Dave Miller's 2024 Bible Reading Challenge

Today's Readings - N umbers 11-12, Mark 6:1-29, Psalm 30, Proverbs 7:10-12 Devotional - Disdaining God The people of Israel sank to many depths through their years of existence, turning away from God to idols, debasing themselves in so many ways. But there were few times that God was as angry with Israel as he was in the beginning verses of Numbers 11. In verse 1, he actually trained his fiery wrath on his own people as he had centuries before against Sodom and Gomorrah. And later, in verse 10, he was again very angry. And what was their sin this time? It was not idolatry. It was not adultery. It was not debauchery or drunkenness. None of those things. It was something much more common, even universal. They were complaining! Griping. Murmuring. And God found this complaining as such an insult that he rained fire down on the camp. Why was God so angry? Because Israel was disdaining the blessings God gave. God fed the People and gave them water by his hand of pow...

Today's Readings -  Numbers 8-10, Mark 5:21-43, Psalm 29:8-11, Proverbs 7:6-9 Devotional - A Fool Revealed Proverbs 7 demonstrates how Solomon gathered the principles of wisdom he recorded in the book. It was a simple process - observation, evaluation, expression. He would observe something going on around him and evaluate it, drawing an important life principle from it. Look at that ant, how hard he works. Look at that sluggard, how all his stuff falls apart. He would then take those principles and state them in a pithy, memorable way. In Proverbs 7:6-8 Solomon saw a young man behaving in a foolish way. There are four evidences of his folly. 6  For at the window of my house     I have looked out through my lattice, 7  and I have seen among the simple,     I have perceived among the youths,     a young man lacking sense, 8  passing along the street near her corner,   ...

Today's Readings -  Numbers 5-7, Mark 5:1–20, Psalm 29:1–7, Proverbs 7:1-5 Devotional - Free! The story of the man with many demons is one of the 5 stories we have told in the Essing villages of Southern Senegal, and it is one I've told often because it asserts Jesus' power over demons. "This is a true story from God's word. There was a many who had many demons inside him." The man lived a life that no one envied. Demons had so taken control of his life that he could not live around others or function in his life. He lived in the Gerasene region and was helpless against these dark forces that caused him live among tombs and behave bizarrely. The demons gave him the unnatural strength to break chains that were meant to control him. He could not live in the village but roamed the cemetery screaming and in torment, hopeless and helpless. Sometimes I feel that way about my own struggles with sin. No, I am not possessed by demons - I cannot use that excuse ...

