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Bible Reading Plans for Holy Week

Sometimes it’s nice to have a reading plan that takes you through a month or a semester, but other times it’s great to have something for one week. Here are a couple of reading plan options for Holy Week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The Point of the Plagues, the Passover, and the Parting of the Sea in Exodus

My daughter is learning in elementary school about recognizing a story’s theme or purpose. She moved past identifying characters, setting, storyline, and plot, and now she’s learning to identify key themes within a story or the larger purpose of it.

It’s not only something we’ve done with stories she reads or movies we watch, but it’s something I ask on the drive home after church on Sundays. For both kids, they can retell me what their Sunday school teacher talked about, but it’s often harder for them to answer the why behind it. Yes, the walls of Jericho fell, but what’s the greater point being taught? The kings of Israel worshipped false gods, but what’s the purpose of the story being told?

It’s a helpful skill for reading books, watching movies, or listening to sermons and lessons.

In most passages of Scripture, you can boil the overarching point of a story or passage by answering these two questions. What is God revealing about Himself? How are we meant to respond to God in light of that revelation?

Lent 40-Day Reading Plan

The Christian seasons of Lent and Advent are a great time to commit to daily Bible reading as you prepare your heart for Easter and Christmas.

During the six-week Lenten season, Christians have historically focused on the wilderness temptation and sufferings of Christ, including his crucifixion on Good Friday, ultimately leading to his resurrection on Easter Sunday. It’s a season of being emptied of ourselves as we reorient ourselves on the fullness of life in Christ. It can be a time of spiritual refinement and refreshment as we walk through our own wilderness season eager to receive God’s grace. In this time, followers of Jesus ask God to rid us of our fleshly desires and satisfy with the glories of the gospel of Christ.

Psalms Prayer Guides & Worksheets

I’m teaching a short class on the Psalms, and so far, we’ve studied Psalms 3 and 13. Each week I’m creating a prayer guide with some reflective questions that can help us pray back the psalms through in our own words in light of our own circumstances. We want to both learn about God but also talk to Him.

Part of what we’ve talked about is praying with both honesty and humility before God. Eugene Peterson describes this as praying who you actually are not praying who you think you should be. But we’re also letting the Psalms help us express what we’re thinking and feeling while also shaping our thoughts and feelings.

Singing Praise when Pain Stings

I think we can know God has good plans and purposes for us in our personal trials, and yet the pain of those trials lingers. There’s a sting of the trial but then there can even be a bit of a sting in God walking us through it. I say that believing God is always wise, good, loving, and faithful in everything we go through, and that He is with us in whatever dark valley He leads us through. You can know God’s heart is good and loving, you can trust His character and plan, and yet it still hurts. You might even be able to give thanks to God or be thankful for the trial in retrospect (or at least grateful for what God has done in and through it) and yet still carry wounds and scars from it all.

Purposefully Placed in the Wilderness

“But, like Israel, we struggle to understand why God would allow us to wander in a wilderness of lack. While we demand that He answer our prayers with what we want, His reply is to remind us who He is. Every page of Scripture tells us who He is and what He’s done. Wandering is a gift that helps us to remember this” Glenna Marshall, The Promise is His Presence

The wilderness can be a place where we feel lost, out of sorts, confused, or stuck between destinations. Like someone stumbling through a sandstorm and they can’t see beyond their hand, or like someone standing in the middle of a forest where you can’t see a way out , the wilderness can feel disorienting. It can feel like there’s no clear path to move forward. But one of the things that’s clear in every biblical wilderness story is that God has led or placed His people in the wilderness with good purposes in mind.

New articles and book excerpt

Over at The Gospel Coalition, I’ve posted a new article on “Your Wilderness Wanderings Aren’t a Waste.” It overviews the theme of wilderness, spanning from Israel to Jesus, and reminds us that God’s ultimate goal in any wilderness season or situation is “to do you good in the end” (Deut. 8:3). Older TGC articles I’ve written can be viewed here.

How to be Led by God

In Psalm 25, David repeatedly asks God to teach and lead him. He uses very similar language in Psalm 27 when he speaks of someone having no parents to guide them in life with wisdom and love (Ps. 27:10), and yet God steps into that role as our loving, heavenly Father and He teaches and leads us on the right path (27:11).

Notice the repetition of David’s requests or comments on God leading him in Psalm 25:

Cultivate Gratitude this November

What comes to mind with November? Maybe you think of pumpkins (mainly in pie form), turkeys, feasting, or the early onset of Christmas decor. While many of have an eye more toward thanksgiving, it’s a great time to cultivate the practice of giving thanks and the virtue of gratitude.

Here are a few resources to help you cultivate gratitude this month.

Here’s a free thirty-day Bible reading plan and devotional. Each day has at least one passage from the Bible related to giving thanks and a devotional related to gratitude.
This content isn’t in my book but it goes with the 30-day reading plan in the back of The Grumbler’s Guide to Giving Thanks. The Bible encourages us to give thanks in all seasons and situations. It’s something we need to grow in all year long, but November is a great time to get started.

Endorsements for Your Wilderness Is Not A Waste

With the release of Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste: God’s Purpose in Suffering and Struggles, I wanted to share two of the endorsements. My hope is the book is an encouragement to those in a trial, in a season of waiting, disappointed by life’s circumstances, or confused by where God is leading them.