Daily Devotion
April 3, 2025
Luke 15:21 “And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son”
The prodigal son came to himself in the pig pen and his view of himself was dismal. Sin has a way of beating people down and when, with complete honesty, they realize how far they have fallen, the enemy is right there to tell us we are worthless and unfit. And truthfully, owning our sins is what God wants along with genuine repentance. But the Lord does not want us to stay in the frame of mind where we see ourselves as a lost cause. The prodigal confessed his sins to his father but the father never scolded him, punished him, or saw him in any other light except that he was his son and he was overjoyed that he had come home. The father saw him as described in verse 24, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry”. If only we could show people this kind of mercy. Most likely we’ve all met people we liked and started getting to know them only to have other people whisper and unload any dirt they might have on that person. It’s a twisted game of gossip and it’s evil in God’s eyes. Everywhere in scripture, we are told to honor each other and encourage each other. When people spread gossip, they are revealing their hearts that they are not walking in God’s will and they themselves are disobedient to the Holy Spirit. What’s worse, the gossipers will often try to cover the sins of their loose tongues by feigning their gossip as a “prayer request” for the person they are attacking. Evil knows no bounds. But the father’s heart in the story of the prodigal son is our supreme example of how to receive people back into our fellowship who have strayed but come to their senses, repented, and returned to their rightful place with the Lord and God’s family. And, for those who are still in the pig pen, may the Holy Spirit give us love and merciful hearts as we pray for their return. And, may He give us the power of self-control to refrain from dragging their names before others in gossip and condemnation. The Bible doesn’t tell us the rest of the story but I believe after the father received the prodigal with love and kindness, the boy could once again hold his head high and see himself as a welcome and honored member of his family.
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April 2, 2025
Hebrews 9:28 “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”
It’s a strange thing while many believers are stirred in their hearts, all walking in agreement that the Day of the Lord is eminent, others are doubling down in denial. The rampant unbelief by those who have turned aside from God’s Word on the matter and, staring at the countdown clock that’s been ticking in this age of apostasy since May 14, 1948, while sneering at the Second coming, seems to be evidence that either they are sensual, having not the Spirit, or have been deceived by teachers and book-writers who themselves are wolves in sheep’s clothes. Apparently, some do not believe Jesus is returning soon because they are like the Edomites who, described in Obadiah 1:3, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee”, thought the message of their impending judgment was nonsense. I have personally visited the ancient city of Petra and the surrounding area in Southwest Jordan and can tell you there is no trace of an Edomite kingdom there. As God prophesied, they are long gone. When Jesus came the first time, today’s verse tells us that He bore the sins of many. We will celebrate His death in a few days when we remember the suffering of the cross during the Easter season. But when He returns the second time, He will not be coming to carry anyone’s sins but He will return to deliver His people, to rescue them as declared in 1Thessalonians 5:9, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ”. God gave us this promise in the context of the previous verses 2-3, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape”. Jesus did not save His people to then drag them through His wrath which He will pour out on the world. We have the Lord’s promise in 1Thessalonians 1:10, that we, “wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come”. The word “delivered” here means “rescued”. The world is looking for peace and safety and our hearts are broken, watching the suffering and destruction of many wars. But the Bible says in Isaiah 48:22, “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked”. The more frantically they look for peace without following the Prince of Peace, we will look for the second appearance of the Savior.
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April 1, 2025
Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”
Today, in my morning prayers, I was praying for our family and realized I was doing what I often do: Describing to God all I knew that was wrong as if He didn’t know. I was going through the list of things I wanted corrected and explaining to God how easily it would be for Him to fix it all. It was the conviction about who He is and His infinite abilities that caused me to stop praying the way I was praying and begin to praise Him that His ways and wisdom are perfect. God knows what’s going on with every person on this planet and He knows the ways of our families. He knows how to help them, bless them, and draw them to Himself. He doesn’t need my description of their problems and needs, He wants my faith in His Word and His power to work even when it seems there are no solutions. My prayers changed to something like, “Jesus You know how to help our children and grandchildren and just as You have helped us, I pray that You will help them”. This is not saying the Lord shuts us off when we ramble on about the details, just that our spelling out the situation doesn’t always move us in faith to trust him. Today’s verse declares His greatness and with that view in mind, our faith is summoned to believe that He knows all and is able to do all. All I really have to pray is, “God, You know what my family needs and I trust You to help us”. When I asked the Lord to save me, He didn’t need me to describe all my sins. He just wanted me to believe that He was ready and willing to forgive them all. The evidence of this is in David’s prayer for forgiveness in Psalms 51. He didn’t describe his sins, he just acknowledged he’d sinned and asked God to forgive him. The point is that the greatness and wisdom of God is beyond comprehension. He doesn’t think like us or act like us and yet He understands all about everything we’re dealing with. Remember when Peter was sinking in the Sea of Galilee, he didn’t try to describe his situation and danger of drowning to Jesus, he just cried, “Lord, save me”. I don’t want to spend my prayer time going over and over my problems, I want faith that believes that before I ask, He already has the answer.
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March 31, 2025
Proverbs 11:3 “The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them”
The Ten Commandments are the sum of the moral code of the scriptures and all ten rest on the foundation of two: We should love God with all our hearts and love others as we love ourselves. Following the Bible’s moral code will not earn us salvation but it is the plan for a life of integrity. When we pray prayers like, “Lord, lead me in a plain path”, we can be sure He will lead us to be honest, respect others, show compassion and mercy, and stay away from sin. While we may not do that perfectly, that’s still the goal of believers: To live with purpose and integrity. A truth worth pondering is that it seems Job lived long before the Ten Commandments were given and yet the Bible describes him as a man of integrity. Even his wife referred to his integrity in Job 2:9. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and many others lived lives that were trustworthy and pleasing to God long before the Bible was written showing us that people can do what is right and live by good moral principles if they choose. We, who have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, should not have to be shamed or coerced into living by high standards, and of all people, we should be marked by our integrity. Not to save us, impress others, or gain favors from God but because we represent Jesus Christ and bear witness to His name. Look around us. It’s disgusting to hear our politicians recently cursing, swearing, and spewing hatred like a bunch of drunken bums. Shame on them because people do not have to speak and behave that way and neither do we, who are called by the name of our God. Today’s verse says, “The integrity of the upright shall guide them”. Upright means, correct, straightforward, just, fitting, and proper. We have all failed in righteousness and the Blood of Jesus Christ took care of that for all who believe the gospel. But we’re talking about turning away from perverseness and just doing what is right in God’s eyes. Loving Him, loving others, being good to people, and showing kindness and mercy. It’s about living lives that are honest, truthful, and without deception and evil. If we fail, and we all have, let’s get up, repent, let the Holy Spirit dust off the dirt, and let’s be people our families, communities, churches, governments, and workplaces can trust. People of integrity.
