covenant promise and instructed Abraham to be circumcised along with every male in his family as a sign of this covenant. (Gen 17:1-16)
  • Abraham “fell on his face and laughed to himself” at the thought of his wife, Sarah, bearing him a son. But he obeyed the difficult command of the Lord to circumcise his household. (Gen 17:17; 23-27)

Do you see the ebbs and flows of faith in Abraham’s life? I can totally relate. It reminds me of the father who cried to Jesus… “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

My life is filled with the responsibility of caring for a disabled child. This responsibility is relentless. It never goes away. It causes me to long for relief – to long for heaven. I need help from God to fulfill my responsibilities with joy and gratitude. Thankfully, God’s help to me… his grace toward me is also relentless. It never goes away. Even when my faith ebbs and flows, God continues to fulfill His promises to me. His promise to never leave or forsake me. His promise to work all things for my good. His promise to conform me more into the likeness of Jesus. His promise to give comfort and peace. His promise. His promises. They never fail. They are relentless.

Day 5: The Poor in Spirit

Genesis 12-14; Matthew 5:1-26

Key Verses

Genesis 12:2-3
“…I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

God’s promise to Abraham in the beginning of Genesis 12 is God’s covenant promise to set apart a people that bear His name. God has kept his promise…all the families of the earth have been blessed – through Jesus, who is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham!

In Matthew, we see Jesus clarifying what it means to be “blessed.” He opens with “blessed are the poor in spirit,” which at first glance, doesn’t seem to be a “blessing.” But Jesus is defining what “blessed” looks like in God’s kingdom, not man’s. This is the first blessing in a list of “Beatitudes.” It’s important to note that the Beatitudes are not a list of qualifications to enter God’s kingdom, but rather a list of characteristics that are bestowed to Kingdom citizens – they come from the transforming work of the Spirit. In other words, it is impossible to possess the blessings of the beatitudes apart from faith in Christ.

Abraham was learning first hand what it meant to be “poor in spirit.” In today’s reading, we see Abraham at the height of faithfulness (when he moved his entire household down to the land God would show him) and in the depths of sin (when he lied to Pharaoh and endangered his wife).

In Genesis 14, after Abraham had secured a great victory in war (in heroic Braveheart style!), and was returning home with much spoil, he met a mysterious King. He was called priest of God most High (vs. 14:18). The writer of Hebrews identified this King as a forerunner of Christ (Heb 7). This King, named Melchizedek, challenges my “Braveheart” image as he reminds me that Abraham only found success in battle because of God. Melchizedek said to Abraham,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

Melchizedek reminded Abraham that he was poor in spirit. He had nothing within himself to offer to God. His greatest triumphs both in battle and in faithfulness came from God, alone. Like Abraham, I am poor in spirit. I have nothing to offer Jesus, and he calls me blessed because of it. This is amazing grace!

Day 4: Family Ties

Genesis 9-11; Matthew 4

Key Verses:

Genesis 9:8-11
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you […] I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Matthew 4:23
And [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Genesis 9 echoes the creation story of Genesis 1-3. As the earth emerges from the flood waters, it’s as if God has performed a re-creation. He gives the same mandate to Noah and his sons as he gave to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” God establishes a covenant with Noah and all creatures of the earth – that He will never destroy the earth by flood. God’s promises are good. His promises are true!

Despite God’s goodness to Noah, Noah follows in the way of Adam and Eve as he makes a sinful choice in Genesis 9:21. Just as God cursed Adam and Eve after their sinful choice, curses flow after Noah’s sinful choice …but so do blessings.

Noah curses his son, Ham, but blesses Shem. As we read forward to Genesis 10, we see even more genealogy, and that Abram (whose name was later changed to Abraham) is a descendant of Shem (11:26). Noah is in the family line of Jesus! The royal seed goes through Noah to Shem to Abraham. God is preserving the family line of the promised one! He is fulfilling his covenant promises to his people!

