Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

We are about to begin our next study, and we are moving to the Old Testament. We will begin with the book of Hosea. Hosea forces us to confront whether we love God—or just use him. This means it is time to get your next Scripture Journal from our website for this study. If you are a Project23 partner giving $35/month or more, we have already sent this to you in the mail.

Our shout-out today goes to Tom Vigorito from Sun City West, AZ. Thanks for your partnership in Project23.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 15:29-34.

Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals." Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. — 1 Corinthians 15:29-34

In this section, Paul demonstrates how theological error produces moral distortion.

If there is no resurrection, why risk anything for the gospel? Why be baptized at all? Why face danger for preaching? Why endure persecution from opposing forces?

(When Paul mentions people being "baptized on behalf of the dead," he is not endorsing the practice; he is exposing their inconsistency—why participate in a ritual that assumes life beyond death if no resurrection exists?)

He also references his own suffering—"fighting with beasts at Ephesus"—whether literal combat or fierce opposition, the point stands: why endure deadly hostility if the grave is final?

If the dead are not raised, the logic is straightforward:

"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." That is not merely ancient philosophy. It is modern philosophy. If death is the end, pleasure becomes the highest good.

False theology does not stay theoretical. It is absorbed into the mind and expressed through behavior. That is why Paul says:

"Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning."

Resurrection denial had numbed their thinking and dulled their obedience. Theology drift produced moral drift.

If your behavior has been drifting, it may be time to sober your thinking about Jesus—his life, his death, and his bodily resurrection. The risen Lord is coming again, and eternity is not theoretical.

DO THIS:

Identify one area where your behavior does not reflect belief in a coming resurrection. Make a concrete adjustment this week that aligns your life with eternal reality.

ASK THIS:

1. If someone observed my lifestyle, would they conclude I believe in resurrection?
2. Have I allowed cultural voices to dull my eternal perspective?
3. Am I living for comfort—or for what lasts?

PRAY THIS:

Lord, wake me up where I have grown dull. Let the reality of the resurrection shape my choices, my discipline, and my courage. Help me live today in light of the life to come. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Christ Our Hope in Life and Death"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about our mission to teach every verse of the bible in what we call Project23.

Grab your Hosea Scripture Journal.

Our text today is Hosea 8:8-10:

Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.
For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
because of the tribute. — Hosea 8:8-10

Some of the things people run to for safety are the very things quietly destroying them.

Hosea says: "Israel is swallowed up… as a useless vessel."

You see, Israel had gone to Assyria for security. They purchased alliances, trusted political power, and looked to human systems for protection. What they chose as their solution became their slavery.

That is why God calls them a "useless vessel." They were relying on things that could not truly save them. They were a damaged container, filling their nation with substances they could not sustain.

We have all done this.

We look for peace in health care plans, insurance policies, retirement accounts, investment growth, and accumulated wealth. We look for relief in entertainment, gaming, endless scrolling, shopping, vacations, and dopamine hits from a glowing screen. We chase control through planning, productivity, image management, and constant information.

None of those things is evil in itself. But they become dangerous when they become saviors, and we fill our lives with them—trusting only in them. Everything on this list makes a terrible god.

Money can help, but it cannot heal your soul.
Insurance may cover loss, but it cannot remove fear.
Retirement may change your schedule, but it cannot give purpose.
Entertainment may distract you, but it cannot restore you.
Scrolling may numb you, but it cannot satisfy you.
Success may impress others, but it cannot make you whole.

If you build your life on them, they will eventually expose their limits. They will each make us a useless vessel.

Too many people today are medicated, entertained, informed, insured, and connected—yet deeply anxious, spiritually empty, relationally distant, and internally exhausted.

Why? Because we keep expecting temporary things to do eternal work.

Maybe it is time to deal with the emptiness you feel in the vessel of your life. Consider these questions:

What do you run to when you feel fear?
What do you depend on when life feels unstable?
What comforts you more quickly than God?

Those answers will reveal your real refuge.

And yes, use tools wisely. Be responsible. Plan well. Work hard. But do not turn over your life to unfulfilling things that were never meant to fill the vessel of your life. God is the only one who can fill the vessel of your soul.

DO THIS:

Notice what you instinctively reach for when stress rises today. Pause, pray first, and place that need before God before turning to any other solution.

ASK THIS:

1. What temporary thing have I treated like a savior?
2. Where do I seek comfort faster than I seek God?
3. Am I using good tools—or worshiping them?

PRAY THIS:

God, forgive me for trusting temporary solutions more than you. Help me use the things of this world wisely, but never worship what cannot save me. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Christ Is Mine Forevermore"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about our mission to teach every verse of the bible in what we call Project23.

