To the Praise of His Glorious Grace

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 22-23, Psalm 132-134, Zechariah 6, and Revelation 10. Gospel summary: Jesus, the true Son of David, the true Joshua, and the true Branch of the Lord, is also the true temple, bringing God's glorious presence to guilty sinners by means of his shed blood. God's long-awaited plan of salvation that was repeatedly seen in shadowy form, but never fully realized, has been fulfilled in the Christ child coming to earth.  Prayer: All wise and gracious God, you alone are worthy of all glory, for this plan that you have made and that has been seen in types and shadows throughout the Old Testament, has all found its fulfillment in Christ. Thank you for opening my eyes to your dealings with mankind ever since you first breathed life into Adam, for were it not for your illuminating me to your ways, I would have rejected you all my days and lived oblivious to the world I was created into. I thank you that Jesus, the great Shepherd-King who leads me lovingly...

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 21, Psalm 129-131, Zechariah 5, and Revelation 9. Gospel summary: We would be wise to trust in the Lord and live in reverent obedience to him, for he has the power to hold our sins against us and let the curse have terrible effects on us. In Christ, God has reversed the curse of sin for all who hope in him. Prayer: I praise you Father in heaven for not treating me as my sins deserve, but out of your own sheer grace and mercy, forgiving my many sins and promising to eternally bless me in Christ. Before I knew your saving grace, you were extending common grace to me so that my sins were somewhat restrained; but now that you have saved me through Christ, I see how long you have been protecting me from my eternal ruin. Thank you for sparing me from the fate of all who reject you and for graciously drawing me to yourself in Christ! Grant me the grace today to stay humbled in the dust at the thought of your saving me and to stay elevated in the heavens...

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 13, Psalm 119:97-120, Haggai 1, and Revelation 3. Gospel summary: We all rely on our own strength and wisdom to handle the circumstances of life, but God blesses those who rely solely upon him and desire his glory above their own. In Christ, God has weaned us off of our selfish bent to rely steadfastly upon him. Prayer: Father in heaven, I am so prone to rely on my own wisdom to guide me through life and I have found time and again how that self-reliance has left me a rebel against you. Thank you that by the gospel call and the Spirit's awakening I have been converted and now know that you are all I need. Teach me the joy of relying upon you and the folly of resisting you, knowing that resistance to you is resistance to my eternal well-being. When my old sinful nature rises up and calls me to trust my desires instead of your Spirit, give me the power to believe your gospel truth and live by that faith, totally relying on you in all my ways. I pra...

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 10, Psalm 119:49-72, Zephaniah 2, and Revelation 1. Gospel summary: God is blazing in holiness and the only proper response when we behold his glory is to humble ourselves in the dust and find refuge in the shed blood of Jesus, for that is God's only avenue of cleansing us from the sins that cry out for his justice. Only the heart dipped in Jesus' blood has confident access into God's presence because that is the only heart that longs to obey God's commands. Prayer: Gracious Father in heaven, your awesome majesty demands perfect obedience and holiness, yet your perfect law leaves me utterly condemned because of my sins. I am all sin and you are all holiness, so the only hope I have is that you somehow meet the demands of your law on my behalf and somehow punish all my sins at the same time while still allowing me to live, then applying that amazing work of redemption to my heart so that I may be accepted in your presence. O God, you h...

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 9, Psalm 119:25-48, Zephaniah 1, and Jude Gospel summary: God, in his infinite wisdom, made a way for guilty and sinful rebels to his authority to be justified and made righteous before him on the basis of Another who kept God's commands perfectly, and to have hearts whose primary longing is obedience to his commands for the glory of his name. These people not only love keeping to God's ways and long to please him, but God keeps them in his ways by his sovereign power. Prayer: Father in heaven, you alone are holy and worthy of all glory. Thank you for satisfying your own righteous requirements on my behalf through Christ in his life and death, and stamping it upon my heart by the Holy Spirit. Now, all thanks to your grace, I long for a life that brings you glory and pleases you. Help me to live this day not for myself but you, and remind me that you are working all this in me when I do. Spare me from the demise of those who turn away from you...

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 5, Psalm 114-115, Nahum 3, 1 John 4. Gospel summary: God alone is worthy of our faith and worship, for he alone is the sovereign Lord of creation and Judge of all the earth. Although we were guilty sinners worthy of his just punishment who refused to tremble before him or trust in him, he gave his only Son to the agony and shame of the cross to secure both of these for us forever. Now, in light of God's unfathomable love for sinners through Christ, we love with his love and tremble before and trust in him. Prayer: Father in heaven, you are worthy of my awe, wonder, amazement, and trust, but I so often yawn at your majesty and ignore the grace of Calvary. Give me eyes to see afresh your glory and a heart that truly trembles before you and wholeheartedly trusts in you. As I study your Word each day, show me more of the glorious vistas of this gospel, so that my heart may turn away from the trinkets and idols of this world (like the number of 'p...

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 2, Psalm 110-111, Nahum 1, and 1 John 2. Gospel summary: We were all at one time enemies of God by the sin nature we inherited from Adam and God would have been just to condemn us, but out of his infinite grace and mercy God sent Jesus to bear the punishment for our sins on the cross. Now those who hope in Christ have him as their advocate and high priest so that they always stand justified before God, on the basis of Christ's atoning work on the cross. Prayer: Father in heaven, I am eternally grateful that you don't condemn me as my sins deserve, but have lavished all your marvelous grace on me through Christ. Help me to live today completely dependent on you, clinging to the cross, instead of my own efforts at being good. I praise you that even when I sin I have an Advocate with you Father. Grant me to be always at your feet, ready to do your holy will, and keep me from the destruction to come on all those who continue in sin. Keep me ever...

Today I read: 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 108-109, Micah 7, and 1 John 1. Gospel summary: The Lord God owns all he has made and has a special possession of his people whom he redeemed by the blood of his Son, so that even when they sin at times, they still belong to him and he will not let them be condemned. Prayer: Father in heaven, you alone own all the stars in the vaultless heavens and every creature from the skies to the seas. You alone are worthy of unceasing worship. Yet what is even sweeter to me than your general ownership of the universe is your special possession of your redeemed saints. You purchased men and women from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. This is sweet for me because I often sin against you and loathe the selfishness that still clings to my flesh, but you promise to cleanse me of all unrighteousness and even defend me before the great accuser, Satan, if I persevere in faith and continual repentance. Jesus, I ...