Ephesians 6:10-11 – The Whole Armor: Warriors Of The Faith

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10-11 ESV)

Jesus is the mighty victor who has routed all of evil’s hosts, conquering death, the power of sin, and the devil himself. As Christians, it is that conquering power dwelling within us (Ephesians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:7), and that inward dwelling should bear heavily on our outward living. Jesus’ prayer for us was to be in the world, amidst danger, but shielded and protected from its source (John 17:15) living victorious over temptation. Too often we find ourselves buried in the same habitual sin, with real victory seemingly miles away. The early Church faced the same issues, and just as the Apostle Paul wrote to them, so must we put on the whole armor of God.

A soldier, when his enemy is near, doesn’t pick up his shield and leave his helmet on the shelf! He takes up his entire suit when he goes to battle. So must we as Christians be strong in the Lord as we don the entire suit available to us. He has provided for us a defense against the schemes of the devil and temptation to sin, and has given us strength in our weakness, enabling us Continue Reading →

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Judges 7:10 – Fear Is Not Failing

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. (Judges 7:10 ESV)

When God asks us to do something, it can be daunting, terrifying even, and cause us to fear. Maybe it is moving to a new city, asking someone if they know Jesus, or even quitting a job. This happened multiple times to Gideon, who was a Judge in the Old Testament. There is encouragement for us though. God didn’t look at Gideon as a failure because he was afraid and questioned God about the things he was supposed to do. In fact, each time he was afraid, God provided for him.

In this verse we read that he was afraid to go down to the camp alone. So, God told him to go with one of his servants. God could have easily said, “You failed Continue Reading →

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Luke 2:11-12 – Un-boxing God

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:11-12 ESV)

We love gadgets. We love seeing that delivery truck pull up in front of the house, and eagerly hop down the stairs to answer the door. When inside, the box is immediately ripped open and whatever was contained inside is put to quick use. Many times, when we begin using the new product, if it’s a good one that is, we discover many features we never knew it had! Sometimes, things turn out to be even better than we had anticipated.

The same is definitely true with God, he is infinitely better than we anticipate. But, we still try to keep God in a “God Box” and think of him in terms of the nifty features he comes with. In reality he wants us to let him come bursting out of the box and show us how much more he is. Continue Reading →

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Matthew 4:5-7 – Victory in Temptation

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ “ (Matthew 4:5-7 ESV)

Temptation is a trial or testing of one’s faith common to men and women throughout history. Joseph was tempted (Genesis 39), as was David (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21), Daniel (Daniel 6), and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:31). As long as we are in the world, we will be at war with temptation. In this great passage we are given a front row seat of the Master at work, and we should take note. It is vitally important that first we realize that being tempted to do evil is not an evil in and of itself. Temptation will come, but it must be defeated by “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). This is how Jesus fought against these tantalizing offers of Satan, by the “word of God”. It is literally a weapon against sin, Satan, and the lust of our flesh.

What is interesting Continue Reading →

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John 3:17 – God’s Love Or Condemnation?

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17 ESV)

From Ryan:

Many times in our lives we need to live a little more balanced. When I say balanced I mean meeting somewhere in the middle. A good example of this would be our diet. It isn’t good to just eat junk food all the time, nor can we really expect ourselves to just eat healthy organic food 100 percent of the time and cut out all food that isn’t the best for you. When we try this we usually just fail and end up giving up. So, you meet in the middle. Stay away from junk food as much as possible, and eat fresh organic foods as often as possible. Meet in the middle.

While reading today’s daily devotional verse, this thought came up in my mind. This verse is right between one of the most popular verses ever John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)

and another verse, John 3:18:

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18 ESV)

that sounds almost opposite. John 3:16 is all about God’s love for us, while John 3:18 is about being condemned. We can tend to fall a little too far right or left of today’s verse. Continue Reading →

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Matthew 5:16 – Good Works

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 ESV)

With almost all things in life, there needs to exist a healthy balance. For instance, you can workout all you want, but if you don’t balance that effort with a healthy diet, it won’t do you much good. You can work all the hours in a day to buy anything you want, but if you don’t balance your work with time off, you can’t enjoy your toys. Churches can fall into this trap too. They might focus on one doctrine and forget to teach the many others that are profitable to a Christian’s walk; this is one of the reasons we have denominations (which aren’t bad).

One such doctrine is that of “good works”. Continue Reading →

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