The Smart Wise Men
Why was it important that the wise men came to visit Jesus? Why did all those baby boys have to die? This devotion begins the discussion of the wise men coming to worship Baby Jesus.
The Faithful Watchers: Simeon
In the last devotion, we discussed why Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were at the temple. We also met Anna. Now, we will turn to meet Simeon.
How Do Disciples Grow?
So, if we shouldn’t give up on God, how do we grow to understand Him better? How do we go from milk babies to steak adults? This devotion explore guidance from the Scriptures on how to do that.
The Armor of Faith and Peace
Isn’t it nice to know there is armor we can put on for the spiritual warfare? But what does that mean? This devotion looks at the shield of faith and shoes of peace.
What Is the Mystery of Jesus and the Church?
Right in the middle of talking about submission, Paul throws in a verse about the mystery of Jesus and the Church. This devotion looks at how we would be if Jesus had not died for our sins and evidence of His great love for us.
How Do We Submit to Each Other?
We are familiar with the wives-submit-to-your-husbands and husbands-love-as-Jesus-loved-you verses. We generally skip over Ephesians 5: 21, though. This devotion looks at what attitude we are to have regarding others.
Is It the Law or Faith?
The law served a specific purpose before Jesus came to pay the price for our sins. Once He did, the purpose of the law changed. This devotion looks at how the law prepared us for faith in Jesus.
Should Disciples Compromise Their Beliefs?
Many nonbelievers today believe disciples should compromise their beliefs to allow them to keep their beliefs. However, God does not want His laws and commandments compromised. This devotion looks at parallels of a Jewish nation’s compromise with that of today’s society.
How Is Jesus Our Cornerstone?
Closing out Ephesians 2, Paul talked about Jesus being the Cornerstone of the foundation. This devotion looks at how this forms the Family as a residence is built within us.
How Do We Open the Eyes of Our Hearts?
Paul uses an obscure term: “… eyes of your hearts …” (Eph. 1: 18 RSV). At first glance, it may seem confusing. This devotion discusses what eyes of your hearts means and how we can use it to seek God.
God's Eye Is on Us
We know God is present with us always. However, at times, it is hard to feel that. This devotion looks at accepting through faith the knowledge that God is with us – even if we don’t feel His presence.
How Is Trust Different Than Faith?
The last devotion began the How Is Faith Different Than Trust series by looking at faith. This devotion continues by looking at trust. It concludes by considering both terms.
What Is Faith?
Churchy terms can sometimes be confusing. For instance, how is faith different than trust? This devotion, the first in the How Is Faith Different Than Trust series, looks at what faith is.
How Do We Renew Our Minds?
Believers are told to “… be transformed by the renewing of your mind …” (Rom. 12: 2 NIV). This transformation begins when we begin the process of salvation. This devotion discusses how that process continues as God helps us grow in grace and knowledge (II Pet. 3: 18) and how our attitude plays a part in that.
What Is Our Job Description as a Believer?
Each person has their own plan that God wants them to fulfill. We do have broad duties that God calls us to perform. This devotion, the first in the What It Means to Be a Believer series, begins the discussion of what it means to be a living sacrifice.
How Do We Get Assurance?
When we take our eyes off God and look at the world around us, it can get very scary at times. In the Bible, we read about an assurance. This devotion looks at what assurance is and how we can get it.
God's Light Shines Out Through Our Brokenness
In to gain salvation, we need to believe and repent. Can repentance come before our belief? This is the second devotion in the Believe and Repent series that looks at where repentance falls in gaining salvation.
Does Repent or Believe Come First?
In to gain salvation, we need to believe and repent. Can repentance come before our belief? This is the second devotion in the Believe and Repent series that looks at where repentance falls in gaining salvation.
Does Believe or Repent Come First?
In order to gain salvation, we need to believe and repent. Those may be confusing concepts to someone who hasn’t grown up in a church. Some may not know what order these are supposed to come in. This is the first devotion in the Believe and Repent series that looks at where belief falls in gaining salvation.
Is Depression a Lack of Faith?
Depression is prevalent in our world today. Some say that believers should not be depressed as it shows a lack of faith in God. This devotion looks at depression and on instance of how God has dealt with it when Elijah had it.
How Can We Find Peace?
Believers and non-believers alike are searching for peace in today’s world. There is so much tension and division that peace seems to have flown out the window. This devotion looks at the peace we can find in God.
Does God Keep Secrets?
God as Sovereign Lord has not shared all of His secrets with us. He has shared His law with us as the standard by which we should live. This devotion looks at what scripture tells us about secrets and keeping His law and applies that to society today.
