Daily Devotional 7-31-2021
Rom 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, (4) endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. (5) This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Believers can enjoy the peace with God that has been achieved and the glorious future in God’s presence that awaits them. But how should we react to the experiences of life that are often adverse and difficult? They are to rejoice in their sufferings. This is more than mere Stoic endurance of troubles, even though endurance or steadfastness is the first result in a chain-reaction outgrowth from distress. Suffering brings about perseverance/steadfastness – the ability to remain under difficulties without giving in. Only a believer who has faced distress can develop steadfastness. That in…
Daily Devotional 7-30-2021
Joh 10:10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. The thief, that is, a false shepherd, cares only about feeding himself, not building up the flock. He steals sheep in order to kill them, thus destroying part of the flock. But Christ has come to benefit the sheep. He gives life which is not constricted but overflowing. The thief takes life; Christ gives it to the full
Daily Devotional 7-28-2021
1Ti 6:3-5 If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, (4) he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, (5) and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain. Doctrinal error is seldom merely a case of being innocently mistaken. There is almost always some degree of culpability. The false teachers in Ephesus were conceited, with inflated egos. Such a person understands nothing. They are diseased with arguments, out of which come only envy, quarreling, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction. This contrasts strikingly with Paul’s instruction. Such evil fruits seem the inevitable external products of false teachers once one…
Daily Devotional 7-27-2021
Tit 2:11-12 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. (12) It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, When fully understood, it is the gospel of the grace of God which teaches Christians how to live. This grace has brought salvation to all men, i.e., it is universally available, but only the chosen ones would respond effectively leading to eternal life. The message of God’s grace, when its full implications are seen, leads Christians, negatively, to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and positively, to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present Age.
Daily Devotional 7-26-2021
1Jn 2:5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Obedience to God’s Word results in a rich and full experience of God’s love: God’s love is truly made complete in him. In John 14, an obedient disciple is promised a special experience of the love of the Father and Son. Since a Christian is already the object of God’s saving love, this additional, experiential realization of the divine affection may be properly said to make God’s love complete in him. That is to say, an obedient believer has a deep, full-orbed acquaintance with “God’s love.” Since God is love, to know God intimately is to know His love intimately.
Daily Devotional 7-25-2021
Psa 147:10-11 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; (11) the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. He should be worshiped for the priority He gives to the spiritual over the physical. He is not awed by the horses in the cavalry unit, or for the strong, muscular legs of the infantrymen. Or to change the figure, He doesn’t take pleasure in the horses as they race, or the athletes as they contend in the Olympics. But the LORD is delighted with those who reverence Him and who hope in His mercy.
Daily Devotional 7-24-2021
1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Fight the good fight is the language of athletic contests. Timothy was to give his best effort to this most worthwhile of struggles, the struggle to further the faith. This would involve the complete appropriation at all times of the fact that he possessed eternal life. No way this suggests that Timothy could gain eternal life by his own efforts. To Paul, Christ’s life is the possession of each Christian, not only throughout eternity, but now. It is this new life in Christ to which every Christian is called and which Christians confess by baptism and by word. Timothy’s good confession in the presence of many witnesses could refer to his ordination but more likely speaks of his…
Daily Devotional 7-23-2021
Psa 86:16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. Because the proud had risen against David, he asked God for strength. His enemies were ruthless men with no regard for the Lord. But by contrast the Lord is compassionate, gracious… slow to anger, loving, and faithful. David’s prayer for “strength” in the face of his peril was based on the greatness of God. He also asked for a sign of God’s goodness, that is, deliverance so that others would see and know it was God at work.
Daily Devotional 7-22-2021
2Co 9:7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Why should the Corinthians give generously? Paul gave two reasons. (1) A principle holds true in both the natural and the spiritual world: the size of a harvest corresponds to the scope of the sowing. A man may enjoy all his grain by eating it, or he may “lose” some of it by sowing it and later reaping a bountiful harvest. A spiritual harvest, of course, may differ in kind from the seed sown. Material seed may reap a spiritual harvest Another reason for giving generously is that God loves generosity. God prizes not the size of the gift, but the giver’s sincerity (not reluctantly), spontaneity (not under compulsion), and joyful willingness (a cheerful giver).
Daily Devotional 7-21-2021
Jas 4:11-12 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. (12) There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you–who are you to judge your neighbor? To slander and judge one another is totally incongruous to the humble spirit God desires. Furthermore, to judge another is actually a judgment of God’s Law itself. His Law is a mandate over all people. No one dares assume a haughty position over it. The slanderer is sentenced by the Law; the self-righteous judge is jeopardized by the Law; only the humble person is honored. True justice or righteousness is rendered when a believer subjects himself to God in humility and…