Use this devo as you are able, in whole or in part. Don’t feel compelled to read it all. Simply read and meditate upon whatever catches your attention. The goal is enjoying time with God through His Word and in prayer. Questions about the devotional elements?

Call to Prayer

Prayer of Confession

Most High God, who can fully grasp this head-spinning resurrection news? Like the disciples, we are still caught off guard, resurrection seeming stranger than fiction. With all who doubt and struggle, I pray for a faith that sends us in search of Jesus, and that we might find him alive in us. Amen. (Prayer based on the Westminster Confession, Question 14/3)

*Prayer borrowed from Philip Reinders’ Seeking God’s Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year

Reading Plan

This reading plan will help you to develop the habit of being in God’s Word each morning and evening. Come to this time with expectation. Expect God to reveal himself to you. Expect that he delights in you being there, even when you’ve wandered away. Growing a spiritual habit is a slow, patient process. So be kind to yourself as you grow! 

Readings are hyperlinked. Simply hover over the passage or click Morning/Evening Reading (email version).

Morning Readings:

Pray Psalm 41 | Read 1 Corinthians 2

• Praying the Psalms: Read slowly. Take note of words and phrases. Bring them before the Lord in prayer and personalize the passage as you pray.
• NT Context: “Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is a classic of pastoral response: affectionate, firm, clear, and unswerving in the conviction that God among them, revealed in Jesus and present in his Holy Spirit, continued to be the central issue in their lives, regardless of how much of a mess they had made of things.” Meditate on the passage, noting a few words or a phrase that stood out. Take them to God in prayer.

Evening Readings:

Pray Psalm 42 | Read 2 Chronicles 24

• OT Context: “Sovereignty, God’s sovereignty, is one of the most difficult things for people of faith to live out in everyday routines…This story makes it clear that it was not God’s idea that the Hebrews have a king, but since they insisted, he let them have their way. But God never abdicated his sovereignty to any of the Hebrew kings; the idea was that they would represent his sovereignty, not that he would delegate his sovereignty to them. Reflect on the passage. Who was the original audience, and what was their situation? How is that relevant to you today?

Sermon Devo

We are in our Spring series in Romans 8. Each day we will dig into a different aspect of this incomparable chapter and see how it alters the way we live “in Christ!”

Read: Romans 8:1-2

As we begin our journey in Romans 8, Ray Ortlund helps orient us what the Apostle Paul was hoping to accomplish in his first hearers and in us through this unparalleled chapter:

“Two great armies clash on the battlefield of life – the people of God and the sins that would defeat them. God’s people do not fight as well as they should. Sometimes they even yield to their enemy. But even as the battle rages, well before the promised victory, the Commander of God’s army orders a banner to be raised right in the middle of his troops for all to see. The banner reads, ‘No condemnation now for those in Christ Jesus!’ And that declaration has a remarkable effect upon the people of God. They do not use that assurance as an excuse to defect to the other side. They rejoice in the certainty of their final triumph and are energized to fight on. 

Romans 8:1 raises that banner. We look up at it with joy, and it stiffens our resolve not to quit. This verse is like a banner because, in Paul’s Greek text, it has no verb. Our English Bible says, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ But Paul’s text is simpler: ‘Therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus!’ It is a plain and forceful cry. No condemnation for sinning, struggling Christians who yearn to be rescued from their Romans 7 frustration and failure! The only thing that will strengthen you to keep fighting is God’s strong assurance of grace.” — Ray Ortlund, Supernatural Living for Natural People

REFLECT: What is the first image that comes to mind when you read vv.1-2? In what way does today’s reading help to confirm or counteract your initial understanding? 

Evening Prayer of Examen

• Where did you move with or feel close to Jesus today?
• Where did you resist or feel far from Jesus today?
• Where is Jesus leading you tomorrow? Ask for joy as you follow him.

Benediction