Daily Bible Study Winter 2023-2024

By Amy Lynn Sigmon, Betsy Haas and Matthew Ray Hambrick

Grow your faith daily. Transform your life.

Experience God in deeper ways by spending time in God’s Word. Daily Bible Study is the perfect resource for individuals who want to grow in their relationship with God and enhance their engagement with lessons in Adult Bible Studies. Designed to meet the needs of busy people, each daily reading includes a Scripture reference, a personal faith-related question, an explanation and application of the biblical text, and a prayer, all on one page. Available in print and eBook and as an app.

Theme: God Abides
The writers are Elizabeth Park Haas, Matthew Ray Hambrick, Amy Sigmon

Unit 1
Transforming Spirit
Bible lessons in this unit are based on Exodus 16, 1 Kings 19, Mark 6, and Luke 14.
Spiritual Practice: Attentive Listening

Unit 2
Empowering | Discernment
Bible lessons in this unit are based on Luke 1, Mathew 2, 1 Kings 3, and Daniel 2, 1 Thessalonians 5, Mathew 6, and John 12.
Spiritual Practice: Discernment

Unit 3
Faithful Prayer
Bible lessons in this unit are based on 1 Thessalonians 5, Matthew 6, and John 12.
Spiritual Practice: Confession

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cokesbury
• Release date: Oct 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781791025328

Amy Lynn Sigmon

Amy Sigmon is a writer and baker in Nashville, Tennessee. A graduate of United Theological Seminary, she enjoys writing Bible study and teaching at her local church. Amy owns River Run Bakery, specializing in seasonal, rustic cakes, cookies, and bread. Amy and her husband Brian have three children; Caleb, June, and Molly. When she’s not baking or writing, Amy enjoys knitting sweaters in front of Disney movies with her kids.

Book preview

Introduction to the Study

Welcome to winter! The daily readings this quarter provide a glimpse of God’s active and living presence through the sage writings of the wisdom seekers and preachers and through our corporate and personal applications of prayer. We will consider how we can access God’s power and discern and understand God’s direction for our lives. How can we communicate our hopes and hurts with a God we cannot see?

First, we will focus on the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit has been perceived for generations. We understand the Spirit to be part of our triune God, and we believe the Spirit to be the initiating, empowering, and transforming presence of God in our daily experiences. We know that God’s Spirit was present at Creation and has lived and moved among us from the beginning of time.

Each week’s readings will thread a needle of beautiful proclamation between the Old and New Testament writings. We will discover the quiet whispers of the Spirit, revel in the beauty of Isaiah’s mystical writings, and delve into the prophets’ thoughts as we begin to see a tapestry of Spirit sightings and Spirit works emerge.

Old Testament threads are connected to New Testament books such as Luke and Acts, where the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came during the Pentecost celebration that gave birth to the church. With Isaiah and Mary, we will learn to join our voices and say, Here I am Lord! this Advent season.

Next, we will consider the sage and powerful insight found in the minds of the Wisdom writers. Wisdom is a genre of literature offering practical advice and reflections that help us think theologically about our world and how we live in it.

The writers make observations about their experiences and pass along their conclusions about the natural and human world that add rich meaning to our human experience. Wisdom writers illuminate the choice between good and evil, order and chaos, and point to the folly of those who do not pursue knowledge and understanding.

We are encouraged to walk a path of enlightenment as we consider ancient texts that speak modern truths. We will ponder how we might apply this knowledge to our lives. How will we allow these sound words of advice and counsel to impact how we live? Will we hear, or will we turn away as the foolish do?

It is not by accident that these readings fall during the season of Epiphany. They will encourage us to be like the magi, climbing the hills toward Bethlehem to follow a star leading to all that is holy, just, and wise.

On this journey, we will discover that Jesus is the true embodiment of divine wisdom. As Paul reminds us, But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:24-25). And remember, wisdom is not just knowing God but is being fully known by God. Ultimately, this is our goal.

Finally, we will talk about prayer. The readings in this unit challenge us to consider our personal prayer lives. Do you pray every day? Do you pray only when you are in trouble? What is the experience of prayer in a corporate setting? And what do the Scriptures teach us about prayer? Prayer is an important part of our liturgical practice in worship. Next time you are in church, count how many times you stop and pray.

In this unit, we will read the prayers of many of God’s people and focus on prayer as a vital part of our practical piety. We will spend a good bit of time in the Psalms as we learn more about how to talk to God about our hopes, joys, defeats, enemies, fears, and needs. The Psalms remind us to place ourselves in God’s presence through these constant conversations.

We will come to understand that God desires mercy and justice for all people, so as we focus on the practical spirituality of daily prayer, we will be encouraged to consider those who need our advocacy and voice. We are invited to adopt God’s priorities as we obediently pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

Prayer as a spiritual practice is especially important during the season of Lent, when we turn away from the world and turn inward to experience God’s presence in our hearts. We revel in God’s glory in Jesus, who sat with his disciples and taught them, and us, how to pray. By his powerful example of going apart to pray regularly and often, we will learn how to stop living for ourselves and take on the cross of the Savior.

In its simplest form, prayer is having a conversation with God. Just as we talk daily with our loved ones, friends, and neighbors, so too should we converse with the One who not only created it all but can fix it when it breaks.

Enjoy your readings this quarter, and allow them to draw you deep into the heart of God. There you will find hope, wisdom, peace, and answers. This is the word of God for the people of God! Thanks be to God.

Whose are you?

Often during the season of Advent, Scripture reading is focused on the Gospels, with Isaiah thrown in for good measure. This season, we will look at the bigger story of humankind’s salvation through Christ as it unfolds throughout Scripture.