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March 30, 2025
Psalms 121:1 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help”
Every day we choose to either fasten our spiritual gaze on the things of this earth or the things of God. The world teaches us that our source is from the things of this life. Our jobs, hobbies, our education, abilities, and such. The world offers pleasure and claims to have the answers to what will make us happy and successful. But the question is, where does our help come from? The Bible answers in verse 2 of this chapter: “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth”. I love today’s verse and almost every day and throughout the day, the Holy Spirit often brings it to my mind, reminding me to raise my gaze. As we studied in an earlier devotion, it is a Psalm sung by pilgrims in Bible times when they were making their way to Jerusalem at times of festivals and Holy Days. As they approached the city, they looked up to the Temple Mount and could see the beautiful Temple gleaming in the sun. They knew that inside the Temple, inside the room called the Holy of Holies, the presence of God was there. He was always resting over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. They knew that He was their God and they were His chosen people. He was their source, their help. In this day of grace, we know Jesus is our mercy seat and the Bible says in Romans 8:34 that He is, “at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us”. The scriptures tell us in Colossians 3:1, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God”. What’s the Lord telling us? Raise your gaze. When Stephen was falsely accused and arrested, as lying people made charges against him, he raised his gaze. The Bible says in Acts 7:55-56, “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”. When the world news is bad, raise your gaze. When the doctor’s report isn’t good, look up. When circumstances seem overwhelming, lift your eyes to the hills of home. At times you are lonely, discouraged, and sorrowful, raise your gaze above the view of this world and fasten your eyes on Jesus. The Bible encourages us in Hebrews 12:2,” Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”.
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March 29, 2025
Luke 15:18 “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee”
I have been in this place, and quite sure you have too, where I’ve done wrong, sinned, and then became fully aware of it. Sometimes we may not always be quite sure of how it all happens because there are so many scenarios and pitfalls. But the Bible explains in James 1:14 that we are lured away from God and become trapped in sin. This is what happened to the prodigal son. Everything was fine at home. He was loved, provided for, and had a great future. But that wasn’t enough. It was the same with Adam and Eve. They had freedom, beauty, and more than they could imagine including an eternal future in the presence of God. It was perfect but, in their minds, it wasn’t quite enough. That’s where we all sin and come short of God’s glory. The only thing we can do to get relief, to find restoration, is to acknowledge our sins and come clean before God. He already knows where we are and He has already secured our forgiveness by the blood of Jesus Christ but He wants us to confess. He wants us to own up to what we’ve done, turn away from it, and walk away, determined to not go down that road anymore. The sad truth is that sometimes we go there over and over until we are completely delivered. Consider the conversation in Matthew 18:21-22, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven”. I’m quite sure it is looking to the continual forgiveness we receive from God and teaching us to apply it in our earthly relationships. We know the prodigal son’s father had already forgiven him before he asked and we know the boy was received back with full mercy and pardon. The irony is that we want others to forgive us and not hold our sins and mistakes against us but we have a hard time doing that for them. All of us could be a poster child for God’s grace but we sometimes hold others to a higher standard and expectation than we hold ourselves. Easter, the cross, and the empty tomb are all about mercy, forgiveness, and freedom of fresh starts and new life. My prayer is that those elements of Easter will imbed in me, start a revival of mercy and hope, and flow out of me to everyone I know and everyone I meet. So help me God.
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March 28, 2025
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”
Jesus is everything to us. He is our Savior, Lord, and King. He is our High Priest, our Intercessor, and our Friend. Also, as this scripture looks back to verses 11 and 12, He is our brother and the Bible says, “for which cause he is not ashamed to call them (us) brethren”. Today’s verses tell us that in order to be like us, He left the glory of heaven, took on flesh and blood, and the immortal God became mortal. As we move closer to our celebration of Easter, we are remembering the death of Jesus and countless songs and sermons have proclaimed the message of the cross: Christ dying in our place. That was the incarnate mystery that day when God suffered and bled as a human. We can debate whether or not His blood was divine as children get their blood types from each of their parents but no matter the details, Jesus faced the enemy that had been hanging over everyone’s heads since Adam: Death. These scriptures tell us that death had held us all in bondage because we had no way to escape its power. The devil had the power of death and there was nothing we could do about the wages of sin except die. Death loomed over every baby born, every person who longed for life, and everyone on this planet no matter their prominence, physical strength, or power of their purse (Except for Enoch and Elijah). The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die”. But on that blessed morning when the Spirit of Life entered into the dead and buried body of Jesus, everything changed. Death was conquered, sin was defeated, the keys of death and hell were ripped from the devil’s grasp and Jesus emerged from the tomb a Victor on our behalf. We were delivered from the specter of death once and for all time. At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus declared in John 11:25-26, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”. Can you say, “Yes! I believe!”?
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March 27, 2025
Ecclesiastes 5:8 “If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they”
Our times are not unique in the oppression of people and the perversion of judges. There has never been a utopian society where everyone was treated fairly and the lawmakers and the legal system always held fast to justice. The Bible tells us here we shouldn’t be surprised when it happens. This Easter season looks back to the time when Jesus was falsely arrested, falsely accused, tried in a sham, dishonest court, and sentenced to die an unjust, cruel death. The Bible says in John 15:25, “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause”. At Jesus’ trial, the religious leaders of His day set up liars, false witnesses to testify against Him. The same thing happened to Stephen in Acts 6:12-13, “And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law”. Sound familiar? The enemy is the prince and power of the air and he and his system are referred to in Ephesians 6:12 as, “spiritual wickedness in high places”. One of the signs of the end times is 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived”. In these uncertain times, when oppression, liars, and wicked, lawless judges seem to have power over the truth and ways of justice, let’s lift our eyes to the One who is higher than them all. 1 Timothy 6:12-16, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life…I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. Halleluiah, the Righteous King and Judge is coming!
