Daily Devotion - January 31, 2025

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Rom. 6:1-2)

Here, the Apostle Paul strongly cautions against using the grace of God to continue to sin by figuring, “all will be forgiven.” This is not because there isn’t enough of God’s grace to forgive mounting sins.

Instead, Paul reminds believers that grace has destroyed the sinful life that once enslaved us. No one should want to go back to living in slavery. If we truly understand how powerful and profound is the grace of God that has made our slavery a thing of the past – an existence that is dead to us now – then we will never want to go back to that life.

Yes, God will always forgive those who confess their sin and need of him. But, once we understand how incredibly gracious, generous, and loving is his pardon, then we increasingly desire to turn from the sin that grieves him and enslaves us!

Resting on God’s grace does not relieve our obligation to honor him but powerfully stimulates our love to live for God’s glory and in our freedom!

Prayer: Father, thank you for setting me free in Christ from the slavery of sin. Keep me today from returning to sin’s slavery as I live to glorify you and to rejoice in the freedom from sin’s guilt and power that Jesus provides!

Daily Devotion - January 30, 2025

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

What is the peace that the world gives? It is a slice of time without pressure, problem, or threat. We can know such times but, in a fallen world, such peace never lasts. Knowing that, our hearts are never really at peace amidst the world’s inevitable troubles.

Christ’s peace can be distinguished from that of the world by paintings produced for an art competition. The prize was promised to the artist who best depicted peace.  

One artist painted a pastoral scene: sheep in a rich pasture of green, a flowing stream, and a cloudless sky on a beautiful sunny day. 

The other artist painted a storm at sea, with waves crashing, winds blowing, and the sea foaming. Yet, in the middle of the raging sea was a pelican calmly riding the waves through the storm.

Who won the competition? The one representing what Jesus promised: Real peace is not the absence of trouble, but confidence in the midst of trouble. 

True peace in this world will never come through the perfection of our circumstances, but through confidence in the eternal security our Savior graciously provides.

Prayer: Father, when the storms of life surround me, may I experience the peace that passes understanding through confidence in my Savior’s gracious provision of eternal care.

Daily Devotion - January 29, 2025

We have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. (Heb. 12:9-10)

Obedience to God’s standards is not a condition of his love for us, though it does affect our daily experience of his joy and peace. If we walk off his path of spiritual safety, we shouldn’t be surprised that there are consequences. Those consequences are actually an indication of his love rather than the absence of it.

If God didn’t love us, he would simply let us wander off and face even greater harm. In discipline, the divine hand is simply turning us back to the arms that embrace and protect us eternally.

So, remember that even when we are in the throes of the harshest correction, God is showing his grace towards us and turning us toward a great love that would shield us from the dangers and consequences of our sin!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know that you discipline me not out of arbitrary anger but rather out of love that only intends good and never damage to my soul. Help me today not to mistake a severe mercy for a capricious hand, and to grow in my desire and ability to follow your loving will.

Daily Devotion - January 28, 2025

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. (Isa. 61:1) 

Imagine a man in jail, sitting there with men who are far more hardened than he is. This man is middle-aged but mentally on the level of a frightened and confused eight-year-old.

And now imagine another man in that same cell who sees this man weeping in terror. So, he gets up, goes over, and quietly whispers to him: “I don’t know what you are facing, but whatever it is, Jesus will help you through it if you trust him.”  

Soon after, that middle-aged man with an eight-year-old mind comes to Christ and is changed forever. That man is my brother. He’s still in jail for now, but his soul is free forever from God’s condemnation.

Prison bars did not keep God’s grace from reaching him. They also will not keep him from freedom – from any impairment of mind, any limitation of body, or any guilt of sin in his ultimate heavenly home with Jesus. 

Jesus promises the same freedoms to you, when you bind your heart to him by faith, claiming the exhilarating liberty of his provisions for this life and the life to come. Trusting Jesus for pardon from our sins, liberates our souls from guilt on earth and liberates soul, mind, and body from all this world’s pain in eternity!

Prayer: Lord, I know that I was in spiritual prison because of my sins, but you set me free! Thank you. Now please help me to live in the freedoms that are mine forever no matter the prisons of guilt or sin that beset me now.

Daily Devotion - January 27, 2025

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Phil. 2:5-7)

Hearts open to the message of Scripture soon recognize that God never commends nor commands selfishness. Instead, he uses the example of his Son’s willingness to empty himself of heaven’s glory to serve our needs as a way of calling us to serve others’ needs sacrificially.

