Devotionals

A daily word of encouragement, exhortation and edification, drawn from the Scriptures.

Our Great Covenant Keeping God

Nehemiah 1.5 I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. Our God is Great and Terrible. The old KJV word terrible is not to be understood as a negative...

Eternal Life!

What we deserve as sinners is death.  What God offers to us through His Son Jesus Christ is eternal life (Romans 6:23).  While the world is vainly seeking for the mythical “Fountain of Youth”, God is proclaiming a message of eternal life to all who believe in His...

The Power of Faith and Hope in God

Job 19.25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job is reeling under the pain of suffering. Neither he nor his friends have any...

Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5.3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The beatitudes describe the character of the kind of people who belong to Jesus Christ. These beatitude descriptions transcend denominational lines. They describe the person who is...

Whom say ye that I am?

Matthew 16.13-17 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith...

The Cloud of God

Acts 1.9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. In Rochester, New York, overcast and cloudy days are pretty much the norm. As I was reading Acts 1 this morning, the weather outside was...

The Mission of Jesus

Luke 4:17-21 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to...

There is Power in the Blood of Jesus

Colossians 1:14 In Whom we have redemption through His blood (Does your bible say through His blood?), even the forgiveness of sins.” Why is blood so important to God? To us? “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make...

The Choice is Yours

John 5:27-28 ...for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. It is not a question...

The spirit of Hamaan

Esther 5.11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. Like the religious fraud in the temple in Luke...

God's meticulous Providence

Esther 4.14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a...

Missing the presence of God

Genesis 28.16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. This is that incredible chapter where Jacob experiences the ladder that joins heaven and earth. A picture, of course, of Jesus Christ, The One Mediator...

Living with a Good Conscience

Acts 23.1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. How wonderful it is to walk with Jesus in spirit and in truth. Despite the chaos and spiritual warfare that the apostle Paul...

A Faith that works

James 2.26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Just as money can be genuine or counterfeit, so too faith can be the real thing or just an imitation of the real thing.  If it's a faith that fails to produce good deeds, it is...

The congregation of the Dead

Proverbs 21.16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. There are two congregations on planet earth. There is the congregation of the twice born followers of The Lord Jesus Christ. And there is the...

Isaac: A portrait of faith and submission

Genesis 22.6- 8 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I,...

True Greatness

Mark 10.42-45 42 But Jesus called them [to him], and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever...

Magnifying God inspires Joy

Philippians 1.21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. The Bible says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Jesus Christ has bought us at the price of His own  death, which means...

God does not Forget

Hebrews 6.10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Why should we not be weary in well doing, beloved? Because God does not forget the things...

The Freeness of God's Grace

Acts 15.11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Religion and legalism has great difficulty with the freeness of the grace of the gospel. Inevitably, rules or conditions are made necessary for one to get right...

Sanctification: A Work in Progress

Philippians 1.6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. In Nehemiah 4, the adversaries of the Jews looked at their work and mocked it as feeble. Often when the world looks at the...

Moved with Compassion

Matthew 14.14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. When Jesus Christ sees the hurting and needy, He moves towards them, not away from them. Same holds true of you this morning, beloved....

The Living Spirit

Acts 8.29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. The Holy Spirit is more than a doctrine, He is a Living Person Who speaks to His people and directs their steps. Of course, as The Author of Scripture, The Holy Spirit has given to...

He Saw Their Faith

Our faith is expressed in both noun and verb form. In the noun form, it is what we call our "Statement of Faith", or doctrinal beliefs. God wants us to have sound doctrine for obvious reasons. However, in day-to-day living, it is the verb faith that is needed. Noun...

He is Not Here, But He is Risen

Luke 24:1-7 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome) came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled...

Consider Your Ways

Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Haggai 1.5,7 The word for you and me today is simple. Consider your ways. Literally, “set your heart upon your ways,” that is, take to heart, in the sense of thinking seriously about what we are doing....

Jesus: The Compassionate Savior

Matthew 9.36-38 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye...

The depth of sin; the depth of Christ's atonement

Acts 8.22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. The account above is referring to Simon the sorcerer who sought to obtain the power of The Holy Ghost for his own use and fame. The point that...

For those who mourn

Matthew 5.4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. In our "reasonable" and "logical" minds, it is not blessed to mourn. Not according to the "be happy" mindset of these days. But once again, the way God defines things is far different than the base...

God's counsel never changes

Isa 25.1 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. A common word used during any political campaign is change. Every politician and political party promises...