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March 26, 2025
Song of Solomon 7:10 “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me”
In the beautiful poetic words of the Song of Solomon, God reveals His desire. It’s us. As unbelievable as it might seem, He wants us to love Him and seek Him. He wants to be near us as a father who wants to enjoy his children. God is interested in everything about us and delights in the details of who we are. The Bible says in Luke 12:6-7, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows”. The enemy is always trying to drive a wedge between us and our God and his pack of lies are that God is angry with us, disinterested in us, or that we are too bad for God to love. But today’s verse speaks to us with tenderness and truth: we are special to God and of all the things He could be interested in, He is interested in us. He speaks to His people in Jeremiah 31:3, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee”. Even though these words were spoken long before the Gentiles were grafted into God’s grace, they are just as true to us today as they were when He spoke them. We belong to Him and His desire is for us. There is an open door into His presence and we are encouraged to boldly and with expectation, come before Him, speak to Him, and enjoy His fellowship. He speaks of us and our relationship with Him in Revelation 1:5-6, “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen”. Nothing will ever change His loving desire for us, it is everlasting. And, nothing can ever separate us from His love. Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
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March 25, 2025
Matthew 17:21 “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”
It’s possible, depending on the translation you use, that this verse does not appear in your Bible. Arguments by textual criticism “scholars” through the years against the Textus Receptus won over many Bible publishers to remove it altogether from their Bibles. Or in some, it has been relegated to a footnote. They argued it does not appear in what they have deemed, “Older and more reliable texts” although those arguments can and have been strongly debated against. I like the AV and use it in these devotionals even though like most of you who study the scriptures, I have software and study books that allow comparison of not only Greek and Hebrew texts but also the myriads of translations that have become available through the years. In my opinion, it’s all a money-making racket with Bible publishers continually pushing their version as “the best” only to have another one or an updated version ready when the market has been saturated with the current version and sales have fallen. After all, how many Bibles do most people buy until they’re convinced to buy a “better and more understandable” one? But today’s verse speaks of a moment in Jesus’ ministry when His disciples could not cast a strong demon out of a boy. It was the context where Jesus appeared frustrated with His disciples considering how long they had been with Him, observing His power, and listening to His Words. It is where we have the famous verses: Matthew 17:19-20, “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you”. Their problem wasn’t the quantity of their faith, but the type of faith and their intimacy with God. Spurgeon said, “He that would overcome the devil in certain instances must first overcome heaven by prayer, and conquer himself by self-denial.” Maybe it’s not the scholars who wanted this removed. To me, it sure looks like a key to finding victory at times when the enemy has entrenched himself so powerfully normal methods of fighting will not work. Spiritual warfare is unknown to many modern Christians and churches have failed their congregation by not teaching that the devil is real, spiritual oppression is real, and that many of the troubles people have are spiritual battles and can be won by faith in God and His Word. Prayer and fasting will help us all because practiced together, they help us push down our fleshly unbelief while growing closer to the Lord and stronger in our faith in Him.
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March 24, 2025
Mark 14:32 “And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray”
The garden of Gethsemane was not a garden in our sense of gardens, but an Olive Tree orchard, and the word “Gethsemane” means “oil press”. There would have been an oil press there where the oil was squeezed from the olives and preserved in containers. On the evening of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, He and the disciples went to that spot. There, alone and at a distance from the disciples, our Lord grappled with the agony of what He was about to face. Namely, betrayal, arrest, a false trial, torture, and the unspeakable horror of death by crucifixion when He would be rejected by His Father. No words can describe what happened there, His agony so great that He sweat blood through His skin. But Gethsemane was the place where Jesus fought against His self-preservation and yielded His will completely to what God had purposed for Him. As Believers, we have times or seasons of Gethsemanes in our journey. Times when we are at forks or crossroads in our lives and forced to make choices that sometimes, we’d rather not make. We can hear this in the words of our Lord when He cried out in Luke 22:42, “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done”. What we do in our Gethsemanes determines whether or not we move forward in God’s will. You might be in a place like that right now. A time when the Holy Spirit is urging you to move closer to God and surrender yourself and everything you have to the Lord. A time when you need to take a stand for Christ no matter what you have to go through. Gethsemane is not an easy place where our lives are on autopilot and nothing is pushing us down. It’s a place where the Almighty God is leading us to surrender all to Him and take up our cross. Matthew 26:44 tells us that three times Jesus prayed the same prayer of surrender to the Father’s will which means that we have to stay before God in our Gethsemanes until our surrender is complete. That’s when we are sure, by faith, that God’s will is perfect, and when we are completely committed to His will, there’s no other place we’d rather be. That’s a hard thing because, in Jesus’ case, it meant receiving the suffering and death that was coming to Him as God’s perfect will. I pray for myself and all of us right now that we will trust God in Gethsemane just as fully as we trust Him when we’re relaxing beside the still waters.
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March 23, 2025
Hebrews 1:8-9 “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows”
These verses, along with the ones that proceed and follow them in this chapter of Hebrews, are among some of the most mysterious in the scriptures. They give insight into the Trinity and no matter how we try to explain the Godhead, such a revelation is far beyond human comprehension. And, that shouldn’t bother us as believers because when our faith trusts God’s Word about all things from creation to eternity, the splendor of the Trinity is just another unfathomable truth. The Bible declares Jesus is God and centuries before His birth, Isaiah 9:6 prophesied, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”. In today’s verses, the Almighty Father called His Son “God” and then says God is the Son’s God. We’re only able to understand relationships and their hierarchies from what we know humanly. The Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can’t be humanly grasped. There’s no analogy or point of comparison to help us reason it. Jesus, fully God, submitted Himself to the will of God the Father. Of the Holy Spirit, the Bible says in John 16:13-15, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you”. Christ glorifies the Father and the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ. So, having said what we believe by faith but do not understand, where do we look in our desire to know God? I stand on Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”. Jesus was God in the flesh and anointed by the Father with the oil of gladness (He was a man of sorrows but He took joy in being our Savior and Brother). He is all I need.
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March 22, 2025
Psalms 71:14 “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more”
Hope is both a verb and a noun and here, it is a verb; a verb of action. I enjoy thinking and writing about hope because hope and faith together, are the very things that get me through most days. My wife and I consider ourselves blessed to live where we live, in the upper corner of East Tennessee. It’s a spot where the population is small and we enjoy the startling beauty of the foothills of the Appalachians. Compared to many places in the USA, our area is relatively safe, crime is low, and people are still neighborly. But the world at large is growing more uncertain. Even in our area for the past couple of decades, especially since the Covid shutdown, there’s been a great change in people’s demeaner and many people seem more stressed, grim, and edgy. I believe we are losing the momentum of hope and with each passing day, there is less to look forward to, more to worry about, and fewer things that really satisfy people. For many people, there’s no hope of ever getting out of debt, paying off their homes, and saving for retirement. More and more senior citizens are being forced to work in fast food, grocery stores, and such into their older years because the cost of living is so high they can’t pay their bills. There’s only one place where hope abounds; where confidence and the assurance for the future are certain. 1 Peter 1:21 “Who by him (Jesus Christ) do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God”. Our hope is in God and God alone. The more we pursue Him, the more we immerse in His Word, and the more we declare His goodness, mercy, and grace, the greater and greater our hope. God knows the condition of the world around us. He knows it all from the beginning to the end. God has a complete plan for us and has already determined our future. It’s fail-proof and we can anchor our hope in His promises. I encourage us all to take in less and less of the nonsense of the world and more and more of the things of God. Dust off the Bible and place it in the center of your life and your home. Remember when you kept it on the stand beside your bed or somewhere close by? Pick it up daily and begin to mark the verses and promises that speak to your heart. Let God’s Word be your source of news and truth. It is medicine to our souls and reveals the God of all hope to us. “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more”.
