Read: Philippians 3:12–21

Bible in a Year: Numbers 7–8; Mark 4:21–41

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 3:14

One of my favorite television programs is The Amazing Race. In this reality show, ten couples are sent to a foreign country where they must race, via trains, buses, cabs, bikes, and feet, from one point to another to get their instructions for the next challenge. The goal is for one couple to get to a designated finishing point before everyone else, and the prize is a million dollars.

The apostle Paul compared the Christian life to a race and admitted that he had not yet arrived at the finish line. “Brothers and sisters,” he said, “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize” (Phil. 3:13-14). Paul did not look back and allow his past failures to weigh him down with guilt, nor did he let his present successes make him complacent. He pressed on toward the goal of becoming more and more like Jesus.

We are running this race too. Despite our past failures or successes, let us keep pressing on toward the ultimate goal of becoming more like Jesus. We are not racing for an earthly prize, but for the ultimate reward of enjoying Him forever. —Marvin Williams

Read Philippians 4:11-13. How are we able to press on toward our future hope? Read Hebrews 12:1-2. What are some practical things we must do to continue to press on and persevere?

Never call it quits in pursuing Jesus.

INSIGHT: Philippians 3 describes the delicate balance needed to face the obstacles of the Christian life. The apostle Paul uses athletic terms to describe our journey of faith. He tells us not to look at the past, to realize we are incomplete, and to remember that moving toward the goal is everything. Only God’s grace can help us to be strong finishers in the Christian life. Dennis Fisher

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Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1–9

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 21–22; Matthew 28

We live by faith, not by sight.—2 Corinthians 5:7

I enjoy gazing up at a cloudless blue sky. The sky is a beautiful part of our great Creator’s masterpiece, given for us to enjoy. Imagine how much pilots must love the view. They use several aeronautical terms to describe a perfect sky for flying, but my favorite is, “You can see to tomorrow.”

“Seeing to tomorrow” is beyond our view. Sometimes we even struggle to see or understand what life is throwing at us today. The Bible tells us, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

But our limited visibility is not cause for despair. Just the opposite. We trust in the God who sees all of our tomorrows perfectly—and who knows what we need as we face the challenges ahead. The apostle Paul knew this. That’s why Paul encourages us with hopeful words, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

When we trust God with our day as well as our unseen tomorrows, we don’t need to worry about anything life throws at us. We walk with Him and He knows what is ahead; He is strong enough and wise enough to handle it. —Bill Crowder

Lord, I know I can trust You for today and tomorrow because You are kind, good, loving, wise, and powerful. Teach me not to worry.

God sees the beginning to the end.

INSIGHT: Often I muse, “What will happen in my life tomorrow?” Tomorrow could bring me trouble and suffering. Job, the great sufferer of the Old Testament, said, “Man is born to trouble” (Job 5:7). Our days are filled “grief and pain” (Eccl. 2:23). Tomorrow may even see my death. But death holds no terrors for us who are in the Lord. For “if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Cor. 5:1). I need not fear even that tomorrow; in fact, I can look forward to being with the Lord (5:8). What fears or worries about tomorrow do you need to bring to God? Sim Kay Tee

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Read: John 9:1–11

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 19–20; Matthew 27:51–66

One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!—John 9:25

Noah Purifoy began his work as an “assemblage” artist with three tons of rubble salvaged from the 1965 riots in the Watts area of Los Angeles. From broken bicycle wheels and bowling balls to discarded tires and damaged TV sets—things no longer usable—he and a colleague created sculptures that conveyed a powerful message about people being treated as “throw-aways” in modern society. One journalist referred to Mr. Purifoy as “the junkyard genius.”

In Jesus’s time, many people considered those with diseases and physical problems as sinners being punished by God. They were shunned and ignored. But when Jesus and His disciples encountered a man born blind, the Lord said his condition was not the result of sin, but an occasion to see the power of God. “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). When the blind man followed Jesus’s instructions, he was able to see.