Our texts are anchored in Luke, with the familiar stories of Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary. But what do their stories have to do with the exiled Israelites hundreds of years before? What do they have to do with those of us pulling out dusty boxes, laughing over kindergartenera ornaments, and eating too many cookies? How was God’s Spirit moving then, and how can we see it in our lives?

Today is the Monday after Thanksgiving, also known as the first day appropriate for Christmas music, according to my husband. I invite you to take a deep breath before diving headlong into what can be a busy and stressful month.

The verses from today’s reading in Malachi are the last in the Old Testament. God was speaking to the prophet, reminding him how powerful the word of God is. At this moment, God asked Malachi, Remember my words to Moses? Remember the covenant that was made at Mount Horeb with my people the Israelites? I am sending another prophet, Elijah, before the day of the Lord comes.

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the coming of John the Baptist is connected with God’s promise to send Elijah. God through the prophet Malachi urged the people to turn their hearts back to God.

God is always reaching out to us. Before your calendar gets too full, before the visions in your head turn from sugarplums to to-do lists, remember whose you are: You are a child of God. Your lineage as a child of God goes back thousands of years to God making a covenant with Moses.

It is easy to get caught up in the busyness of the holiday season and forget why we’re shopping and spending all month long. It’s even bigger than the story that is told at Christmas Eve services all over the world, about the Baby born in an unexpected place.

It’s the story of God’s salvation across the generations. It started with Moses, as Malachi reminds us. We are part of the Advent story now. The Holy Spirit is still at work in the world, encouraging and uplifting us, challenging us, as God’s kingdom continues to come.

Almighty God, thank you for your all-encompassing love for your people throughout the generations. Illuminate my days this season with your Holy Spirit, reminding me that I am your beloved child. Amen.

How can you identify false promises and claims?

What does it feel like to know that you are filled with the Spirit of the Lord and that your words carry weight? I am especially reminded during this season that my words carry weight for my children. Repent and throw off your foolish ways, children, or Santa won’t come! The youngest one believes me; the other two have their suspicions.

While I am quick to point out to my children that Santa is not the same as God, and we do not compare the two in our house, it is interesting how similar the messages of my words and those of the biblical prophets are: Change your behavior before there are consequences that you will regret.

The prophet Micah was called to deliver just such a message to God’s people. On its whole, however, his prophecy delivers messages of judgment and messages of hope and restoration. Micah declared himself to be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, able to speak against sins and transgressions: But me! I am filled with power, with the spirit of the LORD, he said. He spoke with justice and might, declaring to Jacob his wrongdoing and to Israel his sin! (Micah 3:8).

Micah also could identify the false prophets, those trying to trick people out of their money and their faith at the same time. They routinely predicted good and positive outcomes for those who gave them money or food, promises that were completely unreliable and hollow. They did not rely on God’s Spirit, but Micah did.

Can the Holy Spirit continue to show the difference between a false prophet and a true one? What about during this season of Advent? It’s an incredibly busy season for shopping, and everybody wants our money. Much like the false prophets, they will tell us whatever we want to hear to get our money.

If we don’t sleep well at night, perhaps we need a nice set of sheets. If we want our children to get off the couch and go outside, perhaps we should buy them a smart soccer ball! If the stress of the season itself is too much for us, there’s an app for that! A lot of false promises fill the air in a season that is supposed to be about waiting for the coming Christ.

This year, notice what feels like a false promise to you. Let those go. Return to the Word of God. Wait for the nudge of the Holy Spirit to bring you back to who you are: a child of God, worthy and whole.

God, as I navigate this season of overwhelming abundance, help me to discern your voice among everything wanting my attention. Holy Spirit, prepare my heart by whittling away everything that is unnecessary. Amen.

Can you accept God’s unconditional love?

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. This song is one of the earliest we sing to our children. In our church, when a baby is baptized, the congregation sings it to the child as he or she is walked up and down the aisle.

We do this for good reason: As adult Christians, one of our greatest journeys is toward full acceptance of God’s unconditional love. We read and sing about God’s great love for us, but in our darkest moments, do we believe that God loves us?

It is so difficult to throw off shame or regret; they are baked into human life. Most of us have parts of ourselves that we want to hide from God, even though God tells us through the prophet Isaiah, The Lord [is] your maker, who formed you in the womb and will help you (Isaiah 44:2). In our self-reliant culture, it is hard to shake the belief that we must fix ourselves before God will accept our whole selves.

Through Isaiah, God reminds us that God alone can fill the empty streams and pour out blessings and that the Lord is the Lord alone, there is no other God (verses 3, 8). This passage tells us that not only does God love us, but that God’s word is powerful and brings about change. God said, I will pour my spirit upon your descendants (verse 3), and Scripture confirms that. We can read about God’s Spirit and how it impacted a young woman named Mary, then a group of early Christians, and perhaps we can even recognize the Holy Spirit’s impact in our everyday lives.

I struggle with the limiting belief that my performance in life is directly related to love. My brain wants me to be the best mom, the most loving mom, to receive love from others. The very concept that God loves me when I am sitting still, accomplishing nothing, is something I wrestle with as part of my spiritual growth.

This is where I try to hand parts of my life over to the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is God at work in the world, then I can let some of my work drop, especially when it is unnecessary worry. I can be more present with my family and friends when I do not try to do everything at once.

If you’re struggling with trying to do everything in this season, remind yourself that the Holy Spirit is already at work. Listen to the small voice that tells you to slow down. Remember that the light of the world is coming, even if you don’t make every craft or every gift. Do not be afraid of what might happen, because God is the true God, and loves you no matter what. There is no other rock; I know of none (verse 8).

God, help me to hold fast to the knowledge that I am your beloved child. Help me open my heart to receive your unconditional love and in the process