Grab your Hosea Scripture Journal.

Our text today is Hosea 8:11-13:

Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
As for my sacrificial offerings,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt. — Hosea 8:11-13

How do churches lose their way? Just a little at a time.

You see, Israel did not abandon religion. They multiplied it by adding in other gods. They built more altars, offered more sacrifices, and kept the appearance of worship alive. But those altars had become "altars for sinning."

They had plenty of activity, but they had lost touch with the truth. God's truth.

Then comes the diagnosis: "Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands, they would be regarded as a strange thing."

God's Word had become "strange" to people who still claimed His name.

This is exactly how churches lose their way now. They retain the music, the programs, the branding, the crowds, and the language of faith—but Scripture gradually becomes secondary. Hard truths are softened. Clear commands are avoided. Topics culture has politicized—marriage, sexuality, abortion, gender, sin, repentance, and the exclusivity of Christ—are treated like hazards instead of truth to be proclaimed with grace and courage.

The result is predictable.

That is why Hosea says, "They shall return to Egypt."

To get the punch line here, we have to remember who Egypt was to Israel. Egypt was the place of slavery that God had already delivered them from. In other words, their drift did not create the freedom they thought. It was preparing them for chains—again.

When God's truth is neglected, people will be re-enslaved to fear, addiction, sexual confusion, bitterness, anxiety, false ideologies, and the approval of others.

Are you letting culture disciple you more than Scripture?
Have you gone quiet where God has spoken clearly?

The answer is not more opinions from a lost word. It is deeper roots in God's Word. Open God's Word. Learn it. Love it. Live it. Stand on it when it costs you something because it's clear how churches have lost their way.

They moved from God's truth.

And the way back is by traveling the same road in the opposite direction.

DO THIS:

Identify one issue where culture has shaped your thinking more than Scripture. Read what God says about it today and choose obedience over opinion.

ASK THIS:

1. Where have I accepted culture's voice over God's Word?
2. What truth have I avoided because it feels unpopular?
3. Am I rooted deeply enough to stand in this generation?

PRAY THIS:

God, keep me from drifting with the crowd. Root me in your truth, give me courage to stand, and lead your church back to your Word. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Ancient Words"

Welcome to The Daily. Happy Independence Day to those reading in the U.S.A.

Read more about our mission to teach every verse of the bible in what we call Project23.

Grab your Hosea Scripture Journal.

Our text today is Hosea 8:14:

For Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds. — Hosea 8:14

That first line is convicting on this date, is it not?

"Israel has forgotten his Maker." We could say, "America has forgotten his Maker."

That is the root issue. Before national collapse becomes economic, military, moral, or social, it is spiritual. A nation falls when it forgets the God who gave it life, restrained its evil, blessed its labor, and established its boundaries.

Israel did not stop growing and building either. They built palaces. Judah, as well, multiplied fortified cities. Infrastructure expanded. Wealth increased. Security systems strengthened. Outwardly, the nation looked stable and successful.

But within all this prosperity, there was hidden decay.

They were constructing a future while abandoning the foundation that made any future possible. They trusted walls more than worship, economic systems more than surrender, and visible strength more than the unseen God who had sustained them.

Then God says, "I will send a fire upon his cities."

That is the warning. What man builds cannot stand the burning judgment of God. Everything we can build eventually becomes ashes when people persist in rebellion against the Almighty God.

A nation can celebrate freedom while despising truth. It can defend rights while rejecting righteousness. It can grow wealthy while growing hollow. It can advance technologically while collapsing morally. A nation can speak of God in public ceremony while removing God from conscience, law, family, education, and public life.

No military can defend a people from internal corruption. No economy can purchase moral renewal. No election can save a nation whose heart is turned from God.

And we need the church to wake up and address these issues. The church is the institution called to call a people and nation out of internal corruption, toward moral renewal and repentance to God.

The answer is truth, courage, and repentance.

The church needs to start preaching the whole counsel of God again. Pastors must stop fearing headlines and start fearing God. Believers must stop blending in and start standing firm. Families must return to prayer. Fathers must lead spiritually. Christians must speak truth with conviction and grace.

If judgment begins with the house of God, then renewal can start there, too.

Today is Independence Day, and gratitude is right. Thank God for liberty, sacrifice, and mercy shown to this nation. But let this day also be a trumpet blast. If we forget our Maker, destruction is not distant—it is imminent.

And if there is hope for the nation, it will begin when the people of God return to God first.

DO THIS:

Pray today for national repentance, courageous churches, bold pastors, and spiritual awakening in this generation.

ASK THIS:

1. Where do you see our nation forgetting God most clearly?
2. How can the church recover courage in this moment?
3. What role has God given you in spiritual renewal?

