In Gods Arms
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Posted:Apr 4, 2024 4:37 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 705 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16
Bible in a Year: Ruth 1-4; Luke 8:1-25
I will be with him in trouble. Psalm 91:15
The sound of the drill terrified five-year-old Sarah. She leaped out of the dentist’s chair and refused to get back in. Nodding understandingly, the dentist told her father, “Daddy, get into the chair.” Jason thought he was meant to show his how easy it was. But then the dentist turned to the little girl and said, “Now, climb up and sit in Daddy’s lap.” With her father now cradling her in his reassuring arms, Sarah relaxed completely, and the dentist was able to continue.
That day, Jason learned a great lesson about the comfort of the presence of his heavenly Father. “Sometimes, God [chooses not to] take over what we have to go through,” he said. “But God was showing me, ‘I will be there with you.’ ”
Psalm 91 speaks of the comforting presence and power of God that gives us the strength to face our trials. Knowing that we can rest in His powerful arms gives us great assurance, as does His promise to those who love Him: “He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble” (v. 15).
There are many unavoidable challenges and trials in life, and we will inevitably have to go through pain and suffering. But with God’s reassuring arms wrapped around us, we’ll be able to bear our crises and circumstances, and let Him strengthen our faith as we grow through them.
What trials are you going through now? How can you remind yourself that God is always with you?
Gracious Father, thank You for Your reassuring presence in my circumstances. Please help me through them, knowing that You’re always with me.
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I Hear You, God!
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Posted:Apr 3, 2024 5:13 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 714 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: John 10:1-11, 16
Bible in a Year: Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. John 10:3
Baby Graham fussed and wiggled as his mother held him in her lap while the doctors inserted his first hearing aid. Moments after the doctor turned on the device, Graham stopped crying. His eyes widened. He grinned. He could hear his mother’s voice comforting him, encouraging him, and calling his name.
Baby Graham heard his mother speaking, but he needed help learning how to recognize her voice and understand the meaning of her words. Jesus invites people into a similar learning process. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we become the sheep He knows intimately and guides personally (John 10:3). We can grow to trust and obey Him as we practice hearing and heeding His voice (v. 4).
In the Old Testament, God spoke through the prophets. In the New Testament, Jesus—God in the flesh—spoke directly to people. Today, believers in Jesus have access to the power of the Holy Spirit, who helps us understand and obey God’s words which He inspired and preserved in the Bible. We can communicate directly with Jesus through our prayers as He speaks to us through Scripture and through His people. As we come to recognize God’s voice, which is always in alignment with His words in the Bible, we can cry out with grateful praise, “I hear You, God!”
How has God used the Scriptures to reveal Himself to you this week? How can you speak His wisdom to others who need comfort or encouragement today?
I hear You, God! Please help me receive and share the truth and love You reveal to me as I read the Bible.
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Psalm 72 Leaders
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Posted:Apr 2, 2024 5:11 am
Last Updated:Apr 2, 2024 5:12 am 842 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: Psalm 72:1-7
Bible in a Year: Judges 16-18; Luke 7:1-30
May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.
Psalm 72:6
In July 2022, Britain’s prime minister was forced to step down after what many felt were lapses in integrity (the newly appointed prime minister stepped down just months later!). The event was triggered when the country’s health minister attended an annual parliamentary prayer breakfast, felt convicted about the need for integrity in public life, and resigned. When other ministers resigned too, the prime minister realized he had to leave. It was a remarkable moment, originating from a peaceful prayer meeting.
Believers in Jesus are called to pray for their political leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), and Psalm 72 is a good guide for doing so, being both a ruler’s job description and a prayer to help them achieve it. It describes the ideal leader as a person of justice and integrity (vv. 1-2), who defends the vulnerable (v. 4), serves the needy (vv. 12-13), and stands against oppression (v. 14). Their time in office is so refreshing, it’s like “showers watering the earth” (v. 6), bringing prosperity to the land (vv. 3, 7, 16). While only the Messiah can perfectly fulfill such a role (v. 11), what better standard of leadership could be aimed for?
The health of a country is governed by the integrity of its office-bearers. Let’s seek “Psalm 72 leaders” for our nations and help them to embody the qualities found in this psalm by praying it for them.
What qualities do you look for in a leader? How can you pray more often for your local and national leaders?
Father, please empower our leaders to be people of justice, integrity, and goodness.
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Meeting Together in Jesus
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Posted:Apr 1, 2024 4:09 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 864 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: Hebrews 10:19-25
Bible in a Year: Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49
[Don’t give] up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but [encourage] one another. Hebrews 10:25
When I went through an extended period of emotional and spiritual pain and struggle due to difficult circumstances in my life, it would have been easy for me to withdraw from church. (And sometimes I did wonder, Why bother?) But I felt compelled to keep attending each Sunday.
