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."...