Daily Devo

Listen to today’s devo!

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. (Acts 2:14)

Expanded Passage: Acts 2:14-16

In my contextual culture, respect is often associated with not confronting or voicing your honest opinion about an issue, because doing so is regarded as being impolite and largely unacceptable. I was at the public offices the other day and the services were not rendered efficiently. Nevertheless, everyone there seemed prepared not to voice our frustrations.

Then, a well-spoken gentleman joined the queue. He immediately noticed the lack of proper services and expressed his concerns about the lack of urgency to assist the members of the public. At that stage, the rest of us all seemed to gather a bit of strength to nod along or offer a little murmur in agreement.

Similarly, Peter stood up among the eleven disciples and raised his voice courageously, and as leaders, the Lord prepares and expects us to speak out of our godly convictions. When we are afraid to speak out, injustices, wrong perceptions, and evil prevail in society. God is looking for courageous leaders to stand up and speak with the kingdom’s prophetic and apostolic voice in the current affairs of our nations.

Where do you need to raise your voice and be heard? Who needs to hear your bold, righteous voice? Be brave and in wisdom speak out to silence negative voices and let the voice of the kingdom of God be louder.

Choose to speak out for the greater good.

Jim Machuku is an ordained minister, lead pastor, and educator. He is passionate about leadership development and community transformation.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isa. 6:8)

Expanded Passage: Isaiah 6:8

Growing up, I was unaware of a prayer of dedication that my mother had offered up to God earlier in her life. Having had seven boys, my precious mom had prayed that at least one of her boys would be in full-time ministry serving God.

On my fifth birthday, I was kidnapped by a stranger at the back of our house while playing with other kids. For three horrific days, I was separated from my loving family. I was later found in another part of our city by the police and reunited with my family. Years later, when I was called into ministry, my loving and prayerful mother would share how I was an answer to her many years of “send one of my boys” prayers. The enemy had tried to hinder that prayer in many ways, including kidnapping, sickness, and many other personal battles. But the Lord preserved my life and allowed me to hear his voice calling me and be sent out.

The voice of the Lord has not stopped calling servant leaders in different areas of ministry to go and serve him. The harvest is ripe but the workers are few. Consider: Is the Lord calling you today to serve him in some aspect of ministry? If so, like Isaiah, may you be willing and obedient to answer boldly with “Here am I. Send me!”

Be available and willing to go for the Lord.

Jim Machuku is an ordained minister, lead pastor, and educator. He is passionate about leadership development and community transformation.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (Isa. 6:7)

Expanded Passage: Isaiah 6:6-7

When the Lord called me as a young missionary and church planter several years ago to the kingdom of Eswatini, one of my immediate passionate prayer requests to God was for him to touch my lips and at least give me utterance in the local language of Siswati. I so greatly desired to engage and share the love and Word of God with the people of Eswatini in their native language. I was also eager to communicate with the elderly who would otherwise not understand the official English language or speak it fluently.

One night, I remember asking and humbly petitioning God once more, crying out, “If Jesus were physically sent to the people of Eswatini, what language would he speak?” Thankfully, that personal prayer was graciously answered in the years that followed as I continued to serve God on the mission field.

Both generally and as leaders, the greatest gift in our lives is to have our sins atoned for and our lips divinely touched. We have been given the opportunity to intentionally share uncompromising truth with our generation and empower others with timeless kingdom principles that enhance the kingdom come. As leaders, what comes out of our mouths must be a reflection of the wonderful work of salvation in our hearts. Our daily prayer, therefore, is for our speech to be seasoned with grace and truth.

Ask the Lord to touch your lips to speak the truth.

Jim Machuku is an ordained minister, lead pastor, and educator. He is passionate about leadership development and community transformation.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips." (Isa. 6:5)

Expanded Passage: Isaiah 6:4-5

I grew up the third born in a family of seven boys. We were privileged to have parents who diligently sought to bring us up in the fear of the Lord at all costs, which meant attending Sunday school every weekend.

Because I was raised in a very traditional church, there were parts of the sanctuary we kids were not allowed to play around. The off-limit areas included the main front stage where the pastor stood as well as a covered baptism pool. It was unstated though widely known that only God’s holy servants were allowed to stand in that place and speak on behalf of God. Moreover, I was made to believe that the pastor or anyone who stood at that altar had to be “pure” or they would die by merely standing there.

When the Lord called me into ministry leadership years later, I was immediately confronted with these beliefs from my past. I carried an underlying sense of being ruined and unworthy to both lead and speak for the righteous God. Thankfully, as we see in today’s passage, we are redeemed by the righteousness of Christ. Our sins are atoned for. Yes, we were unworthy, but Christ has become our righteousness and draws us near to God. Our once unclean lips can now be an instrument of praise and proclamation of his Word to the nations.

Don’t let how you see yourself hinder you from serving God.

Jim Machuku is an ordained minister, lead pastor, and educator. He is passionate about leadership development and community transformation.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isa. 6:1)

Expanded Passage: Isaiah 6:1-3

Servant leadership in ministry can be both a joy and a challenge. I recently spoke to a young couple almost at the edge of quitting their ministry altogether. Fresh from seminary, this visionary couple, filled with a contiguous passion for the Lord’s work, had been sent out to lead a church on the outskirts of our city.

Unfortunately, this enthusiastic and graciously gifted couple was not well received and supported by that local assembly. For a long while, they grew frustrated and felt completely dejected. An inner false impression of God’s abandonment and a sense of ultimate failure in ministry consumed their lives. At the end of our informal conversation, I asked this lovely couple, “What vision of God did you hold in your hearts and minds while you led and served?”

