Daily Devotional 12-12-2021
Psa 113:7-9 CSB He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap (8) in order to seat them with nobles—with the nobles of his people. (9) He gives the childless woman a household, making her the joyful mother of children. Hallelujah! God exalts – thus sharing His nature with man – the miserable and the poor to places of prominence and prosperity. The poor hover near the refuse heap outside the city for warmth from the perpetual burning and for food from the garbage. But God exalts them, the lowest of society, to an equal portion with the highest (with princes). God does not do this with every poor person, but when He does it for some His gracious dealings are evident. In the New Testament the truth takes on a spiritual significance, for those who trust in the Lord are given an inheritance…
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.
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 11-7-2021
Heb 2:1 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. Paul pauses to inject the first of several solemn warnings that are found in the Epistle. This is a warning against drifting away from the message of the gospel. Because of the greatness of the Giver and because of the greatness of His gift, those who hear the gospel must give more serious attention to it. There is always the danger of drifting away from the Person and slipping back into a religion of pictures. This means drifting into apostasy—the sin for which there is no repentance.
Daily Devotional 10-22-2021
2Co 3:18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. The glory evident in Moses’ face was a diminishing radiance. By contrast, in the faces of Christians is God’s ever-increasing glory. Christians’ glory, like that of Moses, is a reflection of the Lord’s glory. But unlike Moses’ transitory glory a believer’s glory is eternal. This is because of God’s abiding presence through the Holy Spirit. This glory is the experience of salvation available in the New Covenant and mediated by the Spirit who leads Christians from justification through sanctification to glorification. As believers manifest the fruit of the Spirit, they are progressively being transformed (metamorphosis) into His likeness. Christlikeness is the goal of the Christian walk. No wonder Paul said…
Daily Devotional 10-16-2021
Eph 3:16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, According to the riches of His glory, Paul is going to ask that the saints might be spiritually strengthened. But to what extent? In abundance, consonant to the riches of His glory; not “according to” the narrowness of our hearts. There is a difference between the expressions “out of the riches” and “according to the riches”. A wealthy person might give a trifling amount; it would be out of his riches, but not in proportion to them! Paul asks that God will give strength according to the riches of His perfections. Since the Lord is infinitely rich in glory, let the saints get ready for a deluge! Why should we ask so little of so great a King? When someone asked a…
Daily Devotional 9-17-2021
Joh 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. The communion and fellowship which disciples have with Jesus in this life will increase in eternity. The goal of a believer’s salvation is future glorification which includes being with Jesus. Jesus’ last testament and will is that His disciples can see His glory. This glory was what Jesus had from the Father and would again have. His testament was sealed by His death and resurrection. Since His will is identical to the Father’s, it will certainly come to pass.
Daily Devotional 9-16-2021
Psa 25:11 LORD, for the sake of your name, forgive my iniquity, for it is immense. David now returns briefly to prayer for forgiveness. Thoroughly convicted of the vastness of his guilt, he bases his appeal on “Your name’s sake, O LORD.” Since a person’s name often stands for the person himself, the psalmist is here pleading God’s own character—and especially His mercy and grace—as his only claim to pardon. There is not a word about David’s own merit!
Daily Devotional 9-12-2021
Joh 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. The communion and fellowship which disciples have with Jesus in this life will increase in eternity. The goal of a believer’s salvation is future glorification which includes being with Jesus. Jesus’ last testament and will is that His disciples enter into (see) His glory. This glory was what Jesus had from the Father and would again have. His testament was sealed by His death and resurrection. Since His will is identical to the Father’s, it will certainly come to pass.