That can sound like a dreary calling and a sad life until we remember that Jesus also said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt. 10:39).

Living a life with a willingness to serve to others, frees us from the bondage of our self-serving appetites and selfish ambitions. In this new freedom, our lives become more fulfilling, less driven; more purposeful, less self-absorbed; more glorifying to the God we love, less a burden to those we love – and more a delight to live!

Prayer: Lord, as your glory was fulfilled and your joy was made full when you were willing to become a servant to humanity, please help me to find the glory and joy of serving you by serving others.

Daily Devotion - January 24, 2025

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers…. Little children, let us not love with words or talk but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-18)

Local news reported on two brothers who decided to play on mounded sandbanks formed by the dredging that keeps our local river channel clear. When the young boys were late for dinner, a search began. 

Searchers found the younger brother unconscious — buried up to his shoulders in sand. He had stepped on a crust of sand hiding a large void formed by the dredging of wet sand from the river bottom. When the crust gave way, the boy fell in the void with its sand walls collapsing upon him. 

When he was roused to consciousness, rescuers frantically asked, “Where is your brother? The child replied: “I’m standing on his shoulders.”

With the sacrifice of his own life, the older brother had saved the life of the younger. With similar selflessness, Jesus, who is not ashamed to call himself our brother, saved us. We were rescued from the pit of our sin by standing on the sacrifice of our Brother — who gave his life that we might live!

He now calls us to honor his love by sharing it with others, not just with words but with deeds as selfless as his own.

Prayer: Lord, as I consider again what it means for you to have laid down your life for me, give me a fresh appreciation of your love. Then, fill my heart with your love to give me a renewed desire to tell and show the world your grace.

Daily Devotion - January 23, 2025

Thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Rom. 6:17-18)

There is a math of the mind that reasons, “If God will forgive all my sin, and substitute Christ’s good work for my bad behavior, then I might as well keep sinning!” But that’s not the only way our thoughts can function. 

The Apostle Paul counters the shady math of such thinking with a leading question: “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? By no means!”

Why? Because, as Paul explains, no one wants to be “enslaved to sin.” Does anyone who has been “set free” from slavery really want to go back to it? 

Paul makes clear the enslaving power of sin in our lives to caution us against any mental math that would try to take advantage of God’s grace to subject our lives and loved ones to sin’s ravages. 

The Apostle never waters down the gospel of God’s grace to turn us away from the horrors of sin. Nothing could be clearer than him saying, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20). But as a preacher said long ago, “Grace is not sweet, if sin is not bitter.” So, Paul makes us face the reality of enslavement to the guilt and power of sin, so that we will treasure our freedom from its chains and embrace the life secured by the grace of Christ.

Prayer: Father, thank you for freeing me from the slavery of sin and making me a servant of righteousness. May I never presume on your grace but rather respond in gratitude and obedience to the life without chains secured by your grace.

Daily Devotion - January 22, 2025

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Pet. 2:9)

I have a friend who traverses the world helping corporations turn around their company culture. One day, he let me in on the secret of his success: to effect healthy transformation, the most important words you can say to another are I am proud of you.

It’s often much easier to see flaws and point out messes when someone hasn’t measured up to our standards. Honest critiques have their place but saying that you’re proud and thankful for others is spiritual fuel without which positive energy dies.

The Apostle Peter knew that as he addressed oppressed and distressed Christians. Despite their struggles, he described them in precious terms made possible by the realities of God’s grace toward them. 

The apostle put on his gospel glasses to tell people how he saw them through the lens of God’s love. He could have cited many failures and shortcomings – and would offer correction in his letters – but affirmation came first. 

After telling me his secret, my friend paused and then made his own confession: “I haven’t told my struggling son that I am proud of him in years.” The confession transformed his family relationships and helped change his son.

If you can withhold your criticism long enough to extend God’s grace — life-transforming power you’ve been given is yours to give to another.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that you will enable me to look beyond human flaws and see people as you see them, extending to them such grace as you have lavished upon me.

Daily Devotion - January 21, 2025

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NIV)

There are not many places in the Bible where God addresses Satan, and this one is crucial. If we’re going to understand how grace unfolds throughout Scripture to culminate in Christ’s work, we must grasp the power of this first prophecy of Jesus. It is God’s earliest war cry declaring Satan’s ruin. 

