Daily Devotions About The Christian Walk

Joshua 6:16 – God’s Glory, Our Good

Daily Devotions Bible Verse

And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city. ( Joshua 6:16 ESV)

We have all heard the story of Joshua fighting the Battle of Jericho.  If you grew up in the church, you might have even learned a song about it.  It is a popular story that many are familiar with, but there is much to learn about the way God worked in this narrative.

Joshua was leading the Israelites into the promised land and it came time to take their first city.  They arrived at Jericho only to face an extremely well fortified city.  It didn’t look good for the Israelites. God then told Joshua to march around the city for six days and blow horns, and in doing so, they would win Jericho (Joshua 6:1-6).  This sounds crazy, but it wasn’t, because Continue Reading →

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Luke 8:15 – Time to Ripen

Daily Devotion Bible Verse

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:15 ESV)

The parable of the sower and the seed is ever popular. If you grew up in the church, you probably learned it as a child. We have all heard a sermon on it from a pastor. After telling the parable, Jesus then proceeded to explain it to the disciples. It is the last sentence in his explanation that we will focus on today. The seed that falls on the good soil is the seed that bears fruit in accordance with the Gospel. It is the seed that decides to follow Jesus during thick and thin.

What we learn though is that this seed takes time to bear fruit. This seed “bears fruit with patience”. We don’t like to read this. Aren’t we supposed to die to ourselves and be new creatures right away (Romans 6:6-7)? Doesn’t the Gospel produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24)? The answer to these is Continue Reading →

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Philippians 3:7-8 – Vertical To Horizontal Relationships

Daily Devotions Bible Verse

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  (Phillipians 3:7-8 ESV)

We can often get caught up in the relationships of our lives.  They might be with a spouse or loved one, maybe a good friend, or even someone we disciple.  Should these relationships be the most important things to us?  From the verse we have for today, probably not.  Our goal in life should be knowing Christ above everything and from there letting Jesus affect our relationships. In essence, we should first work on our vertical relationship and then let the love of  that relationship influence the horizontal relationships we have with those around us. Continue Reading →

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Romans 12:1-2 – Right Worship

Daily Devotions Bible Verse

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

Every aspect of our lives is part of our worship. We worship from the moment our eyes open in the morning to the second they close at night. Worship is magnifying (or making much of) someone or something by our actions, thoughts or words. It is setting anything, be it God or otherwise, into the place of high prominence and authority in our lives. However, this understanding of worship is slipping from Christian belief and practice. Worship today is generally thought of as a genre of music or a thirty minute period in which we sing songs to God. Though the latter is a crucial component of worship (Ephesians 5:15-21) it does not encompass it.

In fact, we learn from today’s passage that Continue Reading →

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Acts 5:41 – Suffering Disgrace

Daily Devotion Bible Verse

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (Acts 5:41-42 ESV)

Have you ever suffered disgrace? Maybe there was a time when you were humiliated for your faith? Or, maybe you had an experience where you tried to do something for God and instead got extremely discouraged when things didn’t go according to plan. This is what happened to Peter and the other apostles when they stepped out in faith to perform miracles in Jesus’ name. Instead of receiving praise for the miracles they had done, they were arrested and flogged. Continue Reading →

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Luke 11:42 – Be A Balanced Christian

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Luke 11:42 ESV)

In the world of business, there are a couple ways to view your weaknesses.  One camp advocates focusing on those weaknesses and making them stronger.  The other camp says to focus on your strengths and use them, instead of putting energy into your weaknesses.  As believers, we often fall into the latter camp where Christian disciplines are concerned and walk as the Pharisees did during Jesus’ time on the Earth.  There were a few things they did well by human standards, and they made sure that everyone knew how well they did them.  But, as Jesus spoke, there is more to pleasing God than big tithes. Continue Reading →

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