Your ability to keep God's law is shattered, so find peace with God through Christ. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 3: The Written Word of God We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Afterwards our God— because of the special care he has for us and our salvation— commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures. Summary When you enter into a significant contract, it involves reams of paperwork which contain both the stipulations for fulfilling the contract, and the reward for doing so. That is exactly what's going on as God calls Moses up the mountain. God is in the process of renewing His covenant, which is similar to a contract, with Israel, and there's paperwork to complete. God had pronounced His covenant stipulations in a way that all of the people could hear as He thundered the ten commandments from the dark cloud. This terrified the Israelites, so they sent Moses up the mountain to represent them before their Holy God. God Himself wrote down the requirements He had already communicated on two tablets of stone. This covenant law filled the stones, front and back. There was no room to add anything, because there was nothing more to add. It was full and complete. Nobody from that point forward would need to wonder what God's expectations for His covenant people are. But those sacred stones never made it to God's rebellious people. It might be easy to blame Moses' famous temper for their destruction, and while Moses' temper certainly was the mechanism that caused the tablets' physical destruction, the covenant which they represented had been shattered before the stones even touched the ground when the Israelites replaced their covenant God with a metal statue. Dig Deeper The two tablets God had inscribed lay broken to pieces at the foot of the mountain. It would never be possible for the sons of Adam to piece back together the perfect adherence to God's covenant law that those tablets stipulated. But the covenant itself is unbreakable, because the very God who had personally inscribed its requirements also fulfilled those requirements. But not for everyone. Those sons of Adam who send Moses up the mountain in their place - meaning people who think they can please God by just trying a bit harder - they will never be able to return the perfect 'paperwork' that God expects those He's covenanted with to sign and complete. Last week we learned that God reveals Himself through creation, which we often misunderstand, and "more clearly and fully" through His written Word. But it's the Word made visible, His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who became your perfect covenant representative, perfectly keeping the requirements God had inscribed on your behalf. The best way for you to show your gratitude for this gift is to continue keeping these covenant laws. Paul writes, "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Cor. 3:3)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our covenant God and Father, who forgives us when we shatter His laws and inscribes His law upon our hearts; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that you are represented before Him not by Adam or Moses, but by the unblemished Lamb of God, and pray that you will gratefully live according to the law engraved upon your heart; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 3

Receive God's gifts by reading His Word. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 3: The Written Word of God We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Afterwards our God— because of the special care he has for us and our salvation— commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures. Summary The Church has always been comprised of two distinct types of Christians: those who get it, and those who don't. Paul classifies these two distinctives as the strong and the weak. Strong Christians get that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone because of Christ alone and understand that these truths have massive implications in every aspect of life. Weak Christians are still Christians, in that they are just as saved as the strong Christians, even if they don't fully understand how or why and consequently don't apply these truths to life as they ought. Most of chapter fourteen and fifteen in the book of Romans unpack how the strong and weak ought to relate to one another in Christ's Church. Getting along was difficult for the newly founded churches when Paul wrote this, just as it is now, and will continue to be until Christ returns and puts and end to sin forever. But in the midst of this lesson in how we should be modeling Christ's selflessness in our interactions with one another, we get a big insight into God's purpose in compiling all sixty six books of the Bible. All of it - from the very familiar portions to the lesser known passages - all of it was written to teach you, "so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, you might have hope (v4)." Notice that you don't earn this endurance and encouragement simply because you've read a bunch of ancient words. Rather, God gives you this endurance and encouragement (v5a); but neither does it just float down to you from heaven, rather, God gives it to you as you do the hard work of reading and understanding these ancient words. Dig Deeper Most of us skip over the initial pages of the instruction manual that came with the latest gadget - that is, if you even bother to read the instruction manual at all! You know the pages I mean: the ones that have paragraph after paragraph that begin with the words WARNING or DANGER in big, bold letters. We don't really need to read these words that a lawyer somewhere insisted be included because we know enough not to stick our finger into the sharp part or plug the thing in while we're sitting in the bathtub. The problem is we tend to apply the same attitude to large swaths of the Bible as well. Sure, we like the parts about Jesus or the stories of God's miraculous power on display, but on a percentage basis, those passages comprise a pretty small portion of the whole. The rest of it gets left unread, because we just figure it's either irrelevant or common sense that we'll figure out in some more practical way. You need to know that the whole Bible - both the New Testament and the Old, both the familiar and the obscure - all of was written so that as you read it, God can give you endurance encouragement. So if you want those things, commit yourself to the hard work of reading and understanding "everything that was written in the past to teach us (v4)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: "The God who gives endurance and encouragement (v5)" ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for these gifts that He gives you through His Word, and pray for the desire and ability to read more and more of His Word, "so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (v6)." ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 2