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March 21, 2025
John 12:32-33 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die”
Jesus foretold His crucifixion here saying that when He hung dying on the cross, that would be an event that would draw people to Him. What does that mean? The Apostle Paul defines it in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God”. It’s not just the death of Jesus Christ that draws us to Him, it’s the fact that He died a specific death: He was nailed bleeding, and dying on a wooden cross. It was a natural event in those Roman times and people saw criminals crucified often. The LiveScience website says, “In antiquity, thousands upon thousands of people were crucified, which at the time was considered to be one of the most brutal and shameful ways to die. In Rome, the crucifixion process was a long one, entailing scourging before the victim was nailed and hung from the cross”. But the death of Jesus was not like any other because His death was a substitution. He died in our place. It was a supernatural event where the Almighty God saw every sin of all humanity on the back of His Son and for Christ’s sake, is willing to forgive them all if we will but ask Him. The power of the preaching of the cross explains why the enemy has persuaded many to preach anything and everything except the cross. Sit in most average church pews today and the cross of Christ is seldom mentioned. It’s as if we assume people all understand the message and there’s no need to repeat it. But listen to the sermon archives of Billy Graham, a preacher who arguably won more people to Christ than anyone else in history and you will hear him, sermon after sermon, preach the cross, the cross, the cross. It has been said that Charles Spurgeon declared, “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross”. Our Lord’s words in today’s verses were not only about His death at that time but speak to us today to always be careful to preach and teach our Lord’s crucifixion on the cross. 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”. Lift Him up!
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March 20, 2025
Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation”
There’s always going to be troubles in this life. Some of them are greater than others. We will all deal with offenses, trials, battles, and any number of things we wish would go away and leave us alone. Job said in Job 3:25-26, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came”. He was minding his own business, doing what he believed was right but in the back of his mind, he knew he was not immune from problems. And then, “Yet trouble came”. But as redeemed people of faith, we can make a choice that no matter what comes our way, we will keep honoring God and declaring His goodness. We can keep rejoicing despite our situations. Today’s verses speak to us from a farmer’s point of view and list all the frustrating things that are happening to the crops and the livestock. It looks like everything is failing. Yet Habakkuk writes that in times of crop failures and livestock troubles, he will keep looking upward to the Lord, the almighty King of all things. The natural view would be to panic and have a nervous breakdown. But God is still on the throne and we belong to Him. He is our source and while He may provide for us through the natural bounty of His creation, He is not limited to that. We serve a supernatural God a miracle-working God, a God that cannot and will not fail to provide for His children. The Bible says in Psalms 37:18-19, “The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time (time of trouble): and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied”. We can act in faith and rejoice even when we can’t see an answer because we know with God, there always is one. No matter what you or your family might be going through right now, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can say like Pilate, “I find no fault in Him”.
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March 19, 2025
Ephesians 2:1-2 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”
When we are baptized after we are saved, it is a picture, a symbol, of us being buried as a dead person and then raised or resurrected alive. In today’s verses, we are reminded that before we were saved, we were indeed dead, trapped in our trespasses and sins. John Stott, the British Theologian, pointed out that the word “trespasses” identifies the act of challenging authority and, in rebellion, crossing over the line. While “sins” identifies failing to measure up to demanded standards and embodies failure. In our unregenerated state, we are dead rebels and spiritual failures. Our deadness does not mean we were dead physically but that concerning the things of God and our relationship with God, we were dead, unresponsive to His will and Word, and unable to fulfill our created purpose. The verses continue to describe our lives before salvation as people who walked in the ways of this world, the ways of the devil, the prince, and the power of the air. It’s hard to hear that truth and agree with its depths of reality because it puts us dead to God and firmly in the camp of Satan. It’s completely contrary to the current thought that everyone is a “child of God”, we’re all basically good, and that the belief that there’s a devil, is an ancient Christian scare tactic. In the apostate message of today, salvation is not radical rebirth from the death of sins to a new creation in Christ but is speech and thoughts of how we are all good and have the power to be better if we will just change the way we think. The traditional slogans and phrases of Christianity are just the church-speak code words that assure us that we belong to the group. But salvation is a powerful transformation that resurrects us from death and gives us a completely new life, a life that is given and empowered by the Holy Spirit. A life that is described in Colossians 1:13 and tells us that God, “Hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son”. Salvation is a birth, not a religious change or the acquisition of a new vocabulary. It is a supernatural transformation where dead people come to life and they are moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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March 18, 2025
Matthew 26:74-75 “Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly”
Before Jesus was arrested and his disciples scattered, Peter had made a bold boast. Matthew 26:35, “Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples”. He made this solemn promise after Jesus told him that before the rooster crowed that very night, he would deny he knew the Lord. But we can be sure that at the moment, Peter meant what he said. But circumstances have a way of testing our faith and our resolve to remain true to our words and intentions. Peter intended to remain faithful in his allegiance to Jesus. He intended to stand steadfast with the Lord even if it meant he would die alongside the Savior. But as the events of the arrest and trial of Christ happened, Peter lost his nerve and caved to his fear. When the rooster crowed that morning, Peter faced the fact that he had denied the very One to whom he had pledged his loyalty. When the Bible says, “he went out and wept bitterly”, it’s a statement of the shame, sorrow, and regret that filled him. Maybe we’ve all had times we failed in our allegiance to our Lord. Times when we didn’t keep our promises and caved to our fear and unbelief. Or, times when we made choices, like Peter, that we bitterly regretted. The good news is that Peter was restored and God used him greatly throughout his life after the ascension of Jesus. On the day of Pentecost, the Lord chose Peter to preach the first sermon when the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers. Our mistakes and failures do not have to define us because with God there is grace and compassion. The enemy wants us to think we’ve done too much damage and that our relationship with Jesus is forever ruined. But Peter is our example of How the Lord never gives up on us. We are His children and He is a loving, kind, and forgiving Father. Just as Romans 5:20, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” is always true in our salvation, it is just as true when we stumble and fail as believers. Like Peter, the shame and bitterness of our failures are completely healed and covered by the love of God.
