Daily Devotional 11-30-2021
1Co 10:22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Not only that, it would not be possible to do this without provoking the Lord to jealousy. As William Kelly said, “Love cannot but be jealous of wandering affections, it would not be love if it did not resent unfaithfulness.” The Christian should fear to thus displease the Lord, or to provoke His righteous indignation. Do we think that we are stronger than He? That is, do we dare to grieve Him and risk an exhibition of His disciplinary judgment upon us?
Daily Devotional 11-29-2021
1Co 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. After kicking out the props of false security, Paul pointed toward the One on whom the Corinthians could rely. The temptations that seized the Corinthians were like those people had always faced. They could be met and endured by depending on God, who is faithful. Part of the Corinthian problem, of course, was that some in the face of temptation were not looking for a way out by endurance, but a way in for indulgence.
Daily Devotional 11-28-2021
Heb 3:15 As it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Now the writer concludes the personal application of Israel’s sad experience by repeating the words of Psa_95:7-8 : “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” This poignant appeal, once directed to Israel, is now directed to any who might be tempted to forsake the good news and return to the law.
Daily Devotional 11-27-2021
Isa 54:5-6 Indeed, your husband is your Maker—his name is the LORD of Armies—and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth. (6) For the LORD has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God. The Lord will regather Israel the way a man would take back his wife. The nation need have no fear of disgrace, for she will no longer be desolate and helpless like a widow. God, like a husband, will take back Israel, His wife. He is the Lord Almighty… the Holy One of Israel, her Redeemer, and in His uniqueness He is the God of all the earth, that is, its Creator and Sustainer. The Lord had deserted His people for a brief moment. Though not stated here, Isaiah had given the…
Daily Devotional 11-26-2021
Heb 10:28-29 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. (29) How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? Under the Old Covenant, if an Israelite spurned the Mosaic Law and at least two or three witnesses verified his actions, he was put to death. This being true, the author then argued from the lesser to the greater. If defiance of an inferior covenant could bring such retribution, what about defiance of the New Covenant which, as he had made clear, is far superior? The answer can only be that the punishment would be substantially greater in such a case. In order to show that…
Daily Devotional 11-25-2021
Heb 11:17-19 NIV By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, (18) even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” (19) Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. he theme of testing emerges here as the writer returned to Abraham. The readers can learn from that supreme test in which the patriarch was called on to sacrifice his… son. Though this seemed to contradict the divine promise, Abraham was able to rise above the trial and trust in the resurrecting power of God. So also Christian readers must sometimes look beyond the experiences of life, in which Gods promises do not seem to be fulfilled, and…
Daily Devotional 11-24-2021
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. He hastens to acknowledge that whatever he now is, he is by the grace of God. And he did not accept this grace as a matter of fact. Rather it put him under the deepest obligation, and he labored tirelessly to serve the Christ who saved him. Yet in a very real sense it was not Paul himself, but the grace of God which was working with him.
Daiy Devotional 11-23-2021
Rom 9:16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. The conclusion, then, is that the ultimate destiny of men or of nations does not rest in the strength of their will or in the power of their exertions, but rather in the mercy of God. When Paul says that it is not of him who wills, he does not mean that a person’s will is not involved in his salvation. The gospel invitation is clearly directed to a person’s will, as shown in revelation: “Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” Jesus exposed the unbelieving Jews as being unwilling to come to Him. When Paul says, nor of him who runs, he does not deny that we must strive to enter the narrow gate. A certain amount of spiritual earnestness and willingness are necessary. But man’s will…
Daily Devotional 11-22-2021
Col 2:13-14 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. (14) He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. Before a person is liberated to this new life in Christ, he is dead in his sins and in his sinful nature. Death means separation, not annihilation. Even the unsaved still bear the image of God, but they are separated from God. Cut off from spiritual life, they still have human life. But now God made you alive with Christ. The same “power” that raised Christ from the dead resurrects believing sinners to spiritual life. This new life came when God forgave us all our sins for He canceled the written code. Before…
Daily Devotional 11-21-2021
Joh 16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” Jesus’ instructions about these things (John chapters 14-16) were intended to sustain them, to give them peace in Him. Believers have a dual existence: they are in Christ and in this world. In union with Jesus, His disciples have peace, but the world exerts a hostile pressure. The world system, the enemy of God and His people, opposed Jesus’ message and ministry. But Jesus won the victory over the system; He has overcome the world. As the “strong man” who came and ruined Satan’s kingdom, Jesus is the Victor. Jesus wanted the disciples to remember this fact and to rejoice in His victory. Take heart! means “Be courageous.” Because He won they, in union with Him, can win also.