Kerusso Daily Devotional

We often hear that it’s harder to raise kids today than ever before. That isn’t true, of course. All eras down through history have been challenging. We live in a world scarred by sin, after all, and children grow up among all sorts of temptations.

That’s why the role of a parent is something to take seriously, as a sacred duty.

We’ve been discussing the best practical guide for living: the Bible. Nowhere is this truer than in its practical wisdom for raising successful children.

Although we all have the freedom to make our own choices—and your kids certainly will make their own decisions—they benefit greatly from a loving father or mother who also loves the Lord.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off in the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

This isn’t the kind of thing you hope for—this is scripture, the Word of God, and can be relied on to bring about the promise made. The Lord will honor your commitment to raising children who love their Creator.

One way to do that is to be bold in your discussions with your children, who likely hear anti-God stuff from school, and entertainment. For example, talk with them as if you believe the Bible is really true. Then point out that the book of Exodus commands all of us to value our parents.

Exodus 20:12 says, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God has given you.”

It doesn’t hurt to point out the bonus: long life.

Make sure that you also share with your children the wonderful practical tips from the Bible. Much of it will save them a broken heart down the road.

For example, Proverbs 18:24 says, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

This is repeated in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 15:33, which says, “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.”

God’s Word promises us a sound mind. This state of being will help your children in everything they do from completing school assignments to caring for elderly relatives. A child who knows the Lord, and prays consistently, will become a human being you can be proud of.

Let’s pray.

Father God, children are a gift from you. They are a sacred treasure—entrusted to us for a little while. Remind us daily of our role in shaping their lives, so that they are healthy, and content, in the world that you made for them. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Noah was far from perfect, but he was a humble man, and protective of his family. He stands out among fathers in the Bible as a man who remained loyal to God, in spite of the wickedness of the world around him.

Doesn’t that sound a lot like life today? Fathers who choose to follow a life of faith are surrounded by temptation and downright evil in this world, but God is pleased by our devotion, and He has a plan for each of us — even when circumstances are frustrating or difficult. 

Genesis 6:5–8 says, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

The Bible tells us Noah, father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, was a righteous man and walked faithfully with God. For this reason, God chose Noah to build an incredible ship—the ark —that would save not only mankind, but every variety of living creature on the earth—from peril.

Sometimes fathers feel like their job is a thankless one. They tackle the honey-do list on weekends, help with dinner, keep the kids in line, and help to wrangle them at bedtime...and maybe they don’t hear ‘thank you,’ or ‘great job,’ often enough. But God knows everything you do for your family, from breadwinning to caretaking and everything in between, and He takes delight in your devotion to your family, and to Him.

Deuteronomy 30:2–3 says, “And when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.”

Modern-day fathers can learn valuable lessons from Noah:

God promises to bless and protect those who faithfully follow and obey him. A man who obeys the Lord will inspire faith in his children as well. 

Obedience is not a sprint but a marathon; It means a lifetime of faithful devotion, even (and especially!) when the going gets tough.

Let’s pray.

Lord, Thank you for calling out Noah’s faithful obedience to you so many years ago, and for providing for the safety and provision of his entire family when the world had gone astray. Bless every father who hears this message, Lord, that they might grow closer in their walk with you, and inspire their children to follow in their footsteps. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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What is your relationship with your father like?

That’s kind of a personal question, right? And for some people, it may be a topic they really don’t enjoy discussing.

Sometimes people who don’t have a meaningful relationship with a father or father figure, struggle to grasp just how much God, our creator and provider, loves us. It can be challenging to develop a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father, if you’ve missed out on a positive bond with your father here on earth.

Psalm 90:2 says, “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

God always was, and He always will be. He is everlasting, the creator of everything, including you, and He has a good plan for your life. 