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March 17, 2025
Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage”
This verse looks back to the teaching of Galatians 4 where the births of Abraham’s two sons, Ishmael and Isaac are used as an allegory to explain the New Testament believer’s relationship with God. Ishmael was the result of Abraham and Sarah trying to create their own path to God’s promises by concocting a plan they thought would get them what they wanted. But Ishmael was born to a slave and represents all our efforts to earn our way into the kingdom of God. Ishmael and his mother Hagar lived in Abraham’s house until Isaac, the child of promise was born. The birth of Isaac changed everything because the promised child Isaac, born into freedom, could not live in the same house with Ishmael, born as the son of a slave (Genesis 21:8-14). Just as Isaac represents the lineage of freedom, our faith in Christ alone is the way of liberty. The Old Covenant with its laws and rituals is called here, “The yoke of bondage”. Salvation by grace through faith is the way of freedom, the way of liberty. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. This paraphrases the words of Jesus in John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”. And, liberty here does not mean that in Christ we do whatever we want without any boundaries of code or conduct. It is called “THE liberty” and refers to freedom apart from human efforts to be saved. We are not given unbridled freedom to sin because sin is the bondage that keeps us chained in unbelief. We are free from the yoke, the burden of constantly trying to please and appease God through our goodness and self-righteous deeds. The confusion that the birth of Ishmael brought is still being experienced today as many people trace his descendants to the Arab tribes, those who war against the Jews, Isaac’s descendants. Likewise, people who try to use the law or any other rules and codes to be saved are rebelling against the liberty of Christ. We are given here to “Stand fast in the liberty” with means to stand firm, persevere, and stand strong when under judgment. If you stand fast on the foundation of salvation by grace through faith apart from works, some people will slander you and call you a compromiser. But any other teaching diminishes the cross, tramples the Blood of Jesus, and exalts human effort above the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
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March 16, 2025
Psalms 37:5 “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass”
This verse follows the promise of verse 4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart”. It has a statement of Divine fact: He shall bring it to pass”. When we’re praying for something, trusting God for an answer, or standing on a Bible promise, the hard part is waiting for the Lord to bring it all to pass. The enemy and our unbelieving nature will keep whispering that it not going to happen, that God might do it for someone else but He won’t do it for us. If the answer doesn’t come quickly, when our faith is at a strong place, we have to then battle against doubt and frustration. But God’s timing is perfect and when we get that point settled, our job is to keep thanking Him and praising Him for His faithfulness to do what He promised. When we’ve prayed in faith we can then say, “Thank you Jesus that You will bring it to pass”. Every day, trust Him, commit your way to Him, and keep doing the right things; honoring God and thanking Him that His timing is perfect. God is not up in heaven somewhere feeling bothered and annoyed by our desires and prayers. He’s a kind and loving Father who delights to answer our prayers and provide not only our needs but so much more. Listen to His words in Jeremiah 33:2-3, “Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not”. Don’t believe the devil’s lies that God spoke those words to Israel and not to us today. The promise is repeated in the New Testament in 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”. He shall bring it to pass. Keep praying, keep believing, and keep declaring God’s promises. We are invited to the throne of grace and encouraged to pray bold prayers, trusting and expecting the Lord to do great things. We’re not trusting God to help us barely get by and barely drag ourselves around. We’re trusting Him to bless us so that we can, in turn, be a blessing to our families and others He puts in our path. Commit our ways, trust in Him, and He will do it!
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March 15, 2025
Proverbs 12:25 “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad”
The word heaviness here means anxiety and includes fear, worry, distress, and sorrow. It weighs us down as it says here, it makes our hearts stoop. It’s more than just having the blues or what we might call an “Off day”. It’s the high levels of anxiety that many people struggle with. Some have panic attacks and some are so debilitated by anxiety, worry, fear, and stress that they cannot function normally. If you have never experienced this, it might be easy to dismiss it or use old clichés like, “Get a grip, everything’s ok”. Or, think that such people are weak or faithless. But it’s real and it affects people all over the world of all ages and in every social group. And, don’t think because people are believers, they are immune. Many people who love the Lord and are faithful to Him battle anxiety, worry, fear, and sadness. One weapon against anxiety given here is the power of “A good word”. What we speak over ourselves and others matters more than we can imagine. The phrase “good word”, means pleasant, encouraging, happy, appropriate, prosperity, cheerful, loving, and many more descriptions like this. Why is it that we might be hesitant to speak words like these in times of anxiety instead of agreeing with the picture of gloom and doom that anxiety paints? Why is it that we might remain silent when the need for a good word, spoken in love and kindness is the medicine we all need when fighting heaviness of heart? Of all the good words we could speak, God’s Word is the best of all. We don’t hammer people with scripture as if we’re scolding them when they’re struggling, but we speak God’s Word with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. In the Name of Jesus, fear, anxiety, and discouragement are no match for John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”. I encourage us all to learn words and verses of encouragement to speak to and over ourselves and others in times of heaviness. Let’s not come in agreement with anxiety but let’s stand against it. It’s not God’s will for us to walk in worry, anxiety, and fear. His way is the path of peace and by His peace, He leads us. Isaiah 55:12, “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace”.
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March 14, 2025
Genesis 6:13-14 “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch”
Was Noah saved by his works? These verses tell us God gave Noah a very arduous task: To build a boat 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 50 feet tall. The reason was to save alive Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives when God flooded the entire earth with water above the highest mountains. Eight people along with a pair of every living land creature entered the ark and were saved. God could have provided an ark Himself or some other method of preserving life but He left the work to Noah. And, even though the scriptures do not tell us how many years it took Noah to complete the task, (some believe 120 years based on Genesis 6:3) we can be sure it was hard work for a long time. This raises the question: Was Noah and his family saved by his works? After all, it was Noah’s hands, human effort, and the hands of anyone who helped him, that built the Ark of Salvation. The ark was a type of Christ but Noah’s ark was not built for the salvation of the souls of Noah and his family but to preserve their earthly lives to start civilization again after the flood. God’s plan was to judge humanity for their wickedness but not to completely end all life. He purposed to give humanity a restart. But the Bible gives us insight into this event in Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith”. Noah’s hands may have handled the wood and hammered the nails but it was his faith that caused his actions. In every generation and every dispensation, faith is what God honors and grace, by faith is what saves souls. And, faith always produces action. The scriptures tell us in James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone”. For many years while building the ark, the ring of Noah’s hammer and the sound of his saws were the sounds of faith in action. Faith still moves us today to do God’s will and whatever we do in faith is pleasing to the Lord.
