God's law is simple, but step one in salvation is confessing you can't keep it. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 5 Q. Can you live up to all this (God's Law) perfectly? A. No. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor. Summary A sinful nature is part of the human condition, as part of our inheritance of original sin from the first human, Adam. To say that we are without sin is a falsehood. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, has granted us forgiveness, and made us a new creation; yet we are not without sin. God enables spiritual growth in the life of the believer, however none of us will reach a point of complete righteousness in this life. It is part of our condition to continually battle our fallen nature. Those who deny their sinful nature do more than fool themselves. Not only would such a claim betray the truth, but it would also suggest a belief that you were not in need of the grace of Jesus. The truth is that we have all fallen short and are in desperate need for the grace of Christ. To claim otherwise is to disregard, or at minimum misunderstand, the Gospel. Dig Deeper While Jesus calls us to love our God and our neighbor, our natural tendency is to do the exact opposite. Respect, manners, and sharing are all things that are taught to children either in the home or at school. None of us teaches a child to be selfish, hit when angry, or throw a fit when you don’t get your way; yet these behaviors are still commonplace. These tendencies are ingrained in our very being. Part of living as a Child of God is battling our fallen nature. While the Holy Spirit does empower believers to do good; the faithful remain locked in combat with our fallen nature. This battle will continue to rage on until the end of the age when our sanctification is complete. As you acknowledge your natural state of sinfulness, lean on the Holy Spirit for the strength to do what you cannot do on your own, which is to love God and love others. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Father God, you are faithful and just to forgive my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Help me to recognize and confess my own sin, and strengthen me with the Spirit to trust in the righteousness of my Savior. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Mark 10

If you're a Christian, you're a born-again Christian. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 70 Q. What does it mean to be washed with Christ’s blood and Spirit? A. To be washed with Christ’s blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ’s blood poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ’s Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life. Summary Nicodemus was a Pharisee who had shown respect for Jesus because of the signs, also known as miracles, that Jesus had done. It was during this discussion that Jesus explained to Nicodemus how he needed to be born again. This rebirth was not a second physical birth, but a birth of water and spirit. Jesus makes this spiritual rebirth an absolute necessity, proclaiming that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Unless is a strong word, setting an absolute condition that must be met for one to enter the kingdom of God. This spiritual rebirth is not an optional addition to one’s faith, instead this rebirth has been set apart by Jesus as an essential part of following Him. Without this spiritual rebirth, one cannot enter God’s kingdom. Dig Deeper Regeneration is the theological term we use to describe this spiritual rebirth. Much like how Jesus’ physical body had died and was raised to new life on the third day, regeneration points to one’s spiritual death and new life in Christ. This is not an action you take as a believer, since regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit. This regeneration, or rebirth, is more than a change of heart; it is an entrance into a new life. Where you were once spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins, you are now made alive. This spiritual rebirth is your entryway into a new life, one receptive and inclined towards God. Regeneration originates with God, it is not something we can initiate for ourselves or for others. While this lack of personal control may spark different feelings in various individuals, I feel an appropriate response to this regeneration is to turn to God in prayer. For those who have either a long held or newly formed faith in Christ, we pray out of gratitude for God’s work of regeneration in their lives. For those who do not yet have faith in Christ, we pray that God may work in their lives, planting a desire for Christ where there previously was none. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the King, whose kingdom we long to enter into; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will recognize and live into the regeneration (rebirth) you've been given by the Holy Spirit signified and sealed in your baptism ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 1

Matthew 28:16–20 (NIV) 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had

Hebrews 7:25-28 (NIV) 25 Therefore Christ is able to save completely those who come to God through him He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests

