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

Yet you can know that this is true, and John tells you how in v5-6. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 19

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

The guilt you feel is actually a good thing, but don't feel it for too long! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 126 Q. What does the fifth request mean? A. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” means, Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors Summary Is guilt a good or bad thing? Nobody really likes experiencing the pain of guilt. You've likely envied people just a bit who seem able to float through life guilt free, even after doing really awful things. But David here in Psalm 51 reminds you once again that guilt, as painful as it can be, is actually a good thing, in that it brings us to confess our sin before our gracious Father. David expresses the inescapable nature of guilt that covenant people experience when he writes that his sin is "always before him." Know that you'll never be able to outrun or hide from your guilt; the only solution is to confess it here as David does and then experience the unfailing, forgiving love and compassion we read about yesterday. While there certainly are lots of people that get hurt when we sin, the primary offense is against God Himself. Yet David isn't bitter about God, even after receiving God's righteous verdict and justified judgment. David knows God isn't being arbitrary or capricious, because David's conscience had already made him quite aware of his guilt. Sin and guilt is so intertwined with you that it's wrapped up in your DNA. Not only were you born into sin, you were conceived in it! This is why the New Testament emphasizes your need to not just change your behavior, but to change you very nature; you need to go from being in Adam and his sin to being grafted into Christ and His righteousness. Dig Deeper Maybe you've heard the analogy that if you had a treatable cancer in you, it would be much better if it generated a symptom that made you feel miserable than if it just grew undetected. In seeking relief from the symtoms, the cancer could be treated and removed. So it is with your sin. Life might seem to be much better for people who are able to mask their guilt or even ignore it all together, but the true advantage comes to those like David, whose guilt enables them to recognize their transgression and sin so they can remove it by confessing it to God. Sin infected you the moment you were conceived. Be grateful for the guilt that makes you aware of its presence in your life, and then follow Jesus' command to pray that your guilt-inducing debts will be forgiven. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father; against you, you only, have we sinned and done what is evil in your sight; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will, through Christ, forgive your debts and alleviate your guilt; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 14

ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 11

Scripture is the sufficient source for knowing and testing what is true. 1 John 4:1–6 (NIV) Dear friends from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6  Therefore we must not consider human writings— no matter how holy their authors may have been— equal

While your actions, no matter how good, cannot bring about self-justification; your good works reflect

Ill gotten gain will spoil quickly, so build up your treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 110 Q. What does God forbid in the eighth commandment? A. He forbids not only outright theft and robbery, punishable by law. But in God’s sight theft also includes cheating and swindling our neighbor by schemes made to appear legitimate, such as: inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume; fraudulent merchandising; counterfeit money; excessive interest; or any other means forbidden by God. In addition he forbids all greed and pointless squandering of his gifts. Summary There are many ways that someone can be guilty of theft. In today’s passage, James speaks out against wealthy landowners who fraudulently held back wages from those who labored in their fields. This action is declared to be an act of fraud, and as James warns, the cries of the harvesters who have been wronged are heard by God. This act of theft is seen as an intentional action to fraudulently grow one’s wealth at the expense of the less fortunate. The Old Covenant law made provisions for guaranteeing the timely payment of a worker’s wage. James’ warning against the withholding of wages echoes what is recorded in Deuteronomy 24:15, “15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.” This shows how even things that stop short of theft, such as an unnecessary delay in pay, are sinful because of the harm they cause to those who are counting on those wages. Dig Deeper Just because you can get away with something does not mean you should. In fact, our actions should be directed by what is right, not what we can get away with. There are various cities around the United States who have determined to not prosecute theft under a certain dollar amount. The outcome of these policies has been an increase of shoplifting and “smash and grabs” as more people feel emboldened to commit these types of crime knowing that they will not be prosecuted. However, avoiding prosecution in the criminal justice system does not mean you have gotten away free and clear. Just as the cries of the laborers were heard by the Lord of hosts, so too are the cries of victims of theft today. As James warned those who sought ill-gotten gains during his time, when you sacrifice your morals for earthly treasures you are choosing that which will decay and perish over that which truly lasts. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The LORD Almighty, whose ears hear those who cry out to Him; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that you (likely) are treated honestly in your work, and pray that you will prioritize righteousness above worldly gain; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - John 2

Society will not be truly civil until it realizes what God told Noah. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 105 Q. What is God’s will for you in the sixth commandment? A. I am not to belittle, insult, hate, or kill my neighbor— not by my thoughts, my words, my look or gesture, and certainly not by actual deeds— and I am not to be party to this in others; rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge. I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself either. Prevention of murder is also why government is armed with the sword. Summary In many ways our passage today parallels the opening chapters of the Bible. God gave Adam dominion over the earth and commanded him to be fruitful and multiply. In the same way, God announces to Noah that from that day forward the animals would fear man, and he's given the same command to increase greatly upon the earth that Adam had been given. But the situational difference between God's initial mandate and His command to Noah is stark: even though God had cleansed the world of sin's worst effects through the great flood, sin is still present in human nature. Death, the ultimate consequence of sin, would remain a reality. But death does not operate with impunity. God "will surely demand an accounting" each time man's blood is spilled, even from animals, and especially from other men. It would be hundreds of years yet before God gave His full law through Moses, but the one stipulation He wants to make immediately clear is that murderers must face the ultimate consequence. God told Noah, and also now tells us, that when a human is killed, it's not just an ordinary creature that has its life snuffed out. Understand that your life has value not just because you're a awesome person, but because you are made in the image of God Himself. Therefore the civil consequence of murder must be swift and severe: God Himself demands capital punishment, a regulation given for all people living in all times. Dig Deeper A society that practices capital punishment might meet the letter of the law God set forth upon renewing life on earth through Noah's family, but simply executing convicted murderers is a long way from the ideal that God set forth. Plenty of corrupt governments have been very good at avenging killers, but yet placed little value on human life. A government willing to kill its own citizens, even if they are guilty, but which does not recognize God's image as the basis for human value is a massively dangerous entity, as history has shown repeatedly. We live in a society that has devalued human life because it no longer recognizes God, so how could society possible recognize the intrinsic value that God's image gives to mankind? Abortion, euthanasia and licentious living that ignores the life shortening effects of unhealthy food, drink and bad habits are all symptoms of our disassociation of mankind as the image bearer of a holy, righteous creator God. Man has become nothing more than an expendable animal that can be eradicated when it's considered inconvenient; ironically even the animals are often given more value than mankind! Simply executing more convicted murders will not solve this most serious of problems. Society must regain a fear of God, and a realization that His image in each and every person has all surpassing value. Restoring this reality is not a task you can delegate to the government or other civil leaders. Rather you must communicate what God has shown you to be true to your friends and family who have forgotten. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father who has put His image upon each one of us; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will see God's image in every person you see, and that you will effectively communicate this truth to those you influence; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 John 5

But in Romans 6, he goes on to argue that this type of thinking doesn’t align with the gospel message But the good news, as Paul speaks of in Romans 6, includes ending the reign of sin.