Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of Life
By Paul David Tripp
“Taking a few minutes each day to meditate on the truths found in scripture can strengthen your faith, help you resist sin, and inspire you to live for the eternal kingdom of God.” This is the sleeve statement that introduces readers to the new devotional book, Everyday Gospel, by Paul David Tripp.
Having used Tripp’s first daily devotional, New Morning Mercies, every other year for the last decade or so, I ordered this one as soon as it was available. In that first book, we were reminded of the hopelessness we face in our sin, of the rescue that is possible only through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the necessity of our dependence on the Holy Spirit for our sanctification.
This book is very similar except it takes you through the Bible a few chapters a day using the stories of real people to show us how God interacted and dealt with them. We see His character and dependability; why we can trust Him implicitly. We see their sins, failures, self-reliance, and pride shown by some while strong faith and dependence on God were found in others.
These ‘in the flesh’ examples both warn and encourage us. They teach us of man’s frailty and God’s sufficiency. They teach us how to stand strong and how to stand against; how to forgive and how to ask for forgiveness; how to maneuver this thing called life under the direction of the Holy Spirit; how to realize God’s plans and purposes always prevail.
This devotional book takes you through the Bible page by page and introduces us to the people of the Bible in a fresh new way. We see their struggles and their victories, but most importantly we see their God and how through grace, mercy, justice and love He taught them to be obedient to His leadership. They are real-life stories of people just like us who were either open or closed to God’s direction in their lives. And we see the results of both paths.
One thing is abundantly clear: godly legacies are built by people who submit to God’s work of sanctification in their lives. We cannot pass along what we do not have. Using Everyday Gospel as part of your devotional life will help you see that the legacies set forth in the Biblical narrative can help us “strengthen our faith, help us resist sin, and inspire us to live for the eternal kingdom of God.” I highly recommend it as an addition to your spiritual library.
RESPONSE: Father, thank you for reminding me that the people in your Holy Scriptures were flesh and blood too. Their problems were just like our problems. Your extension of grace offered to us was theirs as well. Help me respond as some did in obeying You and following Your leadership despite some very harrowing circumstances. Help me avoid the pride that some displayed in being self-reliant instead of depending on You.
SCRIPTURE: Read through the story of Esau and see where his flippant attitude toward his family’s God-given blessings took him in life. Study the responses of Joseph to the many relationships and circumstances he went through. Marvel at the faith of Jochebed as it states how she did not fear Pharoah and literally sent her 3-month old son down the river and into the sovereign hands of God!
By Judy Wallace