Daily Devotion
September 13, 2025
Numbers 20:7-8 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water”
The Israelites were in the desert, and there was no water. When Moses and Aaron went to God for an answer, the Lord spoke the words in today’s verse. They were to speak to a rock, and water would flow from the rock. But that day, Moses didn’t do as the Lord told him. The Bible gives us his actions in verses 10-11: “And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also”. Instead of speaking to the rock, he took his rod and struck the rock twice. And, to make matters worse, he didn’t attribute the miracle to God alone but spoke as if he and Aaron, along with God, were the ones performing the miracle. He said, “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?”. Even though the Lord followed through and sent water, because of Moses and Aaron’s lapse in faith and reverence for God in this incident, God would not allow them to enter the promised land. It’s a point we should all reflect on because before that day, Moses had always obeyed the Lord and interceded to God for the people as a priest. But the account shows us that as great as Moses was, and the Lord said of him when he died in Deuteronomy 34:10, “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face”, we can all be sometimes carried away by unbelief, pride, anger, and a disregard for the Holiness of God. The pain of God’s rebuke to Moses was great. The thing he had dreamed of and longed for, leading God’s people into their wonderful promised land, was taken from him. God allowed Moses to stand on top of a mountain and look at the promised land, but would not allow him to enter. Don’t think Moses wasn’t saved because he appeared alive and well to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:3. But his disobedience cost him a great blessing. Let’s pray every day that the Holy Spirit will fill us and that we will be faithful to obey our Lord.
____________________________________
September 12, 2025
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”
This verse reminds me of our Lord’s teaching in St John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”. The words “dwell in you” mean that the Word of God needs to get down inside us and have a home there. It’s not just picking up a Bible now and then and skimming over a couple of verses or sitting through a Sunday Morning sermon where the minister mentions some scriptures as part of his message. It’s like training for a profession where you read and study everything you can about the subject until you become an encyclopedia of knowledge. If I go to a Doctor, I prefer one who doesn’t have to leave the room and start looking through his medical books, searching for a clue to what’s ailing me. Believers become so acquainted with God’s Word that it becomes part of their identity. It forms the foundation of our lives and, as we interact with others, the good news of Jesus Christ flows from us to encourage and bless others. Job said in Job 23:12, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food”. This gives us the comparison that, just as we hunger for food and take it into our bodies, we hunger for the Word of God as the Bread of life and hide it in our hearts. It’s a call for us to give the Bible a place of honor in our lives. An encouragement to set a priority to read and study God’s Word and make it a discipline in our daily patterns. We will make time in our busy schedules for prayer and the Word of God together: More important to our souls than a nutritional meal is to our bodies. Let’s read and study like an explorer looking for a treasure. The Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light for life’s path. It’s the sword of the Spirit and the source of our faith. It changes the way we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. God’s Word tells us about our heavenly destination and protects us as we journey. Psalms 119:140, “Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it”.
_______________________________________
September 11, 2025
Acts 27:44 “And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land”
The shipwreck described in Acts 27 is one of my favorite Bible accounts. It’s full of experienced sailors making bad choices, the I-told-you-so’s of the Apostle Paul, and the dramatic fury of a Mediterranean cyclone beating a ship full of people and cargo for days. Seasoned crews were in hopeless despair, and what started as a calm, pleasant voyage ended with disaster and great financial loss. But it’s also the story of the magnificent power of God, working in a great storm, keeping Paul and all those sailing with him safe. Today’s verse describes how when the ship crashed on rocks and broke apart, everyone on board made it safely to shore. Swimming, clinging to broken pieces of the ship, and floating on boards. Soaking wet, in a driving rain, but alive. There are many metaphors and allegories in the events of that shipwreck that picture the storms and trials we all go through. From the gospels, we get the account when Jesus commanded a storm to cease, and the Bible says that immediately, there was a great calm. That’s the way we like it, and we sing, “He’s the Master of the sea”, at the top of our lungs. We testify that He is Lord of all, the One who can rescue us out of trouble by simply saying 3 words: “Peace be still”. We smile from ear to ear. But we don’t like it when the storms beat us severely and wreck our plans. Then we’re washed up on the shore, alive and safe, but soaking wet, cold, and trying to figure out what just happened and why. But what I like about the Acts story is that there were people on the island who built a fire for the cold, wet strangers and welcomed them. The Bible says they showed the shipwrecked people great kindness. Paul was able to minister to them, healing the Chief’s sick father and several other sick people on the Island. God worked good things in a seemingly terrible situation and He always will. To this day, the bay where Paul and the others were washed ashore is called “St Paul’s Bay”. A lot of these devotions are written to encourage us in our trials because, when I look around, I see people dealing with a lot of trouble. We all need the assurance that the Lord knows where we are, and that, like Paul in Acts 27, He will not only bring us through our storms, but He will restore all the enemy has tried to steal from us.