Matthew 1 also traces Jesus’s family line all the way back to Abraham. In today’s reading, Matthew 4, we see the promised offspring of the woman, the one who will crush the serpent, face the same tempter. Jesus is the new Adam, but unlike the original Adam, He overcomes and does not sin. Instead of curses… there are blessings, and we, His people, are the benefactors!! This is good news. This is the gospel.

Day 3: What Good is the Flood?

Genesis 6-8; Matthew 3

Key Verses:

Genesis 3:5-6
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Matthew 3:16
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Genesis 6-8 is the story of the flood. The idea of God destroying the earth causes me to wrestle… really wrestle with God’s goodness. I’ve struggled to see how God’s goodness is revealed in destroying every living thing on the earth (except those few on the ark). Seriously, what good is the flood?

I believe God has patiently endured my questioning and given me not just one, but several glimpses of his goodness in this passage of Scripture.

  • Firstly, I believe God gave the world the opportunity to repent and be saved. Think about it… It took Noah and his sons a VERY long time to build that ark. Scholars debate on the specifics, but it was somewhere between 75-100 years of building. Don’t you think news would have spread about this crazy guy building this humongous boat? Don’t you think Noah tried to warn people of the coming flood? They had a chance to repent, believe and be saved… But they didn’t. And they perished.
  • Secondly, (and this is a hard one for me) every living thing deserved to be destroyed. The bible says “every intention of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). God showed his grace by preserving a remnant.
  •  Thirdly, (and I love this) I see God’s tender, personal care for Noah and his family in verse 7:16, “And the Lord shut him in.” God, himself, shut the door to the arc and protected them from the deadly flood. He, personally, saved them.
  • And finally, Noah’s story is both a warning and a joyful proclamation to us. Just as those who were in the ark were saved from the flood… If we are found “in Christ” we will be saved from the judgment that is to come. God, in his mercy, warns repetitively throughout Scripture that there will be judgment for those who do not turn to Jesus for help. None of us are good enough to earn entrance into heaven. Jesus offers us a trade: we get his perfect record, and he gets our tarnished one. As a result, he received the punishment we deserve, and we get the reward that only he deserves. This is good news. This is the gospel.

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Day 2: The Offspring of the Woman

Genesis 3-5; Matthew 2

Key Verses:

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Matthew 2:13-14
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.

To me, Genesis 3 is the saddest chapter in the entire bible. Adam and Eve’s disobedience destroyed their relationship with God. Their sinful choice had far-reaching consequences as every human is now separated from God because of sin. But God had a rescue plan…

Immediately after Adam and Eve made their selfish choice, God delivered a shocking promise – that a descendent of the woman would defeat the serpent. This promise acts as a backdrop for the rest of the Old Testament. Imagine the serpent’s response to such a promise! Satan’s goal from that point forward was to destroy the offspring of the woman who was destined to crush his head. In fact, the entire Old Testament can be read as a story of a battle between Satan and God – of Satan trying to destroy the royal family line and God working to preserve the family line from which Jesus would be born.

In Genesis 4, we see this royal line threatened as Cain killed Abel and Cain walked away from God. Who would carry the seed of the woman forward? But God’s plan was always that Jesus would not descend from Cain or Abel. God gave Adam and Eve a third son, Seth, and it was from him that the promised royal offspring would come!

In today’s New Testament reading, we see the promised offspring (Jesus!) in danger of being killed by the evil king, Herod. But God was not thwarted by the plans of an evil king. He warned Joseph in a dream to escape south to Egypt until the threat had passed.

God’s plan of redemption could not – and will not – be overcome by the serpent. Jesus was born! Jesus was crucified. And Jesus will come again!

