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

God of faith-stretching wisdom, I stand in awe before your eternal plan to unite all things in Christ. May your Holy Spirit be the seal of your promise, and may my life be directed to the hope of your coming kingdom. Amen. (Prayer based on the Heidelberg Catechism, Question 49)

*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 121 | Read Philippians 1

• 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: “This is Paul’s happiest letter. And the happiness is infectious. Before we’ve read a dozen lines, we begin to feel the joy ourselves—the dance of words and the exclamations of delight have a way of getting inside us. This letter guides Christians on how to honor each other as they endure overwhelming circumstances” Meditate on the passage, noting a few words or a phrase that stood out. Take them to God in prayer.

Evening Readings:

Pray Psalm 122 | Read Esther 5

• OT Context: “Esther was a Jewish orphan in Persia who rose into prominence as she learned of a plot to eradicate the Jews. As the only book in the Bible that has no mention of God, Esther shows us that God is working even when we are not aware of it.” 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 8:31-39

Yesterday we said that Paul asks four unanswerable questions to help us to know the height and breadth and depth of God’s love for us in Christ. Today we turn to his second question “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” 

It’s a tremendous question bubbling with thrilling potential. He’s basically saying, “If God was this generous with Jesus in his life, death, and resurrection in our place, then does He sound stingy to you?” Or as Ray Ortlund puts it, “Is he going to nickel-and-dime us now?” 

He’s already give you the whole kit and caboodle in Christ. What more could you want? You can rest easy that he will never grow tired of you. Look at the investment he’s made in you! He as good as said: “My place beside you, my blood for yours!” You don’t put that kind of downpayment on something you don’t plan to bring all the way home with you!

Are you getting the picture? God’s love for you in Christ is so expansive that you can’t outspend his generosity. To borrow an image from my childhood cartoons, God’s love for you in Christ is deeper than Scrooge McDuck’s money bin, you could never get to the bottom of it. That’s how rich in mercy he is! 

REFLECT: Earlier in Romans 8 we saw that God has made us heirs who will inherit “all things” in Christ. Here Paul is bolstering our confidence in that promise. Take some time to thank God for the lavish nature of his grace, love, and mercy. 

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