December 13   Micah 3-4 Psalm 140:6-13 Proverbs 29:20-21 Revelation 7 The 144,000 And The Multitude   “Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the Earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the Earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads.’  And I heard the number of those having been sealed,

December 12   Micah 1-2 Psalm 140:1-5 Proverbs 29:18-19 Revelation 6 The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse   “Then I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming and to overcome….And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sits on it, it was given to him to take peace from the Earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him….Then I looked, and behold, a black ho

December 11   Jonah 3-4 Psalm 139:19-24 Proverbs 29:15-17 Revelation 5 Search Me   “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”  Psalm 139:23-24 LSB   Psalm 139 is a beautiful poem about the nearness of God.  He knows our thoughts before we think them.  He created us inside our mother’s womb knitting us together bone by bone and ligament by ligament.  He saw our unformed

December 10   Jonah 1-2 Psalm 139:13-18 Proverbs 29:13-14 Revelation 4 Running Away From God   “Yet Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.  So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, and paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.”  Jonah 1:3 LSB    The book began with Jonah receiving specific instructions from the Lord.  “Arise, go to Ninevah, the great city, and call out against

December 9   Obadiah 1 Psalm 139:7-12 Proverbs 29:11-12 Revelation 3 The Destruction Of Edom   “Look, I will make you insignificant among the nations; you will be deeply despised.  Your presumptuous heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you seem to soar like an eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down.  This is the Lord’s

December 8   Amos 7-9 Psalm 139:1-6 Proverbs 29:9-10 Revelation 2 Famine Of Hearing God’s Word   “Behold, days are coming declares Lord Yahweh, ‘When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of Yahweh.  People will wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of Yahweh, but they will not find it.”  Amos 8:11-12 LSB   I believe this prophecy was fulfi

December 7   Amos 5-6 Psalm 138:4-8 Proverbs 29:7-8 Revelation 1 Revelation   “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His slaves the things which must soon happen; and He indicated this by sending it through His angel to His slave John, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the witness of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it, for the tim

December 6   Amos 3-4 Psalm 138:1-3 Proverbs 29:4-6 Jude 1 Stumbling   “To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!  Amen.”  Jude 1:24-25 LSB    Jude was the brother of Jesus. He grew up with Jesus and his other siblings in the house of Joseph and Mary. Like J

December 5   Amos 1-2 Psalm 137 Proverbs 29:1-3 3 John 1 The Blessing of Discipleship   “For I rejoiced greatly when brothers came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.  I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”  3 John 1:3-4 LSB   When I was a college student at Auburn University, my Baptist campus minister, Clete Sipes, instilled in me a love for discipleship.  He impressed upon my heart the need to

December 4   Joel 2:12-3:21 Psalm 136:13-26 Proverbs 28:27-28 2 John 1 The Abounding Grace And Mercy Of Our God   “’Yet even now,’ declares Yahweh, ‘Return to Me with all your heart and with fasting, weeping, and wailing;  and tear your heart and not your garments.’  Now return to Yahweh your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting concerning evil.  Who knows whether He will not turn and relent and leave a blessing

December 3   Joel 1:1-2:11 Psalm 136:1-12 Proverbs 28:24-26 I John 5 Overcome the World   “For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”  I John 5:4-5 LSB   When we think about overcoming something, we think about overcoming in a battle or a fight, gaining a victory.  In sports we overcome our rival by wi

December 2   Hosea 12-14 Psalm 135:15-21 Proverbs 28:22-23 I John 4 Jesus Christ Is The Test   “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God:  every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you have

December 1   Hosea 10-11 Psalm 135:8-14 Proverbs 28:20-21 I John 3 Children Of God   “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  All who have this hope

November 30   Hosea 8-9 Psalm 135:1-7 Proverbs 28:18-19 1 John 2 Our God Is Greater   “For I know that Yahweh is great and that our Lord is greater than all gods.  Whatever Yahweh pleases, He does, in Heaven and on Earth, in the sea and in all deeps.  The One who causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the Earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His storehouses.”  Psalm 135:5-7  LSB    When I read this verse, I think of one of the songs my

November 29   Hosea 6-7 Psalm 134 Proverbs 28:16-17 1 John 1 Light   “And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not do the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”  1 John 1:5-7  LSB   The wor

November 28   Hosea 4-5 Psalm 133 Proverbs 28:14-15 2 Peter 3 Trembling   “Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” Proverbs 28:14 NIV   This verse explains that those who demonstrate reverence and respect for God will be blessed, but those who harden their hearts will face trouble.  We have discussed several times the idea of fearing the Lord. Recognizing the majesty and holiness of God is essential to a proper u

November 27   Hosea 1-3 Psalm 132:11-18 Proverbs 28:13 2 Peter 2 Spiritual Adultery   “And I will betroth you to Me forever; indeed, I with betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.  Then you will know Yahweh.”  Hosea 2:19-20 LSB   God used Hosea’s life as a symbol of the relationship between God and Israel.  The Israelites had turned to other gods and had forsaken the one true God.  G

November 26   Daniel 11-12 Psalm 132:1-10 Proverbs 28:12 2 Peter 1 Prophecy   “And we have as more sure the prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by one’s own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  2 Peter 1:19-21 LS

November 25   Daniel 9-10 Psalm 131 Proverbs 28:10-11 1 Peter 5 I Have Quieted My Soul   “O Yahweh, my heart is not exalted, and my eyes are not raised high;  and I do not involve myself in great matters, or in matters too marvelous for me.  Surely I have soothed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel, wait for Yahweh from now until forever.”  Psalm 131 LSB   This psalm is short, but profound.  It describe

November 24   Daniel 7-8 Psalm 130 Proverbs 28:8-9 1 Peter 4 Daniel’s Dream   “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his head as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and said the following summary of the matter.”  Daniel 7:1 LSB   This dream bears a striking resemblance to King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2.  Daniel’s role in these two chapters is very different.  In chapter 2, he was the interpreter of the dream, b