Dave Miller's 2025 Bible Reading Challenge

Today's Readings -  Isaiah 43-44, 1 Corinthians 16, Psalm 106:21–27, Proverbs 23:4–5 Devotional - Alert There are some things that require detailed and complex instructions. But there are other times that a deep message can be delivered in simple words. Paul is known as the author of some of the longest and most complex sentences in the New Testament. But in 1 Corinthians 16:13, he delivers a simple  two-word  instruction that is powerful and meaningful. Be watchful.  Keep your eyes open, brothers and sisters; there is danger all around. Paul was reminding the Corinthians that they live in a world of sin. This world was not their home, but a foreign land hostile to their values and loyal to their enemy. They could not afford to drift with the moral tide but needed to stand strong and firm for God and his kingdom. That same, simple message is true for us today. We live in a world of snares and traps, temptations and trials. We must remain alert. The Christian who assu...

Today's Readings -  Isaiah 41-42, 1 Corinthians 15:35–58, Psalm 106:13–20, Proverbs 23:1–3 Devotional - Let's Make a (BAD) Deal At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped the cast metal image. 20 They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating ox . Psalm 106:19-20 Horeb is the mountain of God, also known as Sinai, where God revealed to Israel his Law, which was to be their guide. The cornerstone of the Law was the first commandments, that Israel was to have no other gods before the one true God, Yahweh. They were to love him, serve him and honor him alone as God, making no idols.  While Moses was up on the mountain receiving the law, something different was happening down below. Almost as soon as he disappeared into the heights, into the presence of God, the people of Israel began to turn from him. They approached Aaron and demanded to forge a god for themselves, a Golden Calf.  Instead of dwelling in the glory of God, they made their own gods in the image of liv...

Today's Readings -   Isaiah 40, 1 Corinthians 15:1–34, Psalm 106:6–12, Proverbs 22:28–29 Devotional - Why Bother?  Why should I bother? Why should I resist temptation? Sometimes sin is so appealing - it would be so much fun. And saying no to my flesh is so hard. Why should I bother?  Sometimes, people treat me badly. Why do I have to return good for evil, forgive them and seek to love even my enemies? That is really difficult. I want to lash out, strike back, give insult for insult. Why do I have to do what the Bible says? Why should I bother?  When things are hard and the road is difficult, why do I have to keep going? Through discouragement, through opposition, when I want to give up, why shouldn't I just give in? Why should I bother?  The Bible tells me I have to humble myself, deny myself, die to myself. Why do I have to do that? Why should I bother?  The answer to all of these questions is found in 1 Corinthians 15, which tells us that there is so...

Today's Readings -  Isaiah 38-39, 1 Corinthians 14:26–40, Psalm 106:1–5, Proverbs 22:25–27 Devotional - Pride, Then a Fall  If I hadn't done the same thing so often myself, I would consider Hezekiah quite the moron! In Isaiah 38, God grants this righteous king of Judah one of the great blessings any man has ever had. Told that he is about to die, he begs God for more time and God hears his prayers. God told him, in verse 6, that he would receive fifteen extra years of life. Hezekiah was truly grateful and gave praise to God for the good things he had done. It was his intent to live out those fifteen years serving God as he had and praising God every day for the blessing he'd been given. The Lord is ready to save me; we will play stringed instruments all the days of our lives.  Isaiah 38:20 But something changed - the "something" that lurks in every one of us and is so prone to rising to the surface in me. Hezekiah became lifted up in pride. It seems so silly, but...

Today's Readings -  Isaiah 36-37, 1 Corinthians 14:1–25, Psalm 105:37–45, Proverbs 22:22–24 Devotional - Hubris "God himself couldn't sink the Titanic."  The story has been passed down that an executive of the company that built the great ship uttered those words as people were embarking on their voyage. The hubris was shown when the Titanic hit an iceberg, began to fill with water and within hours was at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Human pride once again preceded a mighty fall. Too often, we leave God out of our calculations. We place our confidence in our own abilities, our advancements, and technology, and we forget that this world operates on the dictates and according to the purposes of a sovereign God. There is a prime example of this in Isaiah 36-37. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, was threatening God's people and he sent his representative, known as the Rabshakeh, to deliver his challenge. This man brimmed with confidence - and well he should have...

Today's Readings -  Isaiah 34-35, 1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 105:30–36, Proverbs 22:20–21 Devotional - Light for a Dark Day This is a day that will live forever in infamy as long as the USA lasts. It was only 18 years ago that September 11 was just a Tuesday, a day like any other day. That all changed when terrorists attacked America and marked this as a day of sorrow and remembrance. Since that day we've seen an astronomic increase of brutal acts of hate worldwide. Our fleshly response is to fight fire with fire, and certainly we want our government to enforce justice in this world. But as Christians, we have different weapons with which to fight the spiritual fight in this world. 1 Corinthians 13 describes God's primary weapon - love. When the world rebelled against him and fought his Lordship, he responded with love. And in 1 Corinthians 13 he reminds us that no matter what we do in life, if our lives are not marked by love, they will matter for nothing. The first three ver...

Today's Readings -  Isaiah 31-33, 1 Corinthians 12, Psalm 105:23–29, Proverbs 22:17–19 Devotional - Varied Unity What a wonderful church this church would be If everyone in it were just like me! Having grown up in the church and served in churches for 35 years, I can give an opinion about the source of a lot of the issues that we have today. Simply put, we want others to be just like us. We want them to like what we like, think how we think, feel how we feel, prefer what we prefer, minister how we minister and disdain what we disdain. I like the old hymns. I like modern music. I like this preacher or teacher. I like that one. I think we should do it this way. I think we should do it that way. We should focus our efforts on this ministry. No, we should emphasize that one.  Opinions, preferences, styles - there are just about as many of them as there are Christians. The problem comes when we try to make everyone else mold themselves to our will and our ways. Of course, there ar...