Dave Miller's 2025 Bible Reading Challenge

Today's Readings -  Exodus 35-36, Matthew 25:1–30, Psalm 22:1–5, Proverbs 5:1-2 Devotional - Ready and Waiting It would be hard for the Bible to be clearer about anything than this fact: no one knows when Jesus is going to come back. There is a lot about the Second Coming that remains shrouded in mystery, but God has made it clear that this mystery will not be revealed until the moment the trumpet sounds. In spite of the unequivocal and adamant assertions of Jesus that no one knows the day or the hour of his return, people continue to be fooled by those who announce that they have either received some kind of new revelation or gotten a new insight into the Scriptures that renders Jesus’ words null and void. From Edgar Whisenant in 1988 to the failed and embarrassing predictions of the late Harold Camping more recently, the parade of false prophets has continued. But the Word is clear as crystal. There are some things that we can know today about the end. We know that as time goes ...

Today's Readings -   Exodus 33-34, Matthew 24:36–51, Psalm 21:6–13, Proverbs 4:25-26 Devotional - More Faithful than Our Failure There are ignorant people who claim that the God of the Old Testament was mean, harsh and cruel, and they contrast him to the God of love revealed in the New Testament. Such nonsense. Yes, the God of the OT is holy, giving his law and expecting his people to obey it. He punishes evildoers and protects his people from their enemies. All of that is true. But to overlook his love and kindness is willful folly.  You need to look no farther than Exodus 34 to settle the issue of God's love and mercy. Eight words in that passage tell us all we need to know. about God's nature.  It is crucial that we remember what was going on leading up to Exodus 34. Israel had insulted God in the worst way - by turning to the worship of an idol while Moses was on the mountain receiving God's law. As Moses came down from the mountain and saw t...

Today's Readings -  Exodus 31-32, Matthew 24:15–35, Psalm 21:1–5, Proverbs 4:23-24 Devotional - Moses or Aaron?  Exodus 32 is one of Scripture's saddest moments. Think of the disciples, just after Jesus washed their feet, arguing over who would be greatest in Christ's kingdom. Think of Israel going through the Red Sea, brought out of slavery by God's Almighty hand of power and promptly beginning to gripe and complain as if God had never done anything for them. Think of Elijah running from Jezebel after Carmel or Jonah pouting about an entire city turning from sin. A similar moment of shameful irony takes place at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Has God ever done more to win the loyalty of a people than he did Israel? Not only had he accomplished the aforementioned feat of delivery from slavery on behalf of Israel, but now his presence enveloped the mountain. So what happened when Moses and those with him ascended the mountain and are absent? The people joined in the worship ...

Today's Readings -  Exodus 29-30, Matthew 24:1–14, Psalm 20, Proverbs 4:20-22 Devotional - Our God WINS! Before you go to sleep Say a little prayer Every day in every way It's getting better and better John Lennon wrote this moving song for his son, Sean, expressing deep love and hope for the future. Of course, John's idea of prayer did not involve calling out to the God of heaven for grace, mercy, and help, but instead the expression of positive hopes and dreams. Somehow, he believed, if you expressed those wishes they would eventually come true. We all want that. We all want the world to get better and better every day. I want my children to have a better world to live in than I had and my grandchildren to live in an even better world. I think one of the reasons. The Star Trek series gives us a view of the future that is both positive and appealing.   Unfortunately, the dreams of Lennon, though powerfully emotive, have no basis in biblical truth. The scientific ut...

Today's Readings -  Exodus 27-28, Matthew 23:12–39, Psalm 19:7–14, Proverbs 4:13-19 Devotional - Better than Gold I just entered the HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes - again. This one is in far north Montana - a ski resort. I really wanted the one in Vermont a couple of years ago, and there have been Green Homes and Smart Homes all over the country that I have entered to win. It would be so cool to have someone show up at my door with the keys to a Dream Home, or a big check (from whoever took over at PCH from Ed McMahon) or something like that. Hope springs eternal... But the Bible makes something clear that we often forget. True riches do not have a price tag. Those things that really matter are not the material things of this world - houses (even Dream Houses), cars, boats, jewelry or anything else. Proverbs is filled with assertions that its principles are more valuable than silver and gold.  But in Psalm 19:10 David states clearly that there is something in this world more va...

Today's Readings -  Exodus 25-26, Matthew 22:34–23:11, Psalm 19:1–6, Proverbs 4:10-12 Devotional - A Pharisee's Heart You're a Pharisee!   No I am not. You are the Pharisee! Godwin's Law of Online Discussions states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." In a political or social debate, someone is going to make that accusation sooner or later. In theological discussions, it's the Pharisees who come to the forefront. That's "Miller's Corollary to Godwin's Law."  "As a religious discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Pharisees approaches 1." There is no theological bomb with more megatons of destructive power than "Pharisee" bomb. The Pharisees were the enemies of Jesus Christ, resisting him at every step. Because of this, we have developed a negative and unrealistic view of who the Pharisees were. They were not car...

Today's Readings -  Exodus 23–24, Matthew 22:15–33, Psalm 18:47–50, Proverbs 4:7-9 Devotional - A Wall of Separation So often, when we consider what Christ does for us, we think small. I get stressed out and God provides. He answers prayers and gives me strength. All of those are great blessings and we ought to take time to say thank you for those things.  But it is also helpful if we remember the biggest of the big thing that God has done for us. In  Exodus 24:1-2, we come face to face with one of the great works of God; one of those big things that God has done for us. We see that even though God was at work within Israel there was distance caused by their sin. Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders were allowed to come and worship God, but only from afar. Moses alone was allowed to draw near to the Lord. The people were kept away, not able to enter God's presence.  Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron,...