Dave Miller's 2025 Bible Reading Challenge

   Through the Bible in 2021 Bible Readings:     Deuteronomy 5-6, Mark 13:1–23, Psalm 35:7–13, Proverbs 8:19-21    Daily Devotional:    All My Heart Deuteronomy 6 is one of the foundational passages of the Old Testament. It begins with the "Shema Y'israel" (Hear, O Israel), in 6:4 and follows with what Jesus identified as the greatest commandment,  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  Then in the next few chapters, Israel is told how to live our that devotion, commanded to eschew idolatry of any form, to trust God against all enemies who would try to keep them from the work of God and to expect that the God who saved them from Egypt would establish them in the Promised Land.  But the passage roots in the first command, to love God with all of our heart and soul and might. Nothing is to come between us and our devotion to God – the key in all of our struggles in ...

   Through the Bible in 2021 Bible Readings:   Deuteronomy 3-4, Mark 12:18-44, Psalm 35:1-6, Proverbs 8:17-18    Daily Devotional:   Should We Pray Like David?   Many of David's prayers in the Psalms sound strange to our modern ears. In Psalm 35:1-6, he calls on God to take up not only a shield (we have no problem asking God to protect us) but also a spear and javelin. Those are sharp, pointed weapons designed to skewer another person. Most of us would have a problem asking God to drive a spear through another person for us, wouldn't we? He asks that God would disgrace and humiliate those who pursue him, to make them like the chaff in the wind and to make their way dark and slippery. Pretty intense stuff - and those are some of David's milder imprecations. Some of his other psalms are much more brutal than this. So how can a man after God's own heart call on God to do such awful things? Was David just not aware of God's love and mercy? Did he have an u...

   Through the Bible in 2021 Bible Readings:     Deuteronomy 1-2, Mark 12:1-17, Psalm 34:16-22, Proverbs 8:15-16 Daily Devotional:  Remember!  Deuteronomy is a favorite book of mine, because I take a lot of teasing about how often I "review" and repeat my teachings. The whole book is one long review. Moses, at the end of his life, just before he would turn over the reins of leadership to Joshua and his life would come to an end, reviewed the story of God's grace to Israel and the law that was told in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. There is a good reason God, through Moses, gave the book of Deuteronomy, why he reviewed the story of his grace to these people. God's people have short spiritual memories - we have a disturbing tendency to forget his goodness. Look at the warning in Deuteronomy 4:9 (which will come in tomorrow's reading). Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that th...

   Through the Bible in 2021 Bible Readings:      Numbers 34-36, Mark 11, Psalm 34:9–15, Proverbs 8:14   Daily Devotional:   For Heaven's Applause Jesus rode into Jerusalem with crowds cheering him (Mark 11:1-11). "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." They lined the streets to celebrate him, spreading branches to pave his way. It was a glorious and joyful moment. It is a heady thing to have people cheering you on and most of us would have found the temptation to play to the crowd and seek to keep the applause coming. Jesus did not. He was not going to Jerusalem to receive adulation but to make a sacrifice. He was about the Father's business and the approval of people was not his goal. That was good because we know that the mood changed in the Jerusalem crowds by the end of the week. It is unclear whether any of the same people who cheered Jesus at his Triumphal Entry also called for his blood before Pilate, but we know that t...

   Through the Bible in 2021 Bible Readings:     Numbers 31-33, Mark 10:35–52, Psalm 34:1–8, Proverbs 8:12-13    Daily Devotional:    An Unfortunate Request The disciples lived the entire ministry of Jesus with a tragic misunderstanding of the purpose of his work. The popular idea was that he had come to throw off the shackles of Roman oppression and lead Israel to freedom and power. Jesus would take the reins of government in Jerusalem, restore the Davidic kingdom and lead the nation to its greatest days. But most importantly, they would be there with him as he ascended to the throne. They would be his cabinet, his trusted ministers. It probably boggled their minds that they had fallen into such fortune, but they were his inner circle and would be the foundation of his coming earthly, political and military kingdom. When, in Mark 10:37,  James and John asked to sit at the right hand and at the left hand (the positions of highest honor) of Je...

   Through the Bible in 2021 Bible Readings:     Numbers 29-30, Mark 10:17–34, Psalm 33:18–22, Proverbs 8:10-11    Daily Devotional:    Jesus and Evangelism The story of the rich young ruler (in Matthew - here, just a rich young man) has been used to make some very wrong conclusions. No, it does not teach that we are saved by following the rules encoded in the law. And no, we do not have to give away everything we own to come to Jesus - communism or vows of poverty are not required. In fact, this passage does not even teach that God loves poor people more than rich people. None of those common ideas are the point of this passage.  But it does make some important conclusions, ones that we need to remember as we come to Christ and as we lead others to him.  First, we cannot come to Christ while holding on to our idols. The problem with the rich young man was not that he was rich but that he loved his riches. He wanted to be right with God,...

   Through the Bible in 2021 Bible Readings:     Numbers 27-28, Mark 10:1–16, Psalm 33:11–17, Proverbs 8:8-9    Daily Devotional:   In God Alone   Today, you will have to read ahead a little. Psalm 33:11-17 lays the foundation for important point that is made plain in the rest of the song. Israel, through the years, had a very bad habit of looking for help in the wrong places. When trouble came, they would go to Egypt (or another nation) with their hats in hand, opening the treasury of the Temple to purchase assistance. The God of Heaven had promised to be their God, to help them, protect them and provide for them, but he also demanded repentance, spiritual fidelity and obedience to his laws. Israel found it easier to empty the coffers instead of turning to God. The Psalmist warned them that there was no real help to be found in human sources. They might provide momentary assistance, but in the long run depending on political machination...