If you’ve been hurt, disappointed, or abandoned by your earthly father, or you struggle to find common ground in that relationship, bring it to God. Unrequited love and family strife don’t have to define your relationship with the Lord; He knows the burdens that you carry, and He legitimately wants to set you free from them, and to empower you to follow Him with a light heart and a renewed sense of joy.

Every human being is a son or daughter of God, the constant source of strength, wisdom, and hope to Christians everywhere.

1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

Whether you were blessed with a loving, present father or your origin story is more complicated than that, you are a beloved child of God — and He has a plan for your life.

God the Father sees us, knows us, and loves us — and He wants us to follow Him.

God is constant; He never changes. We can depend on Him.

God is faithful.

Our Heavenly Father is an example for earthly fathers to follow.

Ultimately, God is love.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, God—how blessed are we to be called your children. Help us to seek you, to listen for your voice, and to follow your commands. Your love and faithfulness gives us hope. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray, amen.

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Joseph was a hardworking tradesman who God hand-picked from all the men in the world to be the earthly father of His own Son, Jesus Christ. What an honor! And in some ways, what an incredibly challenging task.

Joseph wasn’t a king, a politician, or a recognized leader of any kind when he was betrothed to a young woman named Mary. A simple carpenter, he was also a man of compassion. When he learned Mary was pregnant and knew the child could not be his, he intended to divorce her quietly and send her back to her family—but God had other plans.

Matthew 1:20–21 says, “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’”

Joseph worked diligently to protect his wife Mary and their baby, then saw to Jesus’ education and needs as he was growing up. In a time when blended families were not the norm, Joseph embraced Jesus, providing for him, loving him, and teaching him the valuable skills of the carpentry trade. 

There was no parenting guidebook for raising God’s Son—so together, Joseph and Mary leaned into prayer, and did everything they could to raise Jesus well, and with love.

The Bible calls Joseph a righteous man, and Jesus must have loved his guardian for his quiet strength, honesty, and kindness. How God’s heart must have broken to send His Son into a fallen world, and how carefully he must have chosen the man who would raise him here on earth.

John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

Just as Joseph was loyal to His Son, we have an opportunity to be loyal to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, too. Joseph’s obedience in the face of unexpected circumstances is an example of what it means to truly trust and follow God—even when the path takes a turn.

From Joseph, Jesus’ father here on earth, we learn that...

God honors men of integrity and rewards them with his trust.

Mercy always wins.

We may face humiliation in this life when we seek to obey God, but we can gain a close relationship with Him.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, every family’s story is unique. Thank you for the blessing of families as unique as a fingerprint, and for calling strong men to the task of providing for and leading them. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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One of the things that mark a healthy society is the consistency between generations. In other words, adults who care about the future of their children will invest the time to make sure tomorrow is bright.

God the Father is the ultimate parent, and we would do well to model His love for us.

Luke 18:1 says, “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

Passing the torch, or training up the next generation, involves taking the time to do it properly. If you love your kids, you’ll make time for them. You won’t take the easy way out and settle for schools or the culture at large, to raise them.

Teach them yourself that we all experience tough times in this life, but sticking to God’s plan for their lives is the key to winning. Living the abundant life Jesus taught about, and sharing His Good News is the ultimate win. But we don’t get there by quitting when the going gets tough.

Let’s pray.

Lord, you never leave us, and you never abandon the human community to evil. You are a great God, and we thank you for your commitment to us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Are you struggling right now? Are you listening to this while gripping the steering wheel, wondering how you’re going to go on? 

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.”

He has a purpose for you; He really does. God wants to use you for things no one else can do. And He wants you to do these things with a spirit of peace in your heart. Maybe your biggest dream died a really spectacular death. Like—one that everyone saw and still talks about. That doesn’t matter. 

The only thing that matters is that you call on Jesus to comfort you and show you the way. Ask Him to do that right now, right where you are. He wants you to be whole and healthy. And if you ask Him to help you live a holy life, He will cleanse your spirit, leaving you squeaky clean inside and out.

