Kerusso Daily Devotional

Where are you headed, friend?

Psalm 25:4 says, “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.”

Whether you’ve lived in the same place your entire life, or you’ve been blessed to travel the world, each and every life is a journey. An opportunity to learn, grow, and impact others as we follow the path God has planned for us. 

Moses and the Israelites must have been expert travelers by the time they finally reached the Promised Land, and their journey was no pleasure trip. 

God sent 10 devastating plagues to the land of Egypt, causing Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage. And God’s people were promised a land where milk and honey flowed—the Promised Land—also known as Canaan. So Moses and the Israelites traveled to the borders of Canaan. For 40 days, a group of 12 chosen men secretly scouted out the land. Ten of the men reported that the people were well-armed, and just way too strong to overcome. 

Despite God’s promise of victory, the Israelites were afraid, and were certain they could not overcome the people of Canaan. They doubted God’s promises. And in turn, he caused them to wander the desert for 40 years: one year for each of the 40 days they had explored the land. 

Because of this, no one over the age of 20 would step foot into the Promised Land, including Moses, and an entire adult generation lost out on the blessings God had planned for them—all because they allowed their fear to be greater than their faith in God’s plan. 

Let’s pray. 

Heavenly Father, how many times have you delivered us? Not because we’re deserving, but because you love us. Help us to keep the faith and stay on your path for us, every step of the journey. Your goodness is beyond question, and we’re grateful for your presence in our lives, and your boundless saving grace. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Today friends, we conclude our series all about the Bible, covering things like what it is, who wrote it, and ultimately its relevance to us and to our time. 

The Bible stands alone in historical literature. The internal evidence is that it’s really the Word of God run all through scripture. Here’s one. Out of the many kings who ruled various nations from 2000 to 400 BC, the Bible lists 40 of them in the correct time and place that they ruled. This means that the biblical writers had reliable knowledge of their contemporary records. No other ancient documents can claim such historical accuracy. Then there are the great Messianic prophecies in the Bible, more than a hundred specific ones that predict the coming of Jesus. 

Zechariah 12:10 says, “They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child.” This was recorded by the Old Testament prophet 700 years before Christ was born, and this crucifixion reference is confirmed in Matthew 24, John 19, and Revelation 1 in the New Testament. So we know there are many reasons to believe the Bible has a divine origin, but the greatest proof is the witness of believers over 2000 years. The redemptive qualities of the Messiah, Jesus, are shown in Isaiah 61, and of course, the entire New Testament is about Him bringing physical and spiritual healing. The countless numbers of missionaries, ministries, and other individual believers who have brought Christ-like love to the suffering is a testimony to the power of God’s Word. 

Would the Apostles have risked torture and death to make claims about a Jewish rabbi who had no real power? Doesn’t make sense that Christians being persecuted today all over the world would preach the Good News if it wasn’t true. The Bible contains what God wanted to communicate to people throughout time. We can be sure of its promises, especially to us as individuals as the product of an all-loving God who has the future secure, and waiting for those who love him.

Let’s pray. 

Father God, you have brought understanding to our minds through your Word. It tells us who we are, why we’re here, and where we’re going. And Father, we thank you for that clarity and for your eternal love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

It’s part four in our series All About the Bible, covering things like what it is, who wrote it, and ultimately its relevance to us and our time.

Even though the Bible is world famous, we sometimes hear people say that it was really written for ancient people and that it isn’t relevant for us today. And in a lot of cases, this is totally wrong. It’s true that ancient people compiled the Bible, but God intended it to be for all people in all times and places. Psalm 102:18 says, “Let this be written for a future generation. That a people not yet created may praise the Lord.” And this is amazing. It means that God is inclusive in both his rules for how we should live, and His promises to us are available to all people. And the good rules for living are wonderful and ahead of their time.

Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Now, this is just as valid for us today as it was for an ancient Israelite. The Bible is even up to speed on science: Psalm 8:8 talks about the paths of the sea. And now we know about ocean currents. Proverbs 16:24, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb,” And Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine,” describe the human psyche and good mental health. And these are also instructions for us on how to treat others.

Of course, the most relevant aspect of the Bible is the clear description of Jesus himself as our savior. This free gift of grace is available to all people everywhere. And the closer we stick to what the Bible has for us, the more harmony we will see in our lives. It isn’t hard. Just pick it up and begin reading. You’ll be truly amazed by the Bible’s relevance for your life.

