Daily Devotions On Faith

Hebrews 12:16-17 – The Aching Clarity of Hindsight

Daily Devotion Bible Verse

that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. (Hebrews 12:16-17 ESV)

An act done, can never be undone. We may be able to recant words we’ve spoken, apologize or lessen the consequences of an inappropriate action, but never can we undo what’s been done. At first thought, this is a sobering realization, even frightening. Still now, as we each stand upon the wrong side of poor decisions and wicked deeds, there is One who remains at our side and stood in our place. Jesus lived the life we should have but couldn’t, and for that we can rejoice as through faith in him there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Esau, however, serves as an example 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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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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Isaiah 42:13 – Confidence In Our God

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes. (Isaiah 42:13 ESV)

From Ryan:

I was sitting in a Starbucks on my lunch break 1,700 miles from home while I was reading this passage. There was a lot on my mind. Was the new house my wife and I found on our last day looking going to come through? Were we going to be able to sell our house back home in time? Basically, I was doing a lot of worrying. Then this passage shows up as a part of my daily reading and was already underlined from previous readings. We had even used it as a devotion before. But as God does, he used this passage to comfort me in ways it hadn’t before.

Why was I Continue Reading →

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Ezra 7:10 – Do

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. (Ezra 7:10 ESV)

This is the third part in the series “study. do. teach.”, which examines Ezra 7:10 as a model for Christian living. You can start from the beginning here.

From Jordan:

Jesus, in Matthew 15:8, quoted Isaiah saying, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”. The scribes and Pharisees he was speaking of had substituted their own laws for those of God’s, simply giving lip-service to the Lord. We are guilty of the same when our actions do not follow the truth our lips declare we believe. When the way in which we live does not reflect our professed beliefs, I have news for you, we don’t really believe them! It’s like a man talking about the power of gravity but then walking off of a cliff because he didn’t really think he would fall.

When we don’t live out the truth we say we believe in, our faith is dead. For “as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:26). The life, the essence is gone from our faith when we don’t live according to it. All our Christianity is Continue Reading →

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Proverbs 3:5 – Self-Sufficient Savior

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5 ESV)

Have you ever been burned by someone you trusted? Maybe it was a close friend you confided in only to discover he or she betrayed your trust. Or worse yet, maybe you trusted your employer, believing they would look upon your many years of service, hard work, and loyalty and keep an open position for you- but they didn’t, and you were laid off along with the rest. It’s so difficult to find people to trust in life because most of us simply look after our own bottom line. Essentially, people look to what is best for them in a given situation. But it has not been, nor ever will be so with our God. Continue Reading →

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