Day 1: Amazing Grace

Genesis 1-2; Matthew 1

Key Verses:

Genesis 2:15-17
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Matthew 1:22-23
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Genesis 1 is the well-known account of creation. The story of God’s redemptive love begins in Genesis 1 with the words, “God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 2 zooms in to give more detail, especially regarding the sixth day when God created humans. When I read Genesis 2, I imagine God as a loving, meticulous artisan… Listen to the verbs:

formed
breathed
planted
caused

God loved his creation – so much that He bequeathed His own image and divine purpose to his prized creatures, humans.  Today’s key verse highlights God’s loving instructions to Adam. This verse foreshadows the disastrous disobedient choice Adam and his wife, Eve would make – turning their hearts away from their Creator and poisoning God’s creation with sin.

But…thousands of years later, in a lowly city, an extraordinary baby would be born. Our Savior, with a King’s credence, arrived quietly to a poor carpenter and his soon-to-be wife. These two chapters mark the beginnings of God’s story – a story of a loving Creator sending His son to save His wayward children. It is a story of God’s amazing grace!

Amazing grace is what we’ll need to continue this journey! Day 1 – check. 364 to go…

Beginning Again

Hello 2017 :)

I’m writing to inform all my former followers that I’m going to revisit my daily Bible blog during 2017. I plan to republish my daily reading plan (hopefully) every day. My goal this year is to re-read through the Bible and identify/list the key verses from each passage. I’ll also re-post my devotional writings and maybe even edit a few entries. Who knows ;)

If you’ve signed up to follow this blog, you’ll start to receive regular notifications as I post each day. Please feel free to “un-follow” this blog if you don’t want to receive regular notifications.

Thanks for tagging along with me in 2013. Here’s to 2017!

Reading Plan

Below are links to all 365 devotional readings from 2013 which will guide you through the entire Bible. Each day’s reading contains Scripture from both the Old & New Testaments plus devotional commentary.