Suit Up in Your Power Suit
Have you ever had a power suit? We do – the armor of God. This devotion explores the different aspects of the armor that God provides for our protection from spiritual attacks.
When Was the Last Mountain-top Experience?
Our walk with God is characterized with mountain-top experiences and valleys. We feel closest to God on the mountain top. This devotion looks at how those experiences can encourage us in the valleys.
Following the Master's Bidding
Luke tells the story of the Carpenter telling the fisherman how to fish. It is hard when God tells us to keep doing what we are doing even though we don’t see results. This devotion looks at faith, obedience, and persistence.
Are Moms a Substitute for God?
A church sign got me thinking about moms and our roles here. It also got me thinking about how we have to watch what we say. This devotion looks at if, as the sign said, moms are substitutes for God.
How Do We Give God Control of Our Lives?
We really can’t give God total control in our lives until we trust Him. Isn’t that what we think? But what if it needs to be the other way around? This devotion will look at how we can let God take control.
Why Are We Still Looking Up?
After 40 days, Jesus ascended to heaven. The disciples continued to look for Him in the clouds, until the angel told them He wasn’t coming back. This devotion discusses where we should fix our gaze as we wait for Jesus to return.
What Can We Learn from the Road Trip to Emmaus?
As two men were walking along toward Emmaus, the resurrected Jesus joined them. They didn’t know it was Him until He opened their eyes. This devotion looks at how Jesus not only came to comfort them, but also to instruct them what Scriptures mean.
Why Did Peter Want Jesus to Wash More Than Just His Feet?
After the Passover meal, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. At first, Peter vehemently tried to stop Jesus from doing that. This devotion looks at why Peter changed his mind and wanted more than his feet washed.
But How Do We See God Today?
Over the past few devotions, we have been looking at how God appears to His people. But we really haven’t heard of Him appearing, sending His angels, or even just talking to us. This devotion will look at how God continues to appear to us today.
What Is God's Spirit and Glory?
For the last three devotions, we have looked at examples of how God appeared to people. He has taken different forms to accomplish that. He had to, didn’t He? He is a spirit, after all. This devotion will look at how God uses His spirit and glory among other things to appear to people.
How Can We Seek God If We Can't See Him?
We sometimes question how we can seek God if we can’t see Him. We read what we see as conflicting statements in the Bible about people who have actually seen God and how they wouldn’t live if they did. That begs the question, can we see God? This begins a series of devotions that will look at this and try to figure out the answer. This devotion will look at the conflicting statements about seeing God and people who have claimed to see Him.
It Is Not Wrong to Long for Something
A characteristic of today’s world seems to be that we want more than we have. Is this longing for more, in and of itself, wrong? This devotion looks at what part longing should play in our lives.
Taking Care to Seek God
Relationships take work, sometimes hard work. The same can be said of our relationship with God. This devotion looks at the care we must take to ensure we are seeking God.
Our Joy Is Not Dependent on Circunstances
Our joy is not dependent on circumstances. Sometimes, that is hard to understand and even harder on which to follow through. This devotion explores how God wants us to find joy in Him.
Persistence and Pursuit
We discount little things. But little things to us can be big things to others. Many times, we discount little things in our spiritual walk on which God may have a totally different outlook. This devotion looks at using little things to persist and pursue growing our understanding of God.
What Is a Definition of Works?
The Bible clearly tells us that salvation cannot be earned through works. But what is it talking about when it says “works”? This devotion looks at what we can — and cannot do — for salvation.
Isn't Believing There Is a God Good Enough?
Some people do not believe in a Supreme Being. Some do believe there is a God, but do not give their lives to Him as their Father. Isn’t it enough to believe there is a God? This devotion will look at why head knowledge is not enough.
Can We Find One Just Person?
Israel found itself outside of God’s favor many times. Yet, God is a forgiving God. Several times, the fate of the nation rested on a handful of just people. This devotion discusses what a just person is and how we should apply it to our lives.
Why Did God Take the Israelites the Long Way to the Promised Land?
Why does God sometimes seem to take us the long way around when trying to get us to where He wants us to go? This devotion looks at why the Israelites went the desert road toward the Red Sea. We are discussing how sometimes the easy way isn’t really the easy way at all.
How Can We Understand Who God Is?
It is difficult to understand who God is. How can we understand Someone we don’t see? With whom we can’t have face-to-face conversations? This devotion discusses some aspects of God that will help us to understand who He is.I