Daily Devotionals

John 11:25-26 reads, "I am the resurrection and the life. Everyone who believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this?"   We struggle with the idea of our own mortality. It's said that Florence Nightingale feared death so much, after the Crimean War she went...

Luke 24:32 reads, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us?"   After the resurrection Jesus met two of His disciples who'd seen Him crucified and didn't know He'd been raised from the dead. Then later as He ate supper with them at their house, an...

Isaiah 53:10 reads, "It's what God had in mind all along."   The Psalmist wrote: "My God, why have You forsaken Me? I am...a reproach of men, and despised. All those who see Me ridicule Me...saying, 'He trusted in the Lord...let Him deliver Him'...I am poured out like...

Luke 24:16 reads, "But they were not able to recognize who he was."   When you face a crisis it's easy to lose perspective. It happened to two of Christ's disciples on the Emmaus Road. Discouraged about His death, they were "going over all these things that had...

1 Peter 1:19 reads, "It was the precious blood of Christ."   The Bible says, "The ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). You must come to a place in your life where you are secure in who you are "in Christ";...

1 Peter 2:7 reads, "Therefore, to you who believe. He is precious."   We learn from looking at the breastplate worn by Israel's high priest that:   a) We are precious to God. b) We are close to His heart. c) He will never turn His back on us.   You say, "If God will...

Hebrews 4:14 reads, "We have a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God."   Notice two more things about the breastplate worn by Israel's high priest:   1) It was close to his heart.   Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, he went into the "Holiest of Holies" where...

Exodus 39:14 reads, "Twelve stones...engraved...according to the twelve tribes."   As you look at the breastplate worn by Israel's high priest, you see how precious you are in God's eyes as His redeemed child. The Bible gives us very detailed information about what...

Proverbs 10:32 reads, "The lips of the righteous know what is fitting."   When George H.W. Bush was running for president of the United States in 1988, he admitted he'd made an inappropriate remark about American journalist Dan Rather and White House correspondent...

Proverbs 21:6 reads, "A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor."   It's easier to maintain your integrity than to regain it. It may cost you to do the right thing, but it will cost you more to abandon your principles. "Like a bird hatching an egg it did...

Isaiah 43:18-19 reads, "Don't keep going over old history. I'm about to do something brand-new."   Comedian Jerry Lewis joked that his best wedding gift was a film of the ceremony because when things got really bad in his marriage he could go into a room by...

Proverbs 11 :13 reads, "Those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence."   If you're serious about managing your anger, here are two things to keep in mind:   1) Don't hang out your dirty laundry in public. Keep it in the laundry room. When you're hurt and angry,...

Ephesians 4:29 reads, "Don't use... abusive language."   The Bible says: "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit...

Luke 6:45 reads, "Out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks."   What you store on your computer's hard drive can be recalled by touching a key. Jesus said: "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart; the evil man brings evil...

Proverbs 23:16 reads, "My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak right things".   When it comes to practicing anger management, here are two important Bible principles:   1) Don't blame people and things. Blaming is a way of evading responsibility while...

Ephesians 4:26 reads, "Don't sin by letting anger control you."   Here's a Bible plan for growth that includes anger management: "Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God - truly righteous and holy. So stop...

Luke 12:15 reads, "Life is not measured by how much you own."   One day a man was talking to an angel. The angel said, "What can I do for you?" The man said, "Show me the Wall Street Journal one year from today. This way, I'll know where to invest my money and become...

Isaiah 43:1 reads, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you. You are Mine."   When God redeems you, He owns you. And what He owns, He protects! This is illustrated in the story of Belshazzar. The Bible says: "King Belshazzar held a great feast for his one thousand nobles....

Habakkuk 2:2 reads, "Write the vision and make it plain."   Only when you're clear about your personal goals, can you measure your personal growth. Here are eight proven principles that will help you to establish the right goals for your life:   1) Begin with prayer;...

Hebrews 4:2 reads, "It was not mixed with faith."   In order for cement to become concrete, it must be mixed with sand and water. If you don't get the mix right, the cement will never become concrete. And just as your body needs good nutrition each day, your soul...

Philippians 3:13 reads, "Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead."   There will always be people who speak ill of you. "She'll never amount to anything. His parents were nothing, his grandparents were nothing, and...

Psalm 16:5 reads, "Lord, you guard all that is mine."   Have you allowed envy to form a "stronghold" in your life? Do you find yourself avoiding or feeling resentful of certain people because of their success? The Bible says, "Envy rots the bones" (Proverbs 14:30) and...

Psalm 107:2 reads, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so."   No matter how badly you have failed, God will give you another chance. After Jonah had disobeyed God, spent three days in the belly of a whale, and been regurgitated on the shore at Nineveh, the Bible says,...

Psalm 46:10 reads, "Be still, and know that I am God!"   God can speak to you anytime, anywhere, through anybody, by dropping a thought into your mind (1 Corinthians 2:16). But because that thought can be crowded out by busyness, He says, "Be still, and know that I am...

Genesis 32:31 reads, "And he was limping because of his hip."   The Bible says, "The sun rose above [Jacob] as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip." That's significant, because the thigh muscle is one of the most powerful muscles in the human body....

Genesis 32:30 reads, "Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, 'It is because I saw God face to face.'"   Change happens through cooperation. God started changing Jacob the moment he admitted who he was and began to cooperate with His plan. Jacob named the place where...

Genesis 32:27 reads, "The man asked him, What is your name? 'Jacob', he answered."   Change happens through confession. When he identified himself as "Jacob," which means "deceiver," Jacob was acknowledging his character flaws. This is an important part of God's...

Genesis 32:26 reads, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."   Change happens through commitment. When Jacob realized he was wrestling with the angel of the Lord, he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." That's what it takes—commitment. Jacob was...

2 Corinthians 3:18 reads, "We are changed into his glorious image."   Change happens through crisis. God changed Jacob's name, which means "deceiver,' to Israel, which means "a prince with God." And He did it through crisis. Realizing he had to go home and face the...

1 Timothy 5:17 reads, "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor."   To be a spiritual leader worth following:   1) You must be accountable to someone. Someone who knows you well enough to pray with you, strengthen you in your vulnerable areas,...