After Satan’s temptation resulted in sin that corrupted our world, God immediately revealed his rescue plan. He promised to send an offspring of Eve who would ultimately crush the power of Satan. That offspring is Jesus!

God also tells us that the offspring of Eve will suffer injury from battling Satan, but Jesus’ victory is sure. Satan will be destroyed, and many people will be made righteous (Is. 53:11). So, God tells us from the beginning, “You are not your Redeemer, but I will send him to suffer and save you.”

Not all subsequent texts teach this grace in the same way. Sometimes the Bible reveals aspects of grace through prophecies like this, but also through poetry, history, proverbs, and inspired letters.

As different as these Bible passages are, they have a common denominator: they show how God provides for those who cannot provide for themselves. The many facets of the diamond of grace are polished on every page of Scripture until we can see and treasure the jewel that Jesus is. 

Through this jewel of grace, we not only understand how God’s plan of salvation unfolds but how we should live in response to Christ’s victory.

Prayer: Father, thank you for promising the victorious grace of Jesus and revealing it with the divine patience needed for my heart. May the grace you unfold throughout Scripture capture my heart and change my life for his glory.

Daily Devotion - January 20, 2025

He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:5-6)

Leaving home for the first time can be an exciting but overwhelming experience. My own trip to college was such. At first, I was bubbling with excitement as my father drove me to the school I had never visited, in a town I did not know. Then, anxiety crept over me.

As my bubbling conversation ceased, my father read the anxiety signaled by my silence. He pulled the car off the road, looked me in the eye, and said, “I don’t know if you will do well or if you’ll do poorly at this school, but you are my son, and that will never change. There’s always a place for you in my home.”

Such are the assurances of the gospel of grace that God has given to you. His love will not be determined by what you do — but by whose you are.

We are children of our Heavenly Father, and because we are his children, his love will never leave or forsake us. There will always be a place for us in his heart. That doesn’t make all earthly challenges go away, but we face them without crippling anxiety, knowing nothing can sever us from his eternal care!

Prayer: Father, thank you for the promise that you will never leave me or forsake me! Give me courage to face every trial by remembering that earthly challenges are no match for my eternal security in your heart.

Daily Devotion - January 17, 2025

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

It’s almost too pat an answer to say, “If you get off God’s path, the Bible will get you back on.” But what exactly does that mean? What exactly is this path?

Scripture tells us that God’s path is his instruction.  He tells us what is right and wrong so that we would not wander into sin and experience its miseries. But, if you don’t understand the heart behind that instruction, then you may look at God’s path through worried eyes. You become anxious that God is watching for any opportunity to punish you for straying from his path.

But that’s not the message of the Bible. Yes, there is a path to walk but, if we step off, we have an advocate with the Father who paid the penalty for our sin. His sacrifice is sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole world, so we can be confident there will be enough grace for any of us who seek his provision. 

The love that laid the path is from the heart that provides pardon for those who have Jesus as their Advocate. Knowing that his love does not depart when our steps do, draws us back to the path that blesses all who walk according to his instruction!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for instructing me daily through your Word. And when I sin, help me to realize that Jesus paid the penalty for all my sins, so that I will have no fear of returning to you and to your path of instruction!

Daily Devotion - January 16, 2025

The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. (Titus 2:11-12).

I was just in my 20s when I concluded that I was a failure as a pastor. Every Sunday, I felt like I was just serving up shame and blame to get people to walk the straight and narrow. 

I thought I had to intimidate people into obeying God. I confessed to my wife, “I did not become a pastor to hurt people, but I hurt people every Sunday – and I cannot do this anymore.”

But then, the Lord exposed me to the ministry of a man who preached very differently. He specialized in displaying how flawed were all the “heroes” of the Bible – save One. The one true hero – Jesus – everyone else needed. 

The perspective saved my ministry and revolutionized my preaching. I realized that, if God could use people as messed up as those in the Bible, then he could still use me. And, I could tell others he still has purpose for them despite their messes. 

 The grace of God did not release me from obeying God’s calling; it fueled my passion for his purposes. That’s what Paul says God’s grace will do: it trains us to renounce ungodliness. When grace captures our hearts, we love to please the One who loved us and gave himself for us.

Will some take advantage of God’s grace? Of course. But those transformed by his grace, love to love him. Grace is the fuel of true godliness. 

Prayer: Father, may the grace Jesus died to give captivate my heart more and more, so that I do what I most love to do: serve you with the passion of profound gratitude for Jesus.

