Daily Devotions · December 11
Reading for December 11
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Philemon 1 · Hebrews 1–4
Philemon 1 · Hebrews 1–4, Berean Standard Bible
Philemon 1
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker, 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets at your house: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God, remembering you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6 I pray that your partnership in the faith may become effective as you fully acknowledge every good thing that is ours in Christ. 7 I take great joy and encouragement in your love, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. 8 So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper, 9 I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well. 10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. 12 I am sending back to you him who is my very heart. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will. 15 For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother. He is especially beloved to me, but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. 22 In the meantime, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Hebrews 1
On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. 2 But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”? 6 And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.” 7 Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.” 8 But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.” 10 And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.” 13 Yet to which of the angels did God ever say: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”? 14 Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 2
We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. 5 For it is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But somewhere it is testified in these words: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? 7 You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor 8 and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing Your praises in the assembly.” 13 And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.” 14 Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not the angels He helps, but the descendants of Abraham. 17 For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 3
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 And every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Now Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be spoken later. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast. 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” 12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first. 15 As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.” 16 For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter.
Hebrews 4
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.” 5 And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.” 6 Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience, 7 God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David as was just stated: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain.
How to SOAP
Grab a journal and a pen. Read the chapters above and watch for the verse that stops you. Then take it through four steps.
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Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
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Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
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Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
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Prayer
Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you live it.
Your SOAP journal
Write your SOAP here. Tap any verse in the reading to add it to Scripture. Your journal saves on this device only, so no one else sees it.
Added to your journal. Go to journal
Why daily devotions?
Devotions are time set aside each day to read God's Word and let Him speak. The point isn't checking off chapters. It's meeting with Him.
Ten or fifteen minutes is enough to start. Pick a time and a place and keep the appointment. Mornings work well for a lot of us, before the phone and the day start talking.
Missed a day? Don't start over. Read today's chapters and keep going.