Experience the power that has authority over nations and kingdoms. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 3: The Written Word of God We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Afterwards our God— because of the special care he has for us and our salvation— commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures. Summary "The word of the LORD came to me," writes Jeremiah. There's no indication as to what Jeremiah was doing when the LORD showed up, how God manifested Himself, or any other external detail; just that the LORD's word came. We do know that Jeremiah was young when this occurred, if only because Jeremiah tries to use his youth as an excuse and his inability to 'speak' as an out, although he seems to do quite well talking back to God! We don't have time to explore this rabbit trail today, but isn't it amazing how many people God personally shows up to, only to find that the first thing the chosen representative does is argue with Him regarding why God made a mistake in choosing them? That's humanity in a nutshell: arguing with God (which is exactly what the Hebrew word yiś·rā·ʾēl means). Of course the LORD didn't come to consult Jeremiah's opinion about the situation. Before Jeremiah's unfortunate response, God told him that Jeremiah's prophecy had been planned for long before he was even conceived. Lest you think that such pre-planning on God's part is only reserved for super important prophets like Jeremiah, re-read the opening verses Ephesians to be reminded that God says the same exact thing about you. God commissions Jeremiah, giving him authority "over the nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant." That's significant power! But God doesn't give Jeremiah vast sums of money or advanced armies with superior military tactics with which to wield this world-shaping control. God gives him something much more powerful: He gives Jeremiah His Word. Dig Deeper This is why we read last week that Paul calls the gospel the "power of God." It was the very same mighty word that God used to speak the entire universe into existence that He put into young Jeremiah's mouth. It's that same word that Jeremiah and so many other prophets would write down at God's command, preserving them for subsequent generations. This is the word that God places before you, neatly bound in sixty-six books, made complete and visible in the person and work of our Savior, Jesus Christ. God hasn't given you personal authority over the nations, but He has grafted you into the One to whom all authority has been given to (Matthew 28:18)! These words we implore you to read daily and hear proclaimed on the Lord's Day have tremendous power. The better you know them, the more confidently you can live in them, knowing no nation or kingdom can threaten you. "Do not be afraid of them," the LORD says to you, "for I am with you and will rescue you (v8)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God our Father, whose Word has all authority in heaven and on earth; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the confidence to live by the power of God's Word rather than by the pathetic manipulations of society and your own excuses; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 1

When God says "you would do well to pay attention," you probably should. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 3: The Written Word of God We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Afterwards our God— because of the special care he has for us and our salvation— commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures. Summary "Cleverly devised stories." The Greek word that this phrase translates is where we get the English word 'sophistry.' What a perfect way to explain what the Bible would be if its primary claim that it is the very Word of God were not true. These cleverly devised stories, even if totally fabricated, would still be the most amazing work of literature ever produced, in that the Bible combines dozens of writings from men who lived in vastly different ages, cultures and languages; yet its message remains consistent and is without contradiction. But of course the Bible is not just a collection of stories and myths. Peter was an eyewitness to the life, death and resurrection of Christ. He heard the very voice of God expressing His pleasure and love for His Son. Peter would go to his death testifying to the veracity of his claims, as would many of the other New Testament writers. But here Peter says in a sense, don't take my word for it! Rather than trying to unhitch Christianity from the embarrassing baggage of the Old Testament (as some modern day evangelicals think of it), Peter doubles down on it. He writes that the "prophetic message" (what we call the Old Testament) is "something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as a light shining in a dark place... (v20)" In other words, every word of the Old Testament is shining its light on what would be revealed in the gospels and explained in the epistles: salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone. Dig Deeper The Bible isn't authoritative simply because its words are consistent, inerrant (without error), and infallible (it doesn't fail to convey God's truth). The Bible is authoritative because it's God's Word. As Peter says, the scriptures aren't just "cleverly devised stories," rather, the men who wrote it "spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." These men wrote of their own experiences, and their unique voices and personalities come through in the expressions and various writing styles they used, and while it's true to say that the Bible is comprised of the words of Moses, David, Peter, Paul and others, it's much more accurate to describe every syllable as the very Word of God, since the Holy Spirit was speaking through each of these men's voices (more on that later). These words are unlike anything else ever written, which is why as a Christian, you are called to dedicate so much of your time and energy to know and understand them. Unfortunately, you can't expect society to help reinforce Biblical truth anymore as it once did in Western Civilization. You must do this hard work of learning this sometimes difficult truth yourself so that you can teach it to those whom God has given you responsibility over. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God our Father, whose voice rings out through His Word from the Majestic Glory (v17); ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for His Word, and pray for the strength and desire to "pay attention to it (v19);" ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 16