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March 13, 2025
Luke 5:26 “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day”
Does anything amaze us nowadays? We have so much knowledge at our fingertips and almost any question we have, in a few seconds our smartphones will give us an answer. Years ago, the thought of space travel was unimaginable but now, the idea that people might someday travel to Mars and beyond is expected to happen. When my mother was a little girl, about a hundred years ago, she said the sight of an airplane flying over Southwest Virginia was so uncommon that whenever they saw one, people would stop whatever they were doing and watch until it flew out of sight. Now, we are unamazed at most everything and bored with it all. When Jesus walked this earth, He and the miracles He performed amazed people. The Bible says in Luke 9:43, “And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God”. In the early church, when God moved, people were struck with wonder. The Bible says, concerning the salvation of Paul in Acts 9:21, “But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?”. Most people have lost that sense of wonder and amazement not only with the world around us but with the things of God. It’s disheartening to see people, even children, cynical and unimpressed with everything as if they know it all. But the wonder of Jesus Christ and the glory of God that awaits us is still just as amazing and more so now than ever before. In the times we enter His presence in prayer and when meditating on His Word and His promises we can find amazement and awe in Him. And, let’s keep praying for revival that the wonder of the knowledge of our Holy God will again fill our churches from the pulpits to pews and beyond. Let’s not allow the cynicism of the world to find a place in our worship of the Lord. Jesus Christ is still the same yesterday, today, and forever. He still saves, delivers, and heals. He still answers prayers and loads us daily with benefits. Let’s pray bold prayers and come before Him with expectant hearts. Let’s ditch cold, unamazing religion and seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Let’s live for the glory of God and find renewed amazement and awe in our relationship with the Creator of all things. Let’s open our Bibles again and become addicted to the truth that sets us free. Let’s declare, “You are amazing, God!”
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March 12, 2025
Matthew 14:26-27 “And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid”
The disciples were in a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. The wind was howling, waves were beating into their boat, and they looked out on the water and saw someone walking on the water. As if the horrible weather wasn’t scary enough, they panicked at the sight of the figure walking on the sea in the middle of the storm. The word “troubled” means “to strike one’s spirit with fear and dread”. But it was Jesus and He said, “It’s me. Be of good cheer and don’t be afraid”. Those words, be of good cheer, appear several times in the Bible, translated in a couple of ways. Sometimes it’s be of good cheer as it is here and other times it’s be of good comfort. But in all places, it has the same meaning: be confident, hopeful, bold, and courageous. Someone once said, “In life, we’re either going into a storm, in a storm or coming out of a storm”. Job said our lives are a few days and full of trouble. But with Jesus, what looks like trouble is an opportunity for Him to show up in our favor and show us His power to deliver. Storms are no match for the Master of the sea. Trials are no problem for the Way Maker. Burdens are no big deal for the Architect of the Universe. Once the disciples got their eyes and ears off the storm and fastened on Jesus, faith, hope, and courage swelled up within them and they knew they were safe. It was faith strong enough to make Peter want to get out of the boat and walk on the water like the Lord. The Lord speaks to us today to be of good cheer. We’re all facing life and what it brings but the Lord walks above the waves and He is impervious to the wind. His hand is reaching out to us right now while He urges us to trust Him, take His hand, and calm down. He says, “I will give you rest. Don’t be afraid”. We need the assurance of His presence and the comfort of His Words. He is calling out to us, just as He did the disciples, and His Words are those of hope, assurance, and unfailing promises. Be of good cheer, It’s me. I am with you, I am for you, and I will never fail you.
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March 11, 2025
2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us”
I grew up in a “no” church culture. The message of the little church I attended, and a lot of other churches our family visited, had a common theme that emphasized all that was wrong in the world. A standard hour sermon, as best as I can remember, was a catalog of descriptions of what people were doing wrong, what the community was doing wrong, and what horrible things were happening in the world around us that were sure to make God even angrier than He was the day before. I can’t remember many words of hope, confidence, and victory spoken over us. After I was grown, it took a while to look into the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit as He taught me that in Jesus Christ, all the promises of God were fulfilled as yes, yes, and Amen! Yes, there is victory over sin! Yes, salvation is God’s eternal gift to us! Yes, Jesus loves us and will never forsake us! Yes, God is working all things for our good! Yes, we are more than conquerors! Yes, there is hope for our families, our children, and our grandchildren. Yes, God wants us to be blessed, prosper, and live with love, joy, and peace! And, the list goes on with all promises fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and all given to us for our benefit. All with a resounding yes and Amen where the Amen means that’s the conclusion of the plan, positive and sure. We are used to the power of “No”. When children first learn their words of power, “yes” is not what they normally shout. They defy with “No”. But God’s power is in yes because His plans will always succeed. Righteousness and truth will win and nothing can stop our God from bringing to pass all He has purposed. Sure, there is evil in this world and circumstances sometimes seem to be overpowering but the Lord gives us choices. We can choose to fasten our attention on the problems instead of God’s solutions and we can remain stuck in the “no” mentality until our faith gets weak, our hope diminishes, and discouragement begins to rule. Or, we can choose to take God at His Word, stand steadfast on His promises, and declare victory in Jesus. Because, in Him, it’s always Yes. Yes, I am a child of God. Yes, He loves me unconditionally. Yes, I can do all things through Jesus Christ. And yes, He is coming soon!
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March 10, 2025
Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding”
This truth is repeated at least four times: Here, and in Proverbs 1:7, Job 28:28, and Psalms 111:10. The converse is true that if people do not fear God they are not wise. The lie of the enemy, that America was not founded for religious freedom, is exactly that: a lie. Thousands came across the Atlantic and formed settlements, cities, and united into states and they were God-fearing people. They did not all share the same doctrines but their faith in God was common ground. They built churches, and universities to teach the Bible, and became a force for freedom and truth to the world. When people fear the Lord, they live life with a set of standards based on the principles of the scriptures. While the Ten Commandments are not a pathway to salvation, they are the moral foundation of those who choose right rather than wrong and truth over lies. The fear of God teaches us to respect the Lord, others, and His creation. It gives us strong work ethics, and purpose, and is the glue that holds communities together by rewarding those who do right and punishing the lawless. It was the underlying fear of the Lord that gave us the years when we didn’t have to lock our doors and children were safe to run and play without the constant worry of predators. That’s not to say everyone was trustworthy and respectable but the wisdom that surrounded us had its source in the people and communities that held to the truth of the existence and glory of God. It’s in our Declaration of Independence and the words of our Constitution. The insanity we see around us now, the unbelievable moronic things we hear from the leaders of our governments to the people demanding the freedom to mutilate and harm our children, are the proofs of what happens when we no longer fear God. Praise God for all those who are not ashamed of the testimony of Jesus Christ and who hold fast to our heritage of faith in Him. Those things are despised, and hated by many who have hardened their hearts against God, rejecting the way of truth. But revival, a return to faith in God and the reverence due His name, can rescue us from the decline and the impending destruction many are warning that is America’s future. Psalms 85:6-7, “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation”.