Jan. 1 Day 1
Jan. 2 Day 2
Jan. 3 Day 3
Jan. 4 Day 4
Jan. 5 Day 5
Jan. 6 Day 6
Jan. 7 Day 7
Jan. 8 Day 8
Jan. 9 Day 9
Jan. 10 Day 10
Jan. 11 Day 11
Jan. 12 Day 12
Jan. 13 Day 13
Jan. 14 Day 14
Jan. 15 Day 15
Jan. 16 Day 16
Jan. 17 Day 17
Jan. 18 Day 18
Jan. 19 Day 19
Jan. 20 Day 20
Jan. 21 Day 21
Jan. 22 Day 22
Jan. 23 Day 23
Jan. 24 Day 24
Jan. 25 Day 25
Jan. 26 Day 26
Jan. 27 Day 27
Jan. 28 Day 28
Jan. 29 Day 29
Jan. 30 Day 30
Jan. 31 Day 31
Feb. 1 Day 32
Feb. 2 Day 33
Feb. 3 Day 34
Feb. 4 Day 35
Feb. 5 Day 36
Feb. 6 Day 37
Feb. 7 Day 38
Feb. 8 Day 39
Feb. 9 Day 40
Feb. 10 Day 41
Feb. 11 Day 42
Feb. 12 Day 43
Feb. 13 Day 44
Feb. 14 Day 45
Feb. 15 Day 46
Feb. 16 Day 47
Feb. 17 Day 48
Feb. 18 Day 49
Feb. 19 Day 50
Feb. 20 Day 51
Feb. 21 Day 52
Feb. 22 Day 53
Feb. 23 Day 54
Feb. 24 Day 55
Feb. 25 Day 56
Feb. 26 Day 57
Feb. 27 Day 58
Feb. 28 Day 59
Mar. 1 Day 60
Mar. 2 Day 61
Mar. 3 Day 62
Mar. 4 Day 63
Mar. 5 Day 64
Mar. 6 Day 65
Mar. 7 Day 66
Mar. 8 Day 67
Mar. 9 Day 68
Mar. 10 Day 69
Mar. 11 Day 70
Mar. 12 Day 71
Mar. 13 Day 72
Mar. 14 Day 73
Mar. 15 Day 74
Mar. 16 Day 75
Mar. 17 Day 76
Mar. 18 Day 77
Mar. 19 Day 78
Mar. 20 Day 79
Mar. 21 Day 80
Mar. 22 Day 81
Mar. 23 Day 82
Mar. 24 Day 83
Mar. 25 Day 84
Mar. 26 Day 85
Mar. 27 Day 86
Mar. 28 Day 87
Mar. 29 Day 88
Mar. 30 Day 89
Mar. 31 Day 90
Apr. 1 Day 91
Apr. 2 Day 92
Apr. 3 Day 93
Apr. 4 Day 94
Apr. 5 Day 95
Apr. 6 Day 96
Apr. 7 Day 97
Apr. 8 Day 98
Apr. 9 Day 99
Apr. 10 Day 100
Apr. 11 Day 101
Apr. 12 Day 102
Apr. 13 Day 103
Apr. 14 Day 104
Apr. 15 Day 105
Apr. 16 Day 106
Apr. 17 Day 107
Apr. 18 Day 108
Apr. 19 Day 109
Apr. 20 Day 110
Apr. 21 Day 111
Apr. 22 Day 112
Apr. 23 Day 113
Apr. 24 Day 114
Apr. 25 Day 115
Apr. 26 Day 116
Apr. 27 Day 117
Apr. 28 Day 118
Apr. 29 Day 119
Apr. 30 Day 120		 May 1 Day 121
May 2 Day 122
May 3 Day 123
May 4 Day 124
May 5 Day 125
May 6 Day 126
May 7 Day 127
May 8 Day 128
May 9 Day 129
May 10 Day 130
May 11 Day 131
May 12 Day 132
May 13 Day 133
May 14 Day 134
May 15 Day 135
May 16 Day 136
May 17 Day 137
May 18 Day 138
May 19 Day 139
May 20 Day 140
May 21 Day 141
May 22 Day 142
May 23 Day 143
May 24 Day 144
May 25 Day 145
May 26 Day 146
May 27 Day 147
May 28 Day 148
May 29 Day 149
May 30 Day 150
May 31 Day 151
Jun. 1 Day 152
Jun. 2 Day 153
Jun. 3 Day 154
Jun. 4 Day 155
Jun. 5 Day 156
Jun. 6 Day 157
Jun. 7 Day 158
Jun. 8 Day 159
Jun. 9 Day 160
Jun. 10 Day 161
Jun. 11 Day 162
Jun. 12 Day 163
Jun. 13 Day 164
Jun. 14 Day 165
Jun. 15 Day 166
Jun. 16 Day 167
Jun. 17 Day 168
Jun. 18 Day 169
Jun. 19 Day 170
Jun. 20 Day 171
Jun. 21 Day 172
Jun. 22 Day 173
Jun. 23 Day 174
Jun. 24 Day 175
Jun. 25 Day 176
Jun. 26 Day 177
Jun. 27 Day 178
Jun. 28 Day 179
Jun. 29 Day 180
Jun. 30 Day 181
Jul 1 Day 182
Jul. 2 Day 183
Jul. 3 Day 184
Jul. 4 Day 185
Jul. 5 Day 186
Jul. 6 Day 187
Jul. 7 Day 188
