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

Sending God, how can I possibly represent you to a watching world? Let me start right here, on my knees, seeking the power that comes from on high. May your Spirit move me toward the world you love. Amen. (Prayer based on the Heidelberg Catechism, Question 117)

*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 115 | Read Ephesians 4

• 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 letter to the Ephesians joins together what has been torn apart in our sin-wrecked world. He begins with an exuberant exploration of what Christians believe about God, and then, like a surgeon skillfully setting a compound fracture, “sets” this belief in God into our behavior before God so that the bones—belief and behavior—knit together and heal.” Meditate on the passage, noting a few words or a phrase that stood out. Take them to God in prayer.

Evening Readings:

Pray Psalm 116 | Read Esther 2

• 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 8:28-30

Yesterday we (re)familiarized ourselves with the story of Joseph primarily because Romans 8:28-30 has always reminded me of Joseph’s story. I was talking with a friend about the similarities: 

God works everything in Joseph’s life for his good even when it didn’t seem that way at first. “Everything?” you might reasonably ask. Everything. Including but not limited to: 

• Jacob’s atrocious parenting that shaped his son into a more-than-a-bit-of-a know-it-all and, really, just an entitled brat. 
• Joseph’s interpretations of his agriculturally themed dreams which, one can surmise, were shared in the eager hope of antagonizing his brothers due to their rather self-aggrandizing nature (though, in his defense, the dreams did turn out to be true).
• His brothers’ murderous plot, and conning of their old man in what might be called the worst brotherly prank-gone-too-far of all time (one wonders how long that haunted each of them, and whether a Snickers might have helped those “hangry” fellows?). 
• The rise and fall of his time as Potiphar’s CEO and being accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
• His time in the clink with a doomed baker and the Pharaoh’s forgetful cupbearer AND the cupbearer’s timely remembrance of his jailhouse pal
• Joseph’s clear-headed, non-Freudian dream interpretation, which coupled well with his deft global disaster and famine relief program.
• Even Joseph’s testing of whether or not his brothers had really changed, and then subsequent forgiveness of them. 

All of these things God did use for the good of Joseph. Why? Romans 8:28-30 tells us: because he was called according to God’s purpose. God foreknew Joseph as one of his people in the same way that God had with Joseph’s great-grandfather, grandfather, and con-artist dad. 

God predestined Joseph to be conformed through all the things in his life to God’s original purpose for him as a human being. God conformed him into the sort of man who could say, “What you meant for evil. God used for good.” We don’t get in on all of the details of Joseph’s inner world, but we do see that he trusted God, and if there’s anything that can be inferred from his great-grandfather Abraham, it’s that his faith was credited to him as a justifying righteousness (Galatians 2-3). 

REFLECT: Now, then, how much more can we be confident of God working all things together for our good? Joseph had to look forward in faith that God would be faithful, but we can look back on the finished work of Christ in his life, death, and resurrection on our behalf! Let’s go into the remainder of our week with the bold confidence of those who have been, in Christ, “predestined…called to be conformed to the image of his Son…justified…and glorified.” 

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