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Audible TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 47–48; Luke 2 One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This...
Key Takeaways
- In Ezekiel 47-48, we see a beautiful vision of a river flowing from the temple, bringing life, healing, and restoration wherever it goes.
- Luke 2 recounts the birth of Jesus and highlights Mary quietly treasuring and pondering these extraordinary events in her heart.
- When facing life's uncertainties, unfulfilled hopes, or unanswered prayers, we are invited to practice storing up faith like Mary rather than needing an immediate explanation.
- True faith often looks like holding our questions and mysteries before God, trusting that He sees us, knows us, and loves us.
- As God's workmanship or poiēma, our stories are not finished yet, and we can trust the One who is still writing our narrative.
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- TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 47–48; Luke 2
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One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus’ kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved.
TODAY'S EPISODE:
Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible. Today is September 19th, and our readings are Ezekiel 47–48 and Luke 2.
Ezekiel gives us a beautiful vision of a river flowing from the temple. Everywhere the river goes, life appears. Trees grow along its banks, fruit comes month after month, and even the waters of the Dead Sea become fresh. It is a picture of the life of God flowing outward, bringing healing and restoration wherever it goes.
Then Luke brings us to Bethlehem.
Jesus is born. Angels announce good news of great joy. Shepherds hurry to see the child and then tell everyone what they have seen and heard.
And amid all this activity, Luke tells us something quietly beautiful about Mary.
She treasured these things and pondered them in her heart.
Mary doesn't understand everything that is happening to her. She cannot possibly know where this story will lead. Yet she makes room within herself for mystery.
She stores these things in her heart.
Today we are invited to do the same.
There are things in our lives we cannot yet understand. There are hopes still unfulfilled, questions still unanswered, wounds still healing, and stories whose endings we cannot yet see.
We don't have to solve them all today.
We can hold them before God.
We can treasure what we have been given.
And we can trust that the God who sees us, knows us, and loves us is still at work in our story.
TODAY'S DEVOTION:
She Stored These Things in Her Heart
She stored it in her heart.
That's what Luke tells us Mary did in the midst of miracle, mystery, and uncertainty.
There was the promise.
There was the fear.
There was the joy.
And there were things that simply didn't make sense.
Mary didn't explain them away.
She didn't deny them.
She didn't pretend to understand what she couldn't understand.
She held them.
She treasured them.
She stored them in her heart.
And I think there is something here for us.
God doesn't always give us explanations.
There are things in life that simply don't make sense.
Things that cause us to wonder.
Things that cause us to worry.
Things that hurt.
There are prayers that seem unanswered.
Dreams that haven't come to pass.
Losses we don't understand.
Relationships that haven't turned out the way we hoped.
Questions about our future.
Questions about ourselves.
Questions about God.
And maybe faith isn't always about finding an explanation.
Maybe sometimes faith looks like Mary.
We simply hold these things before God.
We store them in our hearts.
Mary did that when shepherds showed up with stories about angels declaring that her child was the Messiah.
She stored it away.
She did it again when Simeon spoke over Jesus in the temple and then told Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul.
She held that too.
And years later, when twelve-year-old Jesus remained behind in his Father's house, Luke tells us that Mary didn't understand what Jesus meant.
But again, she stored these things in her heart.
There was a willingness in Mary to let the story unfold.
She didn't have to know everything.
She didn't have to control everything.
She didn't have to understand everything.
She trusted that God was present.
She trusted that she was seen.
She trusted that she was known.
She trusted that she was loved.
And she trusted that somehow God's purpose was still unfolding.
Maybe that's where you are today.
What are you storing in your heart?
An unfulfilled hope?
A disappointment?
A loss?
A question?
Something beautiful that you don't yet understand?
Something painful that you wish you could understand?
You don't have to solve it today.
You can hold it.
You can bring it before God.
You can allow your heart to become a vessel for mystery, hope, pain, memory, promise, and faith.
And you can remember this:
You are seen.
You are known.
You are loved.
Paul says that we are God's workmanship. The Greek word is poiēma. We are God's workmanship, God's handiwork, God's poem.
Your story isn't finished.
God is still at work.
So perhaps today we can learn something from Mary.
Be willing.
Be available.
Hold the mystery.
Store these things in your heart.
And trust that the One who loves you is still writing the story.
That's the prayer I have for my own soul.
That's the prayer I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, and my son.
And that's the prayer I have for you.
May we, like Mary, store these things in our hearts, trusting that in God's time and through God's love, the story will be revealed.
May it be so.
TODAY'S PRAYERS:
Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.
Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
And now Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, Joy. Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life. Amen
And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray...
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ. Amen.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What scriptures are covered in the September 19th episode of Encounter Christ in Scripture. Every Day.?
This episode covers the daily Bible readings from Ezekiel 47–48 and Luke 2.
What does it mean to be storing up faith like Mary?
Storing up faith like Mary means holding onto life's mysteries, unfulfilled hopes, and unanswered questions without needing to solve or explain them away immediately, instead bringing them before God in trust.
What imagery does Ezekiel present in chapters 47 and 48?
Ezekiel presents a vision of a life-giving river flowing from the temple, where trees grow along its banks, fruit appears monthly, and even the waters of the Dead Sea are healed and made fresh.
How does Mary respond to the miraculous and uncertain events surrounding Jesus' birth?
Instead of understanding everything right away, Mary quietly treasures these moments, makes room for the mystery, and stores them up in her heart.