Daily Devotion - January 15, 2025

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)

In my youth, I took comfort from my understanding that this verse taught that there was no struggle in my life that others somewhere in the world did not share. Misery loves company. But that poor-me view does not do justice to the verse.

The apostle’s observation is far more comprehensive. He reminds us that there is no temptation in the world that is not common to us all. No, we have not all murdered or robbed others, but the seed of every sin exists in every heart. 

Jealousy, lust, pride, anger, self-righteousness, and greed have roots in all of us. Acknowledging our common vulnerability should stir us to seek God’s pardon, to confess our need with humility, and to seek the power and path of rescue from the One who will always provide a way of escape.

Yes, next time you’re feeling tempted, take comfort because you’re not alone. But, the next time you face someone who has yielded to temptation, replace pride in your righteous resistance with proclamation of Christ’s righteous provision for all who are vulnerable to temptation – including you. 

Never will we find power against sin in our pride, but only in the humility that acknowledges our need for spiritual strength from daily grace. 

Prayer: Lord, help me not to face the temptations of this day with the thought that I am invulnerable or alone. Please provide the way of escape that I need by turning my heart from pride to seeking you for the daily grace that I – and all others – need, and that you are faithful to supply.

Daily Devotion - January 14, 2025

Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)

For many years, George Mueller never asked anyone for money to help fund his orphanage. He simply relied on prayer for the children’s needs, and God had always provided. But on March 9, 1842, things took a turn, and the resources the orphanage needed ran out.

Just when all had seemed lost, a special delivery letter arrived. Inside that envelope was a sizeable gift that had been mailed several days earlier. Though originally misdirected, the timely arrival of the letter meant that the Lord had begun answering Mueller’s prayers days before he asked.

God had interwoven the thoughts, events, and timing of all the details, so that the donation would arrive at the crucial moment it was needed. 

The point of this is not that we should never ask for support from others – the Apostle Paul asked and taught us how (2 Cor. 8). Rather, when we ask God for help, we do so with the confidence that the One who knows the end from the beginning will do precisely what is best. He is not guessing at outcomes. God is weaving everything together for good, even before we know what to ask. So ask!

Prayer: Father, thank you for always providing what is best for my greatest needs. Thank you for arranging all things so that your blessings are being prepared even before I ask or know to. Help me to trust your wisdom enough to ask for your supply no matter when the wells of my wisdom run dry.

Daily Devotion - January 13, 2025

Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:23-24)

It’s easy to pray to God in a moment of desperation, or politely to tell someone, “I’ll pray for you.” We offer such prayers when we see no alternative, or as a simple courtesy. But such habits can obscure the real purposes of prayer. 

Prayers to God in Jesus’ name are powerful instruments of divine blessing. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are asking God to do whatever is necessary in our lives to bring maximum glory to his Son and maximum good for his purposes.

A prayer in Jesus’ name is not simply a prayer for our personal benefit – that would be a prayer in our name. Prayer in Jesus’ name submits our finite understanding to God’s infinitely good plan to show Christ’s character and care. Whenever we pray in Jesus’ name we are praying as Jesus did: “Yet, not my will, Father, but your will be done.”

So, the next time you pray, do so with confidence that God will always honor prayers truly offered in Jesus’ name – even if the answer is according to his perfect will, rather than our human wisdom!

Prayer: Father, may my daily prayers be focused on your good plan for Christ’s name and not just my selfish desires. Thank you for the confidence I can have that, when I pray in Jesus’ name, you hear and answer for infinite, eternal good!

Daily Devotion - January 10, 2025

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world . . . to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Cor. 1:27-29)

There’s an old story which goes something like this: When Jesus ascended into heaven, he gathered his heavenly hosts around and explained what he would do next. He said he would take the weak, sinful, frail, and filthy people that he saved and use them as living stones to build the foundation of his kingdom on earth. These would be the ones to change the world!

The announcement was welcomed with an overwhelming silence. Then, after a long, agonizing pause, the angel Gabriel broke the silence by asking, “What’s plan B?” 

There is no plan B, because God’s plan has always been to use people like us – weak, sinful, frail, and filthy – to show the wonders of his grace that are the foundation of hope for this world.

Be encouraged today, knowing that your flaws do not disqualify you from God’s purposes. He is building hope for our world by pouring his glorious grace into and out of cracked earthen vessels like us! The broken pots of our lives are forming the foundation of a kingdom that is hope for all. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I am encouraged to know that you have chosen people like me to display your grace in fallen world for broken people. Grant me grace today to show your mercy to those who doubt if you could love them by telling them that you even love broken sinners like me.