Let’s pray. 

Father God, your words really are healing, and all of us need that. We’re grateful for that. We’re grateful that you have spoken for yourself and have shown us how powerful your Word is for each of us. Help us pass this knowledge on to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Today we continue our series all about the Bible covering things like what it is, who wrote it, and ultimately its relevance to us and our time. 

Some believe that the Bible was written and compiled over a very long period of time and was sometimes shared orally, but this would mean that the likelihood of mistakes and inconsistencies could be greater.

Exodus 34:27 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words for in accordance with these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’” Now, it’s not unreasonable to believe that the Bible was written at or near the time the events recorded actually happened. This would mean that the patriarchs who were the heads of the families mentioned early in the Bible, wrote down their own histories. Moses, living not long after the patriarchs, compiled all these histories into one long account of early Earth history.

From there, the prophets largely wrote down what God wanted to communicate to the people, and this took place from the time of Moses until the time of Jesus who scholars believe was born in 4 BC. That would mean that the bulk of the Old Testament was formally written over a period of maybe 1500 years from Egypt to Judea, which is modern Israel. By the time the last letters and histories were written down in the New Testament times, the Jewish writers of the Bible were still under the control of the Roman Empire, which was at its height.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people. The New Testament was written in Greek, one of the major powers in the times of Jesus. The first council of the church was held in 325 AD at Nicea, which is in modern Turkey. It was there that church leaders put into a final form the Bible that we have today. In this way, we have the same books that were available to Christians who actually knew Jesus. There are tens of thousands of manuscripts from the earliest church that match the Bibles we can buy in stores or get online today.

Let’s pray. 

Father God, you are not a God of confusion. You’ve made our past, present, and future knowable. Thank you for making sure that history is accurate, including the future, when you will reign over your kingdom in glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

We’re in a series all about the Bible covering things like what it is, who wrote it, and ultimately its relevance to us and our time. 

One of the most interesting features of the Bible is that it wasn’t written or compiled by the most impressive people. If we think a person who recorded God’s Word had to be Shakespeare, we’re misunderstanding how God works through ordinary people. Many of those who compiled the books of the Bible were more ordinary than you can imagine.

1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” In fact, Moses, who’s considered to be the editor and compiler of the first five books of the Bible, wasn’t very good at communicating when God chose him to lead the Israelites to freedom out of Egypt.

In the early chapters of Genesis, the Bible’s first book, there are style elements identical to ancient clay tablets that show us how people recorded family histories. This is seen in such phrases as, “These are the generations of.” From this, we can see that the people involved in various Bible accounts wrote their own histories. This gives us even more confidence that the Bible is true.

Many of the Old Testament books were written by the prophets, people that God communicated with, so that people would have some idea of where history was going. Beginning with the New Testament, most of the books were written by the disciples who knew Jesus. The four gospels or accounts of the ministries of Jesus were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then we see many of the letters that the Apostle Paul wrote to various churches and individuals. The traditional view is that the New Testament was written in the first century AD. This would have included the time that Jesus was born until about 60 years after his resurrection.

The final books of the Bible were written by John, a young apostle of Jesus at the time of his earthly ministry. All in all, the Bible was recorded by men and women who were both blue-collar and white-collar types. God used all types of people, because the Bible is meant for everyone.

Hebrews 1:1 gives us an important clue about how God communicated with people. It says, “Long ago, God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.” The fact is he used humans to communicate through human language, which is just one of the things that makes the Bible timeless. 

Let’s pray. 

Father God, we thank you for your recorded word. In it, we see how much you love us and care for us. We thank you for using people like us. We love you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Today, we begin a series all about the Bible, covering things like what it is, who wrote it, and ultimately its relevance to us and our time. 

It seems that even today, even in the United States, a country some folks consider a traditionally Christian nation, there’s a severe lack of knowledge about the Bible. Now some would say otherwise, but the Bible is really a pretty straightforward account of how God has worked in the world from the beginning. In fact, in Genesis, which literally means beginnings, we see a rundown of God’s creative powers.

