Happy New Year

I began reading through the Bible every year after reading a secular book that challenged me: "What is one thing that, if you did it every day, it would change your life? If you believe that, then do it!"

If I believe that the Word of God is "living and active" and "faith comes from hearing the message," then the answer is clear. I wanted to be that blessed person in Psalm 1: "whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night."

How will you meditate on the LORD's Word day and night?

We all learn and grow in different ways.

I enjoy reading large sections of Scripture and seeing how it all ties together.

Others enjoy chewing on just a verse or two. 

Thankfully, there are a variety of ways for us all to meditate on God's Word daily. 

• Join me in reading through the entire Bible in one year. If you are not receiving my Daily Devotion, reply to this email and I'll add you to the group. If you do get the email and want to opt out this year, please let Arica in our office know - adrezdzon@stpmuskego.org.
• Subscribe to a variety of free email devotions from our synod: daily devotions, teen devotions, family devotions, military devotions. Subscribe here. 
• Order our synod's daily devotions Meditations by mail or email here. 
• Receive daily email devotions from Time of Grace here.

Every year, it is a New Story

Attached is the Bible Reading Plan that I have used for over 20 years.

If you are joining me in this reading plan, here are my suggestions as you read God’s New Story …

1. Read my email to get some of the back story.
2. If you don’t have time to read both Old and New Testament selections, focus on the New Testament.
3. If you fall behind or miss a few days, don’t try to catch up. Just skip ahead to today’s date and start. Trust that next year you will read what you missed. In this way, every day is a fresh start!

Bible reading is not a task to accomplish, but a time to enjoy the Lord's company. Find the best way to enjoy the Lord's company every day.

Remember, you are not on this journey alone. I read the same sections as you. If you have a question, reply to the daily devotion email. Your questions help make the reading a “new story” for me too.

Today's Old Testament Lesson: God’s Complete Story in Genesis 1-3

Nearly everything you need to know about our God is recorded in Genesis 1-3.

In Genesis 1, see his power to create all things in six normal-length days.

• Notice that each of the days is described the way we would describe a day today: "It became evening. It became morning. The first day..."
• Notice that our God simply speaks the Word. "No word from God will ever fail" (Luke 1:37). 

When you are facing an impossible situation, remember that our God is Almighty. He need only speak a word, and it is done.

In Genesis 2, notice the term used for the Divine: "LORD God."

God is a generic term that emphasizes his power.

LORD is a name used only for the God who has revealed himself in the Bible and emphasizes his love.

Genesis 2 provides more detail about that sixth day of creation with a focus on the LORD’s love. 

• The LORD formed Adam and Eve.
• The LORD provided a beautiful home.
• The LORD gave them a way to express their love and obedience (don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil).
• The LORD instituted the joy of family life.

Do you hear Adam’s joy when Eve is introduced to him? “Now! This time! This is bone of my bones…” You are precious to the LORD just like Adam and Eve are.

In Genesis 3, find comfort in the grace of the LORD God toward fallen sinners like us.

Notice that when Satan speaks to Eve, he uses the term "God." When Eve responds, she only uses the term "God." Satan wins when we forget the LOVE of our God.

Yet, Adam and Eve were not cursed.

• The devil is cursed.
• The earth is cursed.

Instead of a curse, the LORD God, the Savior God, makes a promise for the man and woman: a Child born of a Woman who would destroy Satan’s power over us, but He would suffer too.

• Christmas (the Woman's Offspring, the Virgin-Born Child) and
• Good Friday suffering (“[the devil] will strike his heel”) and
• Easter Victory (“He will crush [the devil’s] head”) 

All wrapped up in one little verse—Genesis 3:15.

"I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[j] and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

Even the on-going consequences for sin in Genesis 3:16-19 reveal the LORD God's grace. The challenges of family life, work life and ultimately death are used by the LORD God, our Savior God, to call us daily to repentance and into a closer relationship with him. Adam confesses his faith in the promise. He names his wife “Eve" which means "Life." Through the Child, Eve becomes the mother of all those who will live forever through faith in this promise.

As your story unfolds in 2026, remember how God’s story begins—Power, Love, Grace. Find comfort in these characteristics of your God.
 
Today's New Testament Lesson - Matthew 1

God’s Story unfolds in a way common in the Old Testament – by using a genealogy. In just a few verses, the entire Old Testament history from Abraham (2000 BC) to Christ is summarized. Our God made a promise, and he will keep that promise.
 
The inspired author not only was celebrating God’s faithfulness to his promises, but also grace toward sinners. Notice the women mentioned:

• Tamar who had an affair with her father-in-law
• Rahab who was a prostitute
• Ruth who was a foreigner
• Uriah’s wife who had an affair with King David

These women, and the men in their lives, were sinners for whom the promised Savior came. No wonder the message to Joseph is: “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

2026 will be a great year when you remember this child is also called Immanuel! No matter how our stories change, this remains the same: God with Us! 

The Star

The picture at the top of this email is the 14-pointed star in the Grotto of the Nativity, underneath the altar of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It’s 14 points are to remind us that God keeps his promises:

In Matthew 1 there are 14 generations from Abraham to King David, 14 generations from King David to the exile, 14 generations from the exile to Jesus’ birth.