Daily Devotion - January 9, 2025

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. (1 Pet. 3:9)

We have a tendency to treat others the way they treat us. If they are nice to us, then we are nice to them.  And if they are mean to us, then we either ignore them or find a way to “give as good as we got!”

But this tit-for-tat way of approaching relationships blinds us to gospel realities. Relating to people solely on the basis of what they’ve done is not God’s way. Scripture says our brothers and sisters in Christ are members of his family – indwelt by his Spirit and precious to him despite their flaws. 

Jesus intends for us to relate to other believers on the basis of our eternal relationship with him and the identity he shares with them.

There may be difficult things for us to work through, but Christians are called to approach one another on the basis of our mutual identity in Christ. So, we treat one another with the respect and love Christ provides, not simply on the basis of temporal tensions our fallen world produces.

You sense and share gospel realities by looking past the inflamed eyes of those whose criticism or rage intends your harm to see Jesus indwelling them and calling you to love them beyond their sin – and yours!

Prayer: Lord, may I treat others the way you treat me, not repaying evil for evil but rather showing them the grace and love that I have received because of Christ in me.

Daily Devotion - January 8, 2025

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15)

Many years ago, my wife, Kathy, and I were given a small wooden plaque that has become one of our most treasured possessions. Not because it’s made of anything fancy but because of the message it bears: “Home is where each lives for the other and all live for God.”

The plaque has survived multiple moves, an occasional bump, and even a few repairs, but remains on daily display. You see, after all these years, Kathy and I have discovered that our happiness has never been found in using one another. It’s found in using the resources and privileges God has given us to serve one another as Jesus served his disciples – and us! 

When we exercise the sacrificial love of Christ, we deepen our understanding of God’s care for us. And, as we discover and re-discover our own value to him, we are made more able and willing to share his love! True happiness comes from giving ourselves to each other, as Christ modeled his care.

Prayer: Jesus, I’m amazed that you, the Lord of heaven, would stoop to wash earth from the feet of others. Help me today to find the joy of serving others with such care, and in doing so discover and re-discover the depth of your care for me.

Daily Devotion - January 7, 2025

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16)

God’s Word is perfectly inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal his eternal truth and our daily purposes. But we can read the words and still miss the intentions of God’s heart. For that reason, whenever we read a passage of Scripture, we need to put on our “gospel glasses!” 

We will read God’s true intention by reading every biblical text through lenses formed by two key questions:

The first is, “What does this passage tell me about the nature of God who provides redemption?”  And the second is, “What does this passage tell me about the nature of humanity that requires redemption?”

Or, more simply: “What does this text tell me about God?” And, “What does it tell me about myself?”  The answers to those questions will ultimately reveal a gap between us and God that only the grace of God can span to cover our sin and enable us to serve him.

Anyone can read the words of the Bible, but to see God’s heart, you have to put on your gospel glasses!

Prayer: Lord, as I read the Bible, make the truths inspired by your Holy Spirit be more than mere words on a page. Enable me to see the dimensions of your heart by helping me consistently put on the gospel glasses that reveal the grace you provide and I require.

Daily Devotion - January 6, 2025

I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezek. 36:26)

For most of my friend’s adult life, he had tried to reach his harsh-talking and hard-hearted aunt with the message of Christ’s love. Still, the older woman’s heart seemed untouched. 

After she passed away, her family gathered to divide her belongings. The family surprisingly found a few religious books and decided they should go to my “religious” friend.  Yet, because the books reeked of tobacco and a stuffy house, he deposited them in his attic without looking inside.

Years later, he stumbled across the books, and found in one a handwritten letter from his aunt. In her own hand, she confessed her sins and claimed Jesus as her Savior. My friend was shocked. 

Though he would have said, “God can reach anyone,” he really didn’t expect that to happen with his aunt. Her letter convinced him anew that no matter how hard the heart, God’s grace is greater. He can take a stony heart and make it soft for Jesus. 

Real change is possible, and to be prayed for, because grace is real and powerful. Consider someone in your life whose heart you think is too hard for God. Pray for God to soften their hearts. He can. After all, he softened yours! 

Prayer: Lord, help me not to give up on sharing the gospel with those whose hearts seem hard, knowing that your Spirit can make a heart of stone soften and beat for Jesus.