Everyday for a Year: Bible Thoughts And Interactions

By G. Winston Hammerud

What thoughts come to mind in contemplating or responding to questions and statements such as, "What made God?" "If I'm wrong, God will forgive me because I'm sincere." "All religions are different ways to God." "God keeps telling me to keep searching." "God is nature." "No one knows anything for sure." "God means something different to every person." "Belief is subjective; you can't actually know." "So you can live anyway you want, then on your deathbed, just pray and ask Jesus into your heart and everything's cool? That makes no sense."

Hammerud provides biblical insights and answers to such questions and statements along with insights into more than seventy topics from Scripture. Topics that encompass a range of doctrinal issues include the nature of God, Deity of Christ, nature of man, depravity, salvation, election, eternal security, repentance, righteousness, imputation, faith, baptism, prophecy, resurrection, creation, and more.

An index links the topics to the relevant calendar dates in the book.

"The foundation of our faith is Jesus and the Word of God. Winston Hammerud gives us simple, pointed, and thought-provoking topics for each day. He doesn't preach but compels us to examine the Scripture for foundational truths to make Jesus central to our lives and to get direction from the Word. You will be challenged to think for yourself and to apply truth to life. This is a great start or finish to every day" (Jerry White, PhD, international president emeritus, The Navigators).

"Winston Hammerud applies God's Word in Every Day for a Year like an ointment on a troubled soul. Read these encouraging words and study the accompanying scriptures to find hope for your tomorrow" (Lt. Col. Robert L. Maginnis, US Army Retired, advisor to the Pentagon, author and political/military commentator on FOX News, Newsmax, CNN).

"Winston Hammerud's book Every Day for a Year is a book that every Christian who loves the Bible will want to read. There is a reflection for each day of the year on some important biblical truth with numerous Scripture references. All who love the Bible will find valuable insights in this book" (Richard Hammerud, PhD, University of California, Berkeley).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781098098247

Book preview

January 1

Jesus said, Your word is truth.

So there it is. The Bible is truth and covers everything that really matters in life. In this coming new year, it would be worth getting to know the Bible.

Please see John 17:17; Matthew 5:18; Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 22:21: Psalm 1; Proverbs 8:34–35.

January 2

Not the End of the Story

Jesus said, Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

If you’ve just about had it with this present evil world as Scripture calls it, Jesus offers rest. He created us with free will, and all He asks is that we call upon Him: Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. This present evil world is not the end of the story.

Please see Matthew 11:28; Proverbs 1:24; Jeremiah 2:11–13; Galatians 1:4; Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21.

January 3

Want to Go to Heaven? Ask

Okay, so what’s the catch? The catch is you have to want God. If you do, turn to Christ for forgiveness of sins. Call upon Him from your heart in a simple prayer; invite Him into your heart. You will become indwelt by the Holy Spirit, born again, saved, and having eternal life. Scripture states, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Want to go to heaven? Ask.

Please see Luke 11:13; Revelation 3:20; John 1:12, 5:24; Psalm 42:1, 44:21; 1 Chronicles 28:9.

January 4

Do You Love His Appearing?

Regarding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Scripture speaks of all them that love His appearing. Does that include you? If not, please consider the apostle Paul’s admonition: Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith… Sin and God don’t mix. If we are in the faith, we are covered by the payment Christ made for sin, bearing our judgment. Apart from that, we will bear our own judgment; as Scripture states, It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment…the redemption of their soul is precious and it ceases forever. There are eternal consequences to our response to Jesus Christ. Do you know Him, love His appearing?

Please see 2 Timothy 4:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21, 13:5; Psalm 32:1, 49:8; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11–15; John 12:25.

January 5

The Only Right Foundation—Jesus

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by Me. The apostle Paul said, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Malcomb Muggeridge—British journalist, author, satirist—came to realize that and said, Apart from Jesus Christ, the Truth, all other expressions of truth are fragmentary and sterile. Come to know Him: the only right foundation for all of life and all thought—Jesus. Call upon Him: Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21).

Please see John 14:6; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13.

January 6

Understand This

Speaking through the prophet Asaph, God states, Gather my saints together, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice; and the heavens shall declare His righteousness. Forgiveness of sins and acceptance with God are based on the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God imputes to all who turn to Jesus the gift of righteousness. The salvation from sin we all need is based on trusting in Jesus Christ and in what God did for us, not in trusting in what we do. Understand this.

Please see Psalm 50:5–6; Isaiah 53; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 4; Romans 5:17; Philippians 3:9.

January 7

Take the Step

King David’s words, I thought on my ways and turned my feet to Your commandments highlight the essence of what it means to repent, which is to turn. And Jesus said, Unless you repent, you will perish (Luke 13:3). God offers us eternal life, but we need to turn to Him. We need to turn from going our own way to His way; as Scripture beckons, My son, give Me your heart (Proverbs 23:26).

Someone said, Sometimes, the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you must, but take the step. Jesus said, Come unto Me… Take the step.

Please see Matthew 11:28; Psalm 119:59; Luke 13:3; Isaiah 53:6; Proverbs 23:26; John 3:16, 5:24, 17:3.

