Monday

Reading for Today:

Revelation 2:1-17
Faithfulness can be difficult when results are lacking. Maybe you work hard to love those around you like Jesus but still receive insults from the very ones you are trying to reach. Or maybe you volunteer regularly at church but no one seems to notice. Maybe you serve your family day after day and feel unseen at home. The truth is, even if no one else seems to notice your hard work, God does. He sees everything: your perseverance, your love, and your faith. There is nothing you have done for him that he has not noticed.

Tuesday

Reading for Today:

John 15:1-8
No matter how hard a branch tries, it cannot bear fruit by itself. So it is with us. We can’t bear fruit by ourselves. We can try, and many of us do. We try to win people for Jesus. We try to make a big impact for the kingdom of God. We try to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. But when we try by our own power, we fail. The only way we can bear kingdom fruit is by remaining in the vine, or close to the Father. He is the one who makes fruit grow.

Wednesday

Reading for Today:

Hosea 13, 14
In God’s kingdom, there is no such thing as a lost cause. The people of Israel had wandered far from God. They had turned their backs on him, even after they had witnessed miracles with their own eyes. God had done amazing things in and through them. If anyone should have known better, they should have. Nonetheless, God promised them that forgiveness was possible. “Return, Israel,” he says in chapter 14:1-4, and adds, “I will heal their waywardness.” If you have ever thought you or someone you know was too far from God, you were mistaken. No one is too far for God’s arms to reach.

Thursday

Reading for Today:

Revelation 3:14-22
Self-sufficiency is not always a good thing. In fact, for many of us, it’s dangerous. It can lead us to believe we no longer need God. We have money. We have food to spare. We have all we need. The Christians in Laodicea were self-sufficient and became lukewarm in their faith. They claimed to follow God but were doing so half-heartedly. Their passion for the Lord had disappeared because they no longer recognized their need for him. Today, are you depending on him as much as you should, or do you primarily depend on yourself?

Friday

Reading for Today:

Joel 2, 3
In Old Testament times, Israelites sometimes tore their clothes to show their grief. Job, for instance, did this when he learned his children had been killed (Job 1:20). The Israelites also did this to show their repentance. What the Lord longed for, however, was not torn clothes, but a repentant heart. “Rend your heart and not your garments,” he told them in Joel 2:13. God wants more than an outward expression of repentance. He wants a changed heart. He is much more concerned with what’s going on inside of us than with what’s going on outside.

Saturday

Reading for Today:

Job 31:1-23
I once heard about a family who set an extra plate at the table every night for dinner to remind them that God is always with them. It’s true. No matter where we go, he’s always watching us. Job said it this way: “Does he not see my ways and count my every step?” (31:4). There might be times when we are tempted to do or say something in secret, thinking no one will know. But there’s always Someone who knows. Even in a dark room by ourselves with no witnesses around, there’s always Someone who sees.