Although my situation remained the same for many long years, worshiping and gathering with other believers in services, prayer meetings, and Bible study supplied the encouragement I needed to persevere and remain hopeful. And often I’d not only hear an uplifting message or teaching, but I’d receive comfort, a listening ear, or a hug I needed from others.
The author of Hebrews wrote, “[Don’t give] up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but [encourage] one another” (Hebrews 10:25). This author knew that when we face hardships and difficulties, we’ll need the reassurance of others—and that others would need ours. So this Scripture writer reminded readers to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” and to consider how to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (vv. 23-24). That’s a big part of what encouragement is. That’s why God leads us to keep meeting together. Someone may need your loving encouragement, and you may be surprised by what you receive in return.
When have you felt encouraged after leaving a worship service? Why? Who needs your support and reassurance?
Loving God, please help me not to give up meeting together with other believers, but to experience together Your peace and love.
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Jesus Christ Is Risen Today!
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Posted:Mar 31, 2024 6:57 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 889 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: Matthew 28:1–10
Bible in a Year: Judges 11–12; Luke 6:1–26
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6
Before Charles Simeon attended university in Cambridge, England, he loved horses and clothes, spending a huge sum on his attire yearly. But because his college required him to attend regular Communion services, he started to explore what he believed. After reading books written by believers in Jesus, he experienced a dramatic conversion on Easter Sunday. Awaking early on April 4, 1779, he cried out, “Jesus Christ is risen today! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” As he grew in his faith in God, he devoted himself to Bible study, prayer, and attending chapel services.
On the first Easter, life changed for the two women who arrived at Jesus’ tomb. There they witnessed a violent earthquake as an angel rolled back the stone. He said to them, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:5–6). Overjoyed, the women worshiped Jesus and ran back to tell their friends the good news.
Encountering the risen Christ isn’t something reserved for ancient times—He promises to meet us here and now. We might experience a dramatic encounter, such as the women at the tomb or as Charles Simeon did, but we might not. In whatever way Jesus reveals Himself to us, we can trust that He loves us.
How has God shown Himself to you? How have you changed because of your encounter with Him?
Risen Jesus, thank You for coming and dying on the cross that I might have life eternal. I worship You.
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The Passion of Christ
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Posted:Mar 30, 2024 5:50 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 910 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: Isaiah 53:4–7, 10–12
Bible in a Year: Judges 9–10; Luke 5:17–39
The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Before Jim Caviezel played Jesus in the film The Passion of the Christ, director Mel Gibson warned that the role would be extremely difficult and could negatively impact his career in Hollywood. Caviezel took on the role anyway, saying, “I think we have to make it, even if it is difficult.”
During the filming, Caviezel was struck by lightning, lost forty-five pounds, and was accidentally whipped during the flogging scene. Afterwards, he stated, “I didn’t want people to see me. I just wanted them to see Jesus. Conversions will happen through that.” The film deeply affected Caviezel and others on the set, and only God knows how many of the millions who watched it experienced changed lives.
The passion of Christ refers to the time of Jesus’ greatest suffering, from His triumphal entry on Palm Sunday and including His betrayal, mocking, flogging, and crucifixion. Accounts are found in all four gospels.
In Isaiah 53, His suffering and its outcome are foretold: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (v. 5). All of us, “like sheep, have gone astray” (v. 6). But because of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, we can have peace with God. His suffering opened the way for us to be with Him.
What aspect of Christ’s life most impacts you? How does His suffering affect you?
Precious Savior, it’s hard to express how grateful I am that You suffered, died, and rose again for me. Thank You.
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Jesus, Our Substitute
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Posted:Mar 29, 2024 7:00 am
Last Updated:Mar 29, 2024 7:00 am 910 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: 1 Peter 3:13–18
Bible in a Year: Judges 7–8; Luke 5:1–16
Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
A wealthy twenty-year-old was drag-racing with his friends when he struck and killed a pedestrian. Although the young man received a three-year prison sentence, some believe that the man who appeared in court (and who subsequently served a prison sentence) was a hired surrogate for the driver who committed the crime. This type of thing has been known to occur in some countries where people hire body doubles to avoid paying for their crimes.
This may sound scandalous and outrageous, but more than two thousand years ago, Jesus became our substitute and “suffered once for [our] sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18. As God’s sinless sacrifice, Christ suffered and died once and for all (Hebrews 10:10), for all who believe in Him. He took the penalty for all our sins in His own body on the cross. Unlike a person today who chooses to be a substitute for a criminal to get some cash, Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross provided “hope” for us as He freely, willingly gave His life for us (1 Peter 3:15, 18; John 10:15). He did so to bridge the chasm between us and God.