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March 9, 2025
John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it”
It doesn’t matter if it’s from the news media, the lips of a politician, or thundered from a pulpit; If it’s a lie, it’s from the devil. It might come from a human mouth but the source is Satan. Truth is always God’s way, as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. But of the devil, the Bible says here, he “abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him”. We might forget these facts when we listen to the politicians and their media minions or the religious leaders who claim to speak truth but their words are venomous lies. We might not make the connection that they and the source of what they’re saying are as Jesus declared here, “Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do”. And, “he is a liar, and the father of it”. How did we sink so low that much of what has been fed to us for a long time has been nothing but lies, cover-ups, and hideous works of evil, hidden beneath slogans that declare, “all is well”? It’s not just greed, ambition, and despite for our nation, it’s satanic. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”. When our values, morality, money, and trust are stolen and destroyed, it’s not just a shifting society, it’s the work of Satan, the thief. Laws can’t hold him back because he controls the institutions and infrastructure of the world’s systems. He sneers at the will and rule of humanity and has wickedness ensconced in high places that circumvent those who seek to oppose him. But when Jesus confronted people possessed with devils, the devils cried out. Praise God for the light of truth that exposes evil. When it shines into the darkness, the wickedness, like cockroaches exposed to the light, starts running and screaming. Yes, we should fight for the right, truth, and justice from a Biblical foundation. But praise God soon our King will return with a rod of iron (Rev 12:5; 19:15) The Baby from the manger, once hated, despised, rejected, tortured, and crucified, is now King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Isaiah 32:1-2, “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land”. Halleluiah!!
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March 8, 2025
2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”
It’s a battle to always look at the world around us with a heavenly perspective. Especially when you’re working, raising a family, and having to deal daily with life’s issues. But if we stop for a minute and consider the sum of all that this world is and what it offers, it’s a chaotic, confused, never-ending pattern of war, wickedness, and human tragedies. All that’s good in this world are the things that are set in order and aligned with truth, justice, and the hope that comes from God. What this world offers is sorrow, sickness, and death. Jesus offers life, love, joy, and peace. It’s easy to forget that the devil, for the time being, is the prince and power of the kingdoms of this world. Praise God one day soon that will change when Revelation 11:15 is fulfilled: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever”. When Jesus reigns, there’ll be no more gloom, doom, and destruction. But for now, in faith, we look above the deception here and learn to filter all we see through the eternal truth of God’s Word. That’s how we look at the things not seen: By faith, we proclaim their reality even though they are invisible to us at the moment. The irony is that what we see, seems to be what’s real, and what we can’t see seems fictional. That’s where faith declares that what God says is true and that He can not lie. We are not stuck here, we’re just passing through. All the world offers is temporary (temporal) and it will all pass away. But what God promises is eternal. The rewards this life offers and uses to seduce people away from the truth never satisfy and all those rewards will perish. Houses, possessions, wealth, accolades, youth, and all the other things people long for and work to accumulate will all be left behind. They will all be destroyed. But the things of God will never pass away. The new heaven and new earth are real. Our eternity with God and the people of God is a fact. A new body and a life where there’ll be no sickness, sorrow, sadness, or death are waiting for us. May the Holy Spirit help us walk daily in the light of today’s verse: Looking at the unseen, the eternal things of God’s promises.
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March 7, 2025
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”
One main ploy of the enemy is to get us away from the Bible and get us sidetracked in human opinion, reasoning, and thought. He knows that the Word of God has power and supernatural ability above all comprehension. Even those of us who venerate the Scriptures cannot grasp the fullness and glory of God’s Word. Today’s verse gives us the understanding that the Word is alive, a living entity with the word “quick” meaning to live, breathe, and be among the living (not lifeless, not dead) Thayer. And, when we receive it as such, that knowledge transforms our faith and opens doors to endless possibilities in God’s kingdom. When we pick up a Bible, open it, and begin to read its words, we’re spiritually eating the bread of life. When we speak the words of scripture, proclaiming them as God’s Word, we’re speaking the Words of life that have the power to do what no human words can do. Jesus, when he was being tempted by Satan, defeated him by just speaking what was written in the Word of God. The Lord did indeed touch some people and heal them but often He did it just by speaking, His Words doing miracles. Luke 4:36, “And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out”. I love Psalms 107:20, “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions”. If we could only understand the fullness of these things: That God created all things by His Word. He keeps all creation existent and functioning by His Word. By His Word He saves us, eternally secures us, provides for us, delivers us, and reveals truth to us. May we never forget that as we submit ourselves to God’s Word, it’s not just for intellectual knowledge or to learn Bible facts. It is for the ministry of the Word because God meets us in His Word and the Holy Spirit works powerfully through the Word of God. This spiritual work of God’s Word goes far beyond the basic educational value of learning the Bible (Guzik). The Word of God is alive, all-powerful, all-knowing, and is God Himself (John 1:1).
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March 6, 2025
1 Timothy 2:13-14 “For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression”
Yesterday, we looked at these verses as they relate to God’s order of creation and that He set the man as the head of the family. The man has the responsibility for guiding the home in line with the Word of God. Adam sinned against God willfully and brought condemnation upon all people. It’s not a matter of importance or power but one of order and responsibility. The word “For” here, used mostly as a preposition in English, is a conjunction in verse 13 and sets these verses as a bridge between the teaching in chapters 2 and 3. It especially sets up the order for church leadership in chapter 3 where God’s Word makes clear the qualifications for Bishops and deacons. The meaning of “Bishop” translates to “overseer” and is seen as a leadership role in pastoral duties like teaching and caring for the flock. Here is what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 3:2-6 “ A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil”. Just as the Lord God set Adam as the head of the family, God sets Bishops (pastors and/or elders), as overseers of the church. Their families are an orderly example to the church body. Notice the nouns and pronouns used here: Husband, his, he, and man. Also, the Adamic order is declared in the words, “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)”. Many churches ignore this doctrine as if God didn’t mean what He said or that He has changed His mind because societal norms have twisted God’s prescribed order of the family into disarray. But as Evangelicals, we either hold God’s Word as infallible and inerrant and follow the Bible as our source of truth or we need to quit claiming to be Bible believers and admit we are unbelieving apostates, making our own rules apart from the inspired Word of God. Bible believers, following the Word of God as the only source of revealed truth, cannot attend, support, or recommend any church that is not aligned with these clear, concise Biblical truths.
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March 5, 2025
1 Timothy 2:13-14 “For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression”
These two verses speak to us on multiple levels and serve as a bridge between 1 Timothy chapters 2 and 3. First, they declare that the depravity, the innate sin of the human race did not come from Eve’s temptation and sin. God’s order of creation was Adam first and then Eve. Adam was the federal head of humanity and it was in Adam that the first sin was judged. The Bible says in Romans 5:12-14, “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law). Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come”. And, in verse 18, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation”. Eve was tricked, deceived by the crafted lies of the devil. But Adam was not tricked nor deceived. He sinned knowing full well what he was doing and it’s the enormity of his sin, the fact that he willingly and openly disobeyed God that is so appalling. He stood before God representing the entire human race and while that may not sound fair to some, remember that Adam was perfect before he sinned. He was God’s handiwork and when God made Adam in His own image, giving him free will in the process, God did not make or allow any flaws in him. But the day Adam stretched out his hand and took the fruit Eve handed him, he failed in his responsibility not only as the head of all humanity but as the head of his family. Eve was not the head of the human race and she was not the head and authority in her God-created home. The Lord set up the family, husbands, wives, and children as He pleased. And, while today’s confused world may be in rebellion against His order of creation and His plan for the family and the church, all of creation still belongs to God and He has not changed His mind. Husbands and dads need to humble themselves before the Lord then step up and be the men of God the Lord has declared them to be. God willing, tomorrow we will look at how these verses are the bridge between chapters 2 and 3.