Today's Readings -  Numbers 1-4, Mark 4:21–41, Psalm 28:4–9, Proverbs 6:34-35 Devotional - My Strength and Shield Two things come to mind when you consider the life of David, the Psalmist. First, from the moment he was accosted by and anointed by Samuel to be the King of Israel, his life was difficult. Later he was the cause of some of his own problems when he sinned with Bathsheba, but early on he was the victim of the jealousy and evil of an increasingly unstable man, King Saul. Saul pursued him, harassed him, lied about him, and repeatedly tried to kill him. David spent time hiding out in caves and living in exile because of Saul's envy and hatred. But the most notable thing about David was that he took his pain to God. That is what the Psalms are all about. A friend of mine recently observed that it didn't matter how David felt or what was going on in his life, he sang praises to God no matter what. My friend is right. When David was happy he went to God. When David ...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 26-27, Mark 4:1–20, Psalm 28:1–3, Proverbs 6:32-33 Devotional - Blessings and Curses  There is little doubt what Leviticus 26 meant to the Israelites; it is about as plain as it gets. God called his people to put him first and to honor him with their lives (verses 1-2). He then set forth a series of blessings that would come to the nation if they walked as God commanded (3-13). They would see prosperity as their crops produced abundantly and they would be protected from harm. The power of God would work through them and their enemies would flee before them. Best of all, God promised his presence and power to dwell among them. He would be their God and they would be his people. All they had to do was to obey. But, in verse 14, things turn dark. As God would bless his obedient people, he would also discipline them for their disobedience (14-39). First, he would remove all the blessings he had promised for obedience. If that did not b...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 24-25, Mark 3:13–35, Psalm 27:5–14, Proverbs 6:30-31  Devotional -  MyPardonable Sin "Pastor, I think I may have committed an unpardonable sin."  Pastors have heard that fear expressed repeatedly since, I suppose, the Scriptures were first written. This passage (Mark 3:22-30) articulates something fearful, something awful - a sin that cannot or will not be forgiven.  "But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." Mark 3:29  As a lifelong (and professional caliber) sinner, that bothers me. What is this sin that stands above every other sin? What does it mean to blaspheme the Spirit? Have I committed that sin? Have you? Let's agree to this fact - if there is a sin that is eternal and can never be forgiven, it would benefit us to understand what it is and NEVER to commit it. Right?  Theologians have argued about that sin forever, and will probably continue t...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 22-23, Mark 3:1–12, Psalm 27:1–4, Proverbs 6:25-29 Devotional - Take Time to Be Holy  Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; Abide in him always, and feed on his word. Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak, Forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek . The old hymn makes a pretty good point, doesn't it? We live in the microwave age; a time when "instant" is too slow. We rush around from thing to thing, place to place, project to project. Have you known one of those taxi-driver moms who spends her life shuttling her children between sports and dance and other special projects? (Have you been one?) We are a go-go-go kind of people. That leaves little time to seek and draw near to God. And, as the hymn above rightly points out, it takes time to be holy. It takes time to learn the Word of God. It takes time to pray. It takes time to build relationships and minister to the need...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 20-21, Mark 2, Psalm 26:4–12, Proverbs 6:23-24 Devotional - Friend of Sinners The Pharisees were inflated with (self-)righteous indignation at the shocking behavior of Jesus of Nazareth. They could not deny that he taught with an authority and power that they seemed to lack and that made them angry. And there was no denying the miracles that were happening in the crowds that followed him around. But his behavior was just unacceptable - clearly not the actions of a true man of God, they surmised. Why, he healed that man who was paralyzed, ON THE SABBATH! How could he? God in heaven must have been shocked and offended when the day of rest was used to relieve a man of a lifetime of suffering. And he did not fast and follow all the ceremonies that tradition had demanded of the real religious leaders of Israel. Shameful! One day (they could hardly say this without wincing) Jesus and some of his disciples were walking through a field and broke off...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 18-19, Mark 1:21–45, Psalm 26:1–3, Proverbs 6:20-22 Devotional - Because I AM “ Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." Leviticus 19:2 This statement, repeated several times throughout the book, is the theme of Leviticus. It's not just about rules, but about holiness. It's not just about standards of sexual morality or honesty or laws for treating strangers or foreigners. It is about the holiness of God and what that demands of us. Because God is holy, we must live our lives a certain way.  And it is about something even fundamentally deeper than that. Americans have adopted a self-directed principle for life. I live as I please. I do what I want. I decide what is best for me. Right and wrong is what I believe it to be. I am the center of my own universe.  But the Bible allows for no such way of life. We do not exist on our...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 16-17, Mark 1:1–20, Psalm 25:13–22, Proverbs 6:16-19 Devotional - What God Hates There are six things that the Lord hate s,      seven that are an abomination to him :  Proverbs 6:16 I'm sorry, I must have read that wrong. Surely the God of the Bible does not hate anything or anyone. How could a God of love also hate? It must not really mean what it says, right? Reading about the real God of the Bible is so strange sometimes, because we have created an artificial God, one who always behaves like we want him to, who is tame, who stays within the boundaries we have set for him. But the God of the Bible cannot be confined in our cages. He is grand and powerful and multifaceted and awesome.  Yes, God is love. He demonstrated his love in amazing ways when he sacrificed his Son for our sins. His love is boundless and governs all his dealings with us. We see that love daily. But his love does not rule out his...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 14-15, Matthew 28, Psalm 25:6–12, Proverbs 6:12-15 Devotional - Who Cares about Mildew?  Leviticus is the reason that we read the Bible the way we do! A lot of people start out to read through God's word and get stuck. If they survive the later chapters of Exodus with the myriad details of the Tabernacle they wilt reading the chapters in Leviticus about the sacrificial system of Israel or the dietary restrictions laid out. It's just not easy to slog through all of those details! The strangest section of all may be our readings yesterday and today. We had extensive discourses on the identification and treatment of skin diseases and mildew. And now we go into explicit details on the proper responses to bodily discharges. By the grace of God, we no longer live under these kinds of Mosaic laws, but they are not without their purpose. There are eternal principles that lie behind the individual laws of God that may seem strange to u...

