November 18, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"Keeping and Strengthening the Power Of God. "

Psalm 52:8

The Living Bible Translation

I am like a sheltered olive tree protected by the Lord himself. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

Turn to your Bible and read the wonderful stories of men who were alone in godless surroundings but who, by the help and presence of the living God, made a marvelous contribution to their own times. Joseph was surrounded by sin and intrigue in Egypt. His master’s wife tried to seduce him. He was tested by imprisonment, but through it all he trusted in God and sought to know and do His will; and he stands today as a wonderful example of the keeping and strengthening power of God in the heart of a man who believed in Him.

November 17, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"Gifts from God"

Psalm 85:12

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

The great economic and material prosperity we are enjoying today is a gift of God’s hand. The Bible tells us that the very goodness of God should lead us to repentance. All of these material blessings are gifts from God, given in order that we might humble ourselves, fall upon our knees before Him, and call upon His name. We should thank God, too, for the spiritual blessings that are beyond the power of the human tongue to describe.

We have the opportunity to share the Gospel. God has blessed us with a thousand and one spiritual blessings. In days of uncertainty and confusion, such as we are now passing through, these are gifts that go beyond our power to understand; and yet they are gifts of God that become ours when we receive Him.

November 16, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"The True Joy of a Christian Living ..."

2 Corinthians 9:7

God loveth a cheerful giver.

The greatest blessing of giving is not on the financial side of the ledger but on the spiritual side. You receive a sense of being honest with God. You receive a consciousness that you are in partnership with God—that you are doing something constructive—that you are working with Him to reach the world for Jesus Christ. You are also enabled to hold on to this world’s goods loosely because the eternal values are always in view. How do you give? Is it liberally and cheerfully? Or is it sparingly and grudgingly? If you have been giving God the leftovers of your substance and your life, you have been missing the true joy and blessing of Christian giving and living.

November 15, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"Pray, Believe, Receive... "

Matthew 21:22

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Prayer is a two-way conversation; it is our talking to God, and His talking to us. As a Christian, you have a heavenly Father who hears and answers prayer. Jesus said, “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Every man or woman whose life has counted for the church and the Kingdom of God has been a person of prayer. You cannot afford to be too busy to pray. A prayer less Christian is a powerless Christian. Jesus Christ spent many hours in prayer. If He felt that He had to pray, how much more do we need to pray!

November 14, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"Deny and Follow..."

Isaiah 26:3

The Living Bible Translation

He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord!

You have an ego - a consciousness of being an individual. Of course, you do. But that doesn’t mean that you are to worship yourself, to think constantly of yourself, and to live entirely for yourself. Common sense tells you that your life would be miserable if you followed that course. God is infinitely more concerned about your happiness than you could possibly be. He says, “Deny yourself, and follow me.” There is many a person in the insane asylum today who thought excessively about himself, to the exclusion of God and others. Hypochondriacs who have a fanciful anxiety about their health will never be well, regardless of their physical condition.

November 13, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"His Purity Still Shows Up Our Impurities"

Luke 23:33

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him . . .

One of the ironies of human nature is that it often has a way of rejecting the best and accepting the worst. Why did the crowd ask for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus? The answer is in the biblical statement, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jesus is just as divine today and just as much alive. Yet millions today don’t accept Him. His goodness is still a rebuke to our badness; His purity still shows up our impurities; His sinlessness still reveals our sinfulness; and unless we allow Him to destroy the evil within us, the evil within us still wants to destroy Him. This is the conflict of the ages.

November 12, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"The Fulfillment of His Plan... "

Psalm 37:5

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

To know the will of God is the highest of all wisdom. Living in the center of God’s will rules out all falseness of religion and puts the stamp of true sincerity upon our service to God. You can be miserable with much, if you are out of His will; but you can have peace in your heart with little, if you are in the will of God. You can be wretched with wealth and fame, out of His will; but you can have joy in obscurity, if you are in the will of God. You can have agony in good health, out of His will; but you can be happy in the midst of suffering, if you are in God’s will. You can be miserable and defeated in the midst of acclaim, if you are out of His will; but you can be calm and at peace in the midst of persecution, as long as you are in the will of God. The Bible reveals that God has a plan for every life, and that if we live in constant fellowship with Him, He will direct and lead us in the fulfillment of this plan.

November 11, 2022

Daily Devotion:

“The Mystery of the Gospel”

Ephesians 6:19

“that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.”

The word “mystery” means beyond human knowledge or understanding. God’s mysteries baffle the unbelieving, but bless the believer. The mystery of righteousness, like some of the other great mysteries of God, we cannot comprehend, but we know it works. We stand amazed at this great mystery which enables God to change the human heart, its attitudes, its desires, and its nature.

God, a holy God, who loves righteousness and hates wickedness, through a process of redemption has refashioned us in the image of Himself. How marvelous! For generations He has been applying His righteousness to the hearts of men. Even in our time, with its complexities of living, God is in the business of changing men and women by the mystery of righteousness.

November 10, 2022

Daily Devotion:

“The Books God is Keeping”

Luke 12:42

And the Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward . . .

It is not wrong for men to possess riches. But the Bible warns that money cannot buy happiness! Money cannot buy true pleasure. Money cannot buy peace of heart. And money certainly cannot buy entrance into the Kingdom of God. Often money is a hindrance to these things. Money takes our minds off God. Riches, when used selfishly rather than for the glory of God, tend to corrupt in our hands. Money cannot be a substitute for God. If God has given you more wealth than your neighbors, dedicate it to Christ. Realize that you are only a steward of that which God has given you and some day you will have to give an account of every penny you have spent. The Internal Revenue Service wants a record of how you spend your money, but that is nothing compared to the books God is keeping.

November 09, 2022

Daily Devotion:

"Without God It Is Restless and in Secret Torment"

Mark 8:36,37

The Living Bible Translation

And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? For is anything worth more than his soul?

In the world in which we live, we give most attention to satisfying the appetites of the body and practically none to the soul. Consequently, we are one-sided. We become fat physically and materially, while spiritually we are lean, weak and anemic. The soul actually demands as much attention as the body. It demands fellowship and communion with God. It demands worship, quietness, and meditation. Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, and restless. But nothing but God ever completely satisfies, because the soul was made for God, and without God it is restless and in secret torment.