When the religious authorities questioned the man, he replied simply, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (v. 25).

Jesus is still the greatest “junkyard genius” in our world. We are all damaged by sin, but He takes our broken lives and shapes us into His new creations. —David McCasland

Lord, I thank You today for Your amazing grace!

Jesus is the restorer of life.

INSIGHT: Have you ever felt as though you saw no purpose to your life, couldn’t see your way forward, and were not even sure there is a God willing or able to give you light at the end of the tunnel? John wrote his gospel to proclaim the life and light that troubled people like us long for (John 1:1-5). John found many reasons to believe that Jesus really is the light of the world: “These [miraculous signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Mart DeHaan

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Read: John 11:1–16

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 14; Matthew 26:51–75

Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.—John 20:25

We know him as Doubting Thomas (see John 20:24-29), but the label isn’t entirely fair. After all, how many of us would have believed that our executed leader had been resurrected? We might just as well call him “Courageous Thomas.” After all, Thomas displayed impressive courage as Jesus moved purposefully into the events leading to His death.

At the death of Lazarus, Jesus had said, “Let us go back to Judea” (John 11:7), prompting a protest from the disciples. “Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” (v. 8). It was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (v. 16).

Thomas’s intentions proved nobler than his actions. Upon Jesus’s arrest, Thomas fled with the rest (Matt. 26:56), leaving Peter and John to accompany Christ to the courtyard of the high priest. Only John followed Jesus all the way to the cross.

Despite having witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:38-44), Thomas still could not bring himself to believe that the crucified Lord had conquered death. Not until Thomas the doubter—the human—saw the risen Lord, could he exclaim, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Jesus’s response gave assurance to the doubter and immeasurable comfort to us: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (v. 29). —Tim Gustafson

Father, teach us to act on what we do know about You and Your goodness, and trust You in faith for what we don’t know.

Real doubt searches for the light; unbelief is content with the darkness.

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Read: Job 23:1–12

Bible in a Year: Exodus 39–40; Matthew 23:23–39

When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.—Job 23:10

During an interview, singer and songwriter Meredith Andrews spoke about being overwhelmed as she tried to balance outreach, creative work, marital issues, and motherhood. Reflecting on her distress, she said, “I felt like God was taking me through a refining season, almost through a crushing process.”

Job was overwhelmed after losing his livelihood, his health, and his family. Worse still, although Job had been a daily worshiper of God, he felt that the Lord was ignoring his pleas for help. God seemed absent from the landscape of his life. Job claimed he could not see God whether he looked to the north, south, east, or west (Job 23:2-9).

In the middle of his despair, Job had a moment of clarity. His faith flickered to life like a candle in a dark room. He said, “[God] knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (v. 10). Christians are tried and purified when God uses difficulty to burn away our self-reliance, pride, and earthly wisdom. If it seems as if God is silent during this process and He is not answering our cries for help, He may be giving us an opportunity to grow stronger in our faith.

Pain and problems can produce the shining, rock-solid character that comes from trusting God when life is hard. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Dear Lord, help me to believe that You are with me, even when I can’t see You working in my life. I surrender myself to Your purpose for any suffering I may endure.

Faith-testing times can be faith-strengthening times.

INSIGHT: In today’s passage, Job responds to the accusations brought by his friend Eliphaz, who sarcastically asks whether Job thinks God is judging him because of his reverence for Him (22:4). Eliphaz insists that Job is suffering for a hidden scandal (v. 5). With assumptions but no evidence, he explains Job’s troubles by accusing him of being a self-centered rich man who has mistreated weak people for his own material gain. And so Job expresses his desire to be able to argue his case before God (ch. 23). The wrong assumptions of his friends have become part of the fire that is testing and refining him (v. 10). Do we have the courage to express our honest questions and true feelings to the Lord? Mart DeHaan

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Read: Psalm 136:1–9

Bible in a Year: Exodus 36–38; Matthew 23:1–22

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.—Psalm 19:1

I came across a solitary flower growing in a meadow today—a tiny purple blossom “wasting its sweetness in the desert air,” to borrow from the poet Thomas Gray’s wonderful line. I’m sure no one had seen this particular flower before, and perhaps no one will see it again. Why this beauty in this place? I thought.