This is very personal. You might feel that you don’t have anyone to turn to; that’s a lie. Your Savior and your champion says otherwise. Turn to Him right now.

Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you for making us completely whole. Complete people, capable of sharing the Good News with everyone we come into contact with. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is widely looked upon as the most famous painting in the world.

By some historical estimates, the Mona Lisa took as many as 16 years to finish! Capturing Mona Lisa’s famous smile on a poplar plank was no hack job; Leonardo accepted a commission for the work in the year 1503, and completed his masterpiece supposedly around the time of his death in 1519. Clearly, this level of artistic achievement takes time.

When you hear the word “masterpiece,” what do you think of? A famous painting? A beautiful building maybe? Your child’s latest artwork?

What about a giant sequoia tree? A symphony? A pink flamingo? The intricate, miraculous design of the human heart?

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Before you were even born, God knew you, and He had a plan for your life. He created you for a purpose, and He considers you one of his personal works of art. You are a living, breathing miracle capable of wonderful things—God’s own masterpiece.

Let’s pray.

God, we thank you and praise you that in all of creation, you have chosen to make us in your image, and to fashion us as a masterpiece—a work of art designed with care. Help us to be worthy of your effort. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Do you struggle to wonder what God’s will is for your life? Many of us do. Although it isn’t a quick answer, the best way to find God’s will for your life is to read His Word. The Bible will tell you the answer to that question.

Romans 8:31 tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Actually, finding God’s will isn’t the hardest part. Deciding to follow His will is where we get tripped up.

People need the skill and the discipline of being persistent. Too often the impulse is to give up and then, if we’re honest, pretend that God hasn’t revealed His will to us.

Good old Abe Lincoln had it right when he said that the only important response is to make sure we are on God’s side, not whether He’s on ours. God has already told us that He’s on our side. He sent His Son, Jesus, to take the penalty for our sin. It doesn’t get any more “on our side” than that. 

Change your thinking a bit. Don’t focus on what you think God is supposed to do. Resolve instead to follow God, and to do it every day.

Let’s pray.

Lord, your will is the thing that drives us on, to find our purpose in this life. Thank you for sticking with us. Help us to stick with you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Roaming, travel, wandering…all have been part of the human psyche since the beginning. Because we all have that God-shaped hole in us, needing to be filled with Him, we search.

Some find God, and some don’t.

The sense of aimlessness and lack of purpose haunts some. We think of the classic novel “On the Road,” which is the story of two characters traveling the country. At first, the lure of freedom is fun to think about, but the truth is, if people don’t fill that God-shaped hole with God, despair can set in.

We are left rootless in the worst possible way.

Colossians 2:6–7 says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Wherever you put down your physical roots, your spiritual roots are at least as important. In Christ, we are no longer wandering and discouraged. In Him, we live and move and have our being.

If you feel that you’re not anchored to anything, pour out your heart to Jesus. He will keep you close.

Let’s pray.

Lord, your mercies are always in fresh supply. We thank you that you plant us in good soil and hold fast to us even when we wander. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Have you ever wondered what your place in this world is?

Of course, you have. That’s the human experience. Alone with our thoughts, we wonder who we even are, and what we’re meant to do. It’s a mysterious journey, but the fog lifts and the way becomes clear when we get to know King Jesus.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

You were made for something! You were made to do things for your Lord. The truly beautiful thing is, God created a custom plan just for you. If you aren’t a famous athlete like Tim Tebow, you can still share your faith in wonderful ways. Ways that are life-changing for those you encounter.

Think of that verse again. God made you for a purpose! Created to have the mind of Christ in making this world a better place and making disciples for Him. And God prepared it all long, long ago. 

You are His child. That’s who you are.

Let’s pray.

Lord, when we begin to understand even a little bit of your love for us, it transforms us, and it renews our minds and hearts. Thank you so much for that! In Jesus’ name, amen.

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