Experience the mighty power of God each time you read His Word. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God We know him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse. Second, he makes himself known to us more openly [clearly and fully] by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own. Summary As we've begun this new year, we've been answering life's most important question: who and what is God? As we looked at God's attributes, we came to understand that God is wholly other; that is, as the creator of all things, He's distinct and separate from that which He created. This means that unless He reveals Himself to you, you would not really know anything about Him. So it makes sense that as we follow the outline of our Confession, that this week we focused on how it is that God makes Himself known: He does so generally, as every aspect of His creation proclaims His glory, and also more specifcally, by telling us very detailed things about Himself in His written Word. But as we've noticed so many times already, God doesn't tell us these things just because it's interesting or adds insight into how we ought to live in this world He's made for us (although it's both of those things!). God tells you these things because He wants you to know one thing in particular: the Gospel, which literally means "good news." This good news that God has made so much effort for you to know is that the perfect righteousness that you need in order to live at peace with Him is available to you through faith alone. Dig Deeper Think of all the massive things in creation that could be accurately described as being the power of God: The Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, mighty oceans, far off galaxies, the verdant upper Midwest (you knew I'd throw that in!). Out of all of the possible candidates, there is only one thing the Bible repeatedly refers to as the power of God: the gospel "that brings salvation to everyone who believes." If you were planning a trip to see one of God's amazing created wonders, you'd likely eagerly anticipate it by researching the location, planning your activities once you arrived, and getting whatever supplies and equipment you'd need for the adventure. Then you'd take lots of pictures and tell all your friends and relatives about what you saw. You're likely reading this at the end of another work week, which means the Lord's Day is right around the corner, when you get to gather with the saints and once again experience the mighty power of God as you hear His gospel proclaimed. Anticipate it! Eagerly plan for it by reading the text(s) ahead of time which you'll hear preached! Make sure you're ready for the adventure by resting well on Saturday! Doing so will help you experience God's power in a way that will make you want to share what you experienced when you return to begin a new week. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our mighty Father, whose greatest power is demonstrated in the Gospel that brings salvation; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll anticipate experiencing this power each day as you read the Bible, and especially on the Lord's Day when you hear it proclaimed; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 15

If you're looking for true joy & refreshment, you'll find it in God's Word! Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God We know him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse. Second, he makes himself known to us more openly [clearly and fully] by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own. Summary When we looked at the first half of Psalm 19 earlier this week, we saw how the beauty, order and majesty of creation has one primary purpose: to declare, pour forth speech and reveal knowledge of the Creator's glory. Although you can learn so much about God by studying His handiwork, you'll never learn of important concepts like His covenant love or unchanging faithfulness by just looking at what He's made. You might realize the effects sin has had on God's good creation, but creation will never reveal how you can be saved from sin. That's why David switches gears here in v7. As expressive as what the 'heavens' and 'skies' mentioned in v1 are, David speaks in much more detail describing God's written Word; that is, God's law / statutes / precepts / commands and decrees. It's in these written words that we come to know the intricate details of who and what our Almighty Father is. So many people think the Bible is simply a big book of do's and don'ts meant to suppress any iota of fun in life. But David will have none of that attitude. God's Word refreshes the soul, gives joy to the heart, light to the eyes, and points people to great reward. Certainly the Bible aides us in discerning our own errors (v12), but we need to be warned of sin! As David asks, who else could help us do that? We were reminded yesterday that repenting (literally: changing our thinking, especially in regard to sin) is the first step in the salvation God's Word exclusively proclaims to us, so that "willful sins may not rule over us (v13)." Dig Deeper Yesterday we learned that the noetic effect of sin has compromised our ability to think, since our sinful instinct suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. We can no longer properly interpret the message creation is proclaiming on our own, and instead come to all sorts of incorrect conclusions about God. So does this noetic effect compromise our interpretation of scripture as well? The short answer is yes! That's why, as Reformed Christians, we submit ourselves to confessions which have been agreed on over hundreds of years to fully agree with the Word of God. They provide a set of guard rails, so to speak, keeping our interpretation orthodox. Thankfully special revelation (God's Word) requires far less interpretation than does general revelation (creation). As the Belgic Confession puts it, God "makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word" (other translations use the phrase more clearly and fully). Since the Bible requires less interpretation, we're much less likely to misunderstand it. But remember, these two books are fully complementary! The more you understand the Bible, the more you'll understand creation! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Word is more precious than gold and sweeter than honey; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the words of your mouth and the mediation of your heart will be pleasing in the sight of the LORD, your Rock and your Redeemer; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 14

