Home > Reading > Daily Reading – April 12, 2019

“You are the branches” (John 15:5)

Reading: John 15:1-11

Dear gracious God, we thank You today for this amazing privilege of having a strong connection with You. We are branches connected to You. You brought us from afar by Your grace. You pulled us closer to Yourself through Your love and You gave us a solid foundation to stand on.

Dear Jesus, today help us to examine our lives and the strength of our relationship with You. Please allow us to prune some of the extra branches growing in our lives that are spreading roots of destruction and becoming a burden to us. Give us lives of repentance and self-examination, marked with confession and absolution. In this season of Lent, help us to be pruned by Your Word and prepared to be more and more fruitful for Your glory alone.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

The season of Lent has typically held a special place in the life of the Church. Beginning with Ash Wednesday and culminating in the events of Holy Week, Lent is an invitation to focus on what is central to our faith. It has also become a time for personal and spiritual reflection on who we are as God’s people and on what God has given us so graciously in Christ.

In earlier times, Lent was a time to prepare for receiving Baptism. More recently it has become a time to lift up in worship and education the core teachings of our faith or to explore some of the major personalities who surround Jesus on His journey to the cross.

This devotional booklet is meant to enhance and enrich our Lenten observance. We have chosen two themes. One is a selection of biblical passages in which God is addressed as the “Great I Am.” The other is a selection of passages in which we are addressed as God’s people, “You are…”

It is our hope that, as we reflect on these passages from God’s Word, our faith in God may be strengthened and our commitment to His Word renewed.

It is also our prayer that, as we move from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week, we may join the two disciples of Jesus as they cried out, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32 ESV).

The Rev. Paull Spring, Bishop Emeritus
The Rev. Dr. Gemechis Buba, Assistant to the Bishop for Missions

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. Scripture quotations designated NASB or NASB95 are from the New American Standard Bible, © the Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations designated ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Proverbs 1:20–33 (ESV)

The Call of Wisdom

20  Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

22  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23  If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24  Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25  because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26  I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27  when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29  Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30  would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
31  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
32  For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Psalm 97 (ESV)

The Lord Reigns

97 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.

His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.

All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!

Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O Lord.

For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10  O you who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11  Light is sown for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.

12  Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

Hebrews 6:9–20 (ESV)

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

It was only the culmination point of this whole development when on April 18 [Luther] gave his famous answer in Worms: “Unless I am convinced by testimony from Scripture or evident reason (convictus testimoniis Scripturae aut ratione evidente)—for I believe neither the Pope nor the Councils alone, since it is established that they have often erred and contradicted themselves—I am conquered by the writings (i.e., passages from Scripture) cited by me, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God; recant I will and can nothing, since it is neither safe nor honest to do ought against conscience.” This once forever established the Sola Scriptura. (19)

–Johann Michael Reu, Luther on the Scriptures

This daily Bible reading guide, Reading the Word of God, was conceived and prepared as a result of the ongoing discussions between representatives of three church bodies: Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The following individuals have represented their church bodies and approved this introduction and the reading guide: LCC: President Robert Bugbee; NALC: Bishop John Bradosky, Revs. Mark Chavez, James Nestingen, and David Wendel; LCMS: Revs. Albert Collver, Joel Lehenbauer, John Pless, and Larry Vogel.

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