This plan provides a good balance between Old Testament readings and New Testament Readings because it guides you through the New Testament twice as you read through the Old Testament once. To allow time for reflection, it follows a two-year plan.
Every week I will post the readings for that week and add the daily devotionals as time permits. If you wish to print a copy of the plan without the devotions, you can find copies of it in pdf format at the link below. I like to print and use them as bookmarks in my Bible.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TQs0_oejNJO8HInVlN1JmSClMhWcEbiG?usp=sharing
The daily readings for this week are included below.
March 12 (Read: Ps. 29, 30 & 31)
“You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of mankind; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.” (Ps. 31:20 NAS)
If we make the Lord our refuge, He will protect us from evil. This does not mean that everyone will be at peace with us. If we seek to please God, we will be persecuted (2Tim. 3:12). To be hid in the secret place of His presence means that despite the persecution, we will be helped by His grace. Peter said, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, and of God, rests upon you.” (1Pe. 4:14). Persecutions come, but their effect is minimized by the presence of God upon us. Even the “strife of tongues” have little effect on us if we are hid in “the secret place of His presence”. I have experienced this countless times. On the other hand, if I take up my own defense instead of making the Lord my refuge, I am not so protected. Likewise, if I judge others, I will also be affected by the judgments of men (Matt. 7:1,2). If I want to abide in the secret place of God’s presence, I must deny myself, bear my cross, and follow Him.
Help me, Lord God, to experience Your grace the way Paul did. When You told him that Your grace was sufficient for him, he was able to delight in persecutions and weaknesses. He understood that even when he was weak in himself, he was strong in You. My desire is to be strong in Your grace. I consider myself dead to this world and alive to God in Christ Jesus. I will not be subject to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, because You have set me free from the law of sin and death. I choose to obey You by grace through faith. (2Cor. 12:9,10; 2Tim. 2:1; Rom. 6:11,17,18; 1Jn. 2:16; Rom. 8:2; Eph. 2:8-10)
March 13 (Read: Ps. 32, 33 & 34)
The daily devotion will be added later. Until then, please ask the Lord to give you a “wonderful thought” from today’s reading.
March 14 (Read: Ps. 35 & 36)
The daily devotion will be added later. Until then, please ask the Lord to give you a “wonderful thought” from today’s reading.
March 15 (Read: Ps. 37 & 38)
“Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.” (Ps. 37:4,5 NASB)
Before we effectively commit our way to the Lord, we must first delight ourselves in Him. Because we love Him and seek to please Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts. These desires are not just what He places in our hearts to pursue but also desires we may have to enjoy life. He loves us and wants to bless us. When our hearts have been purified through delighting in Him, our desires will not be selfish.
Having then purposed to walk in a manner pleasing to God, we can commit our way to Him. We can trust Him to direct our steps, even when we do not have a clear understanding of the path ahead. We can also commit to Him the plans we make because we seek His kingdom and not the things of this world. As we trust and obey Him, we will not be unstable; our steps will be established by the Lord (vs. 23).
Lord Jesus, as I behold Your glory, I am being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory. You are the Living Word of God. My soul is being purified as I understand and obey the truth of Your word. I commit my way to You and I trust that You direct and establish my steps. (2Cor. 3:18; Jn. 1:14; 1Pe. 1:22).
March 16 (Read: Ps. 39, 40 & 41)
The daily devotion will be added later. Until then, please ask the Lord to give you a “wonderful thought” from today’s reading.
March 17 (Read: Job 1, 2 & 3)
“Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10 NAS)
For some people, this verse is difficult to accept. The problem, I believe, is due to its interpretation. We know that the evil which came upon Job was from the devil, but none of it would have happened unless God had granted permission. To explain this according to their traditions, some have said that Job had opened the door to the enemy through his fears. They interpret the phrase “Behold, he is in your power” as meaning “Open your eyes, he has already opened the door to you” but this is not correct. If that was the case, why did the devil not bring sickness to Job the first time?
When Job’s three friends came to comfort him, they began exhorting him to repent because surely these hardships were the result of his sins. This also is incorrect. Consider what God said about Job: “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:8). If God called him blameless, how can we say otherwise?
The important point to note is that God allowed Job’s faith and devotion to be tested. James tells us that the testing of our faith produces endurance (Jas. 1:3), and he mentions Job of someone who was blessed because of his endurance (Jas. 5:11). We know that after his trials, “The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.” (Job 42:10). The real issue is that we have trouble understanding why a loving God would allow our faith to be tested. Whatever the reason, we are blessed if we endure.
Thank You, Father, for loving me. I do not always understand why my faith gets tested, but with Your help, I can endure testing. I know that I am blessed because of testing, so I will continue to thank You amid all my circumstances. I will cast all my cares upon You, because You care for me. (1Thess. 5:18; 1Pe. 5:7)
March 18 (Read: Job 4, 5 & 6)
The daily devotion will be added later. Until then, please ask the Lord to give you a “wonderful thought” from today’s reading.
Highway in the Wilderness 