It's good to pray for what you want, but it's better to pray that you'll want what God wants. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 124 Q. What does the third request mean? A. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means, Help us and all people to reject our own wills and to obey your will without any back talk. Your will alone is good. Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven. Summary Jesus explains the discipleship paradox: if you want to be Jesus' disciple, you must deny what you want. He goes on to explain that whoever wants to get what they want will not only not get what they want, but they'll end up getting what they don't want. When viewed on their own, Jesus' words here don't make very much sense. But when we look at the context they come in, in which Peter is trying to make Jesus into the savior that both he the world really wants, rather than one who provides sacrificial obedience, then what Jesus is saying here comes into sharper focus. What Jesus is telling Peter, and us, is that if you want to be His disciple, then you must want what Jesus wants, not what the world wants. He says that following Him requires you to stop wanting worldly things which end up sucking the life out of your soul. Instead, you must want to nail these worldly wants to the cross. Yet even as you follow Him, you'll get what you both truly want and need: eternal reward from the Son of Man. Dig Deeper If all of this talk about what you want seems confusing, Jesus presents this entire concept much more simply when He taught us to pray: "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." When you pray those very simple words, or ones like them, you're praying for a very profound thing: that God, through the Holy Spirit, will help you to reject your sin-stained will and obey God's holy and perfect will without any hesitation or back talk. This is the simplest definition of what a disciple is: a person who wants to do what God wants done. Make alignment a key element in every prayer that you pray, that you would deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Son will come in His Father's glory with His angels to reward each person according to what they have done; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would not want worldly things, but would instead want what your Father wants. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 4

The last thing you want to hear back from Jesus when you say 'amen' is "Get behind me, Satan!" Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 124 Q. What does the third request mean? A. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means, Help us and all people to reject our own wills and to obey your will without any back talk. Your will alone is good. Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven. Summary Peter's recognition that Jesus is the Son of God forms a hinge in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke); it's the point at which things change significantly in Jesus' earthly ministry. This is noticeable in the way that Matthew begins this passage which immediately follows Peter's confession with the words "from that time on...". Many of the people, including the disciples, thought that Jesus had come in order to make life on earth a little better. Perhaps someday He'd even be their king like what David was and would free them from Rome's oppressive yoke. But Jesus makes clear that His purpose is different: He was headed to Jerusalem to "suffer many things... be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (v21)" Suffering and being killed didn't match up with what Peter's concept of Jesus' ministry should be (notice that Peter is so taken aback by Jesus saying He'd be killed that he completely misses Jesus saying He'd be raised to life!). Peter, being the speak first and think later type of guy he was, "rebuked" Jesus! Suffering and death didn't fit into any sort of picture of worldly success. We're used to seeing Jesus respond to the Pharisees and other bad guys with sharp language, but the most stinging of all of Jesus' words are the ones He spoke to His chief disciple: "Get behind me, Satan!" Dig Deeper Imagine the look of horror on Peter's face upon hearing the very man he'd just identified as the Messianic Son of God call him Satan. Certainly Peter's outburst could be considered back talk, to borrow language from the catechism, but why did it warrant such a dramatic response from our Lord? Theologian Louis Berkhof writes, "The name 'Satan' points to him as 'the Adversary,' not in the first place of man, but of God." In other words, anytime our own will becomes, as Jesus called it, "a stumbling block" to what God has ordained, our actions are by definition satanic. How much of your life is consumed with the things of man rather than the things of God? How often are your prayers filled with trying to lobby God to support your own concerns rather than praying that His will be done in your own life just as it is in heaven? How many times would Jesus be justified in responding "Get behind me, Satan," the moment you say "amen?" This is why it is so critically important that you pray consistently and often that your will is aligned with God's will. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is in heaven and whose name is holy; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Your will be done, on earth (and in my life) just as it is in heaven; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 3

As someone who grew up in the Reformed tradition, I have heard Ephesians 2:8 preached on many times.

Baptism doesn't make you a Christian, it's always been a core part of Christianity. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 71 Q. Where does Christ promise that we are washed with his blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? A. In the institution of baptism where he says: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of rebirth and the washing away of sins. Summary Matthew’s Gospel closes with Jesus giving the Great Commission to the Disciples. This passage has been quoted as the rallying cry behind countless outreach and discipleship efforts. While commanding the eleven remaining disciples to go and make more disciples, Jesus teaches them how to do this: by baptizing and teaching. Dig Deeper Jesus’ command to baptize new disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit was taken seriously by the first disciples. In the history of the Christian Church, there is no time that we are aware of where the people of God were without baptism. On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit poured out on the Disciples, Peter preached what is considered the first Christian sermon. This is the response of the crowd and Peter’s reply from Acts 2:37-38: When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thousands came to faith in Christ that day and what was it they were commanded to do? Repent and be baptized. From the beginning, the Church has taken Jesus’ command to baptize seriously. It would be hard to deny that there has been a cultural shift in the United States in the last few decades. With the rise of the “nones” (those without a declared faith), there is an increasing number of people in the United States who are not baptized. As the Church reaches out to these people groups, the discussion around baptism will grow ever more important. Are we, the Body of Christ, ready for those discussions? If you have never been baptized yourself, what is holding you back from taking this step of faith? If you have been baptized, do you feel prepared to share the significance of baptism with someone who asks? AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has equipped us His children and commissions us to gather those He's called into His Kingdom; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for your baptism, or if you haven't been baptized, pray that you will step forward and request it; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 2