Today's Reading s -  Leviticus 12-13, Matthew 27:45–66, Psalm 25:1–5, Proverbs 6:9-11 Devotional - The Darkest Day The land was dark, a darkness that settled in and did not go away for hours on end. This was no ordinary darkness. It wasn't nighttime; it was noon, one, two, three. There was no eclipse or severe cloud cover. This was a divine darkness, the darkness of judgment. Jesus was on the Cross bearing the sins of the world and the wrath of God poured out on him darkened the world. At the climax of the eternal crisis, Jesus called out the opening words of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  They gave him a sponge with sour wine, then he cried out with a loud voice (we know from John that he spoke the glorious words "It is finished") and then Jesus died. Tragic. Awful. Brutal. The worst moment in human history as the Son of God dies under the hand of God's judgment. But it was also the turning point of time, the moment when sin died...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 10-11, Matthew 27:15–44, Psalm 24, Proverbs 6:6-8 Devotional - I Am Barabbas  The story of the crucifixion of Christ is disgusting, sorrowful, enrapturing and transformational, all at once. But it is sometimes hard to find my place in the story. I've had my moments where I cowered as Peter did, afraid of the consequences of standing for my Lord. I'm not sure I've had a Judas moment, but there are times when my silence may have been a betrayal of sorts. The soldiers and the crowds disgust me, but I also must admit regarding the sin of my own heart that nothing is beyond the reach of my wickedness. One day, I will be like Christ because of the work God has done in my life, but today is not that die.  So, who am I in the story of the Cross? There is one character most like me, one with whom I identify more than any other.  I am Barabbas.  No, I'm not a criminal or a political revolutionary or whatever it is that he was. But there...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 8-9, Matthew 27:1–14, Psalm 23, Proverbs 6:1-5 Devotional - Acceptable Sacrifice  The Law specified the intricate and complicated system of sacrifices. We've been reading through these over the last three days, and if you are honest, you might admit it's not the most riveting reading the Bible offers. But it is important. God gave these sacrifices to Moses in great detail. Then God set apart the priests to administer the sacrifices, consecrated them and put them to work. Under the leadership of Aaron, they performed the offerings just as God dictated. These sacrifices and priestly procedures were God-ordained for God-designed purposes. Then, in Leviticus 9:23-24 an amazing thing happened. Moses and Aaron then entered the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 4-7, Matthew 26:47–75, Psalm 22:28–31, Proverbs 5:22-23 Devotional - A Tale of Four Men Matthew 26:47-75 records the story of the night before Jesus' death. This was the turning point of history and the moment that all of God's work in this world had pointed to since the foundation of the world. As always, God used men to accomplish this work. In this story, four men - each one had a part in the outworking of God's plan. One did God's will. Three sinned against God.   1. One man betrayed the plan of God.  (47-50) Well, he tried to at least! Judas was disappointed in Jesus as he started talking about laying down his life and dying. Judas was in it to get rich, to reach the top. He did not sign up to deny himself, take up his cross and follow Jesus on this mission of self-sacrifice. There was no way he was going to follow Jesus on the way of the Cross! So, he cut his losses, sold Jesus for a few bucks and led the arresting party to find ...

Today's Readings -  Leviticus 1-3, Matthew 26:30–46, Psalm 22:21–27, Proverbs 5:15-21       Devotional - Our God Cares  Life is up and it is down. Highs and lows. Good times and bad. Sometimes everything goes our way and happiness abounds and sometimes there is a spirit of heaviness that settles around us.  Psalm 22 is a lament about suffering, written by David in response to the pain in his life. But it also has messianic dimensions - pointing toward Jesus Christ. In a deep time of suffering, the Psalmist reached toward heaven and he learned something important. Jesus himself used this Psalm in his time of greatest suffering when the full weight of sin fell upon him and he called out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" in verse 1. Few psalms better express the cry of the hurting heart better than Psalm 22.  In  Psalm 22:24 there is a promise made that is a great comfort to those whose hearts are broken or those who are in...

Today's Readings -  Exodus 39-40, Matthew 26:1–29, Psalm 22:14–20, Proverbs 5:7-14 Devotional - Glory Filled the Tabernacle Glory! It was a startling and wonderful moment, as the glory of God came down and so filled the tabernacle that Moses had completed that he could not even enter the tent. Imagine that, will you? The presence of God was so strong, the power of God so real, so palpable, that God's servant could not even go into the designated place of worship. Wouldn't that be something? We hear a lot today about revival. At its root, revival is simply the restoration of the glory of God among the people of God. When the Scriptures speak of glory, they mean the manifest presence of God. God is always here, always everywhere. But sometimes he makes himself known in such a way that his presence is unmistakable. It may be a fiery sense of conviction, or an overwhelming sense of joy, or a burden for ministry, or a deep personal or corporate prayer time, or a mome...

Today's Reading s -  Exodus 37-38, Matthew 25:31–46, Psalm 22:6–13, Proverbs 5:3-6 Devotional - God's Way is Best! How strange the words of Proverbs 5 sound to the modern ear. It is seldom helpful to look back with longing to the "good old days" but "back in my day" we had at least one advantage. We were sinful and depraved, just as people are today, but pornography was not a norm in our lives. It was something on the fringes of society, something you had to hunt for, sneak around to find, and hide. Today, it is the norm, expected. We live in a permissive, immoral, "Fifty Shades of Grey" kind of world. It is all around us, in our faces, and all too often assaulting our minds and hearts. God's Word presents a very different ethic concerning sexual behavior. Life is not just about what makes me happy, but what God says is right. We are to walk in obedience to the standard God set at creation and reconfirmed in the New Testament - "one man, o...