Daily Devotions · October 19
Reading for October 19
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Job 5 · Psalm 108 · Acts 10–11
Job 5 · Psalm 108 · Acts 10–11, Berean Standard Bible
Job 5
“Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn? 2 For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. 3 I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. 4 His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. 5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. 6 For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground. 7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. 8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him— 9 the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. 10 He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields. 11 He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety. 12 He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. 13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning. 14 They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night. 15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful. 16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. 17 Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. 18 For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal. 19 He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. 20 In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. 21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes. 22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. 23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. 24 You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home. 25 You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth. 26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season. 27 Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”
Psalm 108
A song. A Psalm of David. My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my being. 2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 3 I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing Your praises among the peoples. 4 For Your loving devotion extends beyond the heavens, and Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; may Your glory cover all the earth. 6 Respond and save us with Your right hand, that Your beloved may be delivered. 7 God has spoken from His sanctuary: “I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem and apportion the Valley of Succoth. 8 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter. 9 Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.” 10 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 11 Have You not rejected us, O God? Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies? 12 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. 13 With God we will perform with valor, and He will trample our enemies.
Acts 10
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to call for a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among his attendants. 8 He explained what had happened and sent them to Joppa. 9 The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air. 13 Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 “No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and all at once the sheet was taken back up into heaven. 17 While Peter was puzzling over the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house and approached the gate. 18 They called out to ask if Simon called Peter was staying there. 19 As Peter continued to reflect on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up! Go downstairs and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.” 21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “Here am I, the one you are looking for. Why have you come?” 22 “Cornelius the centurion has sent us,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home so he could hear a message from you.” 23 So Peter invited them in as his guests. And the next day he got ready and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship him. 26 But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” 27 As Peter talked with him, he went inside and found many people gathered together. 28 He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. 29 So when I was invited, I came without objection. I ask, then, why have you sent for me?” 30 Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this, the ninth hour. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God. 32 Therefore send to Joppa for Simon, who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and you were kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has instructed you to tell us.” 34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, 35 but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. 36 He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You yourselves know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee with the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. 39 We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, 40 God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be seen— 41 not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message. 45 All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God. Then Peter said, 47 “Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have!” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
Acts 11
The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him 3 and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision of something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came right down to me. 6 I looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’ 8 ‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. 11 Just then three men sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?” 18 When they heard this, they had no further objections, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” 19 Meanwhile those scattered by the persecution that began with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message only to Jews. 20 But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. 22 When news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts. 24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. So for a full year they met together with the church and taught large numbers of people. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. 27 In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.) 29 So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.
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.
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.