Sacraments are simply signs and seals symbolizing salvation. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 66 Q. What are sacraments? A. Sacraments are holy signs and seals for us to see. They were instituted by God so that by our use of them he might make us understand more clearly the promise of the gospel, and might put his seal on that promise. And this is God’s gospel promise: to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ’s one sacrifice finished on the cross. Summary Jesus uses very interesting terminology when instituting the Lord’s Supper. He says to his disciples when they are eating the communion bread, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then when he gives them the wine to drink, he says, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant.” Why would Jesus use those terms? This builds on what we started to look at yesterday when we studied how the sacraments confirm our faith in Jesus Christ. When we eat the bread of the Lord’s Supper, we are not eating the physical body of Christ. When we drink from the cup of the Lord’s Supper, we are not drinking the physical blood of Christ. While Jesus is present spiritually in the Lord’s Supper through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are not eating his body or drinking his blood. Jesus uses these terms because the sacraments are signs and seals of God’s promises in Jesus Christ. Dig Deeper When we baptize an infant or a new convert, we know that baptism does not save them. We are only saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, baptism is a sign and seal of God’s gospel promise. As surely as water washes away dirt from our bodies, the blood of Christ, shed on the cross, washes away our sins. Baptism is a sign and seal because it points to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, and shows us how we are saved through faith. It is why we can sing a song like Nothing But the Blood of Jesus so fervently. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. When we eat of the bread and drink of the cup of the Lord’s Supper, it too is a sign and seal of God’s gospel promise. Communion points to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus’ body was broken and his blood shed for our salvation. Not only that, just as bread and juice physically nourish us, Jesus nourishes us spiritually through his presence. The sacraments are a physical way for God to confirm a spiritual reality. We celebrate them to confirm our faith in Jesus and be nourished by him. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Amazing God, who shows us, as well as teaches us of your power and grace; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would contemplate the meaning of the sacraments as you are celebrating them; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Colossians 1

We pray "your Kingdom come," but the firstfruits already have come! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 122 Q. What does the second request mean? A. “Your kingdom come” means, Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Keep your church strong, and add to it. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your Word. Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all. Summary Jesus has been raised from the dead and is the firstfruits of the resurrection. Paul is referring back to the harvest time offering made by the Israelites. At harvest, the Israelites were required to bring an offering from the firstfruits (the first part) of their crop. This offering symbolized how the entirety of the harvest belonged to God. By comparison, Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection as he was the first to be raised from the dead. And just as the first part of the harvest was a token of the entire harvest belonging to God, Jesus’ resurrection serves as a token that we too belong to God and will be raised in a resurrection like his. In addition to the promise of the resurrection for those who belong to Christ, Paul also expresses the fate of God’s enemies. Christ will destroy all his enemies; with the last of these enemies being death itself. With his enemies destroyed, the rule of God will be universally acknowledged, so that he may be all in all. Dig Deeper In verse 22 Paul addresses our dual solidarity by writing, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” We all die in Adam, the first human, in that we are united with him in sin and death. With that first disobedience in the Garden by Adam and Eve, sin entered the world. We, as Adam’s descendants, inherit this original sin. However, despite being united with Adam in sin and death, God offers grace. For we are also united with Christ by grace through faith. The resurrection is not an isolated event with a limited scope. The resurrection is the culmination of God’s plan of redemption. The resurrection of Jesus affects everything and will not be fully complete until Christ “has put everything under his feet.” One of the comforts we have as God’s people is knowing that our eternity is secure in the hands of Jesus. This is one of the reasons why the funeral of a faithful saint is different from that of an unbeliever. There is hope present. Hope in what is to come, including the promise of the resurrection. And while we look forward to the resurrection and being in the presence of Christ; Paul gives us something else to look forward to with anticipation. For we also wait for the day when the enemies of Jesus, including the devil and even death itself, will be no more. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who is all in all; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that since you have been included in Christ, you have been made alive in Him; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 2