May we rejoice and find comfort and confidence in this profound truth: Only by the substitutionary death of Jesus can we—sinners in need—have a relationship with and complete spiritual access to our loving God.
How has Christ’s substitutionary death changed your life? What does it mean for you to have access to God and eternal life because of Jesus’ death on the cross?
Dear Jesus, thank You for dying in my place so that I might have access to God.
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A New Command to Love
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Posted:Mar 28, 2024 3:11 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 916 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: John 13:3–5, 12–15, 31–35
Bible in a Year: Judges 4–6; Luke 4:31–44
A new command I give you: Love one another. John 13:34
In a tradition starting as early as the thirteenth century, members of the royal family in the United Kingdom give gifts to people in need on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. The practice is rooted in the meaning of the word maundy, which comes from the Latin mandatum, “command.” The command being commemorated is the new one that Jesus gave to His friends on the night before He died: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).
Jesus was a leader who took on the role of a servant as He washed His friends’ feet (v. 5). He then called them to do the same: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (v. 15). And in an even greater act of sacrifice, He lay down His life, dying on the cross (19:30). Out of mercy and love, He gave Himself that we might enjoy the fullness of life.
The tradition of the British royal family serving people in need continues as a symbol of following Jesus’ great example. We may not have been born into a place of privilege, but when we place our faith in Jesus, we become members of His family. And we too can show our love by living out His new command. As we depend on God’s Spirit to change us from within, we can reach out to others with care, affirmation, and grace.
How have you observed or embodied servant leadership? In what ways could you “love one another” today?
My great Savior, what a gift of love You give! Thank You for being the ultimate Servant, laying down Your life for me.
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Fruitful Believers in Christ
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Posted:Mar 27, 2024 5:06 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 940 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: Mark 11:12–20
Bible in a Year: Judges 1–3; Luke 4:1–30
Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit.
Mark 11:13
Cindy was excited for her new job in a nonprofit company. What an opportunity to make a difference! She soon discovered her coworkers didn’t share her enthusiasm. They mocked the company’s mission and made excuses for their poor performance as they looked elsewhere for more lucrative positions. Cindy wished she’d never applied for this job. What looked great from afar was disappointing up close.
This was Jesus’ problem with the fig tree mentioned in today’s story (Mark 11:13). It was early in the season, yet the tree’s leaves signaled it might have early figs. Nope. The tree had sprouted leaves, but it hadn’t yet produced fruit. Disappointed, Jesus cursed the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (v. 14). By the next morning the tree had entirely withered (v. 20).
Christ once fasted forty days, so He knew how to go without food. Cursing the fig tree was not about His appetite. It was an object lesson. The tree represented Israel, which had the trappings of true religion but had lost the point. They were about to kill their Messiah, the of God. How more barren could they be?
We may look good from afar, but Jesus comes near, looking for fruit that only His Spirit can produce. Our fruit need not be spectacular. But it must be supernatural, such as love, joy, and peace in hard times (Galatians 5:22). Relying on the Spirit, we can bear fruit even then for Jesus.
What fruit do others see in you? How might you be more fruitful?
Holy Spirit, prune me so I might bear more fruit.
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Missing The Basics
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Posted:Mar 26, 2024 4:55 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2024 3:52 pm 949 Views
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Today's Devotional
Read: Matthew 22:23–33
Bible in a Year: Joshua 22–24; Luke 3
You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Matthew 22:29
For decades, McDonald’s ruled fast food with their Quarter Pounder burger. In the 1980s, a rival chain cooked up an idea to dethrone the company with the golden arches. A&W offered the Third Pound Burger—larger than McDonald’s—and sold it for the same price. Even more, A&W’s burger won numerous blind taste tests. But the burger bombed. Nobody bought it. Eventually, they dropped it from the menu. Research revealed that consumers misunderstood the math and thought the Third Pound Burger was smaller than the Quarter Pounder. A grand idea failed because people missed the basics.
Jesus warned of how easy it is to miss the basics. Religious leaders, scheming to trap and discredit Him during the week He was crucified, posed a strange, hypothetical scenario about a woman who was widowed seven times (Matthew 22:23–28. Jesus responded, insisting that this knotty dilemma wasn’t a problem at all. Rather, their problem was how they didn’t “know the Scriptures or the power of God” (v. 29). The Scriptures, Jesus insisted, aren’t first intended to answer logical or philosophical puzzles. Rather, their primary aim is to lead us to know and love Jesus and to “have eternal life” in Him (John 5:39). These are the basics the leaders missed.
We often miss the basics too. The Bible’s main aim is an encounter with the living Jesus. It would be heartbreaking to miss it.
How do you miss Scripture’s basics? How can you return to the basics . . . to Jesus?
Dear God, sometimes I get lost even amid good things. Please help me.
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