Humanity can't think straight. The first step in salvation is changing that. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God We know him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse. Second, he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own. Summary If you were to survey all of the people you know and ask them what their favorite Bible passage is, it's not likely that any of them would choose this passage. As we've surveyed who and what God is over these last few weeks, we've seen we can take great comfort in our Father, who, as our Confession put it, is the overflowing source of everything good. But although it's probably not anyone's favorite, this warning of God's wrath is one of the Bible's most important and relevant passages. It accurately and succinctly diagnoses mankind's greatest problem. Our problem isn't psychological, sociological, economic or political, it's theological: although God has made Himself plain to us, we suppress that truth by either ignoring it altogether or morphing it into ideas that better fit our sinful agenda. As we've read Psalm 19 and Psalm 8 these last couple of days, we've seen just how clearly God has revealed Himself, in that everything He created has one overarching purpose: to communicate His "invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - [which] have been clearly seen from what has been made, so that all men are without excuse (v20)." In other words, nobody will be able to stand before God in judgment and accuse God of not giving enough evidence of His existence or expectations. Dig Deeper This harsh passage leads to very good news. Nobody ever wants to hear the doctor say the word 'cancer,' but yet knowing exactly where the cancer is enables it to be treated. So it is with being told that "God's wrath is being revealed." It's good news to know that now rather than when you're standing before Him and it's too late to do anything about it. These words help us understand that our problem is not that God hasn't given us sufficient data, but that we have a problem in how we handle and process that data. Since our sinful nature causes us to suppress the truth, our thinking has become futile and our foolish hearts darkened (v21). Left to ourselves, our flawed thinking will always lead us to the wrong conclusions. In theology, we call this the noetic effect of sin. The very first word that Jesus spoke in beginning His earthly ministry reveals the solution to our primary problem. He said, "Repent (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15)." The word He used is metanoeō, which literally means 'to change your thinking.' Know that the unrepentant world will only keep compounding it's problems as it continues to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, and praise God that His Holy Spirit has regenerated your heart so that you can change your thinking, as you come to truly know Him through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has made Himself known to us in His creation; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Repent! Pray that you will change your thinking so that you clearly understand who God is and what His will is; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 13

Creation is simply a means to a very majestic end: to tell you of the God who is mindful of you. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God We know him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse. Second, he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own. Summary On one hand, people don't use the adjective 'majestic' very often, but on the other hand, it still gets overused! A stunning view of a sunset, a snow capped mountain, or the Grand Canyon might be described as 'majestic.' As awesome as these things are, the reason they can be designated 'majestic' has nothing to do with their beauty in and of themselves, but only because they're a reflection of the One who made them. The reason the word 'majestic' shouldn't be used as often as other adjectives is because in order for something to truly be 'majestic,' it must have a royal aspect. That's why David bookends this psalm with the phrase, "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth." Every aspect of creation, from the moon and stars in the heavens, to the praise of children and infants is a royal procession paying homage to its King, our Father, the LORD Almighty, who created, preserves and governs the universe. He made all of these things to make us mindful of, as our Confession states, "the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity." But the primary message of Psalm 8 is what God is mindful of. At the center of all that God created are you and me, having been given "dominion over all the works of His hands (v6)." That's not at all an overstatement. After creating all that is, and setting His glory upon the heavens, God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over all the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground (Genesis 1:26)." Dig Deeper Talk about an idea that runs totally contrary to the contemporary narrative! Society has flipped the script, making creation the center and mankind subservient to it. The problem, of course, as is always the case, is sin. We took God's good creation, and instead of managing it for God's honor and glory, we grabbed ahold of it to take it as our own. Now most of the very people that God created to govern what He made don't even recognize Him as the creator. Certainly environmental challenges abound and solutions are needed, but solutions that ignore or reverse God's design will never cure creation. Understand that as majestically beautiful as what creation is, it's simply a means to an end. It's purpose is to communicate the power, goodness and benevolence of its Creator so that the son of man might glorify Him through it. It's good to be mindful of the environment. Steward it well, for you've been given the awesome responsibility of dominion. Keep in mind the created order revealed in passages like Genesis 1 and Psalm 8, as you care for the King's creation so that all people can see His majestic glory through it. Remember, the amazing message of God's Word is not just that you are to mindful of creation, but that the Creator is mindful of you! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that crowned you with glory and honor, and that He's given you dominion of the works of His hands, but above all, that He's mindful of you and that He sent the Son of Man for your salvation; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 12