January 8

The Worm

An example, shared by Pastor Jon Waller, of the Scripture that states, The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, is found in the description of Christ on the cross in Psalm 22 with the words, I am a worm and no man (v6). The Hebrew word used there for worm is tola’ath which means crimson worm. It is a small insect in Israel from which they make a red dye. At the time to give birth, the tola’ath permanently attaches itself to a tree. The resulting larvae feed off the living mother under her protective shell. She then dies and explodes spreading a red dye on the tree and permanently coloring the larvae red. Three days after death, the body of the dead tola’ath turns white, flakes off the tree like snow, and emits a fragrant smell. This is a picture of Jesus who said, The scriptures ‘testify of Me.’ As King David said, I muse on the work of thy hands. Consider the worm.

Please see Romans 1:20; Psalm 22:6; John 5:39; Psalm 143:5.

January 9

Naaman—a Picture of Salvation

An interesting and wonderful story mentioned in the Bible (2 Kings 5) is that of Naaman, the commander of the armies of Ben-Hadad II, king of Syria, in the days of the prophet Elisha in Israel. Naaman was a great and honorable man in the eyes of Ben-Hadad but he had leprosy. Having heard about Elisha, Ben-Hadad sent Naaman to Israel to Elisha to be healed of his leprosy. Elisha, hearing of this, didn’t even bother to go meet him but sent his servant to tell Naaman to dip in the Jordan River seven times, and he would be healed of his leprosy. This seemingly ridiculous instruction made Naaman angry, and he turned to return to Syria. In seeing this, his servants said to him (paraphrase), If the prophet had asked you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? Why then don’t you do this simple thing he said to do and see what happens? So Naaman did what Elisha had said and was healed.

The point is this: the story of Naaman with leprosy is a picture of us with sin, and it is a picture of the gospel. To resolve the problem of our sin, God asks us to do a simple thing: call upon Jesus Christ. To the world, including the religious world, this does not make any sense. Man is bent on doing what he perceives as a great thing, and religious people spend their lives trying to merit God. The reality is that God has done the great thing in Christ, and our part is to do the simple thing which is to simply trust in Christ.

The simple thing is God’s way, and Isaiah 55 states that God’s ways are not man’s ways. And of man’s ways, Scripture states, There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12). That’s not a good thing when it comes to salvation. So choose God’s way: the simple thing. Benefit from the great thing God did for us in Christ. Receive Christ as a little child would simply receive a gift. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child will by no means enter therein (Luke 18:17).

God’s way gives life.

January 10

This is in response to a friend who highlighted the problem mankind faces with population growth and said, So many things come into play. The fact that there are about eight billion people on the earth is probably really the biggest problem facing us.

Murray, my view is that God is in control of what is happening on the earth, including population growth. Apart from God, apart from life after death, none of it matters at all. It is all meaningless, vanity. That is the point of the book of Ecclesiastes. If God doesn’t exist, then individual lives are meaningless, and if that’s the case, then billions of individual lives are meaningless. If it all just ends, the sun burns out, the earth dies, etc., nothing matters because the entirety of it was never anything other than meaningless. Man trying to fix things to prolong meaninglessness is meaningless. That’s reality without God.

The good news is that it is not meaningless because God is there, and God is orchestrating events all the way to the end as laid out in the Bible.

January 11

Done by Jesus Christ

Scripture speaks of becoming heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Those words refer to the imputed righteousness, the unspeakable gift of righteousness spoken of by the apostle Paul who, in speaking of himself, spoke of being found in Him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. The righteousness which is of God is the covering that renders us acceptable before God that is provided by Jesus Christ to all who call upon Him from their heart for the forgiveness of sin. And that is all God asks of us. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Receive Him. All the heavy lifting for salvation was done by Jesus Christ.

Please see Hebrews 11:7; Romans 4:22–24, 5:17–19; 2 Corinthians 9:15; Philippians 3:9; Psalm 32:1; Ephesians 1:6; John 3:7; Romans 8:9; Acts 2:21; John 1:12; Revelation 3:20.

January 12

Made Clear

Scripture warns, Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, He shall destroy them and not build them up. Ravi Zacharias said that it is not a matter of lack of evidence but rather suppression of evidence when it comes to man’s rejection of the existence of God. There is an eternity to consider. Don’t disregard that which God has made clear.

Please see Psalm 28:5; 143:5; John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:16–17; Romans 1:20.

January 13

This is in response to my friend who sent me information on the universe, what exists, inferring that the material universe is the ultimate reality.

Ernesto, I thought of you this morning as I read Job 23:3–5 which expresses Job’s desire to connect with God—the personal Creator who made us in his image for relationship and fellowship. Job said, O that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat. I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say unto me. And the same desire is expressed in Psalm 42:1–2 As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God.

The bottom line in reality, Ernesto, is that God is the personal Creator who can be known. How He created everything and the essence of all that exists is a separate issue. Knowing and relating to Him is the issue, and what separates us from Him is our sin. Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hid His face from you so that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:2). God resolved the separation for us in Christ, but He gave us free will, and we need to turn to Christ for forgiveness. Once we do that, God passes us from death to life, and from that point on and for eternity, the connection with God is set. Please see John 5:24; Hebrews 13:5; Ephesians 1:6; and Jude 1.

