Daily Devotional Recommendations

In the past fifteen years or so, I have been asked by quite a few different people if I had any suggestions for a day-by-day devotional book.   Since then, I’ve been recommending the following year-long daily devotionals. Perhaps this list will help you find a good daily devotional for yourself or to gift it to someone else. This is a work in progress. I’ll be updating/editing this page from time to time. Feel free to recommend others in the comments below.

 Holiness Day by Day by Jerry Bridges.  In this book, each day’s devotional starts with a verse from Scripture and then consists of a one-page reading from various books Bridges wrote.  It is meant to last one year – one devotional a day for one year. This is a good one for most Christians – it is understandable, theologically sound, and gospel-centered.  (Logos edition here).

Another one-page daily devotional I recommend is J. Montgomery Boice’s Come to the Waters.  This daily reading starts with a verse from Scripture and then has a one-page excerpt of Boice’s writing from various books.  This devotional is also solid and understandable. Come to The Waters is also readable for most Christians. It consists of one devotional for each day of the year.

Here’s a day-by-day reading written by J. I. Packer: Daily Readings for Your Spiritual Journey.  This day-by-day devotional book is just like the first two I noted.  There is a verse and then a short section of Packer’s writing. This, too, is solid and understandable – it also covers a broad range of doctrines and how they apply to the Christian life. This devotional gives one devotion for each day of one year.

I certainly should mention D. A. Carson’s two volumes called For the Love of God.  This daily, one-page devotional is structured after M’Cheyne’s one-year Bible reading plan.  Each day consists of a meditation on the day’s Scripture reading.  This one, like the others, is solid, biblical, and covers a variety of Biblical doctrines and applications. (Logos edition here.)

Alistair Begg has two daily devotional books: Truth for Life, volumes 1 & 2. These are daily devotionals that each cover one year. Like the above devotionals, this one gives a Bible verse and then a one-page reflection/meditation on it. It also contains a one-year Bible reading program. (Logos edition here.)

Here are three one-year daily devotionals that are also worth checking out: the 365 Days With devotionals. For example, I have the 365 Days with John Calvin, John Newton, and William Wilberforce. These daily devotionals begin with a Scripture reference followed by two or three paragraphs of reflection on those verses by Calvin (or Newton or Wilberforce). In this same series there are a few volumes called “365 Days with Spurgeon.” Speaking of, don’t forget Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening.” (Logos editions here.)

R.C. Sproul also published a series of daily devotionals in the 1990’s called Before the Face of God. Each of these daily devotionals is specifically on one book of the Bible (e.g. Romans, Luke, Ephesians). Each of these books contains over 200 daily devotionals. If you’re familiar with Sproul, these are very similar to the daily devotionals in Table Talk. (Logos edition here.)

I should also mention there are a few good daily devotionals that contain excerpts from Martin Luther’s writing. One of these I own is called Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. It’s a bit older, but it’s pretty good. Also, check out Martin Luther: Day by Day. (Logos edition here.)

Here’s a series of devotionals that are also a bit older, but I really like them: Light and Truth by Horatius Bonar. These books are a series of devotionals that basically go through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Bonar doesn’t have a devotional for every text, but he does cover quite a few of them! This one is perhaps more difficult to read than some of the others, but it is very edifying. (Logos edition here.)

Abraham Kuyper wrote some excellent devotionals as well. My favorite is Near Unto God or In the Shadow of Death. These aren’t year-long devotionals, but they’d be good if you wanted to do three or four per week. Kuyper’s writing isn’t as easy to read as some modern authors (his work is translated from Dutch), but it’s been very helpful for my Christian thinking. (Logos edition here.)

Again, stay tuned for more updates!