Dave Miller's 2025 Bible Reading Challenge

Today's Readings - Job 35-36, Romans 3:21–31, Psalm 93:1–94:5, Proverbs 20:6–8 Devotional  I can remember the bumper sticker clearly. "Proud to be a Christian." That is an oxymoron. You can be proud. And you can be Christian, but you cannot be both. A proper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely, totally and eternally precludes any boasting on my part. I understand that the person with the bumper sticker may have had something else in mind - that he was not ashamed of his (or her) faith, that he would not apologize for his convictions. Perhaps. But it is a crucial point. Pride is the opposite of Christianity! Paul made this clear in Romans 3:27. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded.  Paul devoted chapters 1-3 to stating our utterly helpless position before God. We have all sinned and are guilty, Jews and Greeks. And in verses 21-26, he spelled out the real theme of the entire book of Romans. Now, God has revealed to us a righteousness ...

Today's Readings - Job 33-34, Romans 3:1–20, Psalm 92:11–15, Proverbs 20:4–5 Devotional  "People are basically good." It is established as truth beyond contestation in popular culture. Politicians flatter people by trumpeting the innate goodness of man. Educational systems are designed around the assumption that people, given the opportunity and resources, will make choice that are wise and good. Parents tell their children over and over again how good they are. Your heart will never lead you astray. Do what you think is right. Trust your feelings! The problem with all of this is Romans 3! It presents a very different picture of the human condition. It will tell us in tomorrow's reading that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. Today's reading is the foundation for that conclusion. In verse 9, Paul gives his preliminary conclusion, that Jews and Gentiles are united in sin and are thus equally under the wrath of God. He then, in verses 10-12, gets sp...

Today's Readings -  Job 31-32, Romans 2, Psalm 92:4–10, Proverbs 20:1–3 Devotional  God chose the Hebrews to be his very own people and he demonstrated his love to them over and over again, by blessing them, by disciplining them as a father would his errant children, by forgiving their sin and restoring and renewing them when they had turned from him to idols. But there was one part of being the chosen people of God that the Jews never quite got. They loved their special place in God's heart and in his plans, but they did not understand one simple truth.  All of God's blessings are designed to be passed on to others. God told Abraham that he would bless him (with a nation of descendants) and through that nation he would bless all the nations. Israel chose a different path. They became inwardly focused and thought themselves superior to others. They forgot that God chose them as an act of grace, not because of any merit on their part, and they became convin...

Today's Readings - Job 29-30, Romans 1, Psalm 92:1–3, Proverbs 19:28–29 Devotional  Since Paul was not known to many of the Roman Christians, it was important that he establish his identity in writing this treatise. Apostle. Man of God. Leader of the church. Keeper of the mysteries of Christ. There were so many ways that he could have described himself. But he went in a totally different direction. Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus. A slave. A common household servant - a position of humility, even humiliation that no Roman wanted to accept. The Romans viewed being a servant as intolerable and awful. But Paul embraced it. Serving Jesus was not humiliating, it was glory. He embraced the concept of devoting his life fully to the service of Jesus Christ. But when it came to describing other believers, he focused on something completely different, in verse 7. To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints.   When speaking of others, he emphasized their position in Christ,...

Today's Readings - Job 27-28, Acts 28:17-31, Psalm 91:7–16, Proverbs 19:25–27 Devotional  Volumes have been written about the ending of the book of Acts.  Acts tells the story of the spread of the gospel in the early days of the church, in  Jerusalem ,  Judea , and  Samaria , and to the ends of the earth.  The book ends with Paul sitting under house arrest in  Rome , awaiting trial on charges of treason.  Luke tells us that Paul preached the  kingdom  of  God  and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ “ boldly and without hindrance. ” “Without hindrance” is one word in the original Greek language (akolutos), an adverb.  It is the very last word in the Greek text of Acts.  Paul preached with great boldness, “unhinderedly”.  And the book stops.  It is such a strange ending that some scholars have theorized that the last page or two of Acts may actually be missing, or that Luke was not able to finis...

Today's Readings - Job 25-26, Acts 28:1-16, Psalm 91:1–6, Proverbs 19:22–24 Devotional  In Philippians 1, Paul would describe the purpose of his life. "For to me, to live is Christ." He did not live for himself, or for money, or for fun or for anything else, just for Jesus Christ. He demonstrated this commitment, this passion, clearly in Acts 28:1-6. Driven ashore on the Island of Malta and miraculously preserved by God, the people made a fire to warm themselves on that stormy night. Paul threw some brush he'd gathered on the fire and when he did, a viper, driven out by the heat, latched on to Paul's hand, biting him. The people began to talk among themselves, making assumptions based on their pagan beliefs. That must be a truly wicked man. Having escaped the shipwreck, now the goddess Justice has sent a snake to end his life. They watched and waited for the goddesses' retribution on Paul's sin to take effect. Nothing happened. He shook the creature off i...

Today's Readings - Job 23-24, Acts 27:13–44, Psalm 90:10–17, Proverbs 19:20–21 Devotional  Job is a hard book to read devotionally and it has some unique challenges for those of us who believe that every word of the Bible is true. In the chapters we read today, Job is ranting against the God he now believes has mistreated him. Driven by his own misunderstandings of God, aided and abetted by the bad advice and judgmental approach of his "friends", Job has now become caustic, bitter and hopeless. And that is the problem. Much of what he says is true, based on what the Bible reveals about God. But the way he applies that truth, the conclusions he draws from it are poisoned by his own bitterness. The reader has to be careful when reading Job and his friends. Everything recorded here is an accurate reflection of the feelings and declarations of Job at this time as he struggles to make sense of his tragedy. But sometimes it is his deception and misunderstanding that is accurat...