Nature is never wasted. It daily displays the truth, goodness, and beauty of the One who brought it into being. Every day nature offers a new and fresh declaration of God’s glory. Do I see Him through that beauty, or do I merely glance at it and shrug it off in indifference?

All nature declares the beauty of the One who made it. Our response can be worship, adoration, and thanksgiving—for the radiance of a cornflower, the splendor of a morning sunrise, the symmetry of one particular tree.

Author C. S. Lewis describes a walk in the forest on a hot summer day. He had just asked his friend how best to cultivate a heart thankful toward God. His hiking companion turned to a nearby brook, splashed his face and hands in a little waterfall, and asked, “Why not begin with this?” Lewis said he learned a great principle in that moment: “Begin where you are.”

A trickling waterfall, the wind in the willows, a baby robin, the blue sky, a tiny flower. Why not begin your thankfulness with this? —David Roper

Father, may we always be reminded that You have placed beauty here because it reflects Your character. We praise You!

[God] is the beauty behind all beauty.  Steve DeWitt

INSIGHT: This worship song praises the wonders of God’s creation and His providential intervention for His people. The repeating refrain is, “His love endures forever.” The list of items for which to thank God, our Creator, are vast and extensive: God is good (v. 1), He is over all other “gods” (v. 2), He is the Lord of lords (v. 3), God alone does great wonders (v. 4), God by His understanding made the heavens (v. 5), He placed the earth on the waters (v. 6), He made the great lights (v. 7), He made the sun to govern the day (v. 8), and He made the moon and stars to govern the night (v. 9). As we behold the wonders of nature, we marvel at their Creator.  Dennis Fisher

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Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

Bible in a Year: Exodus 34–35; Matthew 22:23–46

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.—1 Thessalonians 5:18

In our suburb we complain about the constant power outages. They can hit three times in a week and last up to twenty-four hours, plunging the neighborhood into darkness. The inconvenience is hard to bear when we cannot use basic household appliances.

Our Christian neighbor often asks, “Is this also something to thank God for?” She is referring to 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” We always say, “Yes, of course, we thank God in all things.” But the half-hearted manner in which we say it is contradicted by our grumbling every time the power goes off.

One day, however, our belief in thanking God in all circumstances took on new meaning. I returned from work to find our neighbor visibly shaken as she cried, “Thank Jesus the power was off. My house would have burned down, and my family and I would have perished!”

A refuse-collection truck had hit the electricity pole in front of her house and brought down the high-tension cables right over several houses. Had there been power in the cables, fatalities would have been likely.

The difficult circumstances we face can make it hard to say, “Thanks, Lord.” We can be thankful to our God who sees in every situation an opportunity for us to trust Him—whether or not we see His purpose. —Lawrence Darmani

Father, we honor You with our words, but so often our actions reveal that our hearts don’t trust You. Help us to see You at work in every circumstance, no matter how difficult.

By God’s grace we can be thankful in all things.

INSIGHT: In the final instructions of his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul culminates the theme of living out our faith. In addition to his challenge to be thankful in everything, we see a rapid-fire series of challenges (5:16-22): “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances . . . . Do not quench the Spirit. . . . hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” This could feel intimidating if we were expected to accomplish this on our own, but God has given us the Holy Spirit. The challenge that undergirds all the others is “Do not quench the Spirit.” Instead of resisting (“quenching”) the Spirit’s help, as we yield to His control and guidance in our lives He equips us to live out our faith. For more on the work of the Spirit, check out the Discovery Series booklet How Can I Be Filled with the Spirit? at discoveryseries.org/q0301. Bill Crowder

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