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March 4, 2025
1 Corinthians 9:20-22 “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some”
Whenever I read these verses, I think about my Dad and the way he came to salvation. I may have written some about this in past devotions but I want to tell the story again in Dad’s memory. My Dad was uninterested in the ways of God and followed a path of strong drink. But a Christian neighbor of ours who was a minister and a pastor, would often stop by and visit him. At first, Dad hated to see him coming because he knew the man would talk to him about Jesus. Over time, they found common ground talking about livestock, farming, and fruit tree cultivation and it was around those things our neighbor approached my dad and they became friends. The neighbor used their common interests to keep their friendship alive and he was faithful for several years to extend his friendship to my Dad. My Dad eventually gave his heart to the Lord and later, God called him to preach. He became a pastor and pastored until his death a few years ago. A few years later, his friend passed. A blessing in this story is that after Dad became a minister, he and the friend who sowed seeds of faith into him, preached together and their friendship remained strong until Dad died. I’m so thankful for our neighbor who took an interest in my unbelieving father and became “all things to him” and with patient friendship, won him to the Lord. This is what the Apostle Paul is talking about in these verses. He is not saying we immerse ourselves in the lifestyles and sins of those to whom we witness but that we find common ground. We do not compromise the message, water it down, or collaborate in unholy ways. But we practice adaptability for the sake of winning souls. Our religious ways should not be a barrier to those who need the Lord because the Holy Spirit will do the wooing when we lay aside ourselves and find a heart-to-heart identity with those who need a Savior. May God bless the memory of my wonderful Dad and Paul Moody, who helped him come to faith in Jesus Christ.
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March 3, 2025
Hebrews 11:24,27 “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (27) By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible”
Moses was adopted by Pharoah’s daughter and raised as an Egyptian prince. But when he was grown, he reached a fork in his road of life. He could continue to live in Egypt and enjoy a life as royalty and perhaps even become Pharoah someday or he could turn away from Egypt and live his life as a Hebrew, trusting in the Almighty God. Interestingly, thousands of years before Christ was born, the Bible says of Moses in verse 26: “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward (he was looking ahead to the reward).” It was at that time of choosing his future that Moses stood up for his Israelite heritage, defended an Israelite against an Egyptian slave driver, killed the Egyptian, and had to flee for his life. He left Egypt behind and fled into the desert where he lived for the next 40 years as a nomadic shepherd. He was far away from the splendor and luxury of Egypt in the “backside” of the desert. The Bible said he came to Horeb which means barren, desolate, and parched. From the luxury of the King’s palace to forty years in the care of sheep, God was preparing him for a job for which only the Almighty could equip him. There is no standard schooling in the University of God. Each servant is prepared according to his particular needs, educated, and given a set of tools and a personal perspective on the work God has appointed him. In Moses’ case, the lonely, patient life of a shepherd for forty years displaced all the bling and allure of Egypt. It is good for us to be led to the backside of the desert even though for a while we might miss the pull of the world we were immersed in. We need a place where everything is set aside, simpler, and where everything is real, free from any pretenses, and the fool’s gold of life. The backside of the desert is better than any degree in religion, any study of literature, and any number of hours poring over church doctrine and church history. It is there we are individually and personally educated; Prepared by the One who created all things and that called us to His purpose. It took 80 years for God to get Moses ready to do God’s work. So, let’s be patient and wait upon the Lord whenever we find ourselves in the Horeb’s of life.
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March 2, 2025
Ephesians 1:13-14 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”
When we were saved, God claimed us as His own. He declared that He is our Father and we are His children. When He moved within us in the person of the Holy Spirit, these verses tell us that constituted a sealing and that sealing is the earnest, or down payment of all that our God has promised us: our eternal inheritance. The word “seal” here means to stamp with a signet or private mark for security or preservation. God gave us the Holy Spirit not only to accomplish all the things listed in John chapters 14 through 16, but He also placed His own personal mark on us to identify us as His. This mark signifies our eternal covenant with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is repeated in Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”. Whenever the enemy tries to lie to us about our sonship, we can use this truth to declare the deal is done and sealed. The down payment has been made and the God of heaven and earth has placed His divine private mark upon us. Our names have been recorded in heaven’s eternal book as belonging to the Lord. This is grounds for continual rejoicing because it is part of the “things which are not seen” spoken of in 2 Corinthians 4:18, ”While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” This down payment of our inheritance is proof and a reminder that the best is yet to come. And, nothing on earth or in heaven will be able to separate us from what God has done for us and has prepared for us. The fact that some often think the purpose of the Holy Spirit is just to make us feel good or to deliver us out of some situation we’re in, is overlooking the truth that His being within us is positive proof we have nothing to fear and that we are already confirmed as citizens of heaven. Philippians 3:20,” For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”.
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March 1, 2025
Philippians 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death”
We want to know the power of Christ’s resurrection. It’s the wonderful reality of Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you”. The knowledge that the same Holy Spirit power that raised Jesus from the dead lives within us, is in the supernatural realm. This has been the basis for some people’s primary desire: To experience emotional manifestations that they believe emanate from this inner power of the Holy Spirit. Their pursuit to know God is a life-long journey seeking one emotional experience after another with the periods in between spent begging God for another great experience. But knowing Jesus and the power of His resurrection is knowing Him in a relationship that is a daily, stable walk of truth and integrity. A walk that looks to Him continually and acknowledges that He is Lord of all and Lord of our lives. Because while we want to know Him in the power of His resurrection, the second part of this is just as real and necessary: To know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings. We can’t have the first without the second. It’s a milestone of maturity when we learn to embrace our sufferings with just as much faith as we do in our times of rejoicing. Believers have seasons of great victory where they triumph and see bold prayers answered quickly and powerfully. We have emotions and experiences of joy, peace, happiness, and confidence. But we also have seasons of suffering and sorrow. Times when we have no overcoming power in our own abilities and reasonings but must fully trust in Jesus Christ to help us through our circumstances. We fight battles in our faith, illness in our bodies, temptations from our flesh, and opposition from the enemy and his henchmen. Sometimes it seems our suffering is completely unfair and we must endure hardness until Jesus sets us free. But just as knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection has a purpose for us, so do the sufferings. Let’s consider James 1:12, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation (trials, times of proving, testing): for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him”. May our desire be to know Jesus Christ, both in His resurrection power and in the fellowship of His suffering.
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