Like this couple, we will encounter unpredictable life challenges that leave us emotionally and spiritually drained. We might face an overwhelming crisis of leadership failure all around us, unwarranted rejection, or personal difficulties. Nevertheless, in those moments, we can lean into what the prophet Isaiah saw and articulately described as the divine posture of our gracious Lord high and exalted, seated on the throne. We can keep this spiritual image of our great God sitting on the throne in full majesty in our minds and hearts, because our Lord reigns in unmatched splendor and holy magnificence.

See God as the majestic King of Kings.

Jim Machuku is an ordained minister, lead pastor, and educator. He is passionate about leadership development and community transformation.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. (Ps. 63:3)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 63

We all approach God with preconceived notions about who God is. If you think about it, no two of us have exactly the same image of God in our minds. We all bring our own backgrounds, personalities, education, and experiences, applying our own insights to understand the God we serve. If there is one rock-solid truth that we can all know and embrace about God, however, it is that God is infinite love. God’s love is greater than any love we can imagine with our human minds.

Psalm 63 is a psalm David wrote when he was in the desert, possibly during the time when he was on the run from Saul (1 Sam. 23–24) or when he fled from Jerusalem because of his son Absalom’s conspiracy to kill him (2 Sam. 15). David’s song opens with words of longing for God. Resting there in a “dry and parched land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1), David’s thoughts were not about his dependence on water, but on his need to remain connected with God. Even though things weren’t going his way, he trusted his fortunes would turn. He continued to praise God “because your love is better than life” itself (v. 3).

There is no greater refuge from life’s storms than God’s infinite love. Stay connected with God and continually rest in his love.

Think about God's unimaginably immense love!

Kevin R. Scott is an editor for Wesleyan Publishing House and author of ReCreatable and Awakening Faith. He loves spending time with his wife, Debbie, children, and grandchildren.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. (1 Sam. 3:3)

Expanded Passage: 1 Samuel 3:1-18

The story of young Samuel’s spiritual awakening offers us wisdom as we seek to cultivate our own spiritual intuition. At the beginning of the chapter, Samuel is merely a servant of Eli, looking to him for moral and spiritual guidance. By the end of the passage, he has learned to tune in to God’s voice and hear his message. Not only that, he has gained the courage to speak that message against Eli and his family and in support of the people they had been abusing and oppressing.

Verse 3 symbolizes the reason for Samuel’s awakening. Although Eli played some small part in helping Samuel recognize God’s voice, it was Samuel who had put himself in the position to receive it. Samuel was so intent on connecting with God that he slept next to the piece of furniture that served as a physical representation of God to the people of Israel—the ark of the covenant.

Samuel illustrates the importance of listening for and hearing from God, rather than always looking to other humans for guidance or assuming that God thinks the same way that we do. When we do this, we develop our spiritual intuition—our ability to recognize and trust the voice of the Holy Spirit within us. As you seek to hear from God, be sure to place yourself in a place and posture to truly listen.

Take time each day to quiet yourself and listen for God’s voice.

Kevin R. Scott is an editor for Wesleyan Publishing House and author of ReCreatable and Awakening Faith. He loves spending time with his wife, Debbie, children, and grandchildren.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. (1 Sam. 3:18)

Expanded Passage: 1 Samuel 3:11-18

A god who always thinks like we do is no god at all, but a projection of our own human beliefs and understanding. The true God is beyond our grasp and understanding, thus we can always expect God to be “more” and “better” than we can imagine. More love. More grace. More in tune with the plight of the oppressed. If the messages we hear from God are always propping up existing structures and worldly biases, then we should question whether we are as spiritually attuned as we think.

The first message Samuel downloaded from God was a harsh one of judgment—but its harshness was directed toward spiritual leaders who abused and oppressed the people under their leadership. It reveals a God whose heart is toward the common person—one who won’t abide spiritual leaders who refuse to tune in to the frequency of his love. Hophni and Phineas couldn’t imagine a God who truly loved and stood with the people they despised and oppressed. Their foolishness was limiting God’s capacity for love.

As believers, we can easily get in the habit of thinking that God always thinks the way we do, opposes the people we do, and lets slide the things we let slide. To be true spiritual leaders, we must be willing to expand our hearts to believe in a God who is “more” than we ever imagined.

Let the law of God’s love be your guide.

Kevin R. Scott is an editor for Wesleyan Publishing House and author of ReCreatable and Awakening Faith. He loves spending time with his wife, Debbie, their four children, and two grandchildren.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3:10)

Expanded Passage: 1 Samuel 3:8-10

I’m old enough to remember when people listened to music on the radio. You couldn’t pick a specific song or artist like you can on today’s streaming services. Instead, you first chose what genre of music you wanted to hear. If you wanted to hear country music, you had to tune to that specific frequency on the radio dial—same for rock, classical, or Christian music. Once you tuned into the right frequency, you would then hear the songs and artists the deejay chose for their listeners to hear. If you waited long enough, depending on its popularity, you might hear the specific song you were wanting to hear.

When God first called Samuel, Samuel didn’t recognize who was calling him, because he was tuned to a different spiritual frequency. He wasn’t listening for God, so he assumed it was Eli calling. Once the spiritually depleted Eli finally figured out what was happening, he was able to give Samuel useful spiritual guidance: “Don’t tune in to my voice; tune in to God’s frequency.”

Christians often don’t “hear from God” because they are either tuned in to the wrong frequency or they are only listening for a specific message they want to hear. Listening to God involves being tuned to the right spiritual frequency, plus being willing to hear whatever message God has for you, even if it’s totally different than what you were expecting.

Dial your spiritual frequency to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice.

Kevin R. Scott is an editor for Wesleyan Publishing House and author of ReCreatable and Awakening Faith. He loves spending time with his wife, Debbie, their four children, and two grandchildren.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.