_____________________________________
September 10, 2025
2 Corinthians 4:15 “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God”
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in this verse, telling them that his preaching, his suffering, and the goal of his ministry were for their sakes. He says that the end result is that it will all bring more and more thanks for God’s glory. In this age of Laodicea, if many were honest, they would say, “All things are for my sake, that I can become all I’ve dreamed to be”. But when we see people through the wisdom of God’s Word, we see a world of souls that God loves so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die in their place. We reach out to them by encouraging them with the message of Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else”. Some people are easy to love. They have certain qualities in their personalities, and the way they carry themselves, make us want to help them and befriend them. They seem receptive, kind, and appreciative. Others are like thorn bushes: prickly, defensive, and quarrelsome. We can’t let distractions like people’s complex personalities stop us from surrendering ourselves to the call of the gospel. We can’t just minister to those who are pleasant and receptive. Jesus died for all, and at the root of the hearts of those who seem to reject our Lord, there is often a story of pain only God can imagine. When the church turns away from them, it’s just another wound of false hope. Let’s rise up, filled with the Holy Spirit, and the message our Lord preached: “Whoever comes to me, I will in no wise cast them out”. It’s time to put away any chips on our shoulders and the temptation to be quickly offended. It’s time to come into agreement with Romans 13:14 and “Put on Christ”, where the Greek word is a picture of getting dressed in a garment that covers us. This world doesn’t need to see us; It needs Jesus. We do what we do in His name, but for the benefit of those we serve. Our goal? That the Lord may be honored above all, and that all glory and praise go to Him.
__________________________________
September 9, 2025
Job 23:8-9 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him”
Sometimes God seems so close, and we enjoy the fullness of His presence. We don’t struggle in our prayers, and we have solid faith that He is listening and answering. The Holy Spirit makes Himself known, and we sense His guiding power. Times like those are akin to seasons of revival when our souls are lifted up, and we find ourselves singing praise to the Lord. I wish I could stay in a constant state of awareness of the Lord, full of faith, and expecting Him to do great things. But Job is describing seasons when our faith is weak, and the Lord seems far away. We all experience this, and we become spiritually cold, almost numb to the things of God that had the power to move us closer to Him. Part of us, our soul that was created to be near to God, longs to be restored to a place of sweet communion with Him. Our human nature withdraws, enjoying the activities and distractions of this world, pulling our thoughts in circles of anything and everything that seeps in to replace our focus on the heavenly. Praise God, believers can’t stay in a place of apathy towards the Lord long. The Holy Spirit begins to push us towards Him, causing us to remember how wonderful it is to walk in His presence and power. We might think and feel that God is hiding Himself, but He is actively at work, following a plan that once again will restore us to full fellowship with Him. Times of coldness, times when our fire for the Lord has stopped burning hot and bright, are times when He is testing us, causing us to become hungry for the bread of life and thirsty for the living water. God hasn’t abandoned us, pushed us away in anger or disgust, or playing some kind of game. He’s helping us to become more Christ-centered and more thankful for His nearness. We should never take the Lord’s presence for granted or forget that He will not compete with this world for our attention and devotion. Jesus taught us in Luke 11:34, “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness”.