Compiled over time, the Bible is not a single book, but rather a collection of 66 books that trace human history from beginning to end. There’s disagreement as to exactly when the Bible was written and compiled. But we do know from archeology that writing had developed even before the time of Moses in Egypt. The conservative view is that the biblical accounts of history were written down at or near the time they occurred. In general, the 66 individual books of the Bible were at least written down over a period of 1,500 years by as many as 40 writers. 

Jeremiah 2:4 says, “Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel.” This concept of people being able to hear and read God’s Word is all through the Bible. Luke 11:28 says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” 

Structurally, the Bible is made up of 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. From the original written accounts, some were broken into two books. The Old Testament, sometimes called the Hebrew or Jewish Scriptures, reveals history from the creation of the world until a few hundred years before Jesus Christ came into the world. 

The New Testament is the account of the rise of the church. It begins with the family tree of Jesus and finishes with the Book of Revelation, a vision of the future into eternity. Overall, the Bible is the most famous book of all time. For believers, it is the very Word of God. 

Let’s pray. 

Father God, you’ve told us that your Word is available to all, that we can claim your promises for our lives. Thank you for communicating to us in this way. The Bible is our guide for life, and tells us how we can be reconciled to you and saved. In Jesus’ name, amen.

It’s all in how you see it.

The world we live in has plenty of problems, and they are huge. Don’t need to list them all here, but it’s fair to say we even suffer from some existential threats.

And yet, God’s Word tells us that this present life can have, and does have, peace. That’s our connection this week.

Luke 2:14 says, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Remember the story of Jim Elliot and his band of missionaries? They were killed in a jungle by the very people they were trying to reach with the Gospel. The God part of that story is that later, the dead men’s wives went back and reached that tribe for Christ! Peace settled on the creek-bed that had seen death, and there was goodwill among men that had once been at war with each other.

Peace is possible. It is possible in geopolitics, and in communities, and right there in your own heart.

Let’s pray. 

Lord, no situation is too bad for you to redeem. Redeem us, Lord, so that we can redeem the time and reach others for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When the last artillery rounds were heard on the Western Front and World War I ended, good men of conscience tried to create a global body that would bring lasting peace to the earth. Their hearts were in the right place. History teaches us though that real peace is elusive and rare. 

John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

We see in Christ that there is no fixing the human heart without Him. He is our peace. When the kids are driving you bonkers, Jesus is your peace. If your finances have collapsed, Jesus is your peace. If you are anxious or frustrated or depressed about anything, Jesus is your peace. And because the Bible tells us that He is truth, we can rely on Jesus’ promise to give us peace. Tell Him today that you need His peace. He hasn’t left you. 

Let’s pray. 

Lord, life can be stressful. It’s just part of the experience. Thank you that you are literally our peace that we can come to you at any time, night or day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

In our humanness, we struggle at times to achieve peace.

World War 1 ended 100 years ago, and all sides joined together as a League of Nations to make that conflict the “War to end all wars.”

Then World War 2 happened.

Our history is littered with noble attempts to make things right, but only God can bring peace to nations, and to individuals. He has promised both! One day, He will make everything new, forever. While we wait for that great day, He also grants us peace in our daily lives.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 says, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

We only have to ask Him for it. Jesus, as He said in Matthew 11:28, gives us peace even in our greatest trials, and when we are exhausted. Then, peace comes to refresh us and give us all the strength we need.

If you don’t have peace in your life, simply ask God for it. He will provide.

Let’s pray.

Lord, let your peace wash over people everywhere in this hurting world. Make them aware of your spirit of peace. In Jesus' name, amen.

Identifying where our problems originate is one thing, but locating the Divine Healer is key in getting clear of obstacles in our lives. 

At each mile marker in our life journeys, God is standing alongside the road, smiling at us, and holding out his strong hand to guide us. And from the indispensable wisdom of scripture to stories of human triumphs over tragedies, He is always there reminding us we’re never truly alone. 

His grace and mercies begin to overshadow and overwhelm those forces that want to harm us, and it’s then that we see God for who He truly is. 

1 Peter 5:10 says, “And after you’ve suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 

And that is Good News! 

Let’s pray. 

Lord, it’s important to see who our enemy is, but it’s more important to look past that and concentrate our focus on you who brings us that peace that passes all understanding, the kind that gets down deep in us and calms us from the inside out. In Jesus’ name, amen.