Daily Devotional 11-20-2021
Heb 13:9 Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited. That is why new doctrines which conflict with the unchanging message about Jesus Christ should be rejected. The author’s reference here to all kinds of strange teachings does not sound at all like a reference to normative Judaism but as if the readers were confronting a peculiar, sectarian variation of that religion.
Daily Devotional 11-19-2021
Joh 4:23 CSB But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. With the advent of the Messiah the time came for a new order of worship. True worshipers are those who realize that Jesus is the Truth of God and the one and only Way to the Father. To worship in truth is to worship God through Jesus. To worship in Spirit is to worship in the new realm which God has revealed to people through the Bible. The Father is seeking true worshipers because He wants people to live in reality, not in falsehood. Everybody is a worshiper but because of sin many are blind and constantly put their trust in worthless objects.
Daily Devotional 11-18-2021
Pro 10:13-14 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense. (14) The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction. These statements contrast the wise and the fool. While the discerning person is characterized by his wise statements, one lacking judgment experiences trouble. He may be punished by a rod on the back. A wise person stores up knowledge; he holds it in for the right occasion without spouting off his knowledge. What a fool says, however, causes him trouble and eventually ruin because he foolishly speaks the wrong things and gets himself in trouble.
Daily Devotional 11-17-21
2Co 7:5-6 In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within. (6) But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, Paul’s frame of mind and body before Titus’ arrival was far from placid. He had no rest. The great apostle did not always ride a spiritual crest, which he was not hesitant to admit. He candidly admitted that his conflicts… fears and depression (downcast) were brought on by apparent opposition or persecution in Macedonia, by anxiety about Titus’ well-being, by his reception by the Corinthians, and by their response to his letter. However, the ample comfort of God more than met his needs through the coming of Titus and the good news he brought. Titus had been well received by the Corinthians. They did love Paul and longed for him…
Daily Devotional 11-16-21
Joh 14:27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful. In New Testament times the normal way to say good-bye was Peace. In His death Jesus provided a legacy for His disciples: My peace I give you. They would have “peace with God” because their sins were forgiven and the “peace of God” would guard their lives. The world is unable to give this kind of peace. Fear of death and fear of the future are removed as Jesus’ followers trust in Him. Thus they need not be troubled.
Daily Devotional 11-15-2021
Psa 27:1-3 Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—whom should I dread? (2) When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell. (3) Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid; though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident. David expressed great confidence in the Lord: because the Lord was his Light… Salvation, and Stronghold, nobody could harm him. Light signifies understanding, joy, and life and the stronghold signifies defense. With these provisions from the Lord, whom shall a believer fear? Obviously the answer is no one.
Daily Devotional 11-14-2021
Exo 33:17 The LORD answered Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and I know you by name.” Moses’ second request was for confirmation that the Lord would indeed go with His people. Absence of God’s presence with them in their journey to the Promised Land would pose serious problems for their and God’s reputations. So again God agreed to Moses’ request, assuring Moses that He was pleased with him.
Daiy Devotional 11-13-2021
Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? The oracle consists of an introductory statement in which Balak was told directly that the immutable God of Israel had promised to bless His people Israel and would not change His mind. Balaam, moreover, had just been given a command to bless and in the face of God’s unbreakable commitment to Israel, Balaam had no power to do otherwise.
Daily Devotional 11-12-2021
Exo 3:13-14 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” (14) God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” Moses anticipated questions from the children of Israel when he returned to them as the Lord’s spokesman, and he wanted to be able to tell them who sent him. It was at this point that God first revealed Himself as Jehovah, the great I AM. English Jehovah comes from the Hebrew YHWH, with vowel markings supplied from Elohim and Adonai, other names of God. No one knows for sure the true pronunciation of YHWH because the ancient Hebrew spelling used no actual vowels in…
Daily Devotional 11-11-2021
Rom 9:16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. The apostle now faces up to a serious theological problem. If God made promises to Israel as His chosen earthly people, how can this be squared with Israel’s present rejection and with the Gentiles being brought into the place of blessing? Paul insists that this does not indicate any breach of promise on God’s part. He goes on to show that God has always had a sovereign election process based upon promise and not just on lineal descent. Just because a person is born into the nation of Israel does not mean that he is an heir to the promises. Within the nation of Israel, God has a true, believing remnant.