_______________________________________________
September 8, 2025
Genesis 7:16 “And they that went in (into the ark), went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in”
This verse is a point to ponder because it reveals the security of the ark and the safety of all those inside: “The Lord shut him in”. There was no need for Noah to question, “wonder if I shut the door tightly enough?” or “should I have made the latches stronger?”. Because when God shut the door, that action spoke to several things. First, the God-shut door meant God had sealed the ark and locked it tight. I believe Noah and his sons did a good job building the boat, following God’s directions carefully. But I believe because the ark was an instrument of God’s grace, it was unsinkable. No matter how fierce the floods, how powerful the winds, and how deep the water, the ark simply could not sink because it was God’s plan to keep all the people and animals inside the ark alive. He planned to use them to repopulate the earth after the destruction of all things. Second, the God-shut door separated all those inside from those outside. Noah didn’t shut the door against the unbelieving world that had rejected God’s Word: God did it. When God shut the door, it meant there was a point when all choices had been made, and God took full responsibility for the salvation of those inside the ark and the destruction of those outside. Thirdly, all those inside the ark were safe, and everyone who entered the ark came through the flood and exited the ark after the judgment was over. Noah and his family didn’t have to fiddle with the door or worry about it leaking to keep themselves safe from the destructive water. They were sealed in, a type of Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”. St John 10:9 tells us that Jesus is the door, and all those who come to God through Him will be saved. In Jesus, we are invited, we are welcome, we are shut in, we are secure, and God is with us. In this time of worldwide confusion, uncertainty, and the coming judgment, it is a blessed comfort to know we are safe. Jesus is our ark, and all who trust in Him have His promise, given in John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”.
______________________________________
September 7, 2025
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love”
The initial context of the fear described here points us back to verse 17, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world”. Although the scriptures tell us to fear the Lord, for believers, that’s not a fear that has us trembling in uncertainty before the righteous Judge of the universe. Instead, with wonder and reverence, we come into His presence now and will also do so at the judgment seat of Christ in boldness. If we fear His wrath and judgment, it is because we have not fully trusted His amazing love, called here, “made perfect in love”. But it’s not only the day of judgment when we do not have to fear God’s condemnation, it’s also in this life. One of the lies of the enemy is when he tries to make us doubt that God is not in control of all the facets of our lives. In every circumstance that seems to have a possibility of causing us harm, holding us back, or in some way having a negative impact on us, the devil will whisper gloom, doom, death, and destruction to us as if God either doesn’t love us or care enough to deliver us. For example, when the medical report looks questionable, the devil will start with his “it’s bad, bad, bad, and death, death, death is on the horizon”. When we have become fully confident in God’s love for us, the meaning of perfect love, we will not listen to the lies of the enemy because we know we belong to the Lord, body, soul, and spirit. Nothing can happen to us unless it first comes with His will or permission. And, no matter what it is, it’s always going to work for our good. Knowing and trusting God’s love and faithfulness to us casts out the fear. That doesn’t mean every circumstance is pleasant or in line with our wants and will, but it does mean that God will be with us and we will come out on the other side in victory with the Lord’s stamp of approval. Let’s make it a point and purpose of our lives to get grounded in the grace and love of our Amazing God. Let’s praise Him in the storms, follow Him in the valleys, and shout His name on the mountain tops! We are His people, His children, and it’s all about His everlasting love for us!
______________________________________
September 6, 2025
Philippians 4:5 “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand”
The word moderation here is translated from a word that has multiple meanings, all giving us a description of a gentle, peaceful, considerate, and reasonable person. In the Old Testament, Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 is an example of such a person. She was married to a fellow named Nabal, whose name means: Idiot, fool. When foolish Nabal insulted David and his band of fighting warriors, David and his men were on their way to kill Nabal and everyone in his household. But Abigail hurried to meet David en route and spoke graciously, humbly, and wisely to him. David changed his mind and spared Nabal and his household. In the New Testament, our Lord was confronted with a woman accused of adultery, and during that encounter, Jesus showed us what moderation means. He remained holy and righteous, but His words and acts of kindness to the woman speak to us of how to show gentle compassion and consideration to all people. The religious leaders threw her to the ground at Jesus’ feet, but Jesus stooped down to where she was and restored her to a place of dignity. He was kind, gentle, peaceful, considerate, and reasonable. Some have taken the phrase, “The Lord is at hand,” as referring to the second coming. And, that may be a meaning. But it also refers to the fact that the Lord is always near us and He is fully aware of all our circumstances. We can be kind and gentile because He is fighting our battles. We can be kind even to our enemies because our Lord knows every heart and every intent. He is the avenger of all wrongs against His children. When we receive Jesus as Lord of our lives, we surrender our personal rights to Him. That’s a point of hesitation for many people, and they want to hold on to their right to get revenge, their right to have their way, their right to speak their minds, and their right to plot the course of their destiny. But when we surrender our will to Him, walking by faith in His promises and power, we know that He is directing our steps and working all things for our good. His way for us is the way of peace, the path of kindness, and the walk of grace. He is always with us, and the Holy Spirit is always encouraging us to trust the Lord, to rely on His strength, and live with the goal of “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God”. Our moderation will be noticed by everyone.
