Daily Bible Readings for Home Devotions – August 2-7, 2021
Devotion – by P. Koch
for Monday – August 2 – Exodus 24:3-11 After Moses had climbed up and down the mountain a number of times amid some preparatory warnings (ch. 19), God laid out His Ten Commandments (ch.20) with some real-life applications (chs. 21-23). When He invited the people’s response (ch. 24), they declared they were ready to commit themselves to obey God’s plan. A good first step.
Bible reading – Exodus 24:3-11
3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”
9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Devotion – by P. Koch
for Tuesday – August 3 – John 6:1-15
Just five small buns and two fishies to feed 5,000 families? Some of those folks caught on to the point of the miracle—it proved that Jesus was God in the flesh (Deut. 18:18 was a good clue). Let us also note that Jesus enlists His disciples to handle the Bread of Life and distribute Him to the human family. Scriptural leftovers can be taken home and digested at leisure—or shared with other wayfarers traveling through life.
Bible reading – John 6:1-15
6 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
Devotion – by P. Koch
for Wednesday – August 4 – Ephesians 4:1-7,11-16
God expects us to behave as members of His dear family, with warm affection toward our siblings first of all (2-6). We are never too old to learn (11-12), we still have room for improvement (13-15), and we work at strengthening the bond between us (16). [That’s the Readers Digest version of the book of our life, with some chapters yet unwritten.]
Bible reading – Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16
4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ...
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [e]edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Devotion – by P. Koch
for Thursday – August 5 – Psalm 84
We understand how the psalmist felt about the Temple, for that’s where he and God interfaced. He enjoyed being close to God (10-11) and his heart and soul fainted when he was absent (1-2). As nesting birds enjoy God’s provision, so also do we enjoy God’s blessings both at home and at our church/worship facility—and raise our youngsters accordingly.
Bible reading – Psalm 84
1 How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Devotion – by P. Koch
for Friday – August 6 – Matthew 6:22-23
We understand how light/brightness/sunshine befits God, and that we are small reflectors of Jesus, the Light of the world. The summer solstice is already a month behind us, and we notice the days are getting shorter. That’s how God keeps reminding us that time is running short on our little day. The darkness deepens; Lord, with us abide!
Bible reading – Matthew 6:22-23
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Devotion – by P. Koch
for Saturday – August 7 – Genesis 8:22
God put His finger on the North Pole, nudged it 231∕2 degrees off kilter, and that destabilized everything. Tectonic plates were wrenched loose, continents arose and sank; everything became fluid; climate changed, etc., etc. When things settled down a year later, God assured Noah that as long as the Earth remained, seed-time and harvest, winter and summer, day and night would cycle like clockwork. Fast-forward: In today’s world, temporary hitches and local glitches may come and go, but God is sticking by His promise that agriculture will dependably provide food for humanity and animals, and your garden will produce whatever you plant (besides those dependable weeds). When God decides to stop the clock, He will destabilize planet Earth with atomic fire. Lord Jesus, have mercy on us!
Bible reading – Genesis 8:22
22 “While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”