Daily Devotional 12-01-2021
Rom 12:21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. A scientist once said, “I will never let another man ruin my life by making me hate him.” As a believer he would not allow evil to conquer him. But overcome evil with good. It is characteristic of Christian teaching that it does not stop with the negative prohibition but goes on to the positive exhortation. Evil can be overpowered with good. This is a weapon we should use more frequently.
Daily Devotional 10-8-2021
Col 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, When we need to talk with others about their faults, we should ask for God’s help to resist our tendency to hammer people into submission by dwelling on their failures. Of course, we sometimes need to show them where they have sinned and fallen short of God’s ways. But that should not be the primary focus of our words, because judgment inevitably discourages. With God’s help we can instead offer hope by drawing attention to the wonderful news that God has forgiven our sins through Christ and is eager to help us change our ways.
Daily Devotional 10-7-2021
Jas 4:2-3 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. (3) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. The sad fact is that there are wars and fights among Christians. To suggest that this paragraph does not apply to believers is unrealistic, and it robs the passage of all its value for us. What causes all this fighting? It arises from the strong desires within us which are constantly struggling to be satisfied. There is the lust to accumulate material possessions. There is the drive for prestige. There is the craving for pleasure, for the gratification of bodily appetites. These powerful forces are at work within us. We are…
Daily Devotional 7-18-2021
1Ti 1:13-14 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. (14) The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. That Paul had broken the Ten Commandments before his conversion is abundantly evident from this verse. He speaks of himself as formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man.. The first sin is a matter of words only. The second describes suffering inflicted on others for their religious beliefs. The third includes the idea of cruelty and abuse. But Paul obtained mercy. He did not receive the punishment he deserved because he did these things ignorantly in unbelief. In persecuting Christians, he thought he was doing God’s service. Since his parents’ religion taught the worship of the true God,…
Daily Devotional 7-1-2021
Pro 10:6 Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. Whereas a righteous person receives blessings, it is different with the wicked. Violence overwhelms his mouth. The idea is either that his mouth conceals or deceptively hides violence or that violence characterizes what a person says. As Jesus stated, “The evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.” Our ability to control our aggression and words springs out of the meekness of our heart.