____________________________________
September 5, 2025
Luke 13:34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”
Our Lord spoke these words after being scorned with contempt by the ruler of the synagogue. Jesus had healed a woman on the Sabbath day, an act that made the religious crowd angry. They were so wrapped up in their traditions that they thought it was a sin for someone to be healed on the Sabbath. Our Lord’s response to the religious ruler is given in verses 15-16, “The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?”. Even though there was so much morally wrong with Jerusalem, Christ’s love for the city and its inhabitants can be seen in His lament in today’s verse. He pointed out that they killed and stoned the very people God sent to help them. He was foreshadowing His own death at the demands of the same religious leaders that supposedly represented God and were to guide people in the ways of Truth. Today, there are many who reject the message of Jesus and His cross, the very message that can set them free and give them joy. Some not only reject, but become angry when they encounter the gospel or people representing Christ. Why would a religious leader or anyone else get angry because a poor, suffering woman was healed? Why would anyone find fault with someone who is filled with love for people and does whatever they can to help them? Strange, isn’t it? But it reveals the depth and power of the hatred for the truth. God’s love for us is seen in our Lord’s words for Jerusalem as He uses the farming picture of a mother hen protecting her little chicks from danger. The people of that day had no doubt seen that example played out many times and the message touched their hearts. Even for those who are pushing the Lord away and stopping their ears to His call, God still loves them and is waiting for them to respond to His invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. Matthew 11:28
_______________________________________
September 4, 2025
Romans 7:21 “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me”
Romans 7 deals with our dual natures as believers. We have been transformed by the grace and power of God, and by the Holy Spirit, we are no longer the servants of sin. Yet we still live in our mortal bodies, and our old nature still tempts us to think and act contrary to God’s will. This is the dilemma of today’s verse: We are led by the Holy Spirit to do God’s will, and at the same time, our old nature throws up resistance. Part of this chapter explains that when the Levitical Law was active, people seeking to obey the law could not escape the never-ending demands of the law. Worse yet, Paul said in verse 10, “the commandment (the law), which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death”. The summary and conclusion of the struggle is laid out in Romans 8:3-4, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”. While our flesh, our human nature, still pulls at us, we no longer have to walk in its ways. Salvation has set us free to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. So, having the ongoing conflict between our old nature’s will to follow a path away from God, and the Spirit’s power, Who’s is guiding us in God’s ways, does not contradict Romans 6:11, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Every hour of every day, we are the Children of God, and Christ in us has overcome the world, our human nature, and the devil. The children sing, “Just say no to the devil,” and we should be singing it too. We don’t have to lie, cheat, steal, swear like a nincompoop, or walk puffed up with pride. We don’t have to be grouchy, argumentative, or unthankful. We have a new nature and a new mind: the mind of Christ. Whenever we would do good and evil is with us, we have the will and power to turn from the evil and do what is right.
__________________________________
September 3, 2025
Romans 6:11-12 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof”
These are strong words and strong doctrine. The word “reckon” here means to take an inventory and reach this conclusion: We are dead to the power of sin, but alive and responsive to the Lord and the things of God. This is a completely different theology than the one many people believe. Namely, that we are just poor old sinners saved by grace and still trapped in this body of flesh. So, it’s a foregone conclusion that we are just going to keep on sinning every day, and God understands that. His remedy? He just keeps pouring grace on us, and we keep continually feeling guilty and repenting. But salvation did not take away the possibility of us being lured by sin and following sinful ways. But now that we’re saved, we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us to help us say no to sin and turn away before it becomes embedded and we take its bait. Notice the command here: “Let not sin reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it”. We can’t always stop the thoughts from coming, and we can’t always avoid circumstances that tempt us. But we can choose not to follow through and allow sin to reign. This is not a doctrine of perfectionism, but a doctrine teaching that Jesus set us free from the chains of sin and that sin is no longer our boss. Verse 20 says, “For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness”. Follow this up with verse 22, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life”. The old message of “I’m just a sinner” is a statement of defeat, of powerlessness. The true doctrine is one of power and victory. Yes, we may and will stumble and fall sometimes, but that’s not who we are now. Before salvation, we were sinners before God and unclean. But now, we are children of God, washed clean by Christ’s blood, and no longer the servants of sin. Does this contradict Paul’s argument in chapter 7, where he says in verse 21, “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me”? Absolutely not, and tomorrow, we will consider that section which concludes with Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”. Halleluiah! We are more than conquerors!
