The following entries are excerpts from Chad Bird’s new book, Untamed Prayers: 365 Daily Devotions on Christ in the Book of the Psalms (1517 Publishing, 2025), pgs. 311 and 335
Why did the church dedicate a day to St. Michael anyway? Who is he, and what does he do?
The Antichrist offers another continual presence. It is every whisper that tempts us toward autonomy, that tells us to carry it alone, that insists suffering is meaningless.

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Paul is thinking of the cross and empty tomb, but the liturgical calendar places us at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, not the end: Jesus standing waist deep in the Jordan River.
Christ has received the mark of law that we might be marked with the gospel, with the sign of his holy cross on our heads and hearts as redeemed children of God.
This Christmas season we are thankful that even though we “fallers” are unable to climb up to God, he came down the ladder to us.
Love turns out to be not simply a thing or action, but a characteristic of God himself.
The episode of the boy Jesus in the Temple raises questions. It raised questions for Mary (and Joseph) and it raises questions for us.
Solomon uses his new gift of wisdom immediately, but as he grows older he appears to use this gift less and less!
As we continue to celebrate the mystery of the incarnation, this is a perfect moment to meditate on how the work of God “in Christ" unfolds in every moment of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Gideon’s “foolish” weaponry of clay jars and shofars will give way to the Messiah’s “foolish” ways of doing things, for his weapons will be humility, fidelity, and, above all, the word of his Father.
Because of Christ, we find safety and healing in the light. Because of Christ, we do not have to be afraid of the truth that his light reveals.
All the redeeming in God’s Word ultimately points to the first-born, only Begotten, who redeems the world.
The text is not a legalistic set of principles. It is a description of the way things are for us, now that Christ has entered in.
Luke does not say much else about Anna, especially in comparison to Simeon. But the fact that he mentions her suggests she has something to teach your hearers today.