The second greatest book ever written doesn't have a word in it! Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God We know him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse. Second, he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own. Summary In our polarized, fragmented world, there are very few things that everyone can agree on, but the beauty of God's creation is one of those things. People drive thousands of miles to look out over a grand vista. As busy as life is, almost everybody stops for a moment to take in a glorious sunset. But God didn't add all of this stunning beauty in creation just so that we could have a nice view to enjoy every now and then. Each part of nature, from the tiniest microscopic organism to the biggest of galaxies make up pages of a 'book,' as our Confession describes it. Notice all of the communication oriented verbs that David attributes to nature: The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of His hands; They pour forth speech and reveal (tells - LEB) knowledge; Their voice goes out into all the earth. All of God's wondrous creation has one unified goal that each aspect of it communicates in a slightly different, yet harmonious way: it declares / proclaims / reveals the glory of its creator! While it is nice to have at least one thing that still unifies us as people, the sad fact is that most people aren't hearing what their eyes are seeing. Although God speaks through creation, and does so in a way that transcends the language barrier, not "a sound is heard from it (v3)." The second greatest 'book' ever written doesn't have a single 'word' in it! But yet it still tells so much about the One who wrote it. Dig Deeper We understand that God communicates Himself to us in two different ways: through special revelation, meaning scripture (which we'll dig into later), and more generally, through creation. But as we'll see, sin has drastically impaired our ability to understand what God says about Himself through His creation. Just as you might come to a incorrect conclusion trying to read something without your glasses on, most people come to massively incorrect conclusions trying to read the book of nature with unaided eyes. But as we'll see throughout this week, as a born again Christian, you've been given a set of 'spectacles' which enables you to correctly understand the knowledge nature declares through the lens of scripture. So learn, explore, study, and analyze as much of it as you can! Eagerly come to know your Creator more and more through it. Psalm 19 is a great reminder that there is absolutely no dichotomy between faith and science, as long as you learn to properly read what the creation is truly declaring / proclaiming / revealing! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose glory is beautifully testified to by His amazing creation; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for this beautiful universe, and pray that more and more you will come to know Him through it. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 11

There's much to learn about God, but true peace comes from realizing His incomprehensibility. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary Paul must have been exhausted as he began writing these words. Romans chapter 8, which is the magnificent centerpiece of this most magnificent book of the Bible, ends with unbridled confidence, exclaiming, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37)," and it goes on to boldly report that nothing can separate us from that love. But as Paul opens this next section of his letter, which focuses in on the deep mysteries regarding the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility in salvation, his tone completely changes. In introducing this topic, Paul writes, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart (Romans 9:2)." He realizes that so many people - including his own relatives and countrymen - will not experience this salvation. Difficult topics like this often illicit anger towards God, as people struggle to comprehend how, or what, or why God does what He does and allows what He allows. As sinners, this is actually our default reaction to things we don't like or understand: indignation and bitterness towards God, who we ignorantly blame for our problems. Many people never escape it and end up consumed by it. But not Paul. These words seem to snap him out of his sorrow and anguish. As he begins the paragraph that follows this, he's right back in the saddle again (The very next words famously begin chapter 12 - Therefore I urge you, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice...). What Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, realized and shares with us in today's passage is that you don't need to fully understand God. In fact, you can't. Just know and take peace in what these words express: that God is above all things, and that all things come from Him and through Him, and that nothing can separate you from His love. Dig Deeper Often, the more you've struggled with theology, the more you come to appreciate it. Not only is this evident in Paul's life, but also in Job's experience. The book of Job provides us some of the richest insight as to who God is and how He operates as He interacted with Job. At the end of the book, God gives Job the greatest theology lesson ever, and it completely transforms Job. Even after all of his suffering and loss - which God allowed! - Job feels peace as he submits to God's unsearchable judgments (Job 38-42). Ultimately, you need to know that God is incomprehensible. But that's ok; you really have no need for a god that you could fully comprehend anyways. So the next time you feel angry at God because you don't understand what's going on, remember this tremendous doxology at the end of Romans 11. Dig deep into all that you can know about God, but then be content to rest in the incomprehensible riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, for from Him and through Him and for Him are all things; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength to struggle with and learn difficult theology, but then that you will experience the peace that comes from realizing God's glorious incomprehensibility; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 10