01/01 Isaiah 53:1-3
Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
SAVIOR
He is coming Isaiah predicts and indeed He did come. He came for me and He came for you. Jesus made a journey because of man’s sin. There was no other way for us. So Christ stepped down off His throne in Glory and came into this world like us, at the mercy of everything. Yet by His complete submission to the will of His Father, Christ lived a perfect life and died on the cross taking our sin upon himself. Then by the power of God He arose from the grace and is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us right now. Jesus is Lord.
01/02 Isaiah 53:4
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
SIN
Our sin exacted a terrible price from Jesus. He suffered as we do and lived a perfect life. Then He died on the cross for us. His sacrifice paid the price for our sin. It was for my sin that He died. It was for your sin that He died.
01/03 Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
JESUS
Jesus is God’s everything. He took the punishment we deserved. He did it willingly knowing full well the suffering He would bear. His punishment paid the price for our reconciliation with God. Christ has reunited us with the Father. We are now His children. We have our righteousness in Jesus Christ. He is our salvation.
01/04 Isaiah 53:6
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
SIN
Everyone but Jesus has sinned. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. He was without blemish. He died to save us from our sin. His sacrifice paid the price for every sin, then and now. Jesus came looking for us even when we were unconcerned with Him. Has He found you?
01/05 Isaiah 53:7-9
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
CHRIST
The Messiah’s death is clearly prophesied here by Isaiah. Jesus is that Messiah and He came that you and I would have a chance for reconciliation with God. He brings us life eternal, real life, life Like His. The Lord Jesus is alive and He lives in us. We are His partners in telling the world about Him. He came that all might know the Father that every person would have the chance to come to know Him. His salvation is a gift-it isn’t cheap but it is free. If you have not asked Jesus to save you do it now. His Word tells us that if we will ask Him He will save us.
01/06 Isaiah 53:10
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
SACRIFICE
We know little about sacrifice. We endure for a day and it is overwhelming. Christ endured for thirty-three years and walked straight to the cross for you and me. He never complained. His aim was to do the Father’s will and work. The Gospel accounts of the life of Christ present a Savior who lives and acts much differently than leaders in the American church. You and I are called to live out daily the things that we say we believe. The Christian life is much more of an action than it is a thought.
01/07 Isaiah 53:11
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.
COMPLETE
When Christ came to his final breath He said it is finished. His life on earth was finished. His struggle was finished. His perfection was finished but more than that His sacrifice for us was finished. The victory over sin was complete. His journey was complete and we were forgiven.
01/08 Isaiah 53:12
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
SINNERS
Christ came to die for sinners. Among whom I was chief. Our life didn’t call for a Savior, He came willing of His freewill because of our great need. Jesus died for us as if there were no other of us and His sacrifice paid the price for each one of us and all of us.
01/09 2 Peter 1:1
This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
GIFT
God has given us a great gift in Jesus Christ. He has paid a price we couldn’t pay. He paid a price for us when we were totally unworthy of the sacrifice but it was what we needed and Jesus did it. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
01/10 2 Peter 1:2
May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
GRACE AND PEACE
God gives us what we need and cannot earn, pouring out His grace upon us so that we will be able to live a Christ like life. He also gifts us with His peace. We don’t earn it or deserve it but we need it and He freely gives it to us. Ask Him for His peace. We are no longer at war but at peace for Jesus has saved us from our sin.
01/11 2 Peter 1:3
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
POWER
We have His power for living our daily life. We spend time with Him daily so that we can let Him give us the power we need each day. We never know what the day will hold. Our time with Jesus prepares us to face whatever happens. The Lord gives us everything we need to live a Godly life. When I look at the obstacle I face it is always overwhelming. When I look to Jesus I don’t see the obstacle.
01/12 2 Peter 1:4
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
PROMISES
God’s promises in the His Word are made to us. They are general and specific at the same time. They are for us. They were spoken by God knowing that we would have need of them on a certain day. God is able if we will ask. Look for His promises to you in His Word. Accept them and live a Christian life.
01/13 2 Peter 1:5-7
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
GROWTH
Growing in Christ is what we do day by day in a personal relationship in Jesus. Do the next right thing is a significant part of this growth process. We choose how much we will grow. The Lord is willing for us to grow but will not force us to grow. I cannot grow without Jesus. I will not grow if I don’t spend time with Him. Growth is a daily process of spending time with Jesus and doing what He says.
01/14 2 Peter 1:8-9
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
FORGIVENESS
When we come to Jesus He forgives our sin. Some forget that His forgiveness is a gift. We don’t work for this it is a gift from the Father. It is important for our growth as children of God to understand that we are forgiven. If we don’t come to grips with this, the enemy is constantly bombarding us with the idea that we are second class Christians. Our Christianity is based on our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of the Father of forgiveness for those that ask Christ to come into their hearts. Believe in Christ and live. He is Lord of all.
01/15 2 Peter 1:10-11
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
SALVATION
Salvation is a gift from God. Anyone can come into the Family of God if they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, our usefulness and growth is a matter of choice. Will I spend time with Jesus and do what He says? If I do I will grow. If I don’t I won’t.
01/16 2 Peter 1:12
Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.
KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is important for us to grow but if we don’t put that knowledge to daily use by obeying Jesus we will not grow. Christianity is not a spectator sport. If we do the things we know we will know the right things to do.
01/17 2 Peter 1:13-15
And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone.
JESUS
Jesus is committed to us. He loves us and came to save us. He is God’s everything and His involvement in our life will create constant growth. We must always remember that we can do nothing without Jesus. Go to Jesus for daily living. Spend time with Him so that you will be equipped to face the challenges of life.
01/18 2 Peter 1:16-18
For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
EYEWITNESS
The Biblical account is an eyewitness account. The people writing the Words saw what happened. You can trust the Word of God. When we go to the Lord each day we need to read the SCRIPTURE, OBSERVE what the Lord is telling us, APPLY His Word for that day to our life and PRAY. When we do this the Biblical account equips us to see the activity of God in our life and will open up our life for the Lord God to lead us.
01/19 2 Peter 1:19
Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.
CHANGE
The presence of the Lord in the life of the Apostles changed them. Walking with the Risen Lord called them to constantly trust the Lord for guidance. Prayer equipped the Apostles to follow Him and do what He said. If you are following Jesus your confidence will grow and you will become more like Christ. That is our goal to glorify Jesus and become more like Him.
01/20 2 Peter 1:20
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
WORD
The Word of God, the Bible, came from God. The Holy Spirit moved the writers of the Biblical narrative so that the things they wrote were the things God spoke. They were led by the Spirit of God in everything they wrote so that God’s Word comes directly from the Lord. It is trustworthy and true and we can live our lives based upon it. Trust the Lord for He is trustworthy.
01/21 2 Peter 2:1-3
But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.
CAREFUL
We must make sure that it is Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord that we are preaching. We live and exist in Christ. He is God’s everything. Any teaching that denies the centrality of Christ in Christianity is wrong. Jesus is the reason we are in the family of God. He is the only way to the Father. He and the Father are one. Follow Jesus.
01/22 2 Peter 2:4-5
For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.
RIGHTEOUSNESS
There is no one righteous. Our righteousness is in Christ. He is righteous and His death, burial and resurrection paid the price for our sin. We can rejoice in Christ and be thankful for what the Lord has done for us. Thank you Jesus.
01/23 2 Peter 2:6-8
Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.
JESUS
The Lord has intervened in our lives. He came to die for us so that we might have life. Christ did what we could not do and that is pay the price for our sin. Spend time with Jesus today. Get to know Him better. We want to become more like Christ. We want to pattern our life after His. Jesus is Lord.
01/24 2 Peter 2:9-10
So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling.
ARROGANCE
We live in a society of arrogance. People make plans and refuse to recognize the Lord. We must guard ourselves from becoming arrogant like our society. Be careful how you deal with others. Recognize that you are sent of Christ to minister to the needs of the world and not to tell the world what to do. The only thing we can tell the world is about Jesus Christ and Him crucified, dead and raised from the dead by the power of God.
01/25 2 Peter 2:11-13
But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings. These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.
CAREFUL
We are not to run in fear of supernatural beings and worldly powers. We simply go to Jesus for our protection. We will not be destroyed as long as we are standing in Christ. We are to be careful how we live and when we confront the enemy we are to rebuke him in the name of Jesus. Christ is our strength and in Him we stand.
01/26 2 Peter 2:14-16
They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.
SIN
Sin is such a pervasive stain on our human existence. Live with true humility recognizing that the Lord has cleansed us from sin and is walking with us to help us lead the right kind of life. We are to grow in our likeness to Jesus. That will help us to focus our life on Christ.
01/27 2 Peter 2:17
These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness.
EVIL
Evil walks a willful path. It is never satisfied until it has you sidetracked. Be careful who you choose as friends. Spend time with Jesus. Don’t let this world get you down. When it gets tough, draw aside and sing hymns, read Scripture aloud and make sure you are faithful to your church.
01/28 2 Peter 2:18
They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.
ARROGANCE
People approach daily life with an unbelievable arrogance. They can’t stop the common cold and yet they make life and death decisions with little or no guidance. The Lord is my shepherd and He will guide me. Today ask for His guidance.
01/29 2 Peter 2:19-20
They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.
CHOICE
Choose Jesus. Ask Him to save you. If you do this He will. Choose life. In Christ is life. We cannot make our own way. We don’t know what we will face tomorrow or even today. The future belongs to Jesus. Give Him your life and He will guard and guide you.
01/30 2 Peter 2:21
It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.
PEOPLE
Many people congregate around Christians. Others on the fringe but not a follower grew up in Christian homes. They think for some vague unknown reason that they can be a Christian because their family is, their friends are or because they go to church. A Christian has given their life to Jesus. They have bent the knee to Christ and asked Him to come into their life. By faith through grace is the only way we can come to Christ and Christ is the only way to the Father. If you haven’t asked Christ into your life do it right now. Jesus is faithful and righteous and He will save you.
01/31 2 Peter 2:22
They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
FRINGE
People of the fringe of Christianity will not survive when testing comes. The evil one will challenge them at every opportunity and they will fail. When they fail, they slough off their feeling of goodness and go back to what they were doing before. Generally their comment is “I didn’t think it would work for me.” It only works for His children. God has no grandchildren.
