CHAPTER 1

JANUARY 1

MORNING

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind, ... I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

"Father, I desire that they ... whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me." — I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. — He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. — Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus.

Phil. 3:13–14; John 17:24; 2 Tim. 1:12; Phil. 1:6; 1 Cor. 9:24, 25; Heb. 12:1–2

EVENING

"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you."

And he said to him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here." — I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. — For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Deut. 31:8; Ex. 33:15; Jer. 10:23; Ps. 37:23–24; Ps. 73:23–24; Rom. 8:38–39

JANUARY 2

MORNING

Sing to the Lord a new song.

Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. — He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." — "The joy of the Lord is your strength." — Paul thanked God and took courage.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Isa. 42:10; Ps. 81:1–2; Ps. 40:3; Josh. 1:9; Neh. 8:10; Acts 28:15; Rom. 13:11–14

EVENING

Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

"You shall make an altar on which to burn incense. ... And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it ... And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations."

Consequently, [Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. — And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Pray without ceasing.

Ps. 141:2; Ex. 30:1, 6–8; Heb. 7:25; Rev. 8:4; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Thess. 5:17

JANUARY 3

MORNING

He led them by a straight way.

"He found [Jacob] in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him." — "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save."

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

"And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." — This is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. — "Who is a teacher like him?"

Ps. 107:7; Deut. 32:10–12; Isa. 46:4; Ps. 23:3–4; Isa. 58:11; Ps. 48:14; Job 36:22

EVENING

"What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me recover my sight."

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. — "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things." — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.

Luke 18:41; Ps. 119:18; Luke 24:45; John 14:26; James 1:17; Eph. 1:17–19

JANUARY 4

MORNING

"For you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you."

For this is no place to rest. — So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. — Behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.

"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." — With Christ, for that is far better.

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." —" There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest."

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." — Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Deut. 12:9; Mic. 2:10; Heb. 4:9; Heb. 6:19–20; John 14:2–3; Phil. 1:23; Rev. 21:4; Job 3:17; Matt. 6:20–21; Col. 3:2

EVENING

"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin. — He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.

1 Cor. 15:55; 1 Cor. 15:56; Heb. 9:26–28; Heb. 2:14–15; 2 Tim. 4:6–8

JANUARY 5

MORNING

For we who have believed enter that rest.

They weary themselves committing iniquity. — But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." — Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works. — Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. — "This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose."

Heb. 4:3; Jer. 9:5; Rom. 7:23–24; Matt. 11:28; Rom. 5:1–2; Heb. 4:10; Phil. 3:9; Isa. 28:12

EVENING

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? — For they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.

"It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person."

A whisperer separates close friends. — There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. — But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ... From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. — For this is the will of God, your sanctification. — And in their mouth no lie was found.

Ps. 141:3; Ps. 130:3; Ps. 106:33; Matt. 15:11; Prov. 16:28; Prov. 12:18–19; James 3:8, 10; Col. 3:8–9; 1 Thess. 4:3; Rev. 14:5

JANUARY 6

MORNING

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us.

"And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God." — And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. — The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. — Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. — Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Ps. 90:17; Ezek. 16:14; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Pet. 4:14; Ps. 128:1–2; Prov. 16:3; Phil. 2:12–13; 2 Thess. 2:16–17

EVENING

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. — Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. — "You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."

"So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants.'"

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" — But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. — The prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.

Mark 6:30; Prov. 18:24; Ex. 33:11; John 15:14–15; Luke 17:10; Rom. 8:15; Phil. 4:6; Prov. 15:8

JANUARY 7

MORNING

Remember [me] for my good, O my God.

Thus says the Lord, "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness." — "Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant." — "I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise. ... For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." — "I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number." — You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Neh. 5:19; Jer. 2:2; Ezek. 16:60; Jer. 29:10–11; Isa. 55:9; Job 5:8–9; Ps. 40:5

EVENING

"I will not leave you or forsake you."

Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. — "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"

"The Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him." — He remembers his covenant forever.

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Josh. 1:5; Josh. 21:45; Num. 23:19; Deut. 7:9; Ps. 111:5; Isa. 49:15–16; Zeph. 3:17

JANUARY 8

MORNING

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. — "I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. — For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. — "For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself." — He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

And be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

Ps. 9:10; Prov. 18:10; Isa. 12:2; Ps. 37:25; Ps. 37:28; 1 Sam. 12:22; 2 Cor. 1:10; Heb. 13:5–6