Picking a Daily Devotional for 2025

This is the time of year to start thinking about Spiritual Formation resources for the coming New Year.  Something that can help you take some time every day to dive into the Bible and connect to Jesus in prayer helps cultivate a deep, intentional life with Jesus.  This goal is at the center of our focus on the PracticingTheWay.org material by John Mark Comer here at Harderwyk.  CLICK HERE for the book or on the previous weblink to learn more about that.

I'll have to admit, my reflexes move away from the typical daily devotional format: one page per day with a Bible verse and some commentary.  I am more inclined to look for a straight Bible-reading plan that connects me directly to the Bible itself.  I can read and then meditate using the SOAPS format (CLICK HERE), or the classic Lectio Devina (CLICK HERE) or a simple study Bible with notes.  

But for many people the daily devotional is a regular habit.  There are also a good number of new, very well done resources in this format that I've used and benefitted from.  Let me give you a quick rundown of great ones that I have used and recommend.

God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of Proverbs – Tim & Kathy Keller - CLICK HERE for Amazon link

• I first used this devotional by Tim & Kathy Keller in my own practice in 2019.  It was so transformative that I did in 2020 as well.  And guess what I used again in 2020?  Yes friends, it was that good.  The Kellers helped me see the Proverbs in light of the Gospel of God Grace that pursues wisdom for living through relationship with God.  Before, Proverbs had been more like a collection of moralistic aphorisms that I read like laws to obey.  If you only ever have one daily devotional, this is the one.

New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional – Paul David Tripp CLICK HERE for Amazon link.

• I've appreciated Paul David Tripp as a conference speaker for years.  Solid Reformed theology, pastoral counseling depth and great communicator.  After you are done with the Kellers, or if you only read one book by Tripp, make this the one.

Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of Life – Paul David Tripp  CLICK HERE for Amazon link or HERE for ChristianBook.com and compare prices

• This new devotional by Paul David Tripp - see above - is a daily Bible reading schedule that gets you through the entire Bible in the year.  With that are daily reflections by Tripp that seem brimming with Gospel insight.  I'm using this and regularly meeting with a group of men throughout 2025 to talk, pray and "what did you underline" together.  I'll update next December.

Mockingbird Devotional: Good New for Today (and Every Day)  CLICK HERE for Amazon link.

• MockingBird is a website/podcast/magazine/ministry of Gospel-centered, mostly-Anglican, artsy-millenials from Charlottesville associate with David Zahl.  CLICK HERE for their website and give them a look.  

This devotional was great for me: gospel-centered, lots of movie and music illustrations, younger perspective and very well written.  Broaden your gospel vocabulary and give the devotional or website a try.

One Story that Leads to Jesus by the Bible Project

This is primarily a Bible-reading program - entire Bible in 365 days - that I am using on my ipad through the YouVersion Bible app.  Basically systematic Bible reading - see above for how I dig into the text - interspersed with teaching videos by the Bible Project that give great visual overviews to Bible books, keywords, practices and history.  For a change-up, I listen to the psalm for each day audible by a tap in the app.  Nice experience.

Gathering The Facts Before I Decide: The Tragic Death of Amber Thurman In Pursuit of an Abortion

The death on August 19, 2022 of Amber Thurman is a tragedy that any of us would want to have prevented.

But make no mistake: If we don't gather the facts and identify the actual causes of her death, we will find deaths like hers more common, not less.

So, what were the causes of this young woman's death in the ER of Piedmont Henry hospital in suburban Atlanta, GA?

Here Are Some Facts To Consider

In the summer of 2022, Amber Nicole Thurman was a 28-year old single-mother with one son, living in suburban Atlana, GA who discovered that she was pregnant with twins.

Because Georgia restricts abortions after six weeks, she was quickly unable to get one locally.  Now nine weeks pregnant, she made an appointment at a clinic some 4 hours away in North Carolina.  Unfortunatley, she was late arriving and missed her appointment by 15 minutes.

