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 7-7-2021
Jas 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” We are not left to deal with the lusts of the flesh in our own strength. By His grace, more strength is given to us whenever it is needed. He gives more grace when the burdens grow greater. He sends more strength when the labors increase. He adds His mercy to added affliction. He adds His multiplied peace to multiplied trials. God resists the proud, but He cannot resist the broken and contrite spirit. Grace is promised to the humble, not the proud.
Daily Devotional 7-4-2021
Deu 7:11-12 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today. (12) If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. If the nation of Israel is obedient to the Lord she will experience His covenantal love. Though God will not abandon the covenant because of His promises to the patriarchs, the people could forfeit the blessings of the covenant through their own disobedience. Likewise, the same is true to those under the New Covenant.
Daily Devotional 7-2-2021
Psa 146:3-6 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. (4) When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. (5) Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God. (6) He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them– he remains faithful forever. The psalmist instructed the congregation to put their trust in the One who is infinitely more powerful than mortal man, who cannot save. A person’s plans die with him. At death the spirit of man departs and the body returns to dust. So anyone who trusts in man will have no reason for praising. Meanwhile, blessed is anyone who trusts and hopes in the Sovereign Lord and King. The One is the Maker of heaven and earth, because…
Daily Devotional 6-27-2021
Gal 3:1-2 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. (2) I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? It is not by works of the law, but by “hearing with faith” that we become the recipients of God’s grace. The message is clear. “Hearing with faith” is how a believer receives salvation and the Holy Spirit. The Galatians were on the verge of turning again into the dead-end way of seeking salvation by their own efforts of keeping the law. Are you saved by good deeds or by faith alone?
Daily Devotional June 23, 2021
Rev 2:4-5 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (5) Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp-stand from its place. The Christians could look back to better days when our bridal love for Christ flowed warm, full, and free. While one is still sound in doctrine and active in service, the true motive of all worship and service is missing. Is this true as far as you are concerned? There is hope! Our Father and Lord Jesus is waiting for us to return. While we can be faithless, God shall remain faithful. He promises us to restore us when we repent.
Daily Devotional June 18, 2021
Rom 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of God is to enable a diverse people (of different ethics origin, ages, gender, upbringing) to live peacefully together in the body of Christ. “Hope, joy, and peace” are ingredients needed in great measure by those whose commitment is to edifying those who are locked in conflict. These are the supernatural fruits ensued from the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individuals, through faith and love.
Daily Devotional June 16 2021
Psa 147:11 the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love He doesn’t take pleasure in the horses as they race, or the athletes as they contend in the Olympics. He takes pleasure in the weak and the poor who fear Him and rely on His grace to live moment by moment.
Daily Devotional June 15 2021
Rom 4:20-21 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, (21) being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Abraham was too old to have children, and Sarah was barren. Not only that: How do you turn a son or two into “many nations,” which God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of? It all seemed totally impossible. Therefore, Abraham’s faith glorified God by being fully assured that he could and would do the humanly impossible. This is the faith we are called to have. That God will do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Faith is the confidence in what what we hope for and the certainty of what is unseen.