Tracy M. Sumner - Know Your Bible Devotions for Men: 365 Daily Readings Inspired by the 3-Million Copy Bestseller

2022 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

ISBN 978-1-63609-206-5

Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-63609-403-8

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Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., 1810 Barbour Drive, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com

Our mission is to inspire the world with the life-changing message of the Bible.

Printed in the United States of America.

Through sixty-six separate books, 1,189 chapters, and hundreds of thousands of words, the Bible shares one extraordinary message: God loves you.

From the first chapter of Genesis, where God creates human beings, through the last chapter of Revelation, where God welcomes anyone to take the water of life freely, the Bible proves God is intimately involved in, familiar with, and concerned about the lives of people. His amazing love is shown in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. That sacrifice for sin allows anyone to be right with God through simple faith in Jesus work.

These truths are found in the pages of scripture. But sometimes, they can be obscured by the vast amount of information the Bible contains. Thats why Know Your Bible was written. More than three million copies of that little book have been sold, and many readers have said how helpful they found its simple survey of Gods Word.

Now, Know Your Bible has inspired this one-year devotional, a collection of 365 daily readings that focus on key scriptures in biblical orderfrom Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. Over the course of twelve months, youll get a clearer perspective on what the Bibles big picture means to you. And if youre feeling ambitious, theres even a built-in reading plan to help you read through the Bible itself.

Every page of scripture contributes to the overall message of Gods love and concern for people for you. Your Bible is certainly worth knowing! We hope that, as you read your Bible and this devotional, youll find that Gods Word is truly life-changing.

~ The Editors

The Bibles first book never explains God; it simply assumes His existence: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth (1:1). Chapters 1 and 2 describe how God created the universe and everything in it just by speaking: God said and it was so (1:67, 9, 11, 1415). Humans, however, received special handling, as God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (2:7), and woman was crafted from a rib of man.

Those first two people, Adam and Eve, lived in perfection until they ruined paradise by disobeying God at the urging of a subtil (crafty, 3:1) serpent. Sin threw humans into a moral freefall as the worlds first childCainmurdered his brother Abel. People became so bad that God decided to flood the entire planet, saving only the righteous Noah, his family, and an ark (a large boat) full of animals. After the earth repopulated, God chose a man named Abram as patriarch of a specially blessed people, later called Israel after an alternative name of Abrams grandson Jacob. Genesis ends with Jacobs son Joseph, by a miraculous chain of events, ruling in Egypt setting up the events of the following book of Exodus.

Genesis answers the greatest question we all have: Where did I come from? Knowing the answerGodcan give us meaning in a world thats otherwise hard to figure out.

Reading Plan: Genesis 13

The L ORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.

GENESIS 4:67

To answer todays question, skim Genesis 46 and see how Adam and Eves disobedience spun everything out of control. The Bibles early chapters show God ejecting the first couple from their garden paradise and warning their first son about his jealousy and anger. Cain was miffed that his younger brother Abels animal offerings pleased God more than Cains own fruits.

Cain ignored God and killed his brother. Its worth noting that by humanitys second generation, sin had led to murder; only ten generations later, God flooded the earth because the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (6:5).

Sinrebellion against Godhas been humanitys dominant trait since the Fall. Its terribly destructive, both in this life and beyond, as it causes eternal separation from God.

However, a hint of good news appears in Genesis 3:15. As God condemned Satan for tempting Adam and Eve, God said a descendant of the woman would bruise (or crush) Satans head, but Satan would bruise his opponents heel. Eves descendant is Jesus, who died on a cross to pay for sinhers, yours, and everyonesthen rose again to defeat death for all time.

Sin is bad. But God is very, very good.

Reading Plan: Genesis 4:17:9

And Noah builded an altar unto the L ORD ; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

GENESIS 8:20

Put yourself in Noahs place. Youve been floating around in a huge wooden boat on what was probably very rough water. Youve been cooped up with thousands of animals, and the air on the boat is anything but sweet. But now, after hundreds of days at sea, God brings the boat to land.

What would be the first thing youd do once you step back onto dry ground? Build shelter for yourself and your family? Get busy planting crops? Build fences for your livestock? All are practical options, but Noah chose none of them. Instead, he began to worship God, building an altar and sacrificing to the Lord.