With the indwelling Holy Spirit, God makes Himself known to us. Please see Romans 8:9; Hebrews 13:5; 1 John 4:13, 5:20; and John 14:21–22. We can talk with Him, listen to Him (largely through His Word), and enjoy Him. He is our Creator whose greatness is unsearchable…understanding is infinite (Psalm 145:3; 147:5).

Our goal should not primarily be about getting information about what exists but about getting to know the One who created what exists—the source of all reality, the uncaused first cause—God.

Anyway, Ernesto, Job’s heart to know God personally struck me in light of what you shared a few weeks ago, which left that out.

January 14

From the Heart

The door to eternity with God is open to all through Jesus Christ who bore our sins on the cross, paid the wages of sin, death, for us, and defeated death in the resurrection. All He asks is that we turn to Him for forgiveness and acceptance based not on our merit but on His merit. Receive Him into your heart. A simple prayer from the heart will do it, the key being from the heart.

Please see 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53; Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9–10,13; Ephesians 1:6; Acts 2:21, 16:31; John 1:12; Revelation 3:20.

January 15

For You

Jesus said, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no way enter therein (Luke 18:17). If you are reading this, realize that you cannot merit eternal life. That thinking, the trust in personal merit, highlighted in Romans10:1–3 is the way of every false belief system. You must be born again, and the way that happens is to come as a little child would come and simply receive Christ. God did all for you that is required in Christ. Place your trust fully in Him. He died for you (John 3:16; Revelation 3:20; Acts 2:21).

January 16

The Book Is Opening

Speaking of evolving events related to end-time prophecies, the prophet Jeremiah stated to Israel, In the latter days, you shall consider it perfectly. God communicated the same idea of increasing prophetic clarity to Daniel when stating, Seal up the book, even to the time of the end. And Jesus expected those in His day to be able to connect the dots regarding prophecies of His first coming in asking, How is it that you do not discern this time?

There are many more prophecies of His second coming. News that some airlines will require those who fly with them to have proof of vaccination is a red flag to those who have eyes to see. It is a harbinger of the coming control that will be enforced in the tribulation when no man might buy or sell save he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. In case you haven’t figured it out, it’s time to get right with God; your eternal destiny is at stake and the book is opening.

Please see Jeremiah 23:20; Daniel 12:4; Luke 12:56; Revelation 13:17; John 3:16; Acts 16:31.

January 17

This is in response to a friend who said, Nothing is a free ride, and so he has a hard time accepting the gospel. Ernesto, although the ride doesn’t cost us anything, it is not free. The ride has a cost—a wage that must be paid. And that wage is death, which spiritually refers to separation from God.

Because God loves us, He stepped in to pay the wage of death in our place. When on the cross, Jesus cried, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? He was paying that wage, experiencing death in our place. He, at that point, was separated from the Father for the first time in eternity. Jesus Christ is God’s unspeakable gift. All He requires of us is to place our trust fully in Him for resolution of the sin problem. When we choose differently, the wage of death remains on us. Salvation can only be received. It cannot be merited. The free ride for us was not free to God.

Please see Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9–10; Habakkuk 1:13, Isaiah 59:2; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 3:17–18; Proverbs 14:12; 2 Corinthians 9:15; John 1:12; Hebrews 2:3, 9; Ephesians 2:8–9; Titus 3:5–8.

January 18

His Unspeakable Gift

Scripture states, For He has made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The moment we, sinful human beings, receive Christ into our hearts, we become justified before God, Accepted in the Beloved…passed from death to life. It is all about what God has done for us: providing Jesus, His unspeakable Gift.

Please see 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 1:12, 5:24; Ephesians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 9:15.

January 19

Our Freedom

President John Adams rightly said, Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Currently, there are too many people of corrupt minds, destitute of truth in positions of power and influence. We need moral and religious people, godly people, if we value the constitution and our freedom.

Please see Psalm 9:17; Job 12:23; 2 Chronicles 7:19–22; Isaiah 40:15–17; 1 Timothy 6:5.

January 20

Our Nation and God

The United States has prospered on a foundation infused with Judeo-Christian biblical values, but our foundation has been dismantled. And Scripture asks, If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3). This dismantling has left us with a problem, a big problem, and the problem is God.

Our foundation makes us more accountable before God, and in a warning to nations, Scripture includes an interesting phrase: nations that forget God (Psalm 9:17). Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34). We fall into that category. Anti-Christian values in our day are widely accepted, and as a people, we have endorsed things that the Word of God clearly condemns. If there is any hope for our country, we need to change course.

Christian commentator Rick Wade highlights the need to reclaim the primacy of Christian thought and values in our culture. Apart from that, Scripture is clear on where we are headed. God is in supreme command of the kingdoms of this earth, and Isaiah points to God’s control over nations: The nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance, and Before Him are as nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity (Isaiah 40: 15, 17; Daniel 4:17). For a nation to shake its fist in the face of God is to invite judgment. "The wicked