___________________________________
September 2, 2025
Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”
Does that verse really say that God is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”? That means superior to, over the top, and more than enough. It means entirely, fully, thoroughly, way above, and beyond. Although we often settle for the mundane, God wants to do the extraordinary. Think about this verse for a while, and you will walk away expecting great things to happen. Have you seen the Lord do wonders for you or someone you know? Some of you, God has healed. Others, God has provided for you in a way that’s beyond explanation. God has broken addictions, brought wayward children back, and delivered from accidents. He has solved problems for which there were no known solutions, brought companionship or maybe a spouse that you know was heaven-sent, and helped you through a crisis. He brought people to your aid, delivered you from death, rescued you from self-imposed dilemmas, and the list never stops. Then why should we not expect the Lord to continue to show us His good favor, power, and grace, and do for us what seems utterly impossible? It’s not arrogance to expect that, it’s arrogance not to expect it because He is a God of the impossible. He wants to show us His glory. The prodigal could have lived out his life with the pigs. He would still have been his father’s son, but he didn’t. Peter could have stayed in the boat, but he didn’t. He walked on the water, stumbling a bit on the waves, but he still walked. Blind Bartimaeus could have remained blind, but he didn’t. He cried out to Jesus to do the impossible. David could have walked away from the giant and gone back to his sheep. That would have been a more sensible choice for a young teenage boy, but he didn’t. What’s our story going to be? Maybe it will be that we could have settled for humdrum, mediocre, Sunday-morning-style, Laodicean Christianity, but we didn’t. Maybe our testimony will be that we woke up, we sat up, and we stood up. Then we reached up, we prayed up, we believed up, and heaven came down. It could be that we will see exceedingly, abundantly above all we could think, ask, or even imagine! The point is, God is able! Let’s pray bold prayers and refuse to set little limits on what God can and is willing to do.
________________________________________
September 1, 2025
Ecclesiastes 2:24 “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God”
There have been many Bible teachers and scholars who have ripped this verse to shreds, along with much of Ecclesiastes, because they believe it comes from a fleshly, depressing point of view. I’ve read and listened to what they’ve said, but I come away with a different perspective. In the light of Jesus Christ and the New Testament, we certainly have a greater understanding of grace and truth, and salvation in Christ changes our eternal view as nothing else can. But today’s verse takes us back to the here and now with our families, jobs, houses and apartments, fast food, and all the other stuff that makes up our daily lives. It speaks to me to take a step back from trying to frame everything through a religious lens and simply enjoy the life that God has given me. On this Labor Day, when we celebrate the American worker, we can praise God for the health and strength He gives us to earn a living, buy things for our families, and then have a great time with some burgers on the grill and time with our friends and kin. We don’t have to have deep, spiritual discussions all the time, and just because we’re not humming a worship song doesn’t mean we’re backslidden and worldly. I read this verse as, “Enjoy the life God has given you and don’t spoil it by always wanting what you don’t have”. If God allowed you to have a job where you can afford to buy a steak to plop on your Blackstone Griddle, then praise God in your heart and cook that bad boy. If it’s a peanut butter and jelly day, thank God and enjoy that sandwich. To me, it’s about finding joy and contentment in everyday things and, as the verse says, cause our souls to enjoy the good of what we’ve worked for. Everything doesn’t have to be wrapped in a religious wrapper or interpreted by some imposed spiritual spin. We don’t have to spiritualize Tennessee Football, bass fishing, camping, or growing flowers to enjoy things that God allows in our lives. So, on this Labor Day, I encourage you to lighten up and read this verse again. Let’s purpose to live for God, but also let’s enjoy the life that the Lord God has given us. There are always some troubles and trials, but there are also great blessings and joy at our fingertips.
_____________________________________________