Jul. 8 Day 189
Jul. 9 Day 190
Jul. 10 Day 191
Jul. 11 Day 192
Jul. 12 Day 193
Jul. 13 Day 194
Jul. 14 Day 195
Jul. 15 Day 196
Jul. 16 Day 197
Jul. 17 Day 198
Jul. 18 Day 199
Jul. 19 Day 200
Jul. 20 Day 201
Jul. 21 Day 202
Jul. 22 Day 203
Jul. 23 Day 204
Jul. 24 Day 205
Jul. 25 Day 206
Jul. 26 Day 207
Jul. 27 Day 208
Jul. 28 Day 209
Jul. 29 Day 210
Jul. 30 Day 211
Jul. 31 Day 212
Aug. 1 Day 213
Aug. 2 Day 214
Aug. 3 Day 215
Aug. 4 Day 216
Aug. 5 Day 217
Aug. 6 Day 218
Aug. 7 Day 219
Aug. 8 Day 220
Aug. 9 Day 221
Aug. 10 Day 222
Aug. 11 Day 223
Aug. 12 Day 224
Aug. 13 Day 225
Aug. 14 Day 226
Aug. 15 Day 227
Aug. 16 Day 228
Aug. 17 Day 229
Aug. 18 Day 230
Aug. 19 Day 231
Aug. 20 Day 232
Aug. 21 Day 233
Aug. 22 Day 234
Aug. 23 Day 235
Aug. 24 Day 236
Aug. 25 Day 237
Aug. 26 Day 238
Aug. 27 Day 239
Aug. 28 Day 240
Aug. 29 Day 241
Aug. 30 Day 242
Aug. 31 Day 243		 Sep. 1 Day 244
Sep.  2 Day 245
Sep.  3 Day 246
Sep.  4 Day 247
Sep.  5 Day 248
Sep.  6 Day 249
Sep.  7 Day 250
Sep.  8 Day 251
Sep.  9 Day 252
Sep.  10 Day 253
Sep.  11 Day 254
Sep.  12 Day 255
Sep.  13 Day 256
Sep.  14 Day 257
Sep.  15 Day 258
Sep.  16 Day 259
Sep.  17 Day 260
Sep.  18 Day 261
Sep.  19 Day 262
Sep.  20 Day 263
Sep.  21 Day 264
Sep.  22 Day 265
Sep.  23 Day 266
Sep.  24 Day 267
Sep.  25 Day 268
Sep.  26 Day 269
Sep.  27 Day 270
Sep.  28 Day 271
Sep.  29 Day 272
Sep.  30 Day 273
Oct. 1 Day 274
Oct. 2 Day 275
Oct. 3 Day 276
Oct. 4 Day 277
Oct. 5 Day 278
Oct. 6 Day 279
Oct. 7 Day 280
Oct. 8 Day 281
Oct. 9 Day 282
Oct. 10 Day 283
Oct. 11 Day 284
Oct. 12 Day 285
Oct. 13 Day 286
Oct. 14 Day 287
Oct. 15 Day 288
Oct. 16 Day 289
Oct. 17 Day 290
Oct. 18 Day 291
Oct. 19 Day 292
Oct. 20 Day 293
Oct. 21 Day 294
Oct. 22 Day 295
Oct. 23 Day 296
Oct. 24 Day 297
Oct. 25 Day 298
Oct. 26 Day 299
Oct. 27 Day 300
Oct. 28 Day 301
Oct. 29 Day 302
Oct. 30 Day 303
Oct. 31 Day 304
Nov. 1 Day 305
Nov. 2 Day 306
Nov. 3 Day 307
Nov. 4 Day 308
Nov. 5 Day 309
Nov. 6 Day 310
Nov. 7 Day 311
Nov. 8 Day 312
Nov. 9 Day 313
Nov. 10 Day 314
Nov. 11 Day 315
Nov. 12 Day 316
Nov. 13 Day 317
Nov. 14 Day 318
Nov. 15 Day 319
Nov. 16 Day 320
Nov. 17 Day 321
Nov. 18 Day 322
Nov. 19 Day 323
Nov. 20 Day 324
Nov. 21 Day 325
Nov. 22 Day 326
Nov. 23 Day 327
Nov. 24 Day 328
Nov. 25 Day 329
Nov. 26 Day 330
Nov. 27 Day 331
Nov. 28 Day 332
Nov. 29 Day 333
Nov. 30 Day 334
Dec. 1 Day 335
Dec. 2 Day 336
Dec. 3 Day 337
Dec. 4 Day 338
Dec. 5 Day 339
Dec. 6 Day 340
Dec. 7 Day 341
Dec. 8 Day 342
Dec. 9 Day 343
Dec. 10 Day 344
Dec. 11 Day 345
Dec. 12 Day 346
Dec. 13 Day 347
Dec. 14 Day 348
Dec. 15 Day 349
Dec. 16 Day 350
Dec. 17 Day 351
Dec. 18 Day 352
Dec. 19 Day 353
Dec. 20 Day 354
Dec. 21 Day 355
Dec. 22 Day 356
Dec. 23 Day 357
Dec. 24 Day 358
Dec. 25 Day 359
Dec. 26 Day 360
Dec. 27 Day 361
Dec. 28 Day 362
Dec. 29 Day 363
Dec. 30 Day 364
Dec. 31 Day 365