That clinic gave her the medication mifepristone, which she took there.  She was then given the second drug in the chemical abortion regimen, misoprosto, and told to take it on her own—no doctor required.  She did that at home in Atlanta.

Within days, Thurman was in pain and bleeding heavily.  Apparently, there was still "fetal tissue with no heartbeat" in her body and she needed medical care: a routine dilation and curettage procedure that is explicity allowed by GA law.  (See Resources Below)

Amber Thurman went to nearby Piedmont Henry Hospital, but waited 20 hours before doctors operated.  Though it is not clear from the records available why the doctors waited, Amber Thurman died there.

There is no denying the fact that Georgia has a tight restriction on abortion procedures - 6 weeks.  But there is also no denying the fact that the medical care Amber Thurman needed when she arrived at Piedmont Henry was explicitly allowed by Georgia law. (Again, a link to that law is in Resources below.  See for yourself.) One cause that contributed to her death was medical malpractice.  The hospital is currently being sued for that.

The cause that sent Amber Thurman to the hospital in the first place though, was the chemical abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprosto.  Let me bullet list some facts gathered about this medication:

• In 2016, the FDA eliminated safeguards on abortion medication in three significant ways:
• by reducing the number of required office visits for women taking abortion drugs from three to one
• by no longer requiring that a doctor prescribe the drugs
• by eliminating the requirement that prescribers report non-lethal adverse events from the drugs
• In 2021, the FDA removed the requirement for women seeking abortion drugs to have any in-person appointments.  From: What the FDA Hasn’t Told You About Mifepristone
• According to the FDA’s own label, roughly one in 25 women who use abortion drugs end up in the emergency room.  From: Abortion Drugs, Not Georgia’s Pro-Life Laws, Killed AmberThurman
• Pills are available by mail in all states, even in states that ban clinic-based abortion care. This is possible because some states have “shield laws” that protect clinicians when they provide telehealth care to someone in another state.  From "PlanCPills.org"  I'm not making this link available.
• Abortions at home (with mifepristone and misoprosto) were banned in the Netherlands (one of the most pro-abortion countries in the world) because even the abortion clinics themselves said it was too medically risky.  From: Abortion Advocates Are Lying about the Tragic Deaths in Georgia

There is room to have the discussion about the wisdom and consequences of restricting access to surgical abortions, whether at 6 weeks like GA and 3 other states, or the 24 states that restrict after 20-22 weeks or the 9 states with no time restrictions at all.  

But self-administered, mail-order chemical abortions intersected by medical malpractice???  That sounds dangerous to me.  I'm sure that is not how I want to extend support to women with crisis pregnancies any more than I think using shame or rejection moves someone in a healthy direction. 

How about you?  What would it look for a gospel-centered community of Christ-followers to walk over time with someone experiencing a crisis pregnancy?  That is the question I find myself wrestling with.

And, am I missing something in my considerations?  If so, I'd be willing to find a time to listen, face-to-face.  Just call the Harderwyk office and let's find a way to set up a conversation.

Finally, if you or someone you know is facing a crisis or unexpected pregnancy, know that I will talk, pray and support you regardless of your choice.  

Resources

CLICK HERE to read the actual Georgia law.  The entire document is 10 pages, but you can read lines 88 through 108 - they are marked in the left-hand margin - and see for yourself how the bill defines abortion, as well as medical procedures that are allowed.

CLICK HERE for the article Abortion Advocates Are Lying about the Tragic Deaths in Georgia.  The Title Sums it all up.

CLICK HERE for the article Abortion Drugs, Not Georgia’s Pro-Life Laws, Killed Amber Thurman produced by the Alliance Defending Freedom -  an educational, advocacy and legal group.

CLICK HERE for What the FDA Hasn’t Told You About Mifepristone by the Alliance Defending Freedom

CLICK HERE for the website of Positive Options in Holland, MI.  These friends have resources that lead to life and support people in crisis pregnancy situations.