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.
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 11-06-2021
1Co 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise. In Christian service, as in all of Christian life, there is always the danger of self-deception. Perhaps some of those who came to Corinth as teachers posed as men of extreme wisdom. Any who have an exalted view of their own worldly wisdom must learn that they must become fools in the eyes of the world in order to become wise in God’s estimation.
Daily Devotional 11-04-2021
Heb 4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Now the gracious invitation is extended: draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Our confidence is based on the knowledge that He died to save us and that He lives to keep us. We are assured of a hearty welcome because He has told us to come. The people in OT days could not draw near to Him. Only the high priest could approach Him, and then only on one day of the year. We can go into His presence at any time of the day or night and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. His mercy covers the things we should not have done, and His grace empowers us to do what we should…
Daily Devotional 10-31-2021
1Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. The writer was not dissatisfied with the spiritual state of his readers. Much less did he question or doubt their salvation, as some expositors of this epistle imply. On the contrary, his readers may even be viewed as having matured in the faith. John wrote precisely because their present state was so good. But he wished to warn them about dangers which always exist, no matter how far one has advanced in his Christian walk. He turned now to a warning. Do not love the world or anything in the world. The “world”, thought of here as an entity hostile to God, is always a seductive influence which Christians should continually resist . In other NT verses “world” means people. The world competes for the…
Daily Devotional 10-30-2021
Php 1:29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, So that being opposed would not come as a surprise, he gave them a reminder. Both believing on Christ and suffering for Him had been granted to them. Suffering for Christ was not to be considered accidental or a divine punishment. Paul referred to a kind of suffering that was really a sign of God’s favor. Believing on Christ and suffering for Him are both associated with God’s grace.
Daily Devotional 10-29-2021
Php 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. As the apostle thinks of the good start the believers have made in the Christian life, he is confident that God will finish the good work He has begun. Good work may refer to their salvation, or it may mean their active financial participation in the furtherance of the gospel. The day of Jesus Christ refers to the time of His coming again to take His people home to heaven and probably also includes the Judgment Seat of Christ, when service for Him will be reviewed and rewarded.
Daily Devotional 10-19-2021
Exo 31:3 I have filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft God appointed gifted artisans, Bezalel and Aholiab, to construct the tabernacle and all its furniture. They supervised other workers in this holy task. The repetition of “I” in this paragraph shows that with the divine command there is divine enablement. The Lord appoints His workers, endows them with ability and talent, and gives them a work to do for His glory. The work is all the Lord’s, but He accomplishes it through human instrumentality, then rewards His agents.
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 10-2-2021
2Co 10:8 For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame. As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul had been given authority in connection with the churches he established. The aim of this authority was to build up the saints in their most holy faith. The false teachers, on the other hand, were exercising an authority among the Corinthians which they had never received from the Lord. Not only so, but they were exercising this authority in a manner to tear down the saints rather than build them up. So Paul says that even if he boasted more abundantly in the authority, which the Lord gave him, he would not be put to shame for it. His claims would eventually prove to be true.