What I’ve learned

I’ve learned so much this past year, but the lesson I cherish most is surprisingly simple: patience

My healthy daughter was injured in an automobile accident in 2010. She now struggles with a brain injury. I have been impatient with her recovery – wanting her to walk and read and reason too quickly after her life-threatening injury – I haven’t been willing to wait on God’s slow and sure work in her Spirit and mine.

My marriage has been tested in the wake of such a life-altering event. The trauma of losing our healthy daughter combined with the relentlessness of caring for a disabled child has added great stress to our relationship. I want our relationship to be easy again– I haven’t been willing to wait for God’s slow and sure work in my husband’s Spirit and mine.

This year, God has performed the slow and sure work of granting me a little bit more patience – and with it has come… a quiet trust, a gentle strength and a more peaceful spirit. I’m less anxious about my daughter’s recovery. And I trust that my marriage will emerge from this trial stronger than it was before. This is God’s great work in me.

God did not work quickly – He works faithfully, steadily and surely.

His Word is a balm to my soul. Why? Because in it, I find Him. He’s shown me His love, His grace and His patience in the pages of His Great Word.

What about you? What has God taught you through His Word this year? (Feel free to leave a comment in the comments section below.)

I hope you have enjoyed my blog through the Bible! Happy 2014!!

Day 365: Grace

Malachi 1-4; Revelation 22

And we are left with one.

One last day.

One last book.

One last chapter.

The book of Malachi makes me uncomfortable. Malachi wrote to the uninspired Jewish exiles. They had returned from captivity and rebuilt their temple and city – yet God seemed to not come back with them. There was no evidence of His Presence. And all of the promises of the grand restoration seemed to go unmet. The people doubted God’s goodness so they slipped into complacency. 

The sins of the exiles hit too close to home…Malachi accused the people of half-hearted devotion. Whether it be the sin of not giving God their best (1:8), compromising God’s holy standards (2:11), or bitter disappointment with difficult circumstances (3:14-15), God was displeased with their lack of faith. He challenged the people to trust him – to test His faithfulness (3:10)!

Which leads me to: One last question.

Are you willing to take God at His Word?

Despite your difficult circumstances or unanswered prayer – or the fact that God seems distant. Maybe you’ve sinned so greatly, you don’t believe God could forgive you. Or maybe you’ve strived to live a holy life, yet your world seems to be crumbling beneath you. Whatever this temporal and visible world might be screaming at you, are you willing to take God at His Word?

Do you believe that the curse will be reversed (Rev. 22:3) and God will create a new earth where there will be no more sin and no more pain? Do you believe as one who is redeemed in Christ, that you will one day see Him face to face and reign with Him forever (Rev. 22:4)?

Well…believe it! For Jesus said, “These words are trustworthy and true.”

You might wonder (like me)…How? How could this be true? How could the God of the universe stoop so low to grant His children such a glorious inheritance?”

The answer is one word: grace

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates (Revelation 22:14).

Can we wash our own robes? Can we scrub the mire of our sins away? No. The blood of the Lamb washes away our sins. He clothes us with HIS righteousness so that we might come into the presence of a Holy God. We stand by His grace, alone.

What is the last sentence in the revealed Word of God? The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen!

(Tune in January 1, for my last post – summarizing the greatest lesson I’ve learned from our year through the Bible.)