PRAY THIS:

God, have mercy on our nation. Wake your church, strengthen your people, and turn our hearts back to you before greater judgment comes. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Revive Us Again"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

We are about to begin our next study, and we are moving to the Old Testament. We will begin with the book of Hosea. Hosea exposes spiritual adultery in ways most churches avoid. This means it is time to get your next Scripture Journal from our website for this study. If you are a Project23 partner giving $35/month or more, we have already sent this to you in the mail.

Our shout-out today goes to Jeremy Moritz from Trempealeau, WI. Thanks for your partnership in Project23.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 15:12-19.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. — 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

If the resurrection didn't happen, what exactly are you believing in?

Paul, in this text, turns logical. Some in Corinth were saying there is no resurrection of the dead.

So Paul follows the thread.

If there is no resurrection, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, preaching is empty. Faith is empty. The apostles are liars. And here is the punch: you are still in your sins.

Those who have died in Christ are lost. And Christians are to be pitied more than anyone.

This is not a theological subtlety. Paul is not defending a side doctrine. He is protecting the structure of the faith.

Remove bodily resurrection, and the cross loses its power. Sin remains. Death wins. Hope evaporates.

The resurrection is not inspirational optimism. It's more than just a nice idea the church believes in on a Sunday, once a year. It is a hard reality. It is the verdict of God that sin was paid for, and death was defeated.

If Christ is not raised, you have no Savior.

But if he is raised?

Then everything changes, including you. And your very life, the redeeming of your mind, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the change in your life are evidence of his resurrection. And you should live like it was a real historical event and others should see the visible evidence of this in your life.

DO THIS:

Finish this sentence in writing: If Christ is not raised, then ________. Then rewrite it: Because Christ is raised, therefore ________.

ASK THIS:

1. Do I see how central resurrection is to forgiveness?
2. Would my faith survive if the resurrection were removed?
3. Am I building my life on historical fact—or religious feeling?

PRAY THIS:

Lord, deepen my understanding of the resurrection. Guard me from treating it as secondary. Anchor my confidence in the risen Christ who defeated sin and death. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Living Hope"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about our mission to teach every verse of the bible in what we call Project23.

Grab your Hosea Scripture Journal.

Our text today is Hosea 8:7: This is #6 of The 7 Most Shocking Verses in Hosea. If you missed the video, check it out.

For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
strangers would devour it. — Hosea 8:7

Some choices feel small when you make them. That is why this verse is so sobering.

"They sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."

The Vince Miller Revised Version (VMRV) would read this way. "These fools chase after the breeze and get hit by a category 5 hurricane."

Israel has gotten to the point where they treat sin like it is nothing. A little compromise. A little rebellion. A little idolatry. A little drift from God. It seemed light, manageable, and insignificant—like sowing the breeze.

But a small breeze can be the first sign of a hurricane.

Getting back to the analogy in the text—seeds grow. Patterns worsen. Habits harden. Desires develop. Consequences multiply. What was once minor becomes a force strong enough to blow down or uproot everything around you.

That is the meaning of the whirlwind. They planted lightly but harvested violently.

But Hosea adds another picture to the analogy. Their grain would produce nothing useful. No heads. No flour. No nourishment. And even if something did grow, strangers would consume it. In other words, all their effort would be in vain.

This is one of the hardest truths about chasing the wind of sin: sin not only brings destruction later. It often steals produce now. It drains you of peace, clarity, joy, trust, stability, and usefulness long before visible collapse arrives.

You see this truth all the time.

A careless tongue becomes a broken relationship.
Private lust becomes public damage.
Financial greed becomes inner emptiness.
Neglected prayer becomes spiritual weakness.
Small dishonesty becomes a divided life.

How many times do we have to see it and experience it to understand it?

No one wants a whirlwind in their life. But they chase the breeze, ignorant of the whirlwind.

And this principle also works in a more positive and spiritual direction.

Small obedience has a wind and a whirlwind.

A daily prayer.
A quiet act of integrity.
A hidden choice to resist temptation.
A faithful return to Scripture.
A humble apology.
A consistent step toward God.

Those winds blow, and those seeds grow.

So what are you planting right now? Because today's choices are tomorrow's harvest. Do not be fooled by what seems small. Plant one small habit that honors God today.

DO THIS:

Choose one small habit you need to stop sowing and one small act of obedience you need to start planting today.

ASK THIS:

1. What am I planting in my life right now?
2. Where have I treated sin like something small?
3. What seed of obedience needs to be planted today?

PRAY THIS:

God, help me take small choices seriously. Keep me from sowing what destroys and teach me to plant what leads to life. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Take My Life and Let It Be"